After catching my breath for a while and settling my thoughts. I grew my wings out before starting my journey to where Whitebeard and the rest of the crew was.
The storm that was outside off the island of Want continued pouring as if nothing major had happened. Everything had reverted back to normal, it was mildly disturbing, but I didn't dwell on it too much.
Eventually, I could spot the Moby Dick on an island that was a bit of a distance away from the storm. I immediately landed on the ground before walking up to where the crew was staying at. Everyone seemed to be hammered, nobody was awake, except for Teach; who was surprised to see my appearance.
I couldn't see Whitebeard among the snoring individuals. So I made my way towards the Moby Dick that Whitebeard enjoyed staying on.
Sure enough, Whitebeard was sitting on his chair snoring away as well.
"Wake up, Old Man. I got something to ask you," I lightly kicked at Whitebeard's shins.
The man's snot bubble popped as he glared at me with an annoyed expression.
"Look who finally decided to come home. How have you been doing, brat?!" Whitebeard said as he cracked his neck both ways.
"I've been fine. Alive, at least," I muttered.
"Alive? I don't think there are many people who can put your life in danger. Who's the guy who made you look like that?" Whitebeard remarked at my rugged appearance.
I didn't feel the need to clean myself up after what had just happened. So my appearance looked like I had just got ran over by a Marine ship.
"It wasn't who, it was more of a what," I replied, "I had just left Wano when I got attacked by these large figures. It was dark so I didn't see their figures correctly, but I had managed to see their shadows."
"Did you beat them?" Whitebeard asked.
"I didn't have the opportunity to do so. They disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and I haven't even felt their presence since." I replied.
Whitebeard held his hand on his chin for a while, thinking about what I had just told him.
"I don't recall anything like you described. Are you sure that you weren't dreaming?" Whitebeard asked curiously.
Seeing that he had nothing on what I saw, I immediately dropped the conversation and switched the topic to something else. I would have to do a bit of research in the future.
"Forget about it, at least for now. Did you like the recruits that I had sent over? They have a lot of potential," I replied calmly.
"Your little stunt with those three brats caused quite a bit of a stir during the meeting. Most of the Division Commanders are perplexed because of it," Whitebeard responded.
"No worries, I'll explain everything later on when we have the meeting again," I responded.
"Well, you're in luck. We are going to have a meeting as soon as everyone wakes up," Whitebeard smiled before grabbing a wine gourd and guzzled its content down.
I sighed before leaving the Moby Dick and making my way towards my ship. Looking at its exterior appearance, it was clear that the ship had seen better days. However, it still looked like it had quite a bit left in it before it finally broke down.
Reaching the ship, I was surprised to find Carla sitting down on a table and enjoying some tea. I stopped right in front of her.
"When did you get up?" I asked.
"I never slept, someone needed to stay up and watch the crew, so I decided to take that role myself;" Carla responded.
I nodded at her words before I started making my way towards the cabin. Inside, I found Stussy snoring quietly covering herself with the covers of the bed.
Quietly, I began changing my clothes before grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the cabin and heading back on the deck.
Carla hadn't moved from her spot since I left. So I simply sat right opposite her and enjoyed a quiet smoke as I listened to the rest of the crew slowly begin to wake up from their sleep.
"Ugh, that was a crazy ass party," I heard Marco mutter as he stumbled his way to a nearby tree.
After a couple of hours, the meeting between the Division Commanders was soon established, and I found the three individuals: Bubble Jack, Carla, and Mont. Fiore, standing in the middle of where we were meeting once again.
Whitebeard's chair was moved from the Moby Dick all the way to the meeting place.
"Now that Boris is here, it's time to talk about what we should be doing with these three," Whitebeard announced as he laid his Naginata down next to him.
"Oi! Boris, the hell are you trying to do?! You already have plenty of subordinates to begin with. So why are you trying to bring more of them here?" Speed Jiru, Commander of the 14th Division, complained.
"I offered them an opportunity to join us. I told them that they had won the tournament during the Pirate Festival, they would get the Devil Fruit along with a spot in the Whitebeard Pirates," I explained.
"What happened?" Marco asked, "Did they fail to win the tournament?"
"Not necessarily, the arena fell before a winner could be determined," I replied, "bringing us to where we are right now."
"Well, you already have a lot of subordinates under your wing already. How about you leave the trio with us?" Blamenco, Commander of the 6th Division.
"That's up to them," I replied.
I didn't mind having the three of them along with me on the ship. At the same time, I didn't want them to feel constricted and feel like the 0 Division was the only place that they could go.
The trio, who happened to be listening. Continued to be silent, judging from their expressions. It was easy to note that they were trying to figure out their options within the crew.
"You," Jozu pointed at Bubble Jack, "What do you think about joining my crew?"
Bubble Jack hesitated for a bit before nodding. Just like that, Bubble Jack had just joined the Third Division.
"Hmm....." Vista had been staring at Mont. Fiore for quite some time. Vista's interest for swordsmen was unparalleled within the entire crew. So I wasn't too surprised on what happened next.
"You, join my Division. I respect your aspect as a swordsman. You'll do well with me," Vista offered.
Mont. Fiore immediately nodded, it was sort of obvious that two swordsmen would find each other accommodating.
Finally, the only individual that was left was Carla. The Division commanders didn't seem to be too interested with her. Moreover, she didn't seem too fazed by the conversation that was currently going at hand. I was about to ask her whether she wanted to join a certain Division.
"I'll stay with the 0 Division," Carla announced.
Nobody seemed to have anything to say towards that announcement. I sighed before looking around and announcing:
"You heard her, she's with me from now on," I replied.
"Then that settles it," Whitebeard's voice boomed as he slowly got up as he picked up his Naginata, "now that we don't have anything else left to talk about. This meeting is adjourned, I'm going to get more booze."
I slowly made my way towards the Moby Dick that served as a booze dispensary. I grabbed a couple of gourds there and started drinking almost immediately the moment I sat down.