Chapter 183

The first half of the Grand Line, the Paradise Seas.

Marine Branch G8.

Due to the World Conscription initiated by Marine Headquarters, the branch square was packed with crowds of recruits, their diverse figures pressing shoulder to shoulder.

Enel blended into the throng, expecting to be mocked for his large earlobes.

Yet Enel was stunned to discover,

that grotesque figures were everywhere, with far stranger appearances commonplace.

There were applicants with noses long enough to poke people, heads shaped like turtle shells, and long-armed races with joints at both elbows, long-legged races with joints at both knees…

Compared to this motley crew, Enel became the most normal—and thus most striking—presence in the crowd.

His sleek, towering frame paired with his signature long earlobes radiated a unique charm, strikingly handsome.

Sensing eyes scanning him,

Enel used his Haki sense to locate the source, glanced in that direction, and gave a slight nod.

【The Marine Admirals have arrived】

Office of the G8 Branch Commander.

The floor-to-ceiling glass window reflected the bustling square; Aokiji stood with hands in pockets before it.

"Captain Karp."

"I found a promising candidate."

Karp strode to the window, followed Aokiji's gaze, and instantly locked onto Enel standing out like a crane among chickens.

"Ahahaha～"

"Definitely good material."

"Admiral Kuzan, I'll take this kid under my wing."

Aokiji sighed helplessly—he couldn't outright refuse, after all, Karp was his master.

"But your patrol area is the East Blue."

"G8 Branch has only this one promising candidate—please, let me keep him. I'm short of a capable deputy."

Not everyone has a versatile deputy like Buggy constantly at Karp's side.

Aokiji also wanted a good deputy.

Karp grinned, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

"Neither of us interferes. Take the boy back to Headquarters and hand him to Zeff. Let him choose for himself after graduating from training."

"After we finish here at G8, we'll head to Loguetown Branch."

Aokiji nodded slightly: "Agreed."

As if remembering something, Aokiji asked again.

"Captain Karp, why don't you want to patrol the East Blue branches? Surely not because it's the weakest sea?"

Having trained under Karp for years, Aokiji understood why the East Blue was called the weakest sea—it was only relatively so.

Over the years, many top-tier fighters from the East Blue have set sail for the Grand Line—

Pirate King Roger, Marine Hero Captain Karp, the vicious tyrant Barzab Seven, and Karp's own son, Dragon.

The East Blue is teeming with talent.

"Don't mention it," Karp muttered.

"Anyone in the East Blue with even a bit of strength wants to go to sea and join Barzab Seven. That bastard has corrupted a whole generation."

Karp secretly worried that little Ace might grow up influenced by Barzab Seven, begging to become a pirate.

And later, Dragon's son.

First Roger, then that bastard Barzab Seven—these two had too great an impact on the East Blue, so great that even noble families from allied nations went to sea as pirates.

It left the allied nations in agony.

"By the way," Karp suddenly asked, "has Headquarters received any news of Barzab Seven lately?"

Aokiji shook his head.

"Rosinante… seems to have had no choice."

Karp understood: during the Marineford War, Rosinante executed two Celestial Dragons in front of Saint Nasshur and Saint Garin.

He would likely never return to the Marines again.

After the war, Rosinante sent not a single message—wasn't that an unspoken choice?

"Fate is cruel," Aokiji sighed.

"Master Sengoku spent years pouring everything into shaping Rosinante into the Marine's standard-bearer, only for Barzab Seven to turn him into this."

"That guy is truly a curse."

Aokiji could never have imagined Barzab Seven would have his intern execute Celestial Dragons, accidentally forcing Rosinante down a path with no turning back.

It was as if the Marines had handed over a top talent for free.

Karp deeply agreed.

"He really is… a curse."

As Dragon's father and leader of the Revolutionary Army, Karp knew some secrets never made public.

For instance, Barzab Seven was funding the Revolutionary Army and had even given it a spiritual doctrine—the so-called advanced revolutionary experience Dragon spoke of.

All of this was revealed to Karp privately by Dragon after the Marineford War.

Dragon feared his father Karp would blame Barzab Seven for the destruction of Marine Headquarters, so he chose to tell him these secrets.

But it left Karp deeply conflicted.

The butcher who slaughtered fifty thousand Marines and shattered Marine Headquarters now raised the banner of liberating slaves and overthrowing the World Government.

There was no greater absurdity in the world.

Karp chose to bury these secrets deep within his heart—after all, compared to Barzab Seven, the World Government and Celestial Dragons were unquestionably the greater curse.

Let these curses fight each other.

Karp only wished to protect the Marines—he would never allow Marineford's fate to repeat.

Buzzzz～

The vibration of the Den Den Mushi broke the silence; Karp pulled it from his pocket and answered.

"Karp, get back to Headquarters immediately."

"I've received word: Barzab Seven has seized Wano, renamed it Daoqi, and is about to become a World Government member nation."

"What?!" Karp blinked.

"They moved that fast?"

Only a month had passed since Marineford was destroyed, yet the vanished Morning Star Pirates had quietly pulled off another major feat.

"Sengoku, is this true?"

Den Den Mushi: "Mostly confirmed."

Aokiji exhaled a wisp of cold mist—this news was a thunderclap for the Marines.

If Daoqi became a World Government member nation, Barzab Seven and the Morning Star Pirates would become nobles, and the Marines would lose all chance of revenge.

Unless, like Dragon, they left the Marines.

The Den Den Mushi continued:

"I'm worried the Headquarters officers… and soldiers' families, especially Zeff, won't be able to handle it."

Karp raised an eyebrow.

Twelve years ago, Zeff's family was killed by pirates; he despised pirates intensely. A month ago, he witnessed firsthand the deaths of fifty thousand Marines at Marineford.

Not even Zeff could accept this.

Even Karp now wanted to storm Shengdimaliqiaoya and demand to know what those five vermin thought of the Marines.

Disposable dogs?

The air in the G8 Commander's office grew heavier; the temperature around them plummeted.

"Karp, before this news spreads, Headquarters needs you back immediately to calm the Marines… and their families."

"Understood."

Karp frowned, hung up the Den Den Mushi, his brow knotted in unrelenting sorrow.

"Admiral Kuzan, I won't be able to go with you to Loguetown Branch."

A wisp of white mist escaped Aokiji's lips.

"Captain Karp, after I finish G8's affairs, I'll head to Loguetown Branch as soon as possible."

Both knew the news that Daoqi would join the World Government would harm the Marines far more severely than the destruction of Marineford.

Last time, only Marineford was destroyed.

This time, if the Marines mishandle it, what will be shattered is not just a base—but the Marines' Xinnian, and countless officers and soldiers who will defect.

Like former Marine Admiral Zeff.