White Earth Island, Baltigo, the time is two days later!
During these two days, Taro, accompanied by Dragon, visited various facilities and observed the work progress of the Revolutionary Army's base.
Both sides exchanged views on the world situation and topics of mutual concern, reaching a broad consensus on bilateral cooperation and deployment, while expressing that they would continue to maintain close contact!
"The revolution has not yet succeeded; comrades must still work hard!"
Finally, the "key of revolution" Taro said this to Dragon and Koala, who had come to see him off.
"Comrades?"
Dragon murmured the word, instantly understanding its meaning, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
After more than two days of contact, Koala's impression of Taro had improved significantly.
Taro had no airs and was very approachable; his personality was as lively as a young man's, yet his thinking was as profound as a wise man's.
All of this made Koala admire him greatly!
"Even if I escort you a thousand miles, we must eventually part! Let's stop here!" Taro turned around and smiled at the two.
He always used simple words to express profound meanings, which made Dragon look at Taro with even more admiration.
Taro did not notice the strangeness in their eyes; his gaze passed over them, trying to find Robin's figure, but he saw nothing, feeling a slight pang of disappointment in his heart.
Sigh, forget it. If she doesn't come, she doesn't come!
He was just about to leave when Koala stepped forward, took out an envelope, and handed it over.
"Sister Robin said she wouldn't come to see you off, so she asked me to hand this over to you!"
Taro was a bit puzzled; what could not be said in person?
He reached out to take it and was about to open it, but Koala stopped him first.
"Sister Robin said to wait until after you leave to look at it!"
Taro was stunned for a long while, then suddenly became excited, his eyes filled with unbelievable joy.
Could it be, could it be that this is a love letter?
No wonder that little girl didn't come to see me off; is she shy?
"It's getting late, I'll be leaving now!" Taro's heart was eager as he waved goodbye to the two again.
Then Internal Energy gushed out wildly, transforming into a Falcon and soaring straight into the clouds.
How exciting! Holy crap, through two lifetimes, I've finally received the first love letter of my life!
Streaking across the sky like a meteor, Taro's mood gradually calmed down as he glided through the air using the air currents.
With trembling hands, he pulled a folded piece of paper from the envelope, flicked it open with his thumb, and looked closely.
"Holy crap, what the hell is this!"
Taro cried out in alarm, his body faltering as he nearly fell from the sky.
His hand also shook, and the paper almost flew away; he quickly steadied himself and looked at the paper again.
It was a drawing—well, a portrait!
However, the drawing skills... were truly hard to describe!
And the person in this drawing was just too damn ugly; who was this!
Taro held the paper and observed it carefully, murmuring:
"This... seems to be me?"
After looking for a while, Taro finally discovered some clues.
The character in the drawing was so abstractly drawn in a chibi style, but upon closer inspection, he could barely see a few hints of his own appearance between the crumpled, squeezed eyebrows.
Taro's mouth twitched; Robin's image as a goddess in his heart collapsed with a bang!
Holy crap, you also knew your drawing skills were bad, so you didn't dare to come, right?
These drawing skills...
Even donkeys and mules can sing, but your art is just ridiculously bad!
Taro's cheeks twitched as he refolded the portrait, stuffed it back into the envelope, and tucked it away close to his body.
He then took out the Eternal Pose for Punk Hazard, determined the direction, and accelerated away.
Seven or eight days had passed since the great battle between Aokiji and Akainu; it would take another day to return, which should be just in time for the final showdown.
Revolutionary Army Headquarters.
"Sister Robin, I've already handed it to him!" Koala skipped over to Robin's side, propped herself up with both hands, and sat on the desk.
Robin, who was quietly reading, moved her fingers slightly, and her calm expression seemed to stiffen a bit.
"Thank you, Koala!"
Koala swung her legs. "You're welcome, Sister Robin. He was so happy when he received it!"
Robin's expression became even stiffer. "I-is that so?"
"Huh? What's wrong, Sister Robin? Your face looks a bit..."
"No, it's nothing!"
...Punk Hazard.
When Taro flew into the airspace near this island, he had already noticed the low-pressure, eerie clouds in the sky.
Thud
Diving down, he fell through the thick, murky clouds with billowing black smoke swirling behind him. Taro saw what Punk Hazard looked like now.
The entire island had turned into an Island of Ice and Fire, and the climate had also changed drastically, with half being ice and snow and the other half burning flames.
Hmm? Why are there so many people on the island? Marines?
Taro, accelerating his descent, was greatly surprised to see so many more people on the island.
The pillar of smoke Taro brought out as he pierced through the clouds also attracted the attention of the Marine Soldiers on the island.
"Vice Admiral Momonga, over there..." A Marine Soldier pointed into the distance, his eyes wide with shock.
Momonga had actually already noticed; he hummed in acknowledgment and leaped toward that direction.
"Vice Admiral Taro?"
"Vice Admiral Momonga? Why are you here?" Taro was a bit confused after landing and seeing Momonga.
"The G-1 Branch is following the World Government's orders to blockade this island!" Momonga frowned at Taro, then pointed at the busy Marine Soldiers around them.
Taro also noticed the Marine Soldiers were installing metal fences and was immediately shocked. "The duel between Kuzan and Sakazuki is over?"
Hearing this, Momonga looked around vigilantly and said in a low voice, "Vice Admiral Taro, watch your words!"
Taro was bewildered and murmured, "That shouldn't be right. It hasn't even been ten days; how could the fight be finished?"
"Hmm? Taro, what do you mean by that?" Momonga was taken aback and looked at him suspiciously.
Taro snapped out of it. "Cough, no, I'm here to take a look under Vice Admiral Tsuru's orders!"
Then, he leaned in closer. "Who won?"
Momonga didn't say anything, but just tapped his feet twice on the ground.
Taro's heart stirred. The two of them were currently in the burning half; as expected, did Akainu win in the end?
Seeing that Taro had guessed the result, Momonga spoke again. "Taro, Vice Admiral Tsuru sent you out many days ago. Why did you only arrive today?"
Taro was taken aback. "How do you know about this?"
Taro didn't answer Momonga's question, and Momonga didn't press him. Instead, he first answered Taro's confusion.
"You took a den den mushi from Vice Admiral Tsuru, and she couldn't contact you. This island is within my G-1's jurisdiction, so she contacted me!"
So that was it. Momonga was the base commander of G-1. Taro nodded. "I was here four days ago. At that time, their fight wasn't too intense yet, but they chased me away..."
"What exactly happened here?"
Momonga shook his head, also a bit puzzled. "I don't know much more than you do!"
After a pause, he added, "Vice Admiral Tsuru was looking for you because she wanted to notify you that Marineford is going to hold a meeting for Vice Admiral level and above!"
Akainu is going to become the Fleet Admiral!
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