It was a pleasant afternoon tea time.
Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral and now a Marine recruit instructor known as "Black Arm," had just finished his teaching for the day.
He instructed his Marine students to practice on their own and then returned to his room.
He first took a hot shower, then opened a bag of black tea a Vice Admiral had given him and brewed it with hot water.
Of course, the cookies Garp had given him were also essential.
"Speaking of which, it's almost the weekend now."
Zephyr sat on his sofa, quietly deep in thought about his group of new Marine recruits today.
While drinking his tea, he summarized everything from their training methods to the individual characteristics of each new recruit.
He was trying to create different training methods for each recruit based on their unique traits.
This was actually a very tiring, complicated, and tedious task, but Zephyr was clearly enjoying it.
This was the path he had chosen for himself.
Because pirates had killed his wife and children, he couldn't eliminate the indiscriminate hatred he felt towards pirates from his heart. Zephyr realized that if he continued down his current path, he would inevitably go against his own wish to "not kill."
If that time came, he would have become a bastard who vented violence indiscriminately!
Should he be cruel to pirates?
Should he stop at nothing to deal with pirates?
Then what was the difference between what he was doing and what pirates did?
He would just be a "pirate's pirate"!
Those who couldn't control their desires were merely the "opposite of the enemy," possessing great strength but not a shred of conviction.
Such people couldn't be called "heroes," and Zephyr couldn't accept becoming like that.
Therefore, he chose to retire from his position as a Marine Admiral and began teaching new Marine recruits.
...
"To control myself"—this was the fundamental reason Zephyr became a Marine recruit instructor.
The direct reason for Zephyr doing this was that his first batch of students, the brats he'd recruited when he was still a Marine Admiral, had given him the initial idea.
Among them was the seemingly goofy and silly "Baro."
...
The first time Zephyr saw Baro, the extraordinarily muscular brat was engaged in his usual "fun" on a deserted island occupied by pirates.
Baro grinned, a twisted smile of excitement on his face, and punched one pirate's head after another into their own blood.
The term "drowning in one's own blood" must be what this scene depicted.
Even the veteran Marines around Zephyr couldn't stand such a sight.
Some even gagged on the spot!
...
"Huh? Who are you?"
Baro stood up, looking down at Zephyr, who was several heads shorter than him.
"Marines? These pirates should all be wanted criminals, right? I'll come to you guys for the reward money in a couple of days!"
Seeing that Zephyr didn't reply, Baro turned and grabbed a money bag from a nearby table.
"Haha, I can have a good time for a while longer!"
Baro was about to turn and leave when Zephyr suddenly called out to him.
The "Black Arm" clenched his fist, making a series of crisp cracking sounds.
"You brat, if you like fighting so much, want to have a go with me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a fist flew out!
It wasn't Zephyr's fist, but Baro's!
This ridiculously strong man, with his astonishing combat awareness, had already seen through the Marine's thoughts before Zephyr even finished speaking.
Baro had seen many Marines.
Some Marines agreed with Baro's actions, believing that one should stop at nothing to deal with pirates.
Some Marines expressed understanding or indifference. They wouldn't do it themselves but wouldn't stop Baro's iron fist from smashing pirate heads;
Others felt that Baro's methods were too brutal and were ashamed to associate with him.
—The first two types of people "agreed" with Baro.
When faced with the third type of Marine, Baro would often crouch down in front of them, form a small "telescope" with his fist, look at them through the hole, and then grin and ask:
"Is there a problem with me doing this?"
The result of his question was usually only one: that Marine, who considered himself merciful, would fall silent, his face sullen, and quickly walk away.
Thus, this third type of Marine also began to "agree" with Baro.
But today, Baro could clearly feel that the Marine he encountered was different from the others.
Baro was someone who acted on instinct, and he felt his instincts would never be wrong!
As expected—
The moment Baro threw his punch, black Armament Haki wrapped around Zephyr's fist, and it met Baro's attack head-on!
Boom!
The two fists collided with a crash.
In terms of sheer physique, Baro had the obvious advantage, but Zephyr's fist felt like a bullet, crushing Baro's offensive with overwhelming force.
Almost instantly, Zephyr's attack gained the upper hand!
But Baro wasn't one to just sit and take it.
After a moment of surprise, he quickly adjusted his stance and charged at Zephyr like a tank!
Zephyr's fist met Baro's shoulder again. Zephyr took half a step back, while Baro was flung back violently, crashing heavily into a distant wall.
"Whoa, a nice post-meal workout!"
Zephyr took off his cloak from his back, handed it to his adjutant, and then gave an order.
"Everyone, clear this area!"
He took off his glasses and a smile spread across his face.
"To be honest, I quite enjoy teaching those reckless and impulsive brats!"
...
Because of Zephyr's order, no one other than himself and Baro knew how that fight had gone.
When the Marine soldiers returned to the battle site, they only saw Zephyr sitting amidst the ruins, smoking, and Baro, bruised and battered, slumped beside him.
From then on, Baro became the apprentice of "Black Arm" Zephyr.
...
Time flew by, and a long period had passed.
During this time, Baro had grown from an apprentice Marine soldier into a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
Zephyr had also experienced the tragedy of his family being slaughtered by pirates, retreated from the front lines, resigned his Admiral position, and become a Marine recruit instructor.
Everything was changing.
Until recently.
Baro had been recommended by Zephyr to become the commander of the newly established G-T branch base.
...
At this moment, Zephyr was having his afternoon tea, thinking of his dim-witted protégé.
"Speaking of which, that brat hasn't even called me. I wonder how he's doing in Alabasta?"
Even if Zephyr didn't admit it, it was a fact acknowledged by all Marines.
To Zephyr, Baro was "family"—or more accurately, like a "son."
It was natural for a father to care about his son.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi beside Zephyr suddenly rang.
Riiing, riiing, riiing... riiing, riiing, riiing...
Huh?
Could it be Baro calling?
Haha, what a coincidence!
...
It really wasn't that coincidental.
The caller was Sengoku.
Zephyr, slightly disappointed, picked up the Den Den Mushi and asked, "Sengoku, what's up?"
It was quite a coincidence indeed.
Although the caller wasn't Baro, the content of the call was closely related to Baro.
Sengoku's almost roaring voice erupted through the Den Den Mushi.
"Zephyr, your slow-witted disciple is leading his Marine branch to attack Wano Country!"
Zephyr: "..."
Zephyr: "..."
Zephyr: "..."
Zephyr: "Huh?"
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