After getting a good scolding from Kairo D. Arashi, Stork and the others fell silent!
Of course, they understood the reasoning. They weren't ungrateful people, and they respected Garp as if he were their own father! The reason they'd suggested following Kairo D. Arashi was simply because they knew Garp also liked and valued him immensely.
However, after Kairo D. Arashi's lecture, they still felt that something was off and all fell silent!
Just then.
At a table nearby, seven or eight Marine soldiers were gathered together, occasionally casting sidelong glances toward Kairo D. Arashi.
After staring for a while, one of the soldiers suddenly widened his eyes and said urgently, "That guy… isn't he the man who took one of Kaido's attacks last night?!"
"It's him. I recognized him a long time ago!"
"Who exactly is he? I think I just heard Stork and the others calling him… Holy crap, could he be that traveler, Kairo D. Arashi?"
"Don't you guys know that the Marine cleanup in the East Blue happened because of this traveler? Now that he's come to Marine Headquarters, I have a feeling something bad is about to happen!"
"Could Marine Headquarters be getting reorganized too?"
"That's bad. I'm starting to worry about our Vice Admiral!"
"Shh, keep your voice down. Are you trying to get the Vice Admiral killed?"
Although their voices were very low, Stork and the others, who had fallen silent, still heard them. When they heard the line, "Are you trying to get the Vice Admiral killed?", Stork couldn't help laughing!
As the person in charge of the Marine cleanup in the East Blue, Stork naturally knew that Marine Headquarters also had quite a bit of corruption. However, because this was Headquarters and he was merely a Colonel, he had no right to speak up, so he had always pretended not to know.
But after hearing the conversation from the neighboring table, an idea suddenly struck him. He leaned toward Kairo D. Arashi and lowered his voice. "Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, it seems quite a few people here at Marine Headquarters are a little wary of you!"
"Ignore them."
Kairo D. Arashi turned his head toward the cafeteria counter. Seeing that Tashigi was still waiting in line, he frowned slightly and continued, "Don't just stand around talking. Hurry up and go help Little Kiki!"
"Ah, I almost forgot about that. Brothers, let's go!"
Just as Stork stood up, Vice Admiral Chaton, who had been sitting with John Giant not far away, also quickly rose to his feet. He magically produced a bouquet of roses from behind his back, then leaped onto the dining table and shouted, "Brothers, could everyone please quiet down for a moment?"
The noisy cafeteria gradually fell silent after Chaton's voice rang out!
But only a moment later, some Marines who loved watching a good show jumped out and shouted at Chaton, "Chaton, are you going to confess to Gion again? Hahaha! Speaking of which, how many times has this been now?"
"Bastille, knock it off."
Chaton glared at the Marine officer who had spoken, then shouted loudly, "Today is my hundredth confession to Gion. I hope all my brothers will cooperate! If I succeed tonight, I'll treat every colleague here to a night out on Bar Street. How about it?!"
"Vice Admiral Chaton, you can do it!"
"Good luck, Vice Admiral Chaton!"
"I believe in you, Chaton!"
Cheers and encouragement rang out from every direction, instantly pushing the atmosphere in the cafeteria to its peak.
Stork, standing beside Kairo D. Arashi, wasn't about to sit idle either. He leaped onto the dining table and shouted, "Hahahaha! Anyone want to place a bet?! The odds for Vice Admiral Chaton failing his confession are 1-to-1, while the odds for him succeeding are 1-to-100! I'm running the betting pool today! Anyone who wants to bet, hurry up!"
"Damn it, Stork, why the hell are you jumping in to join the fun? And you're running the betting pool? Can you even afford to pay the winnings?"
"Yeah! With that little salary of yours, can you afford the payouts?"
"What is going on at Marine Headquarters? A Colonel is actually organizing a gambling ring! Stork, you've really got some nerve!"
Hearing the constant heckling, Stork immediately frowned. Then he suddenly lunged at the Marine officer who had accused him of organizing gambling, slammed him to the ground, and started raining punches down on him.
After a few punches knocked the man senseless, Stork briskly got back to his feet and snarled, "Who the hell do you think you are, daring to lecture me like that?!"
Seeing Stork's explosive temper and his willingness to throw punches at the slightest provocation, Kairo D. Arashi, sitting in the corner against the wall, instantly developed a headache.
Sure enough, wherever you went, a bear's cubs followed its nature. Garp was a hard-headed man, and naturally his subordinates were just as fierce!
Indeed, although there were quite a few Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals in the cafeteria, once they saw that the troublemaker was Stork, the Vice Admirals, just like Kairo D. Arashi, could only put a hand to their foreheads and shake their heads with helpless sighs.
The Rear Admirals, meanwhile, simply kept their eyes down and pretended not to see anything. As for the Commodores and Colonels, there was no need to mention them. Every single one of them adopted the attitude of keeping their distance from anything that didn't concern them.
In an instant, the entire cafeteria fell completely silent. Everyone, including Chaton, turned their eyes toward Stork!
Of course, the Vice Admirals weren't saying anything entirely because they were giving Garp face. Besides, Stork hadn't caused that much trouble. He'd merely beaten the other man up rather badly, and such things happened frequently at Marine Headquarters. It was nothing unusual!
As for the Rear Admirals and Commodores who didn't dare speak up, one reason was that Stork was one of Garp's favored subordinates and had earned considerable merit during the East Blue cleanup. Another was that Stork's current strength was already completely comparable to that of a Rear Admiral, and he was even stronger than many Rear Admirals.
The reason he hadn't been promoted was probably because, somehow, this guy had been infected by the "former" problem child Smoker. Every time he returned from a mission, he managed to cause no fewer than ten dramatic incidents.
There were plenty of problem children at Marine Headquarters, but the two who gave everyone the biggest headaches were Smoker, who had already been transferred away, and the Stork standing right in front of them!
Seeing everyone fall silent and stare at him, Stork once again jumped onto the dining table. He gave Vice Admiral Chaton a slight bow and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Vice Admiral Chaton, I merely wanted to add a little fun to your confession today. I had no intention of causing trouble! So please don't blame me, Vice Admiral!"
Hearing this, the corner of Chaton's mouth twitched violently!
Damn it, "don't blame you"?!
If this guy weren't Garp's subordinate, Chaton would have loved nothing more than to kick this disrespectful Colonel straight out of the cafeteria! But he could only think about it. Garp was notorious throughout the Marines for protecting his own.
Garp's subordinates had always been people he alone was allowed to beat up. Anyone else who laid a hand on his men would definitely get a taste of his Iron Fist.
Of course, if today weren't the day of his hundredth confession, Chaton wouldn't have bothered with any of this. After all, among all the Vice Admirals, he was famous for having a mild temper and was a typical member of the moderate faction!
Most importantly, Momousagi, wearing her Marine Vice Admiral's coat, had just walked through the cafeteria doors!
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