As they entered the jungle, the contrast between the nervous recruits and calm, shrewd veterans was stark. Some teams may have stronger veterans, but the veterans could confidently say that on the battlefield, they can fight ten of these inexperienced soldiers.
This is the difference between the elite and newbies.
In the room, Zephyr heard the commotion outside and stood up after a long silence. He said, “Use your Observation Haki (Kenbunshoku Haki) to monitor the battlefield and be ready to support at any time. Since your justice is never late, let’s instill it in these young soldiers.”
“Stick to what you want, don’t dare to ask for it,” Rowen spoke a Chinese proverb in reply.
Zephyr didn’t understand the Chinese language but it didn’t matter, the expression on Rowen’s face made it clear that he knew what to do.
After speaking, Zephyr walked out of the room, followed by Shuzo and Ain, and made his way toward the town.
They didn’t have Rowen’s Blink skill and the distance from the beach to the forest was still quite far so it would take them more than ten minutes to run there.
He may have spoken harsh words to the recruits about “no one protecting them”, but in reality, Zephyr and every instructor care deeply about their lives and safety.
This is what makes Zephyr a qualified and responsible Sensei.
…
The weather on the Grand Line is highly unpredictable, with sunny conditions changing to a raging rainstorm within a few minutes, it was like a moody and nervous patient.
Dante sat in the command room of the Qilin, facing the bow of the ship, with his fingers resting on the hilt of his sword and a silent look in his eyes.
He doesn’t need to make a move as ordinary soldiers are enough to deal with this weather change. However, he was somber because he had an ominous premonition in his heart.
It seems that something big is about to happen, but he doesn’t know what it is.
This made Dante very anxious. As the highest-ranking officer of the ship and the pillar of the soldiers’ hearts, this kind of emotion is not suitable to be shown in front of the soldiers, so Dante can only keep silent and keep everything in his heart, his face as calm as an abyss.
Not long after, with the sun setting, the Qilin emerged from the Tempest area. The exhausted soldiers were lying on the deck in disarray, they looked like dehydrated fish, panting with their mouths wide open.
“Lieutenant Commander Dante, a ship has been spotted ahead!” A messenger suddenly came toward Dante and spoke.
“Alright?” Dante suddenly clenched his weapon tightly, his eyes flashing with killing intent: “Who is it?”
“It’s a Battleship!” The messenger answered truthfully and then added strangely: “But it’s strange, the verification message we sent through the Den Den Mushi was ignored and the other party hadn’t replied to anything. And…”
“And what?!”
“Also… the other party’s ship has turned off its flames, and its sails haven’t been pulled out, so it’s completely drifting on the sea.”
In the treacherous sea of the Grand Line, there can only be three reasons for a ship to drift with the tide. Firstly, either the ship had malfunctioned. Secondly, the crew on the ship are crazy. Or thirdly, something bad had happened!
“This is definitely not right!”
Dante could see the Battleship in the distance with his naked eyes at this time and frowned slightly before he gave out a command. “Notify everyone to prepare for battle! Tell the sailing team to slow down on approach! Notify the small boat team to go check the situation first! The rest must prepare for cannon fire!”
“Hai (yes)!”
Ugh! Ugh!
With the sound of the emergency horn, the soldiers who were exhausted quickly climbed up from the deck. The officers of each team hurried to the deck, using their loudest voices, to arrange the mission for each team.
Huā Lā La!
The sea was crashing into white waves, and small boats were sent out from the rear cabin of the War Behemoth. Soldiers took their weapons and slowly approached the distant Battleship.
This was a new Battleship that had only been in service for three years!
As they got closer, the veterans immediately recognized the origin of the Battleship. They slowed down and moved closer to the hull, hooked the steel guardrail with claws, and a group of pioneers climbed along the rope.
Hiss!
Once on the deck, the soldiers were immediately shocked by the scene in front of them.
People, there were people on the deck!
All of them were marine soldiers lying here and there. Some of them were familiar, which indicated that they were from Marine Headquarters and they probably met somewhere.
“Search separately to see if there are any living people!”
“Sir, these people are not dead, they just fainted!”
“Have passed out?!” The leader of this small band of the team was taken aback. How in the seven hell had hundred soldiers fainted?
Why?
“Hey…”
At this time, a faint call sounded, and the startled soldiers raised their weapons to aim at the direction of the sound without saying a word, and then they discovered that the sound came from a Marine bleeding from his forehead.
“You, you, follow me… The rest of you stay put and stay alert!” The commander of this small team quickly arranged the mission and brought two soldiers forward. They first checked the surroundings very skillfully and walked over after making sure that there were no explosives, aiming their guns at the opponent’s forehead.
“Soldier, tell me your unit number and ID sequence!”
A seasoned soldier would not be deceived by a suit of clothes. If the “corpses” on the deck hadn’t moved at all, they wouldn’t have approached rashly, let alone come over.
But the team commanders were very confused. The people in front of him had no physical injuries at all. What made them all pass out?
“%&…￥%#￥”
The awakened soldier was a little excited, but his weak body made it difficult for him to move. He quickly reported his unit number and soldier registration number, he said anxiously.
“Quick… notify the Fleet Admiral!”
“Yonko (Four Emperors) Akagami (Red Hair)… appeared in the First Half…”
“‘Fire Fist’ Ace was saved by him!”
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