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Chapter 115: A Young Man Should Learn More
Chapter 115: A Young Man Should Learn More
Roar!
As a thunderous sound echoed across the once cloudless sky, rain began pouring down like arrows.
A torrential downpour!
The raindrops fell like human heads in size, hammering down so hard that the Navy crewmen bent under their weight.
A colossal shadow suddenly emerged over the surrounding seas, as if something had descended from the heavens, covering the entire Grand Line.
A sudden gale swept across the ocean surface, as though trying to resist the inexplicable pressure from the sky above.
“Now this’s a rare storm! The Grand Line’s weather sure knows how to surprise,” Garp chuckled while scratching his head. “Alright, let’s get inside and take shelter.”
Whoosh!
Two streaks of black lightning flashed across the sky, moving so fast they left behind wisps of black trails before striking the warship.
Boom!
A tremor erupted from the deck, scattering nearby Navy crewmen. Two massive Black Guns had buried themselves deep into the wooden planks.
At the same time, a shadow abruptly engulfed the warship.
It was a rock—bigger than the capital ship itself!
“An asteroid?!”
The Navy soldiers stared in disbelief, huddling together in fear as their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
The rock plummeted at breakneck speed, nearly crushing the warship whole. If it landed, no one would escape.
But then, a figure flashed beneath the rock, throwing a punch straight into its core.
Boom!!!
The boulder shattered from the bottom up, fragmenting into countless smaller stones. A rain of rocks mixed with the storm, splashing into the Grand Line’s waters and creating waves of surging foam.
“Puhahaha! Now that was one big rock!” Garp landed on the deck, laughing heartily.
“K-Kuh, Vice Admiral Garp!”
“Ah, our savior! Of course! With Vice Admiral Garp and the Three Admirals here, we’ve got nothing to fear from some stupid rock!”
The crewmen snapped out of their panic, voices rising in excitement.
The Navy officer unlocking Kuro’s Seastone cuffs cheered as well, hastily pulling the key from the lock.
“Hurry up and open these damned things!” Kuro snarled, his face contorted with urgency.
He’d sent so many things flying up there, he couldn’t even recall them all.
When had he even launched this rock? Did he touch it at all?
If the cuffs stayed locked, who knew what else might come crashing down!
“R-Roger that!”
Startled by Kuro’s ferocious expression, the officer scrambled to free him.
The pressure in the sky grew heavier.
The wind howled like a beast roaring, the thunder rumbling louder with each second. The azure expanse darkened, shadows creeping across it like the entire heavens were collapsing.
Admiral Akainu gazed upward, his expression unreadable.
Kuzan scratched his head lazily, while Lucius Kro pursed his lips in mock surprise. “Scary stuff indeed.”
Garp’s laughter faded slightly.
Cranes, the female Admiral, narrowed her eyes. “Something’s up there.”
The gazes of the high-ranking officers grew heavy with unease.
Click!
The Seastone cuffs clattered open.
Kuro clenched his fist.
The shadow vanished. The oppressive pressure lifted.
The monstrous rain ceased instantaneously, as though it had never existed.
The sea calmed, the warship peaceful once more—save for the two Black Guns embedded in the deck, silent witnesses to the recent chaos.
Garp chuckled. “Puhahaha! What weather, huh?”
The Grand Line’s storms were infamous. Sudden downpours like this were common, and while such massive rocks were rare, they weren’t unheard of. The crew had long since learned not to be surprised.
Kuro wiped sweat from his brow. “Man, that was weird. And that asteroid? Nearly scared me to death, hahaha!”
“I remember that one…”
Cranes frowned, glancing between the Black Guns and Kuro’s grinning face.
“Quite surprising,” Lucius Kro mused, stroking his chin as he studied Kuro’s relieved expression.
Kuzan stared at him intently.
Akainu remained still, arms crossed, his face as stern and emotionless as ever.
Kuro stole one last wary glance at the sky. Thank goodness his ability had triggered in time. If everything had crashed down, the warship would’ve been obliterated. Aside from a few bigwigs, there’d be barely a finger’s worth of survivors.
Thankfully, he hadn’t been exposed!
If it had hit, his comfortable life would’ve been Game Over!
Promotions, raises, becoming a Vice Admiral, leading the New World—those dreams could kiss his posterior goodbye.
Except for the raise—that he could live with. The rest? Not so much.
After regrouping, the warship resumed its voyage, reaching the Shabondy Archipelago an hour later.
The Shabondy Archipelago—known as the Island of “Failure” and “New Beginnings.” It was one of the Grand Line’s marvels, composed of seventy-nine colossal trees whose roots formed the land itself, constantly releasing bubbles from the ground.
Each tree bore towns and facilities, collectively forming the archipelago.
In reality, these trees functioned as a single entity, making Shabondy essentially one massive organism—the world’s largest Ark Red Mangrove Tree.
The trees were numbered, dividing the archipelago into regions:
1-29 – The Deep Woods, a lawless zone.
30-39 – The Park District.
40-49 – The Tourist & Commercial Zone.
50-59 – The Shipbuilding & Coating Area.
60-69 – The Navy Base & Government Entrance.
70-79 – The Hotel & Accommodation Zone.
The Navy’s base was stationed in the 66th District.
After docking, the Navy escorted Frank and the pirates into the base, while Kuro’s group proceeded toward their destination: the Holy Land, Mariejois.
The World Nobles’ domain, where outsiders weren’t permitted. Even royalty couldn’t enter unless summoned to the World Meeting.
Besides the resident World Nobles, only the Navy visited regularly.
Mariejois had an entrance on Shabondy. An elevator carried visitors from Shabondy to Mariejois, though it didn’t reach the top of the Red Line. Instead, it stopped midway, requiring a long staircase before the gates of Mariejois came into view.
At Mariejois’s gates, armored guards stood at attention, eyes fixed on the distant staircase. Slowly, the sound of footsteps approached.
One soldier swallowed nervously. “Here they come.”
The footsteps grew louder.
First came Garp, his white teeth flashing as he chewed senbei. Beside him walked Cranes, calm and composed.
Behind them followed the Three Admirals and several Vice Admirals.
Kuro walked among them, side by side with Bogart.
The entire journey, Bogart had been watching him.
From the moment Kuro boarded the ship, this hawk-nosed man had kept glancing his way.
It made Kuro’s scalp prickle.
“What’s with the staring?” Kuro snapped finally.
Bogart’s gaze traced down Kuro’s face to his waist, lingering on the [Huazhou] sword at his side.
“Swordsman?” Bogart asked.
“Family heirloom,” Kuro shook his head. “I prefer unarmed combat.”
“Is that so?” Bogart’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s spar sometime. A young man should learn more things.”
A skilled swordsman could sense another’s aura. Kuro was clearly one, though his youth hinted at inexperience.
But Bogart had a teacher’s heart. If Kuro served directly under Lucius Kro, he must have potential. With a little nurturing, he could become a formidable Navy officer.
(End of Chapter)
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