"Look! Standing at the front—that's Admiral White Dragon!"
"Ahahahaha... See that! See that! Admiral White Dragon is waving at me!"
"Bastard, no way it's you—it's clearly me he's waving at!"
Kai's warship slowly entered Marine Headquarters' harbor. The massive vessel, like some colossal beast, was even three sizes larger than the Fleet Admiral-class warships docked in port. Yet not a single person thought this violated regulations!
No wonder... this was Admiral White Dragon, after all!!!
Kai stood at the warship's bow, draped in his Justice cloak, waving and saluting the Marines gathered at the shore. When it came to earning reputation points, Kai absolutely wouldn't be stingy about showing off.
In just this short time, Kai had already accumulated nearly one hundred thousand reputation points!
The warship settled into port. Seeing the crushing crowd with nowhere to even step, Kai had no choice but to kick off with Moonwalk, directly stepping through the air as he headed toward the Fleet Admiral's office.
Meanwhile, in the Fleet Admiral's office.
Sengoku, Garp, Tsuru, and the three Admirals had been waiting for quite some time.
"Ahahahaha... Kai, well done!" Garp said loudly while stuffing his face with donuts.
Garp was satisfied beyond words with this junior he'd guided into the Marines. Every time he thought of Kai, even his headaches over his grandson who dreamed day and night of becoming Pirate King seemed to lessen.
"Oh my... Kai, long time no see—you've gotten even more handsome! Wonder how many cute female petty officers you'll charm this time," Kizaru said with his signature sleazy grin. Sure enough, this guy was still an old lecher at heart.
"Hmph!" Akainu only gave a cold snort, offering nothing else.
Toward Kai, he truly didn't know what attitude to take—admiration, jealousy, envy, resentment... it was all mixed together. In the end, he could only express it as a cold snort.
"Over these five years, New World pirates have decreased by fifty percent, and Marine influence has extended into New World nations! Kai, you've done exceptionally well in the New World. Looks like the Fleet Admiral position has a worthy successor!"
Sengoku's summary statement shocked everyone in the office!
Though they'd vaguely suspected it, Sengoku stating it so explicitly meant one thing—Sengoku was already considering retirement!
Barring any surprises, within three years, Kai would definitely become Fleet Admiral!!
Only Tsuru looked at Kai with complex emotions. She knew better than anyone what Sengoku was thinking. Never mind three years—Sengoku's actual plan was to transfer the Fleet Admiral position to Kai within one year!
However, these words couldn't be spoken now. Otherwise, even if the three Admirals agreed, the World Government absolutely wouldn't! One had to understand—in the pirate world, the seas were incredibly vast. Aside from the Red Line, ninety percent was all ocean. The Marines were the World Government's largest armed force. The Fleet Admiral successor selection required layers of World Government filing and screening!
Hearing Sengoku's words, surprise flashed through Kai's eyes. His lips curved slightly, but he said nothing more.
After a moment, seeing everyone had mostly digested his words with no objections, Sengoku nodded with satisfaction.
Objections!?
What a joke—how could there be any? Kai alone could completely dominate all three Admirals. Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji weren't idiots—how could they possibly object? Even if they did, they'd keep it firmly bottled inside.
"Kai, you've worked hard these five years in the New World. The next six months are vacation time. Unless something major happens, Headquarters won't summon you back. Any plans?" Sengoku said in a relaxed tone. The Marines' situation on the seas was excellent—how could Sengoku not feel relaxed?
"Mm... we'll see. It's vacation anyway—anywhere's the same," Kai said indifferently.
At this moment, Garp suddenly interjected: "Perfect timing then, Kai! Go to Windmill Village for me and teach that brat Luffy a lesson. Stop him from thinking about becoming Pirate King all day—it's all that bastard Shanks' fault!" By the end, Garp was practically grinding his teeth.
In Garp's view, if Shanks hadn't constantly influenced young Luffy, Luffy definitely wouldn't have a head full of Pirate King dreams now. He might've even become an excellent Marine like Kai.
"Sure thing, old man," Kai replied.
However, Garp didn't notice the mysterious smile curving Kai's lips.
If Luffy didn't set sail, could the One Piece world still be called One Piece? Luffy was destined to become Pirate King—this was the great momentum of the world's origin that no one could stop!
As for agreeing with Garp—Kai indicated he'd only agreed to teach Luffy a lesson on Garp's behalf.
As for anything else... that was up to fate.
East Blue, the Weakest Sea.
Weakness, in a certain sense, represented "fearlessness." Of course, this "fearlessness" could also be understood as pitiable stupidity!
Those who viewed the sky from the bottom of a well would forever only see a palm-sized area, yet still believe that was everything.
So what left Kai even more helpless: In East Blue, groups of pirates with bounties of only tens of millions of berries actually dared to actively attack his warship. They were simply fame-crazed.
After casually dealing with several such pirate crews, Kai once again returned to Windmill Village.
This year was Sea Circle Calendar 1520.
Luffy was seventeen—the year Luffy was about to set sail!
After ten years!
The two were about to meet again in Windmill Village!
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