Gull Island.
Nao and Gion had been strolling around the outskirts of the 329th Marine Branch base for quite a while. It wasn't until the sky turned dark and snow began to fall that they started making their way back.
The cold wind howled, and snowflakes began to drift from the sky again.
"It's so cold,"
The little rabbit rubbed her hands together, blowing warm air into her palms. Glancing sideways, she spotted the exposed skin on Nao's neck, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. Suddenly, she slipped both hands into his uniform from the collar behind his neck.
"…"
Nao jolted as the icy chill shot down his back. He turned his head, speechless, and gave Gion a long look. "That's cold, Rear Admiral. If you want to warm your hands, fine—but do you have to do it through my neck?"
"Well, you're shorter than me."
Gion gave a proud little huff. "Your neck's the closest thing to my hands, and it doesn't even get in the way when we walk. I think it's perfect."
Nao instantly fell silent.
"...Rear Admiral, it was just my neck that felt cold a second ago. Now, thanks to you, my whole heart is frozen."
"Then hurry up and grow taller, kid."
Damn it!
Was he really still not tall enough?!
He was already pushing 2.6 meters now—barely shorter than her! Just give it six more months. By then, he'd hit three meters easy. And when that happened, he'd like to see who dared tease him about height again!
...
When they returned to the base, the Marines of the West Blue First Branch were helping their comrades from Branch 329 repair the fortress walls. The entire area was bustling with activity, looking like a massive construction site.
Sadaharu seemed to have been napping on the warship for too long and was bored out of his mind. He even took on the role of a porter, effortlessly carrying two to three hundred kilograms of bricks at a time.
This drew astonished praises from the surrounding Marines, marveling at the enormous dog's incredible strength.
"Want to go get dinner?" Nao shook his head with a smile, looking back at Gion.
With his pet doing the heavy lifting, he was too lazy to personally participate in the repair work. He wasn't Garp, after all; he was truly clueless about such matters.
"Let's go."
Gion finally deigned to withdraw her hands from behind Nao's neck. Her rabbit paws were now warm and toasty. She stretched lazily:
"Though I'm not really hungry yet, hmm… it feels good to have someone else do the work instead of me."
"Then let's split the work from now on," Nao shrugged. "From now on, you'll handle internal affairs, and I'll handle external matters. All the administrative chores and miscellaneous tasks will be yours to deal with, and the laborious task of hunting down pirates will be my responsibility."
Gion looked at him with a half-smile.
"Oh, really? And then all the credit will go to you, and within a year, you'll officially climb above me, no longer needing to worry about my approval?"
"…Damn, you saw right through me. As expected of a Rear Admiral!"
The two joked as they walked towards the mess hall. Just as they rounded a corner, a young Marine rushed around, unexpectedly colliding straight into Nao.
Thump!
The young Marine felt as if he had hit a steel plate. His face ached intensely, and he fell to the ground, clutching his swollen nose, tears almost flowing. Yet, his first instinct was to apologize.
"I'm sorry! I was running too fast, I didn't notice… Huh?!"
Mid-sentence, he looked up and clearly saw Nao's face, unable to help but show surprise and delight. "Mr. Nao! How… how could it be you!"
"Long time no see, T-Bone."
Looking at the familiar young rascal before him, Nao was slightly startled, then offered an apologetic smile, extending a hand to pull him up. "I should be the one saying sorry. Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine, sir!"
T-Bone straightened up, brushed the dust off his uniform, his face brimming with uncontainable joy and excitement:
"You don't know how desperate we were when we were surrounded by pirates before. And how surprised I was when you came to our rescue and I recognized you…"
"After the battle ended just now, I wanted to come see you, but I looked everywhere and couldn't find you. I asked the First Branch's officers, and they said you had gone out and didn't know when you'd be back. I never expected to run into you here…"
He chattered on for a long time, and Nao, not at all annoyed, listened with a smile.
It wasn't until T-Bone saw Gion looking at him with curiosity that he suddenly reacted, snapping to attention and giving them both a salute:
"My apologies, Rear Admiral Gion. I… I was too excited, I didn't notice…"
"It's alright, I'll forgive you on her behalf," Nao said, smiling as he patted T-Bone's shoulder, feeling pleased. "It's been half a year, T-Bone. You've grown a lot."
"Who's this kid?"
Gion asked from the side.
"That's T-Bone. He's the one who took me by boat through the night when I was late for my practical assessment," Nao shrugged, teasing, "Back then, this kid was so shy and timid. Now look at him, so confident and bright, almost a chatterbox…"
"Hehe, I feel it myself, I've changed quite a bit," T-Bone scratched his head sheepishly. "It's all thanks to your encouragement back then, Rear Admiral."
"I don't have that much power; it's all thanks to you."
Nao chuckled and shook his head, glancing at T-Bone's epaulet, a little surprised. "Promoting pretty fast, aren't you? Already a Lieutenant?"
Although the rank value in the Four Seas branches couldn't compare to Headquarters, he remembered that half a year ago, T-Bone was just a regular marine, not even a Sergeant.
This promotion speed was almost catching up to his own.
"I participated in a few battles, earned some merit…"
T-Bone scratched his head with a simple grin, then suddenly, as if remembering something, he was about to speak but hesitated when he saw people coming and going around them:
"Rear Admiral, there's something I want to tell you, but it's not very convenient here…"
Nao saw his hesitant expression and his heart stirred.
"Follow me."
He gestured to Gion with his eyes. She understood and left ahead of them to wait in the mess hall.
Nao then led T-Bone out of the base gate and to a secluded, uninhabited reef by the sea.
"Go on, what do you want to tell me?" he asked softly.
"It's about Captain Bakko, sir," T-Bone said. "You must know that in the past half-year, he's earned a lot of battle merits, even personally defeating several pirates with bounties of thirty or forty million Berries, right?"
"Yes, Gion told me," Nao nodded slightly. "Headquarters has already approved his promotion. Before long, he'll be promoted three ranks…"
"Three ranks?! His battle records are definitely suspicious, sir!" T-Bone exclaimed, appalled. "You absolutely cannot let him get promoted like this!"
"So there really is something suspicious…"
Nao's brow furrowed slightly. He had been suspicious before and wasn't too surprised now. He stared into the young man's eyes and asked:
"Did you see something, T-Bone?"
"I didn't see it firsthand, but sir, I've followed Bakko on a few pursuit missions, and there are just too many questionable points!"
T-Bone continued, "In the battles I participated in, every time we were close to the location, he would go ahead first, alone in a speedboat. By the time we caught up, the battle was already over."
"Everyone else thought Bakko was bravely leading the charge and admired him greatly, but I was the only one who felt something was off. He never had that kind of courage before! And none of the pirate leaders he defeated were ever taken alive. It's too strange, sir!"
"Also,"
T-Bone racked his brain, recalling. "One time, it was around noon, and my room was hot, so I went up to the watchtower to nap. I woke up and saw him at the back of the ship, talking to someone on a Transponder Snail. That Transponder Snail was encrypted; I'd never seen him use one before…"
"Encrypted Transponder Snail?"
Nao narrowed his eyes and sneered. "Small branches in the Four Seas don't usually have those. Even if there's military intelligence to report to a superior, they wouldn't use that kind of Transponder Snail… Did you hear anything at the time?"
"No, sir. He was whispering directly into the receiver. I couldn't make out a thing."
Is that so.
So, there's still no concrete evidence.
Nao stroked his chin, then shook his head. The information T-Bone provided was important; it corroborated his suspicions. As for evidence, did he even need it?
He opened his system inventory and looked at the "Lying Mist" inside, falling into thought.
If Bakko was faking his achievements, should he just go confront him right now and use the mist to force the truth out of him?
…No, too hasty.
It could easily alert the enemy, and there's also a slight possibility that he misunderstood Bakko, which would be awkward.
He deliberated for a while and came up with a more stable plan.
"Keep a close eye on him, T-Bone. It's pretty much confirmed that this guy is problematic."
Nao handed over a secure contact number and instructed T-Bone to alert him the next time Bako set out on a pirate hunt.
Now wasn't the time to question him.
He wanted to catch Bakko red-handed—evidence in hand, nowhere to run.
...
That night.
After dinner, the West Blue First Branch warship, amidst farewells from the Branch 329 personnel, left the pier and set sail back to its home base.
With most of the senior officers and ships deployed, the base was understaffed. Now that the battle had been won, there was no reason to linger.
Nao went directly to Gion's room and, without holding anything back, told her everything: his suspicions about Captain Bakko, the information T-Bone provided, and his plan for dealing with it.
"Getting cautious now, aren't we, boy?"
The little rabbit leaned lazily against the headboard, smiling. "I thought, given your style, you'd directly confront him on the spot, drag Bakko out, and interrogate him until he spilled everything."
"Mainly, I'm a bit curious. I want to see firsthand how he's doing it."
Nao spread his hands, nonchalantly. "Anyway, the First Branch isn't far from here. No matter what happens, I can get to the scene within a day."
"And then it'll be your time to shine again?"
Gion gave him a side-eye. "You hogged all the glory today. All the prestige I worked so hard to build up for a month, you completely overshadowed it in one go. Tell me, how should I settle accounts with you?"
Nao naturally understood what she meant.
He sighed mournfully, leaned back, and lay down on Gion's rounded, slender, pale thighs.
"However you want to, Rear Admiral."
The next morning.
Nao left the room feeling refreshed. After a quick breakfast, he headed straight for the training room.
There were still several hours until they reached the base, and he didn't want to waste this precious morning training time.
Even though he had already worked hard and "trained" all night without closing his eyes.
Upon entering the training room, Nao first opened his system panel, checking his latest basic attributes after a long time:
[Name: Natsuya Nao]
[Age: 19]
[Strength: 27 (200,000 points/level)]
[Agility: 26 (+2) (100,000 points/level)]
[Stamina: 27 (200,000 points/level)]
[Intelligence: 10 (200,000 points/level)]
[Charm: 16 (500,000 points/level)]
[Current Points: 361,200]
[Standard Skills]: Dual Blade Swordsmanship (Intermediate), Rokushiki (Intermediate), Firearms Proficiency (Advanced), Close-Quarters Combat (Advanced), Self-Discipline (Master), Armament Haki (Intermediate), Observation Haki (Beginner), Painting (Advanced), Fishing (Master)
[Innate Skills]: Radiant Smile, Thick Skin (Intermediate), Iron Head (Intermediate), Limb Regeneration, Amphibious Breathing
[Equipped]: Boots of Lightness, Thornmail Armor
Strength and Stamina had each increased by one point during this period.
His hard work had not been in vain.
He had also accumulated points for a long time without using them. Nao thought for a moment and spent 100,000 points directly on the "+" symbol next to the Agility attribute, raising Agility to 27 points.
The points required for adding attributes had also doubled, reaching an exaggerated 200,000 points per point.
He'd learned to always save enough in case something rare popped up in the shop. Never good to be caught broke.
"Hmm?"
Just as he was about to close the panel and start his training, a new message blinked in his system log:
[New Side Quest "Saving the Girl" has been triggered. Please check the Quest Log.]
Another new side quest?
Nao perked up instantly. His last one—that marriage thing—was way too long-term.
If he wanted to rack up points fast, this was more like it.
He opened the quest tab.
[Side Quest Name: Saving the Girl]
[Undoubtedly, in this world where pirates run rampant and Celestial Dragons reign supreme, too many ordinary people suffer unimaginable hardships. Perhaps you cannot save everyone for now, but you can always do your part.]
[Quest Content: Save three important female characters who appeared in the original story, and make them develop a filial or fraternal attachment to you.]
[Saving one girl will be considered completing one stage, earning the quest reward for that stage.]
[Upon completion of the third stage, you will receive additional massive rewards.]
[Quest Base Rewards: 200,000 points per stage, Random Attribute Point * 1]
[Bonus Rewards: Upon completion of the third stage, you will additionally receive 300,000 points, Random Attribute Point 3, S-Rank Gift Box 1]
PS: Some readers have raised questions, so I'll explain here.
In the original manga, Robin's aunt and her family were out on a trip for her eight-year-old cousin's birthday during the Buster Call and were not in Ohara, thus surviving. However, Oda did not explain what happened to them afterward.
The fact that "Robin has relatives" is not a setting I arbitrarily added. Please be aware of this.