"Excuse me, both of you."
He raised his head and laughed heartily:
"I wonder how long you two will stay in Beihai?"
Gion said calmly:
"It could be as long as six months or as short as three months, depending on the review time."
"Colonel Darren, for the sake of confidentiality, during this review, the identities of Major Kake and I as members of the review team will be kept secret throughout the entire process. We will all say that I am your adjutant."
Darren laughed:
"No problem, Gion. Please give me your guidance in the future."
The Naval Academy in this timeline is not as large as that of later generations. It takes the form of a "training camp", selecting and training elite personnel from the Grand Line and the four seas branches, rather than directly training recruits.
Therefore, the selection criteria for officer training camps are very strict, and a review system came into being.
As long as you pass the review, you will be selected and go to the headquarters to join the officer training camp, where you will be trained by former Navy Admiral Zephyr Kurobuta, learn the Six Styles of the Navy and even Haki, and become a true strong man!
Finally, with this resume, he can accumulate enough political resources to soar into the navy system!
Darren then turned to Kaji and handed him a cigar.
"Well, please give me your guidance, Kake."
Kaji took a look at the gold-plated special cigar. Even in the headquarters, he had never smoked such good stuff. For a moment, he felt that the tobacco in his mouth was tasteless.
"Um... Gion..."
He looked towards Gion eagerly.
Gion rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Pump, pump…"
"Okay."
Kaji took the cigar with a delighted look on his face, lit it up impatiently, and began to smoke it with relish in the style of Yu Qian.
At this time, Gion suddenly asked in a cold voice:
"So Colonel Darren, you still owe us an explanation for what happened just now."
"Even if Lady Margaret is willing, your actions will have a bad impact on the reputation and morale of the navy..."
"And considering that Madam Margaret is the wife of the Governor of the Kingdom of Yadis, your actions may also cause a serious diplomatic incident."
When Kaji heard this, he pricked up his ears and stared at Darren as if he was watching a good show.
Humph, let me see how you explain it.
He had known Gion for many years and naturally knew the latter's character very well.
Under the influence of Chief of Staff Tsuru's "pure justice", Gion cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes.
You kid, you are so proud!
And such a good cigar!
Well, to be honest, this cigar is really tasty...
"Gion, this question doesn't need to be explained, right? Isn't this very reasonable?"
Darren had an "innocent" look on his face.
"I am caring about the people...military-civilian cooperation."
"Cough cough cough…"
Kaji, who was smoking a cigar happily, almost choked to death and his face turned red.
He looked up and gaped at Darren.
Care about the people?
Military and civil-military cooperation?
this...
this...
This... actually seems to make some sense! ?
Why didn't I think of such a perfect excuse before? No, no, a reason!
Chapter 4 I'm Actually a Good Marine
"Darren!!!"
Gion stared at the new admiral of the North Sea, who was sitting with his legs crossed and looking frivolous, with such fury that he almost bit his teeth off, his towering chest heaving violently with rage.
Before coming to Beihai, she had more or less heard all kinds of bad rumors about this man.
He is lustful, depraved, corrupt, abuses his power, leads a decadent life, is nepotistic, and has intricate ties and connections with the political and business circles in Beihai, as well as the mafia and underground forces.
And she had also made some mental preparations in advance.
But she couldn't imagine that a navy that was supposed to be "just" could be corrupted to such an extent!
That kind of vulgar, indecent and obscene thing turned into "caring for the people" and "military-civilian cooperation" in Darren's mouth! ?
Gion has almost begun to be unable to look directly at these two words, which should have been beautiful and joyful.
"Where is your concept of justice!? Are you worthy of the navy cape behind you by doing this? Does military discipline mean nothing to you!?"
She angrily pressed the key three times in a row.
"If you do this, it will not only affect your personal image, but will also bring shame to the entire navy!"
As if to prove her point, she turned to Kake and confirmed:
"Am I right, Kake?"
"...I never expected that caring for the people could be this caring. What a genius...Ah, Gion, you're right!"
Kaji, who was still mumbling absentmindedly, suddenly shuddered, his wandering eyes immediately became "righteous", and he slammed the table angrily and stared at Darren:
"That's right, Darren, you are a disgrace to the Navy!"
Darren glanced at him with a half-smile.
"So you don't want to, Major Kaji?"
"Of course I do... No, I mean, of course I care about the people!"
Kaji stiffened his neck and his face turned red.
Darren smiled, exhaled a dragon-like smoke from his mouth, and his eyes fell on Gion's angry face again, and he said slowly:
"This is something that we both want. Lady Margaret is very happy, and I am very happy too. It's a win-win situation."
Win-win situation!
Gion simply could not accept this "distorted logic" and gnashed his teeth and said:
"But the Governor of the Kingdom of Yadis will definitely not be happy! If he finds out about this, what kind of political impact will it cause!?"
"——Who says Lord Governor Tyrell wouldn't be happy? Darren suddenly said with a smile.
Gion was stunned, then seemed to realize something and stood there.
Kaji also opened his mouth, looking confused.
At the same time, an incredible thought came to their minds...
Could it be... Could it be...
Darren flicked the ash from his cigarette and continued:
"Besides, this kind of thing is not a big deal. I won't try to hide it. Since you know about it, the headquarters will also know about it..."
"But why has no one from our headquarters ever impeached me? And General Sengoku has never held me accountable? Perhaps you have ever thought about this question?"
He stood up slowly, placed his large palms on the conference table, and leaned forward slightly, looking extremely aggressive.
A faint domineering, arrogant and cold aura gradually emanated from his body.
Seeing the smile on Darren's face gradually fading, Gion and Kake suddenly felt a chill in their hearts for some reason.
Darren looked down at the two "second generation" from the headquarters in front of him and said lightly:
"Because I can do things."
"You say that I affect the image of the navy. Then you can tell me about the admirals from the headquarters, Marinford. Do they have a good image?"
After hearing this, Gion and Kake were speechless.
They thought of Vice Admiral Garp, who picked his nose and slept late.
I remembered the mysterious "Big Senbei" Sengoku general who talked to goats.
I also remembered two "monsters" of the younger generation, Sakaski and Borsalino.
One who uses the most brutal means to deal with pirates, and even harms civilians in order to complete his mission;
A person who is always acting weird and says "how scary" when seeing everything...
Thinking about it this way, they suddenly realized that the image of the navy... wasn't very good?
No, that's not right!
Gion suddenly realized that he couldn't let this guy get around him like this.
But just as she was about to speak, Darren interrupted her with a wave of his hand.
"That's all, you two. My training time is up. If you are interested, you can come over. I'll be waiting for you on the training ground."
"If you two have any opinions on the way I do things, I would be happy to have a discussion with two elites from the headquarters."
He put out his cigar, then threw a brand new box of cigars to Kaji and strode out of the base commander's office.
As Darren stepped out of the office door, he paused.
"Oh, yes, there is one more thing I forgot to say."
He turned his head and said with a smile:
"Although I smoke, drink, am greedy for money, lustful, like to kill, and have a strong desire for power, I think I am a good sailor."
"Compared to those people who have noble character but are mediocre and have no talent, I am much better."
He waved with a big smile on his face.
After saying that, he walked out of the office and the door slowly closed.
Gion and Kake sat there in a daze. It was only after a while that Gion suddenly came back to his senses.
"That bastard! I don't believe in such nonsense!"
She gritted her teeth, took out the military Den Den Mushi, and dialed the headquarters' signal.
"Gion, what are you doing..."
Kaji asked curiously as he hid the box of cigars.
"I want to report Darren's problem to headquarters!"
Gion stared at the Den Den Mushi that kept ringing "Bulu Bulu".
Soon, the Den Den Mushi communication was connected.
"Brue!"
"Hahahaha, Gion-chan, have you reached the North Sea? How's the environment over there?"
A hearty laugh was heard, and the Den Den Mushi vividly imitated the appearance of Admiral Sengoku of the Navy Headquarters, wearing a seagull hat and round black-framed glasses.
"Reporting to General Sengoku, I have arrived at Branch 321."
Gion said in a serious tone:
"But in the process of carrying out the review mission, I discovered that Colonel Darren's personal style is extremely serious and enough to affect the image of the Navy and even cause political disputes!"