A continuous run of four major incidents had left the Marine Fleet Admiral, Kong, completely swamped. Just as he managed to resolve those four, a fifth issue immediately arose: the mass production of the Pacifista units.
Kong, Sengoku, and other high-ranking Marines who knew the full details were naturally in full opposition. However, the government's side was surprisingly unyielding, their reply simple and decisive—four words: "No room for discussion."
To cultivate an elite-level Vice Admiral would take at least fifteen, perhaps twenty years, not including the time since their birth.
But if they weren't cultivated, but manufactured instead, Dr. Vegapunk could churn out a massive batch in less than half a year.
Naturally, this was assuming both funding and samples were abundant.
Kong and Sengoku once again felt helpless, left only to let the government and Vegapunk continue their work.
It was two months later that Kong finally managed to carve out a small amount of time. He prepared to go see Zephyr, who was currently on suspension.
But finding the room empty, Kong frowned and asked the Marine guarding the door, "Where did Zephyr go?"
A Marine soldier patrolling the area saluted and replied, "Fleet Admiral, Admrial Zephyr... Zephyr-sensei has gone traveling."
"Traveling? What traveling?" Kong asked, stunned. "You didn't know?"
The patrolling soldier answered curiously, "Zephyr-san left two months ago."
Kong stared blankly for a long moment before quickly returning to the Headquarters building. He coincidentally ran into Tsuru, and walked up to her quickly, asking, "Tsuru, did you know about Zephyr traveling?"
"Yes, I did," Tsuru replied, nodding matter-of-factly. "Then why did nobody tell me?"
"I reported it. I reported it to you the day after he left," Tsuru added. Kong looked as if he had seen a ghost. "I... I don't recall that?"
At this point, a female Marine behind Tsuru said, "W-well, Fleet Admiral, Vice Admiral Tsuru did mention it to you at the time, but you seemed busy reviewing documents and just kept nodding. Maybe... you didn't hear clearly."
Kong blinked, rubbed his aching head for a moment, and then asked, "Did Zephyr say where he was going?"
"Who knows? Even I only found out the day after he left. The first to discover it was Garp, so why don't you go ask him? Or ask the government, their agents are the ones who do this kind of thing anyway," Tsuru suggested.
"Forget it. That Garp will definitely play dumb and feign ignorance even if he does know," Kong gave up on finding Zephyr's whereabouts and returned to his office; the rest of his work was piled up like a mountain.
I just hope Zephyr doesn't do anything reckless.
Unfortunately, it is often the case that the more you wish for something not to happen, the more likely it is to occur.
Zephyr, in his state of suspension and semi-exile, had taken off his uniform over the last two months. Wearing a black vest, completely black Marine pants, and boots, he drifted on a small boat through the first half of the Grand Line.
Without the gravitas of his former position as a Marine Admiral, he looked, from the outside, like a burly, physically fit man—assuming one overlooked the strange markings all over his body.
He occasionally engaged and defeated pirates he happened to encounter. Zephyr was preparing to check on the disciples he had taught, those now serving their duties as Marines across various branches.
However, after visiting several Marine branches, Zephyr remained hidden in the crowd, watching silently. He never revealed himself in his capacity as "Zephyr," nor did he acknowledge his former students.
Yet, he was quite satisfied, as most of the disciples he had mentored were performing remarkably well.
Drifting across the sea again on this day, Zephyr looked at a map, rubbing his head as he murmured to himself, "The closest branch next is... G-2 Branch. That's the base Borsalino manages now, isn't it?"
Borsalino, now one of the Admiral candidates, was the disciple whose ideals had clashed most fiercely with Zephyr's in the past.
But after only two seconds of consideration, Zephyr decided to go and see.
Regardless, he was still his disciple, and Zephyr was very curious to see what kind of place Borsalino was managing.
After days of travel, when Zephyr arrived at the island where the G-2 Branch was located, he witnessed firsthand Borsalino leading a unit to wipe out a pirate crew.
He stopped. He didn't even set foot on the island.
Because Zephyr had personally witnessed a "human" identical to himself unleash astonishing power, instantly killing a pirate crew, a force easily at the Vice Admiral level.
That figure was wearing a Marine cloak, and compared to Zephyr's current appearance, the person next to Borsalino looked even more like "Black Arm" Zephyr.
Zephyr was stunned in the distance for a long time, eventually paddling back the way he came. Meanwhile, the two "Zephyrs" in Marine uniforms walked up to Borsalino, one on each side.
"Mmm Good work, ZP-1 and ZP-3 You're getting better at combat. Given enough time, maybe you'll even master the Marine's Rokushiki."
As Borsalino spoke, he suddenly looked toward the left-front, but seeing the distant sea surface ripple with waves yet empty, he shook his head. "Just an illusion, I suppose~"
And Zephyr, having lost his uniform and his position, looked even more haggard than when he first began traveling. Slumped on the wooden chair of his small boat, he lowered his head listlessly, lost in his thoughts.
It wasn't until the sun set that Zephyr finally spoke a single sentence to himself: "You've been hiding this from me all along..."
Boom!
Just then, the sound of a large ship sailing and cutting through the waves reached Zephyr's ears. He looked up, and indeed, a warship appeared in front of him, a size comparable to the largest Marine Battleship models.
But the symbol on the sail was even more conspicuous: the Alucard Pirates!