After Rouge moved into Garp's house at Marine Headquarters, Michael hired two experienced midwives to assist with the birth.
With that, Rouge's situation was completely settled.
That's right—Michael had pulled off the final step of hiding in plain sight:
"The most dangerous place is the safest place!"
Who the hell would ever guess that the Pirate King's widow was living at Marine Headquarters!?
Even novels wouldn't dare come up with something this wild!
Most importantly, in the environment of Marine Headquarters, Ace would be completely free from all sorts of outside influences and wouldn't grow up idolizing pirates.
Two birds with one stone!
A perfect win-win!
After all, in Michael's plans, Ace was no less important than the four major recruitment regions—maybe even more so!
But this was just the beginning of the plan. The results wouldn't show up immediately.
Meanwhile, back at the Sabaody Archipelago, the Great Pirate Era had just begun, and it was the busiest time imaginable.
The purge plan Michael had envisioned for the Sabaody Archipelago wasn't feasible right now.
As a result, Michael suddenly found himself... with nothing to do.
Emptiness! Total, soul-crushing emptiness!
And during this stretch of free time...
He might as well improve his strength.
Michael hadn't forgotten that old man Garp had mentioned taking him and Stella out to sea for some training!
So, after settling Rouge in, Michael went to find Stella.
After some time apart, Stella's gaze had become noticeably sharper, her naval presence now overpowering her former singer's grace.
Her blonde hair had grown longer, cascading over her shoulders.
"Yo, Stella. How have you been lately?"
"Aside from being a bit tired... not bad."
Stella smiled softly. Though Michael hadn't been by her side recently, her days had been equally fulfilling.
When the Golden Lion attacked, she used her powers to transfer people to safety, and the incident had been reported directly to Admiral Sengoku.
She was the fourth Logia-type Devil Fruit user discovered within the Marines!
And one from the new generation!
Sengoku took this very seriously.
So he personally oversaw a full set of training and evaluations for Stella.
Two days ago, she was officially given a rank.
Starting directly at Lieutenant Commander, and placed under Michael's command.
To show off, Stella did a little spin, the "Justice" cloak that only officers and above could wear draping over her well-proportioned figure, radiating both strength and charm.
Her golden hair seemed to dance.
The ends of it mischievously brushed against Michael's nose.
Suppressing the sudden flutter in his heart, Michael told Stella about Garp's plan to take them out to sea for training.
"Sounds great. With Vice Admiral Garp's guidance, we're sure to become much stronger."
As expected, Stella agreed without hesitation.
Michael smiled knowingly.
Stella had just started gaining power. Since she started from a low baseline, any training would yield noticeable results. It was the best phase for receiving constant positive reinforcement.
Also known as...
Addiction.
Michael had gone through the same thing during his first few years after reincarnating in this world.
He'd even gotten a bit cocky back then, thinking he was destined to be the main character or something...
Looking back now... it was hilarious.
Straight-up full-blown chuunibyou.
But thankfully, he'd moved past that stage long ago.
He figured that once Stella's strength continued to grow and she reached a plateau, that addictive zeal for training would fade.
"Alright, since you're on board, let's go find Garp."
Michael nodded, took Stella's hand, and headed toward Sengoku's office.
He didn't even need to think—Garp was definitely slacking off in Sengoku's office right now.
Sure enough, when Michael arrived, Garp was just stuffing the last spicy rice cracker into his enormous mouth.
"Hey, old man—remember saying you'd take us out to sea to train?"
"...The hell, you guys that eager?" Garp blinked, then suddenly cursed. "I'm telling you now—I'm very strict!"
"No shit. If we're gonna get a teacher, it better be a strict one! We're doing this to get stronger!"
Michael rolled his eyes.
As long as Garp didn't train them the same crazy way he did Ace and Luffy in the original story...
"Just don't go throwing us into a thousand-foot trench, or dump us in a jungle full of monsters at night, or tie us to a hot air balloon and send us flying into the sky before cutting the rope and letting us free fall!"
Michael rattled off one scenario after another like a machine gun, and Garp started sweating.
How the hell did this brat know exactly how he planned to train them!?
That was his signature training style!
That's exactly how he'd trained Dragon into a true powerhouse!
Though... that might also be why Dragon ended up quitting the Marines for good...
And in the future, Garp planned to use the same methods to train Ace and Dragon's kid!
"Ahem, ahem. Where'd you hear that nonsense?"
"Duh. Who else knows your training methods that well besides Dragon?"
Michael rolled his eyes again.
This old geezer seriously had no idea how much his son resented him, huh?
"Shut it! You don't understand the genius behind it!" Garp tried to defend himself. "But fine, don't worry—I never planned on using those methods on Stella..."
"...You didn't plan on training Stella like that? So... you were planning to train me like that!?"
"..."
"Damn it! That silence of yours is making me nervous as hell!"
Sengoku watched his adopted son and his old friend suddenly start performing a comedy routine in his office, and he felt his brain start to tremble.
It was boiling.
"You two idiots! Get the hell out!"
Under Fleet Admiral Sengoku's furious roar, Garp had no choice but to take Michael and Stella to his Vice Admiral flagship.
"I was half-joking before, but now that you're aboard my ship, there's no turning back."
"Our training begins today!"
Garp pointed out to the vast ocean.
"From now on, we've got just one training objective every day!"
"And that's combat! Endless combat!"
"When there are no pirates around, you'll fight me!"
"When there are pirates, you'll fight them!"
"In short, other than when you're sleeping, you'll always be fighting!"
"Even during meals—you'll eat and fight at the same time!"
Michael blinked, staring at the passionate, hot-blooded teacher version of Garp.
Then he asked the most important question.
"So... uh, the pirates' bounties—do we get to keep those?"
"If you even dare say something like '70/30 split,' I swear I'm reporting you!"
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