"Vice Admiral Tsuru… should Hina go open the door?"
"Hmm?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru, as Great Staff Officer, had a desk piled with paperwork several times higher than the one in Sengoku's office. Even so, she lifted her head amidst the chaos and gave Tina a gentle smile.
"Go ahead and open it, Hina. That interesting child has come to visit."
Though only thirteen years old, Hina already displayed a bit of that naval aura.
She had been personally scouted by Vice Admiral Tsuru as a new Navy recruit. Though she hadn't seen battle yet and still held the rank of Warrant Officer, everyone knew just how much Tsuru valued this little girl.
It was clear she was grooming her to be a future adjutant—
Or perhaps, even a future leader of the Navy's female faction.
Actually, there were quite a few cases like this—young talents recruited early on.
Take Smoker, for example. Now fifteen, he had been discovered by Kuzan at the public execution of Roger and brought into the Navy then.
And frankly, Smoker's foul temper seemed far more suited to someone like that crazy old man Garp.
A combo of two hotheads—it was hard to say if they'd mesh well, but it'd definitely be hilarious.
Receiving approval from Tsuru, Hina stepped forward and opened the door to the office.
And there stood a handsome young man with platinum blond hair, striding in casually from the hallway.
"Tsuru-sama! Wishing you good fortune and long life!"
"Hehe, Michael, I knew it was you… no, wait, shouldn't I be calling you Rear Admiral Michael now?"
"Ahem! Oh come on, Tsuru-sama, I'm still just a brat when I'm around you."
Michael grinned as he walked up to her desk.
"You do know how to flatter."
Tsuru gave a benevolent smile.
To be honest, she wasn't even that much older than Garp—maybe even slightly younger—and didn't have grandkids yet.
But that kind of warmth… felt like something she was simply born with.
"Yo, Hina, it's been a while."
"Hina thinks it's been a while too, Rosinante."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Michael blinked. The original storyline never went into such detail for every supporting character.
But it made perfect sense upon reflection.
They were both new Navy blood—handpicked by high-ranking officers and raised by the organization itself. Of course they'd know each other.
Besides, Rosinante had always liked kids.
Even when working undercover, he couldn't help but try to help…
That overly gentle older brother of his naturally got along well with these younger Marines, both by logic and by temperament.
"Ah, this makes things easier then, Tsuru-sama."
Michael suddenly put on an innocent face, looking all sweet and harmless...
A bit too green tea for comfort.
"How about letting Hina train with the SWORD Secret Special Force?"
"Michael, didn't Sengoku give you the highest level of autonomy? As long as Hina agrees, you can totally bypass me."
"Ahahaha, Tsuru-sama, Sengoku-ossan is always the one to set the overall direction, sure."
Michael shrugged, gesturing at the mountain of files on her desk.
"But the real nitty-gritty, the operational details… that's all decided by you, our great Chief Strategist.
"So that so-called full autonomy Sengoku gave me—well, that's really power you handed down to me."
And Michael wasn't just buttering her up.
That was how much authority and respect Tsuru commanded in the Navy.
If the Navy were to lose Sengoku today, it honestly wouldn't cripple the organization. The big three Admirals—Sakazuki, Kuzan, and Borsalino—were already at their peak.
Fleet Admiral Kong was still vigorous and capable enough to come back and run the show.
But if they lost Chief Strategist Tsuru…
That would be like ripping out the Navy's brain.
In the whole world of One Piece, Tsuru was the one person whose intelligence struck fear into others.
And that "others" even included none other than the infamous "Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo.
After being chased across the seas by Tsuru, even after joining the Seven Warlords of the Sea and refusing to give Sengoku the time of day—one word from Tsuru, and he obediently sat down for the meeting.
After Michael finished speaking, Tsuru sighed.
"Seems like you really can see the full picture of the seas now, Michael."
"Hina, this is your best chance for growth."
"And besides…"
She gestured helplessly to the towering stack of paperwork.
"I'm going to be buried in administrative work for quite some time."
"Hina understands!"
Hina hesitated just a moment before saluting Michael under Tsuru-sama's encouraging gaze.
"Rear Admiral Michael, Warrant Officer Hina reporting for duty!"
...
For the rest of the day, similar scenes played out in the offices of various elite Vice Admirals.
After bringing Hina from Tsuru's office, things got a bit easier—most of the Vice Admirals were quite agreeable.
However… the Navy did have factions.
And they were generally led by the already unofficially designated next Admirals.
Sakazuki led the radical combat faction—"Fight hard" was their motto. Thanks to his influence, this group rarely cared about the lives of comrades during operations.
Kuzan's faction, on the other hand, was the stable, moderate group. Essentially the most reasonable of the bunch, though the extremists saw them as weak-willed.
Borsalino led the neutral, laid-back faction—by far the largest. Most of them had joined the Navy simply to stay alive. They followed orders to the letter and never did anything more than required.
These were the three major factions.
There were others, too.
Like the female soldiers' faction led by Tsuru and Gion. Not much to say there—female soldiers were few in number anyway.
And then there was the faction led by Hero Garp. Their defining trait? Totally unrestrained. A whole bunch of loose cannons.
On the surface, they were incredibly easygoing and respectful to everyone.
But once they got pissed off, not even an Admiral like Sengoku could control them.
They would never be the type to kiss up to some logistics chief, only to suddenly kneel to a base commander.
Take Smoker—he was a textbook example.
Although there were many factions, the differences were more ideological than anything else. There was no real power struggle, and overall, the Navy remained united.
However, when it came to joining the SWORD Secret Special Force…
Everyone, regardless of faction, had the same general attitude:
"Sounds great. But I really don't wanna leave my current unit."
So even after circling around Marine Headquarters for a full round…
Michael only managed to recruit Hina, Smoker, the unaffiliated young Lieutenant T Bone, and Lieutenant Shu.
But Michael was quite satisfied with just these four.
After all, this special unit wasn't about quantity—it was about quality.
And besides…
He never intended to do all his recruiting within Navy HQ alone.
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