Chapter 14: Smoker is promoted to Admiral of the East Blue Sea.
A light rain was falling from the sky, soaking the whole Shimotsuki village.
Under the covered bridge of Isshin Dojo, Ben leaned against a post with a cup of tea next to him and a newspaper in his hand.
Two pieces of news caught his attention.
The first was an article in the world section of the newspaper. It said that Fire Fist Ace, the captain of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, attacked the Drum Kingdom and killed its king, Wapol.
The article also mentioned that this incident might be linked to a devil fruit.
"Have we reached the Drum Kingdom? It seems you are close to the East Blue Sea." Bane sipped his tea and spoke to himself.
In the last six months, news about Fire Fist Ace has appeared often in newspapers. Based on what he has done, he likely entered the first half of the Grand Line from Fishman Island and then went all the way to the East Blue Sea.
Bane thought the Whitebeard Pirates must have found out that he was hiding in the East Blue Sea.
This was not surprising. Shimotsuki Village was still safe, but when he showed up in logue Town, he did not try to hide where he was.
What made Bane feel a bit emotional was that Ace was the one in the spotlight while no one mentioned Teach at all. This old guy was indeed very quiet and patient.
Things in the Drum Kingdom have changed too. In the original story, it was the Blackbeard Pirates led by Teach that attacked there, and Wapol escaped instead of being killed.
Now, there is an obituary for him in the newspapers, which clearly shows he is dead. Bane even suspects that the Swallow-Swallow Fruit might have ended up with Blackbeard. That guy should know he has eaten the Dark-Dark Fruit, so is he looking for another escape now?
Besides this news, Bane was also interested in another report in the local East Blue newspaper.
It said that the former commander of the Logue Town Naval Base, Captain Smoker, became the Admiral of the East Blue Sea. He worked hard to clear out the East Blue Sea Navy Branch 153 base, firing and arresting the base commander, Axeman Morgan. At the same time, Smoker led a team to Syrup Village and killed the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates, Kuro, who had brutally killed many marines.
Captain Smoker,now the admiral of the East Blue Sea, announced in the newspaper that he will keep watching over and improving the East Blue Sea Navy's military discipline. He also encouraged everyone to report any issues they see within the Navy.
That's right, this time, it was Bane's fault again.
Before leaving Logue Town, he bought his own transponder snail. They communicated occasionally over the past six months.
During this time, Bane kept reporting. First, he criticized the overweight Admiral of the East Sea. Then he revealed the secrets between Morgan and the Black Cat Pirates. He detailed this information and sent it to Smoker by mail.
At first, Smoker had no right to look into the affairs of the East Blue Sea Admiral and other branch bases. Bane's action was just to plant a clue for future use, to avoid conflicts and gaps with the navy.
As it turned out, when he sent the information, Garp, the big boss of the Navy Headquarters, was traveling in the countryside and came to the East Blue Sea for vacation. Garp and Smoker had a friendly relationship. So when Garp arrived, his first visit was to see Smoker, where he learned about these matters.
As the headquarters' boss, Garp can handle situations that Smoker cannot. With Garp's support, Smoker started to remove his friendly rivals and was successfully promoted and given a raise, becoming the admiral of the East Blue Sea.
At this point, Morgan was gone, and Kuro's dream of becoming a wealthy landowner was shattered. It is also said that during this cleanup, Garp and Smoker eliminated many pirates in the East Blue Sea, including the 'Iron Rod Pirates. '
Originally, Bane had no thoughts about this pirate group until he found out that their captain was named 'Alvida.'
I can only say that they are really unlucky.
So, as far as Bane knows, there is only one corrupt Captain left in the East Blue Sea Navy who needs to be dealt with. He plans to take care of this personally, and he has one reason for this: to recruit the best navigator in the world!
As Bane read the newspaper and drank tea, he heard footsteps in the corridor behind him.
After a while, Koushiro approached him, and Bane was about to stand up and salute his master.
That's right, in the past six months, Bane has slowly come to see Koshiro as his true master. At first, Bane was rude, but Koushiro accepted him completely and taught him everything he knew without holding back. Even knowing that the Whitebeard Pirates were after him, Koushiro chose to protect him. He recognized this kindness.
"No need to get up." Koushiro placed his hand on Bane's shoulder to stop him. Then he casually sat down across from Bane, picked up the teapot from the tray, and poured himself a cup.
As the rain fell outside the covered bridge, Koushiro took a sip of tea and softly asked, "Where's Zoro? He's not with you. That's unusual. "
The strong tend to be lonely. In ishin Dojo, Zoro is definitely a strong man who feels alone. After Kuina's death, even though Zoro still has a good relationship with his fellow students, there is a real gap between them. They cannot walk together or progress together to reach a higher point.
This is one reason why, before Bane arrived, Zoro was ready to leave the dojo and train at sea.
Bane's arrival quickly broke Zoro's loneliness. Although he was not as skilled in swordsmanship, he was stronger in other ways and brought Zoro many new experiences. Despite his seemingly arrogant attitude, Bane would stay close to Zoro when he had nothing else to do.
Bane has always admired Zoro and believes he will become one of the strongest people in the world. Since they think alike, Bane is happy to team up with Zoro.
The two even planned to go to sea together in the future and explore the world.
When Koushiro asked his question, Bane looked at the rain outside, thought for a moment, and replied, "He went to visit Kuina. "
Koushiro was momentarily surprised, then a gentle look passed over his face. He said, "I almost forgot that he always goes to see Kuina when it rains. "
Bane remained quiet, simply drinking his tea. He understood that Kuina was a lasting sorrow for his master, but his master didn't need anyone to comfort him.
After a long time, Koushiro returned to the moment. He noticed the newspaper in Bane's hand and his gaze briefly lingered on the piece about Fire Fist Ace. Then he asked, "Are you two planning to leave? "
Bane smiled and said, "Zoro has been thinking about going away for a while. As for me, to be honest, if I stay here, I might cause you some trouble, Master. "
"I will not send my disciples away just because of trouble," Koushiro said kindly, with a smile.
"But I don't want to make you feel bad," Bane said with a smile.
Seeing this, Koushiro sighed. After a moment of thinking, he said, "As you know, I have some contacts in the Revolutionary Army. If you want a safe place, I can connect you with someone. "
"No thanks, Master," Bane replied with a grin. "I didn't come to this sea to hide and seek shelter! "
Koushiro looked at Ben's confident smile and finally said with a smile, "That's right. You can't get stronger without facing hardships. "
After a short pause, Koushiro took a note from his shirt and gave it to Ben. He said, "I meant to give you this as we agreed after you mastered your skills, but now it seems that if I don't give it to you now, it will be too late. "