Chapter 107: Beating Up Various Navy Vice Admirals
Ever since Zephyr had that incident with the new recruits years ago, the training ground at Marine Headquarters' officer training camp had gradually become deserted.
Recently, with various Navy officers returning to headquarters and Zephyr making his "comeback," Bane and his group occupied the training ground, making it lively once again.
For several consecutive days, Bane had been sparring with various Vice Admirals from headquarters, accumulating practical combat experience.
In the old teaching building near the training ground, Momousagi was now biting on a cigar, complaining to his teacher Zephyr.
"This can't continue, Teacher.Bane is simply a monster. If this keeps up, all the Vice Admirals at headquarters will be injured before the war even starts. What if it affects the battle?" Momousagi said helplessly.
His current appearance was quite comical—his honest face bore a black and purple left eye socket with a large fist imprint that wouldn't fade, and his chest was wrapped in bandages with faint bloodstains visible.
That's right, a few days ago he had enthusiastically received Teacher Zephyr's order to go all out against this "junior brother" Bane. Momousagi naturally wouldn't refuse and was prepared to personally measure just how capable this junior brother, whom their teacher had taken as an adopted son, really was.
The result was him getting beaten up by Bane during practical combat training.
Not just him—today in this old teaching building sat several Navy Vice Admirals: Doberman, Stainless, and Onigumo were all there.
Looking at them, it wasn't just Momousagi who was unlucky. Doberman's shoulder was also wrapped in bandages, Onigumo had a bald patch where his hair had been pulled out, and Stainless had lost his prized beard entirely. None of them looked particularly intact.
Clearly, they had all suffered at Bane's hands.
"Yes, Teacher, Bane is gifted and doesn't care about injuries, but we can't handle it," Stainless said with a pained expression, touching his messy stubble.
They now all had a consensus—Bane simply wasn't human. His physical condition was too formidable. This was essentially a battle of attrition. Although none of them had beaten Bane, through several exchanges, relying on their rich combat experience, they could always find opportunities to injure him.
But the problem was, no matter how injured Bane was the previous day, when they started again the next day, he had completely recovered and seemed full of vigor. Meanwhile, they needed several days of rest to recover.
Who could handle this?
"You all haven't made any progress over the years!" Zephyr looked disappointed. "Have you all started slacking off since I stopped managing you?"
This scolding from Teacher Zephyr made the Vice Admirals feel somewhat embarrassed.
Momousagi scratched his head and was about to say something when Smoker calmly pushed open the door and said, "Teacher, Vice Admiral Dalmatian has been sent to the medical office."
Hearing this gave Zephyr a headache. "Didn't I tell that boy Bane to go easy? How did another one end up in the medical office?"
"Vice Admiral Dalmatian specifically told Bane that as a Zoan user, he shouldn't hold back because he wasn't afraid of injury. As a result, they both got heated during the fight," Smoker shrugged.
Everyone was military personnel, and getting carried away during fights was quite normal. Zephyr couldn't really blame anyone. He turned to glance at the other Vice Admirals, only to see them all looking around, clearly not wanting to make eye contact with him.
This made Zephyr both angry and amused. He naturally knew these people weren't afraid of Bane, but were genuinely concerned that continuing this way wasn't appropriate. There were only a few days left until the execution. Current injuries weren't a big deal and would heal in a couple of days, but if this continued, it might really affect their combat plans.
"Where's Momonga? Why haven't I seen him return?" Zephyr inquired.
Momousagi, who had the best relationship with Momonga, quickly answered: "He went to Amazon Lily to summon Warlord Boa Hancock. He said he was already returning a couple of days ago and should arrive at headquarters this afternoon."
"Warlords of the Sea," Zephyr's eyes flashed with a dark look upon hearing this title.
However, he didn't say much, just nodded lightly. "In that case, let's suspend this for now. After the war ends—"
"Ahem, after the war ends, I'll have to return to my naval base. If we take down the Whitebeard Pirates, the seas will become chaotic no matter what," Momousagi quickly said.
"Admiral Sakazuki is already drafting post-war plans to counterattack the New World. Both Doberman and I are included in the Admiral's operational plans, so we probably won't have much time," Onigumo also hurried to say.
Despite these Vice Admirals sitting respectfully before Zephyr like good brothers, their relationships weren't actually that simple. Doberman and Onigumo were die-hard fans of the hawkish Admiral Sakazuki, Momousagi was a dove under Kuzan, and Stainless followed the neutral Admiral Borsalino.
Their stance was Navy, but their factions were different. They often had conflicts due to ideological differences in daily life.
Just then, Bane appeared from behind Smoker, grinning as he wiped blood from his forehead. The wound on his head was already beginning to heal. Upon entering and seeing a group of officers with Vice Admiral shoulder patches sitting there, his smile became even brighter.
"Are all you free today? Perfect, I have some small practical combat techniques I'd like someone to help me practice," Bane greeted them familiarly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Stainless stood up: "I'm terribly sorry, but I have an afternoon appointment for beard maintenance. It's about time, so I'll take my leave first."
After greeting Teacher Zephyr, Stainless was about to escape. Seeing this, Onigumo's face twitched—your beard was plucked clean by that kid Bane, what maintenance are you doing?
But once Stainless stood up, Onigumo quickly said: "Ahem, Teacher, you know me—thirty percent of my abilities are in my hair. I've lost plenty fighting enemies over the years and always make a habit of hair transplants. To ensure it doesn't affect the upcoming war, I've also scheduled a hair transplant today. I'll leave first and visit you another day."
Seeing this, Momousagi immediately followed: "The doctor asked me to change my bandages this afternoon. Teacher, I'm leaving too."
After these few left, Doberman was restless but couldn't think of an excuse for a moment. Seeing Bane's expectant gaze fall on him, his whole body shivered, and suddenly he thought of something: "Teacher, Dalmatian and I are known as the Navy's hounds. If he's hospitalized, I should visit him."
Just like that, as soon as Bane appeared, several Navy Vice Admirals all "fled in panic."
This actually made Smoker, standing at the door, laugh.
Seeing Smoker's smile made Zephyr furious: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny? I thought your years in East Blue would be like finding a place for focused training, but look at you now—even your Haki has become so sloppy. You're embarrassing me! Bane, starting tomorrow, you'll 'personally guide' this guy!"
"Yes, Teacher," Bane immediately agreed, looking at Smoker with a sinister grin.
Smoker was stunned, then said in surprise: "Teacher, I'm the senior brother here!"
But Zephyr completely ignored him. Meanwhile, Zoro, who was practicing swordsmanship on the training ground, sneezed and scratched his head in confusion.
"Sit," Zephyr gestured for Bane to sit on the sofa.
Bane wasn't polite, plopping down and casually picking up the teapot to pour himself tea.
"I was just discussing you with Momousagi and the others. They have nothing but praise for you," Zephyr said with feeling.
Momousagi and the others hadn't come just to complain—they also wanted to discuss Bane's situation with Zephyr.
"According to them, at worst, you're spreading yourself thin—touching on abilities, martial arts combat, swordsmanship, Haki, and so on, but aside from Haki and martial arts combat, nothing else particularly stands out," Zephyr said softly.
Bane nodded humbly, accepting this criticism.
However, the next moment, Teacher Zephyr changed his tone: "But if we look at it positively, according to Momousagi's view, if you can continue growing steadily like this, you'd be an all-around expert with no weaknesses. This prospect really makes me look forward to it."
"I'll definitely work twice as hard to not disappoint you, Teacher, or you as my foster father," Bane said without hesitation.
"Mm, I look forward to it," Zephyr nodded, then asked: "But these are all outsiders' views and evaluations. Tell me yourself—what do you think is your greatest flaw, or rather, weakness and vulnerability?"
Hearing this, Bane pondered for a moment, then looked up at Zephyr somewhat uncertainly: "Being a womanizer?"
Zephyr was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily: "You do have some self-awareness, kid."