Chapter 108: The Difference Between a General and a Commander
After laughing, Zephyr caught his breath and said earnestly, "Being a womanizer isn't really a problem. These past few days, I've been constantly thinking about whether you have any major flaws or issues. If you do, they can still be corrected while you're young. Otherwise, once you form fixed patterns in the future, it will be difficult to turn back."
After a slight pause, Zephyr continued, "Although we've established a father-son relationship, I actually don't know you very well. These past few days, I've been thinking left and right, from our meeting to even before we met, analyzing the deeds I'd heard about you, and I've gradually found some clues."
"Teacher, please enlighten me," Bane responded with a very serious expression.
Hearing that the topic involved Bane's flaws and weaknesses, Smoker shook his head somewhat helplessly and said, "You two continue chatting. I'm going out for some air."
Even though he and Bane had a close relationship, such topics weren't appropriate for him to hear.
After Smoker left, Bane got up to close the door, then sat back on the sofa. Zephyr took a sip of tea, then said softly, "As you mentioned when we first met, there are indeed some means in this world to foresee the future. These past few days, I've increasingly felt that you might possess such abilities. Am I right?"
Bane was stunned for a moment but still nodded, "A little."
"Then I'm not wrong," Zephyr nodded knowingly, then continued, "Precisely because of this, you like to take calculated risks. Looking more closely, it's because you can see this 'future' that you're extremely confident in yourself and very certain of your judgments. Just like when you came to headquarters to see me this time—you made plenty of preparations along the way, and all these preparations were based on your judgment. You were certain I would agree to your request, right? You might have even treated this as an inevitable result long ago and been planning subsequent matters!"
Hearing this, Bane remained silent for a long time. It was indeed true. He had been planning these things for a long time—the Golden City, Crocodile, and such were all somewhat related to wanting to profit from the Neo Navy incident he intended to trigger through Zephyr later.
"No one can control the future, even if they can truly see it. Those who play with such techniques will ultimately be played by these techniques. I've seen too many such people, Bane," Zephyr said softly, looking at the silent Bane.
Without waiting for Bane to speak, Zephyr continued, "Taking risks might accomplish something temporarily, but if you develop path dependency on this, then once you make a mistake in the future, it might be irreversible. Haven't you ever thought about what would happen if I truly didn't agree to you? What changes would occur in subsequent results?"
"But Teacher, as they say, 'wealth and honor are sought in danger'—" Bane couldn't help but say.
"And are also lost in danger," Zephyr put down his teacup and looked at Bane seriously. "If you were just a fierce general in the Navy, I wouldn't need to tell you all this. But if you want to reach the Admiral position, or even accomplish great things with me, then it's different. I'm old and have no choice but to take desperate risks, but you're still young. From the moment you spoke those words to me, I knew that the future of all my supporters would rest on your shoulders. Look at Sengoku, then look at Garp—can you perceive the difference between them?"
Without waiting for Bane to answer, Zephyr directly provided the answer: "Garp is the Navy's fierce general. He acts without regard for consequences, often causing major incidents, and taking risks isn't a one-time or two-time thing for him. Relying on his formidable strength, he always likes to act recklessly. Although he hasn't caused any terrible disasters so far, I always feel that someday he'll get himself trapped."
"But Sengoku is different. When he was young, he was actually the same as Garp—someone who acted without considering consequences. But when I stepped down, and Garp firmly refused to be promoted to Admiral, destining him to become Fleet Admiral, he changed. From then on, I've never seen Sengoku take risks, not even once, because he knows he shoulders everything the Navy represents. Others can lose, but he cannot. If he loses once, the Navy will suffer unspeakable losses, and it might even affect the safety and stability of the entire world." Zephyr paused slightly here.
Then his tone became somewhat emotional: "Our Navy is powerful, far exceeding the Whitebeard Pirates. After all, in such a huge pirate crew, only that old man Whitebeard has any real ability. But even so, after Sengoku decided to annihilate them, he was cautious beyond caution, thinking of every way to weaken Whitebeard's chances of victory and strengthen the Navy's. He even placed the battlefield at our headquarters, refusing to take even the slightest risk."
Hearing these heartfelt words from Zephyr, Bane was somewhat moved.
Many things he had never thought about this way before. When Zephyr said he was too confident in himself, he was even understating it—he wasn't just confident, he was arrogant!
Thinking about how Zephyr used Garp and Sengoku as two examples, while Zephyr couldn't see the future, Bane knew something about it. Garp really did get himself trapped later!
On the other hand, Sengoku never made mistakes in the Fleet Admiral position. At least the Navy didn't cause any irreversible problems under his leadership and ultimately had a smooth landing.
"Generals and commanders are different, Bane. You have plenty of generals around you—whether it's Zoro or Wiper, they're all generals. But there's only one commander, and that's you. Since you've decided to join the Navy, since you've decided to accomplish great things with me, you must remember today's lesson well. I don't ask you to always demand this of yourself, but at critical moments, you must understand your position before acting. When to be a fierce general, and when to shoulder a commander's responsibilities—these are things you must slowly learn and gradually master," Zephyr patted Bane's shoulder.
"Yes, Teacher, I'm enlightened," Bane responded very seriously.
"After this, because of war preparations, your seniors probably won't have time to train with you. It's good to have a balance of work and rest. Just maintain normal training these few days. In your spare time, read these," Zephyr pointed to a stack of books placed on a nearby table.
"What are those?" Bane asked curiously.
"Secret knowledge of naval warfare experience accumulated by our Navy over hundreds of years. The content covers everything—originally, only Vice Admirals and above could read them. A few of those books can only be read by Admirals," Zephyr said casually.
The word "foundation" seemed to appear on those books—this was the Navy's accumulation over more than 800 years, a foundation that pirates could never match no matter what.
At this moment, Bane seemed to understand why Vice Admirals like Momousagi and Doberman, whose individual strength wasn't particularly outstanding, could always chase pirates who seemed stronger than them all over the New World!
In wars between the Navy and pirates, individual strength was one aspect, but military competence was equally important.
Just as Bane was contemplating these things, the broadcast outside suddenly sounded.
"Warlord of the Sea, Heavenly Demon, Donquixote Doflamingo-sama has arrived at Marine Headquarters."
"Warlord of the Sea, Tyrant, Bartholomew Kuma-sama has arrived at Marine Headquarters."
"Warlord of the Sea—"
After several announcements, it seemed that except for Sand Crocodile Crocodile, who had been eliminated by Bane, and Fish-Man Island's Knight of the Sea Jinbei, all the other Warlords of the Sea had come to Marine Headquarters!
"A group of pirates coming to Marine Headquarters and being called 'sama,' even having broadcast announcements welcoming them—it truly shames justice!" Zephyr said with some irritation.
"Don't worry, Teacher. Let them be arrogant for a little while longer—sooner or later we'll settle accounts with them!" Bane said in a deep voice.
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