Chapter 28: Kuzan
After Zephyr left, Garon stood alone in the office, his fingers unconsciously tapping on his new desk.
Outside the window, the uniform shouts of the Academy cadets could be heard from the training grounds. But farther away, a different kind of commotion seemed to be spreading.
And then, Garp's booming voice arrived.
"Hey! Training Ground One, this afternoon! Garon is gonna fight Zephyr!!"
"It's spreading that fast?" Garon raised an eyebrow and pushed open the window.
Sure enough, his eyes fell on the training ground, where Zephyr was staring at Garp with a look of pure exasperation.
Even outside the office door, Marines were gathering in twos and threes, all heading in that direction.
Though the hallway was still distant, Garon could clearly sense their excited whispers.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr is going to fight that rookie, Garon!"
"You mean the 'Sky-Tremor' user who fought Whitebeard?"
"I heard Teacher Zephyr is going to teach him what true strength is..."
Garon's lip twitched. "Teach my ass. He's clearly going to use me as a sandbag."
The sun was shining brightly. Garon stretched, deciding to head to the cafeteria first to fill his stomach.
After all, if he was going to get beaten up all afternoon, he shouldn't do it on an empty stomach.
...
The Marine HQ cafeteria was, as always, bustling.
The moment Garon sat down, his tray piled with a mountain of food half his height, the chatter from the surrounding tables mysteriously died down.
"Am I that scary?" Garon forked a piece of steak, his eyes glancing around.
Several young Marines immediately ducked their heads, suddenly fascinated by their food. But most of them were still stealing glances at him.
Garon could even hear the suppressed, excited discussion from farther away.
"That's Warrant Officer Garon!"
"I heard he blocked Whitebeard's attack all by himself..."
"They say his Sky-Tremor Fruit is even stronger than Whitebeard's power..."
"For real? But that's Whitebeard."
"No kidding! I was on the warship! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Quiet! We'll get to see for ourselves this afternoon!"
"The rumor mill is on fire..." Garon shook his head, focusing on the food in front of him.
Just as he was about to drink his soup, a tall figure sat down directly opposite him.
"Mind if I sit here?" a lazy voice drawled.
Garon looked up. He was met with a young face that was both familiar and unfamiliar, with puffy, black, curly hair and a smiling expression.
"Kuzan... Captain?" Garon asked, testing the name.
The "Three Admirals" all graduated the Academy at the rank of HQ Captain, and from there, it was a fast track to the commissioned officer and flag officer ranks...
The resources of the Marine HQ Academy were, in a word, incomparable.
But the Kuzan of this era was still "hot-blooded justice," so his personality was completely different.
"Just Kuzan is fine." The future Admiral smiled.
Then, with extreme familiarity, he casually reached over, grabbed a piece of bread from Garon's tray, and took a bite. "Heard you're getting beaten up by Teacher Zephyr this afternoon?"
Garon's eye twitched. "It's 'guidance,' not 'getting beaten up.'"
"Same difference." Kuzan shrugged, then suddenly leaned in, lowering his voice. "I'm telling you, you should probably strap some steel plates to your body. Teacher Zephyr's fists are just about as bad as Mr. Garp's..."
"It can't be that bad, can it?" Garon's fork paused.
"Haha." Kuzan grinned, showing his white teeth. "Just kidding. But Teacher Zephyr is definitely strict."
He then smoothly stole a piece of fried fish from Garon's tray.
"But seriously, did your Sky-Tremor Fruit really block Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit?"
Garon looked at his rapidly dwindling food supply and expressionlessly pulled the tray a little closer to himself.
"Captain Kuzan, if you're that curious, why don't you go test Whitebeard's strength yourself?"
"Don't be so stingy~" Kuzan reached for Garon's meat cutlet. "I'm on leave, you know. And besides..."
Garon's fork suddenly shot out at an astonishing speed, precisely stabbing the table right in front of Kuzan's questing fingers.
"Whoa!" Kuzan whistled. "Nice reflexes."
"Thank you." Garon slowly retrieved his fork. "Though I'd rather you compliment my table manners than my self-defense skills."
Kuzan laughed out loud, causing several nearby tables to turn and look.
He leaned back in his chair, completely unbothered. "I like you, Garon. Most rookies are too nervous to even speak to me."
"Maybe they just haven't seen you steal their food yet."
"Sharing is a virtue." Kuzan, feeling no shame and taking it as a point of pride, picked up Garon's spoon and tried the soup. "Mm. This cream of mushroom is pretty good today."
Garon sighed and just pushed the whole bowl toward Kuzan. "Be my guest. It seems 'my' lunch has officially become 'our' lunch."
"That's more like it," Kuzan said, satisfied. "As repayment, I'll give you some insider info. Teacher Zephyr is in a bad mood today. He was arguing with the Fleet Admiral this morning about the new training protocols."
Garon raised an eyebrow. "Is that good news or bad news?"
"Depends on how you look at it." Kuzan licked the spoon clean. "The bad news is he'll probably be even stricter. The good news is he'll take your 'challenge' seriously and won't hold back."
"That's just great news all around," Garon said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Kuzan suddenly got serious. "Hey, don't sell yourself short. Not many people can block one of Whitebeard's attacks."
Garon was about to argue that it was just a fluke, but Kuzan had already returned to his lazy expression. "But seriously, you sure you don't need those steel plates? I can lend you a few."
"I don't need them." Garon waved his hand, then glanced at Kuzan's own heavily bandaged hands. "But... I think you might."
"Ara! Hahahaha!" Kuzan, getting the joke, burst out laughing. "Interesting. I'll be watching this afternoon. Don't disappoint me... friend."
Garon looked at his almost-empty tray, then at Kuzan's潇洒 (sāshuǎng - natural and unrestrained, 'cool') retreating back, and shook his head helplessly. "You could have at least left the spoon..."
Without looking back, Kuzan waved. The spoon magically flew out of his sleeve, spun through the air, and landed perfectly back on Garon's tray.
Garon stared at the spoon for a few seconds, then noticed that a thin layer of frost had formed on his water glass.
"Interesting."
Garon smiled, then stood up to get more food, only to find the cafeteria's atmosphere had changed again.
Now, everyone was looking at him not just with awe, but with a new level of curiosity and envy.
Clearly, seeing him talking so familiarly with Kuzan—one of the three "monster rookies"—had made his image even more mysterious in everyone's eyes.
"Tsk. Looks like this afternoon's show will have a bigger audience than I thought," Garon muttered, before loading up a new tray.