Vice Admiral Tsuru asked Sengoku next to her after hanging up the phone, "Well, you heard it too. What do you think of this suggestion?"
Sengoku thought for a moment, "It's a bit too fast. The Marines are currently being suppressed by pirates and can't afford any more turmoil."
Vice Admiral Tsuru said, "True, Hera is also too young and lacks seniority."
Garp sat nearby eating rice cracker, "I've been annoyed with those scumbags in the Marines for a long time. If anyone objects, let them come to me directly, and I'll 'reason' with them properly."
Vice Admiral Tsuru said to Garp, "You heard her. Your granddaughter wants you to go to the four blues to keep things under control. What do you think?"
Garp said nonchalantly, "the four blues, eh? It's been a while since I checked on Luffy. This is a good chance to see how he's doing. Leave the big Pirate Crews to me."
Vice Admiral Tsuru thought about the Sky Island Hera mentioned and sighed, "Sky Island... isn't that just a legend? How is she so certain it exists, even claiming there's gold there?"
Hera, far away, didn't have such worries. This idea had occurred to her suddenly after seeing Smoker. In her vision of the future, the Marines should break away from the World Government and welcome their own Marine King. Under her leadership, they would march upon the Holy Land of the Celestial Dragons. She also had to worry about her own reputation as a Marine.
Having secured the approval of the high-ranking officers, Hera felt more confident. She said to Smoker, "You heard that, didn't you? Although your direct superior won't be Vice Admiral Tsuru, Vice Admiral Garp isn't bad either. Go ahead and do what you need to do, Smoker."
Smoker also felt emboldened after hearing that Garp would be backing him. Plus, Hera didn't give him any time to think, so he could only agree.
"Excellent. I'll leave the Marines' reputation in the four blues to you. Don't let me down."
Smoker hadn't expected that just by looking at Roger's Execution Platform with someone, he would be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility. For a moment, he was in a daze, unsure if he should accept.
Hera didn't care about that. She had already pulled the necessary strings, so how could she let him escape? Besides, the Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit allowed Smoker to deal with large numbers of enemies. Combined with his sense of justice, he was indeed the most suitable for this position.
Suddenly, Hera thought of someone else and warned Smoker, "If you see islands floating in the sky in the East Blue, don't hesitate—leave immediately and tell me. Golden Lion Shiki might be in the East Blue."
She continued to encourage Smoker, "Good luck. Realize your justice in the four blues."
Smoker made up his mind. Since there was a way to realize his justice, he would give it his all. He said firmly to Hera, "Don't worry, I will never let a single scumbag go, nor will I ever wrong an innocent person."
Hera nodded with satisfaction. "Good, you've got spirit. By the way, what about Tashigi? Are you still taking her with you?"
Smoker immediately became wary. "Of course. She's my adjutant. Don't even think about kidnapping her."
Hera felt a slight tinge of regret but didn't press further.
Soon, Kuina and Tashigi returned from looking at swords. When Hera saw Tashigi, she summoned her military saber, attempting to tempt her: "Look, this is a famous blade that has never appeared before. If you join us, I'll let you touch this one and Kuina's wado ichimonji every day."
Tashigi recognized the military saber's extraordinary nature. Her eyes closely followed Hera's wrist as she held the blade, wanting to take it and examine it.
Tashigi asked, "What is its name? I've never seen this sword before."
Hera originally wanted to say it didn't have a name, but then she thought about how Zafkiel's dual pistols had names, so it was time to give the ability's military saber a name too. The military saber seemed to realize it was about to be named and vibrated slightly as if in anticipation. Hera said, "It doesn't have a name yet. How about calling it the 'Cute Meow-Meow Blade'?"
Before Kuina could even complain, the military saber vibrated on its own to express its dissatisfaction. Hera quickly consoled it, "Just kidding, just kidding. I'll definitely think of a good one."
After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Since it can cut through space, and the ability's spirit dress is also a white military uniform, in that case, let's call it 'White Queen · saikū,' and the gun will be 'White Queen · forging sky'."
The military saber swayed slightly in Hera's hand, seemingly satisfied with the name—or perhaps afraid that if it wasn't, Hera would give it a name like 'Crazy Dazzling Domineering Invincible Cutting Enhanced +13 Space Blade.'
Tashigi took the blade and looked at it for a few moments, but ultimately returned it to Hera with reluctance, declining her recruitment. Smoker, standing nearby, breathed a long sigh of relief.
Kuina glared at Hera, thinking to herself, "Is having me as a swordsman not enough? You have to find someone who looks exactly like me, too? This isn't over."
After everything here was settled, Hera and the others made their preparations. Next up was crossing the Red Line and heading toward the Grand Line.
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