"It's you guys!"
"I was wondering who could be so arrogant, but it's no surprise if it's you few!"
"Luffy, how long do you think it'll take for you to become an admiral? Twenty years? Or thirty?"
A Marine laughed as he asked Luffy.
Ever since Kyle took Luffy and the others on their first mission two years ago, the group had carried out quite a few missions in the two years since.
Every time they trained at Marineford for a period, they would go out on missions to hone their skills.
Naturally, their reputations had spread throughout the entire Marine Headquarters.
All Marines knew that a special unit, mostly composed of child soldiers but possessing shockingly powerful strength, had somehow appeared within the Navy.
Even some officer-level Marines were no match for them.
While they were only some Rear Admirals, it still showcased their strength and potential.
Therefore, when the surrounding Marines saw these words come from the mouths of Luffy and his group, they no longer looked down on them.
If an ordinary Marine had said this, they might have called them ignorant and overambitious.
But if it was Luffy and the others, even without them saying it, many Marines already believed it.
They all believed Luffy and the others had the potential to become Marine Admirals.
After all, their performance was simply too astonishing.
Upon hearing their words, Luffy placed his hands on his hips and spoke in a disdainful tone:
"Twenty years?? Are you kidding?!"
"At most ten years, and I'll become a new Marine Admiral!!"
(⊙o⊙)…
As soon as these words were spoken, the many Marines were all stunned for a moment, then burst into uproarious laughter the next second.
"Ahahahaha…"
"Can't take it, Luffy, you might be a bit too confident, right?"
"You want to become a Marine Admiral in ten years? If I remember correctly, you're only nine now, right? You want to become a Marine Admiral at nineteen ten years from now??"
"You should know that Admiral Kuzan up on the stage only became an admiral this year at thirty-nine! The youngest Admiral in Marine history, the former Admiral Zephyr, also only became an admiral at thirty-eight!"
"I just threw out twenty years casually, but I didn't expect you, kid, to be so confident, directly saying ten years, hahaha…"
While they all believed Luffy had the potential to become a Marine Admiral, it would still require time.
Twenty years later, Luffy would only be twenty-nine; they already felt it unrealistic for him to become an Admiral at that age, let alone ten years later.
That simply wasn't possible!!
Seeing everyone laughing at him, Luffy grew indignant, waved his fists, and shouted loudly:
"You guys just wait and see! In ten years, I will definitely become a Marine Admiral, and I'll amaze all of you then!!"
"Hahahaha!!!"
These words once again provoked a burst of laughter.
"Alright, alright, alright, we'll wait for you to become a Marine Admiral in ten years and amaze us all!"
Everyone spoke like this, but their tones were full of teasing, not taking the statement seriously at all.
"Damn it, you guys! You actually don't believe me!"
Luffy stamped his feet in anger, secretly resolving in his heart to definitely become a Marine Admiral in ten years and show these guys what real strength is.
Another while passed, and as Kuzan's speech concluded, the Admiral promotion ceremony also drew to a close.
Sengoku took the Den Den Mushi and began speaking again, and after he finished, the ceremony officially ended!
The crowd in the plaza gradually dispersed. Just as Kyle was also preparing to go back and sleep, a sound interrupted his train of thought.
"Buru~ Buru~"
"Hmm?!"
Kyle pulled a Den Den Mushi from his pocket, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
What does Sengoku want, calling him right after the ceremony ended?
Answering the call, Sengoku's voice, carrying a trace of authority, immediately came through.
"Kyle, come over. There's something I need to discuss with you!"
After saying this without giving Kyle a chance to speak, he directly hung up.
Kyle put the Den Den Mushi back in his pocket, his brows slightly raised.
Judging from Sengoku's tone, he sensed something was off. Had something serious happened?
Shaking his head, Kyle didn't dwell on it. His figure flashed, transforming into a violet lightning bolt, and he instantly vanished from the spot. He would find out what it was when he met Sengoku.
"Hey! What's that guy Kyle going to do?!"
Zoro asked curiously.
"How should I know?!"
Sanji responded from the side.
Zoro shot him a glance.
"Who asked you?"
"You looking for a fight, moss-head??"
A vein throbbed on Sanji's forehead.
"Think I'm scared of you, pervert cook!!"
Clang clang clang…
—
In just a few breaths of time, Kyle arrived before Sengoku, looking at him with curiosity.
"What do you want, old man?!"
Sengoku looked at Kyle, his tone carrying a trace of gravity.
"We've received the latest news. The King and royal family members of the Hadel Kingdom have been kidnapped. The World Government demands we send troops to rescue them!"
"Oh? Kidnapped by whom? Such audacity, to dare kidnap the king of a World Government affiliate nation!"
Kyle's tone held a hint of curiosity.
"Wang Zhi!!"
Sengoku spoke word by word.
Hearing this, a look of surprise immediately appeared on Kyle's face, and he asked:
"That Wang Zhi from the Rocks Pirates?!"
Hearing this, Sengoku didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gave Kyle a meaningful look.
Sure enough, his grandson knew many things, even about Rocks, whose existence the World Government had ordered erased from history.
But Sengoku was no longer surprised by such things, so he didn't press further and simply nodded.
"Correct, it's him! The one they call the Pirate Patriarch, Wang Zhi!"
Kyle fell silent as memories about Wang Zhi surged from the depths of his mind.
Thirty years ago, Wang Zhi was a core member of the Rocks Pirates, on the same level as Kaido and Big Mom within the crew at that time, a top-tier powerhouse who could hold his ground in that era teeming with formidable figures.
Later, when the Rocks Pirates collapsed in the God Valley Incident, he took the opportunity to seize the easily defensible Hachinosu.
In the thirty years since occupying Hachinosu, Wang Zhi, relying on his formidable strength, had repelled countless challengers, steadily establishing himself as the master of this pirate island.
During this period, he had also secretly colluded with the World Government, betraying Shakky, thoroughly consolidating his control over Hachinosu.
In the original story, his final fate was defeat at the Rocky Port Incident by the combined forces of the Desertion King, Blackbeard, and Law, losing Hachinosu, which he had ruled for so many years, to Blackbeard.
And if Kyle remembered correctly, in the original Rocky Port Incident, the king of that nation was secretly trading with Wang Zhi's Hachinosu.
But he wasn't sure if it was this so-called King of the Hadel Kingdom. If so, why would Wang Zhi capture him?
Kyle was puzzled by these questions, but for now, the answers were temporarily unknown.
Kyle shifted his gaze back to Sengoku and asked:
"So, old man, the reason you called me here is?"
...
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━