Chapter 23: Meeting Smoker Again, News of the Three Armies War Game
The next day.
Grand Line, Marineford.
The Detainment Unit's barracks.
"Bring Bink's Sake to your side!"
"Like the sea breeze at will, riding the wind and breaking the waves!"
"On the other side of the sea, the setting sun is also bustling, and the birds' songs! Hmm!"
Watching the mysterious happy man who was humming a song while drinking cola somewhere.
Hans and Far, as always, huddled in a corner whispering.
"Hey, the boss seems to be in a really good mood lately."
Far muttered in a low voice.
Hans, however, didn't think much of it, tugging at his collar: "That's a given, isn't it? After all, he's been promoted to Major. It'd be strange if he weren't happy, wouldn't it?"
"...But it's not quite right to say it's because of that happiness. A few days ago, I heard Commander Bilos was going to hold a promotion party for him, but he refused. Instead, he's been holed up in his room every day."
Far frowned, still feeling something was amiss.
Hans still didn't think much of it, tugging at his collar again: "What's the big deal? Our boss has always been like this. Besides, not everyone goes around flaunting promotions."
Then, he was kicked flying by Far.
"...You bastard, I've had enough of you!"
Far furiously retracted his leg: "Isn't it just that you joined the Marines a few years before me, so the boss promoted you to Warrant Officer? You're flaunting it in front of me every day!"
As for Hans, after being kicked, he wasn't angry at all.
He merely kept tugging at his collar, trying his best to make the badge on it, which read '[Warrant Officer - Hans Darl]', even more conspicuous.
"Oh, little brother Far—you're angry at me, but I won't blame you. That taste of jealousy, it's not pleasant, is it?"
He said softly.
Thus, Far was practically grinding his teeth in anger.
He wished he could immediately go on a mission and get promoted to Warrant Officer himself.
But unfortunately—because Loy's official appointment as Major hadn't come down yet, they hadn't been able to take on any missions recently.
"So it is the taste of jealousy, huh? Let this old man show you his furious fists!"
Fortunately, though he couldn't win with logic, Far did have some understanding of fisticuffs.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Phew, what lovely weather."
Completely ignoring his subordinates who were causing a ruckus nearby, Loy simply took a sip of his ice-cold cola and sighed, looking at the perfectly sunny weather.
Yes—Loy's mood had indeed been excellent lately.
The reason for this was naturally self-evident.
His plan in Alabasta was progressing quite smoothly.
By leveraging his foreknowledge of the plot, he specifically designed 'Chen Long', a Slice-Slice Fruit split body.
The Mag-Mag Fruit and the Ice-Ice Fruit—these two Devil Fruits, originally belonging to the Marine Admirals 'Akainu' and 'Aokiji', are absolute top-tier Logia Types.
And he had spent a full four billion Beli to strengthen them both to Level 3.
Coupled with the Slice-Slice Fruit, strengthened to Level 2, and several other commonly used Devil Fruits he had also strengthened, the huge amount of Beli he previously possessed had been completely depleted.
But such a huge expenditure was undoubtedly worth it.
"What is called rain, is merely a creation formed after water vapor condenses."
"The cold air and frost created by the Ice-Ice Fruit, along with the high-temperature hot air from the Mag-Mag Fruit—the combination of the two can achieve rainfall!"
This was Loy's previously conceived idea of 'artificial rainfall'—after all, in the original manga, Nami had demonstrated similar partial rainfall through her Weather Report, and the principle was similar.
He had merely expanded this scope.
It was still that saying—the combined application of Devil Fruits could give birth to countless possibilities.
And the success of this experiment also made Loy's transaction with Alabasta possible.
"Even if I only bring rainfall to the entire country of Alabasta once now, plus the commission given by King Cobra, it would be at least over 5 billion Beli. I could resolve Crocodile right now."
"Moreover, I've already obtained the Devil Fruit Abilities of Alabasta's two guard officers—the 'Bird-Bird Fruit, Falcon Model' and the 'Dog-Dog Fruit, Jackal Model'."
With such immense gains, how could Loy not be happy?
So much so that recently, everything tasted delicious to him, and even the flavor of cola seemed even sweeter.
Of course, it wasn't as if he had no worries at all.
"Now, for me, there's actually only one problem—although I've strengthened quite a few Devil Fruits."
"But when I'm at headquarters, I can only use the human form of Zoan Type Devil Fruits and not the beast or hybrid forms."
"Logia Type Devil Fruits also cannot be used in their elemental forms, otherwise my identity as an Ability User would be exposed."
Thinking of this, Loy still felt a bit annoyed.
He had clearly strengthened many powerful Devil Fruits, yet was restricted by his identity and unable to use their full power. This 'constraint' felt very dissatisfying to him.
"If only there was some Devil Fruit Ability that could solve this problem..."
However, it was precisely while Loy was muttering to himself...
"Hey!"
A familiar deep voice rang out, and the cola in Loy's mouth immediately spluttered out.
"Huh!?"
He suddenly turned his head, and then saw Smoker's stern face.
"Smoker!?"
Thus, Loy immediately became wary: "Aren't you confined... cough cough, why are you here? I'm telling you, I'm already a Major, there's no way I'm becoming your subordinate."
He remembered halfway through that he seemed to bear a tiny bit of responsibility for Smoker's confinement, so he quickly changed his words.
"..."
Smoker's expression visibly grew even uglier.
He seemed to use a bit of effort to suppress the urge to punch Loy directly, and forced himself to say: "You requested Bilos to arrange a special assignment for you?"
As he spoke, his anger also eased a bit.
Apparently, Smoker was quite pleased that Loy, despite being talented, had always been a slacker (a 'salted fish') but was now 'making an effort'.
As a friend, he truly felt that Loy should achieve a higher position to uphold his justice.
"...Yes, yes!"
Loy, of course, was too embarrassed to say that it wasn't his own request, and could only reluctantly nod at this moment.
"The person who approved your special assignment happens to have some connection with me, so they asked me to bring you over."
Smoker said this, then looked at Loy: "If there's nothing else, come with me."
Loy was surprised after hearing this, but then he didn't hesitate. After greeting Hans and Far, he followed Smoker and left the Detainment Unit's barracks.
However, as they walked, Loy inwardly thought, 'As expected.'
He had previously guessed at the identity of the 'old friend' Bilos had mentioned.
And now, it seemed the other party knew Smoker, and their relationship was clearly not bad—otherwise, Smoker, known for his bluntness, wouldn't have simply come to deliver a message like this.
So, in Loy's mind, the other party's identity was actually quite obvious.
"You're also participating in this 'Three Armies War Game', right?"
However, just as Loy was pondering, he heard Smoker's question.
"Hmm? What kind of game?"
Loy subconsciously nodded, but quickly realized something was wrong: "What—what is this 'Three Armies War Game'?"
Isn't it the 'All-Army War Game'?
"You still don't know?"
Smoker, hearing this, took the cigar from his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke.
Amidst the swirling smoke, his words became a little excited: "Because of the recent Heavenly Tribute robbery incident, the higher-ups of the World Government are very angry. They believe our Marines' management was inefficient, leading to a severe decline in internal combat strength, which is why such an incident occurred."
"So, after discussing it, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Commander-in-Chief Kong decided to change the rules for this 'All-Army War Game'—besides the Marines, all military forces and directly affiliated organizations under the World Government will send people to participate."
"Its name is—the 'Three Armies War Game'!"
(end of chapter)