Outside the G-5 Branch, the weather was bright and calm. The sea was so still it looked like a vast sheet of blue silk.
For the New World, this kind of weather could practically be called a miracle.
"Hoo… haa…"
High in the sky, a massive figure was struggling to maintain balance, awkwardly flapping a pair of wings covered in rugged brown feathers.
It was Potts.
At the moment, he was maintaining his Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Griffin Form, carrying out the daily "required course" assigned by Instructor Rehn, high-altitude hovering precision control training.
Three months of hellish "efficiency" training had completely transformed Potts.
He was no longer the timid lieutenant colonel who couldn't even hold documents steady. The surging power within his body and his increasingly refined Armament Haki now gave him the capital to survive in the New World.
Especially when it came to controlling his Mythical Zoan form, under Rehn's theoretical guidance, Potts' power control had reached a fairly delicate level.
At the very least… he now had a 50% chance of picking up an egg with his claws without crushing it.
"Not good… the wind direction shifted just a bit, and the hover's getting unstable…"
Potts frowned with his hawk-like brows, carefully adjusting the angle of his wings as he tried to counter the barely perceptible airflow.
Instructor Rehn had said that true efficiency meant maintaining absolute stability and precision in any environment.
Panicking over the slightest disturbance would only create unnecessary "visual noise" for Lord Renzo!
Just as Potts was fully focused on controlling his form, the corner of his eye caught sight of something unusual floating on the sea below.
"Hm?"
He lowered his altitude slightly, locking his sharp gaze onto that area.
They were fragments of shattered wooden planks, apparently the remains of a ship that had broken apart not long ago.
'And on the largest plank, there seemed to be… something lying on it?'
'Pink?'
"A seabird? No… a sea beast?"
Potts felt a bit curious.
Out of naval duty, and the mindset Rehn had drilled into him, "detect and eliminate potential trouble early", he decided to take a closer look.
With a gentle flap of his massive wings, Potts shot downward like an arrow loosed from a bow, silently diving toward the debris.
As the distance closed, what lay atop the plank became clearer.
'It wasn't a seabird or a sea beast at all.'
'It was a… child?'
A little boy who looked only seven or eight years old, wearing a tattered kimono and sporting a strange topknot hairstyle!
His eyes were tightly shut, his face pale. His small body rose and fell helplessly with the waves, as if he had already lost consciousness.
What shocked Potts even more was that this little boy… had two small dragon horns on his head, like decorative ornaments?!
"This is… a Devil Fruit user? Or some kind of special race?"
Potts felt both surprised and uncertain.
He carefully landed on the sea near the plank. Although his massive body stirred up water, he skillfully controlled it with his wings so not a single splash touched the boy.
Precise control, the results of Instructor Rehn's training were already showing!
He reverted to human form, cautiously stepped onto the plank, and crouched down to examine the child.
The boy's breathing was faint, and there were no obvious external injuries. It seemed he had simply passed out from exhaustion after drifting at sea for too long.
"Hey, kid, wake up!"
Potts gently patted his cheek.
"Mm…"
The boy's eyelashes trembled as he slowly opened a narrow slit.
When he saw the tall stranger in a Marine uniform, his eyes instantly filled with wariness, and a trace of barely concealed fear.
"Y-you… who are you?"
The boy's voice was hoarse and weak.
"I'm Potts, from the G-5 Marine Branch."
Potts tried to keep his tone gentle. "Are you okay? Did you run into a shipwreck?"
"Marines…"
At the word, the boy's body seemed to stiffen, his gaze becoming evasive.
"I… I'm fine…"
Seeing how clearly the child was hiding something, Potts grew even more puzzled.
But the priority was rescuing him first.
"It's not safe here. Sea Kings could appear at any moment. I'll take you back to the base."
As he spoke, Potts reached out to pick the boy up.
But just as his hand was about to touch the child-
Something sudden happened!
"Don't touch me!"
The boy let out a terrified scream, and a cloud of pink smoke suddenly burst from his body!
Poff!
When the smoke cleared, the boy was gone.
In his place was a small dragon about two meters long, covered head to tail in pink scales, with dragon horns atop its head, clumsy-looking and oddly adorable!
The little dragon seemed startled by its own sudden transformation. It flailed on the plank attempting to fly, letting out "ee-ya-ya" sounds like a crying baby.
"…"
Potts froze, his hand hanging in midair, his face a picture of utter shock.
'A human… turned into a dragon?!'
'A Zoan-type Devil Fruit user!'
'And judging by the form… it even seemed to be… a Mythical Zoan?!'
Potts instantly thought of himself.
"So… one of my own kind."
He muttered inwardly, looking at the tiny pink dragon curled up in fear, covering its eyes with its front claws. For some reason, he found it… kind of cute.
Probably because it looked so small and helpless.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
Potts extended his hand again, this time even more gently.
Perhaps sensing the familiar aura of another Mythical Zoan, or perhaps simply too frightened to resist, the little pink dragon hesitated, then stopped struggling, allowing Potts' large, not particularly gentle but very steady hand to carefully lift it up.
"There, there… it's okay now."
Potts held the surprisingly soft little dragon in his arms and even awkwardly patted its back.
The pink dragon nuzzled against him, as if finding a sense of safety, and then… let out a tiny yawn and closed its eyes, falling asleep again.
Potts looked at the sleeping dragon in his arms, then out at the endless sea, his expression extremely complicated.
This was bad.
It seemed he had picked up a truly massive "trouble."
According to Instructor Rehn's "efficiency theory," he should immediately throw this dragon back into the sea and pretend he'd seen nothing.
But…
Looking at the dragon's completely defenseless sleeping face, Potts just couldn't bring himself to do it.
"…Sigh."
He let out a long sigh and shook his head in resignation.
Fine. He'd bring it back first.
At worst… he could say he'd found some "rare ingredient" on the way and present it to Lord Renzo.
Hopefully Sanji wouldn't actually stew it…
Potts transformed back into his griffin form, carefully tucking the sleeping pink dragon into the feathers on his chest. With a powerful flap of his wings, he flew back toward the G-5 base.