Chapter 248: Lazy Justice, Lightning of the Deep Sea
"Instructor Zephyr, I'm here."
At Marine Headquarters, Kuzan arrived at Zephyr's residence carrying two bottles of premium sherry.
Although there was no formal induction ceremony for the title of "Admiral Candidate," Kuzan and the others had still returned to Marine Headquarters for the announcement. Such gatherings were relatively rare.
While the Marines possessed a massive military force, their operational jurisdiction was equally vast. Even with a large number of Vice Admirals, very few were actually stationed at Headquarters on a permanent basis.
Most were deployed across the seas to respond to various crises. It was only during major incidents or highly specific events that the number of high-ranking officers at Headquarters would temporarily swell.
"An Admiral Candidate already, Kuzan. At this point, the rank of Admiral is merely a matter of time for you. But shouldn't you be out celebrating with your peers right now?" Zephyr asked, accepting the wine.
"How should I put it..." Kuzan sighed, scratching his head. "I just don't get along with that guy, Sakazuki, after all."
Currently, Sakazuki and Borsalino were celebrating together. The two of them had entered the Marine boot camp earlier than Kuzan and were from the same graduating class, so their personal relationship was naturally much closer.
Moreover, following the Ohara incident, although Kuzan and Sakazuki hadn't reached the point of fighting a deathmatch on sight, their irreconcilable ideological differences could no longer be masked. At the very least, Kuzan had absolutely zero desire to socialize with the man.
"The operation at Ohara, hm?" Zephyr said quietly. "Justice has never been a simple word, Kuzan. Your current position still isn't high enough. When you climb higher, you will witness even more things deliberately hidden in the dark."
Zephyr had heard the rumors regarding what truly transpired at Ohara, but he didn't elaborate. After all, the Ohara incident was still something that could be openly discussed. Compared to the true taboos of the world—incidents the World Government strictly forbade anyone from mentioning—Ohara was ultimately a drop in the bucket.
"Arara... now that sounds truly terrifying. I'm suddenly starting to understand why Vice Admiral Garp has been adamantly refusing promotions all these years," Kuzan said, dragging a chair over and slouching into it with a highly lethargic posture.
The Ohara incident had drastically altered the trajectories of many lives, and Kuzan was one of them. The Kuzan of the past had been brimming with unyielding drive, upholding a fierce, fiery ideology known as "Burning Justice."
But after the ashes of Ohara settled, that passionate flame had been completely extinguished, leaving behind nothing but a profound, weary "Lazy Justice."
Having finally shed the crushing burden of being an Admiral, Zephyr felt a deep sense of relief. He sat there casually chatting with Kuzan—until a certain "unrelated party" violently interrupted them.
"That brat pisses me off! Dragon, that bastard son of mine! He never gives me a single day of peace!"
The front door was kicked open, and Garp stormed inside, furiously slapping a newspaper down onto Zephyr's desk.
"That damn brat went and founded some 'Revolutionary Army' and kicked off an armed uprising in the West Blue! The local Marine branches couldn't handle him, the reports went all the way to the top, and Sengoku just dumped the whole mess straight onto me!
"Your Jecrick is so much less trouble! If Dragon had just stayed in the Marines..."
"Vice Admiral Garp..." Kuzan blinked, sitting up slightly. "That globally wanted criminal, Dragon... is your son?"
"Kuzan? You're here too?" Garp paused, seemingly only just noticing the giant man sitting in the room. "Keep it a secret! Don't go blabbing to everyone!"
Zephyr completely ignored Garp's blustering. Although Garp sounded like he was furiously complaining, for some reason, Zephyr felt a distinct undertone of parental bragging in his voice.
"You know better than anyone why he left the Marines," Zephyr replied dryly. "But why are you so free right now? Shouldn't you be out executing that mission?"
"Bwahaha! I'm just a Vice Admiral!" Garp laughed boisterously, casually picking his nose. "I'm nowhere near as busy as that guy Sengoku!"
His response was shamelessly matter-of-fact, but it was also the absolute truth. Over the years, Sengoku had silently shouldered a massive portion of both Garp and Zephyr's administrative workloads.
"Do you see this, Kuzan?" Zephyr sighed, pointing at Garp. "This is the result of having highly unreliable colleagues. If your peers turn out to be anything like this idiot, you're going to be drowning in paperwork."
"Don't worry, Instructor Zephyr," Kuzan replied lazily. "The ones drowning in paperwork will definitely be the other two."
"Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji. The future Three Admirals, hm?"
Back on Fish-Man Island, Nereus skimmed the newly published names in the newspaper without much reaction. During his brief trip to the West Blue, nothing major had happened back home.
There were always a few hot-headed rookies causing minor scuffles, but everything remained firmly under control.
If anything noteworthy had occurred, it was that Rayleigh—while trying to scheme up a new way to make quick cash—had somehow gotten into a shipwreck and was coincidentally rescued by Hatchan, who was on vacation.
Ever since the human trafficking rings at Sabaody Archipelago were ruthlessly eradicated by Fish-Man Island's forces, Rayleigh had technically become a "victim." At the very least, he could no longer use his favorite, utterly ridiculous money-making scheme of voluntarily selling himself into slavery just to rob the auction house blind.
Among the new generation of Fish-Man Island, Jack was also beginning to display his terrifying potential. Although he was still just a child, the monstrous brute strength contained within his body already rivaled that of elite adult warriors. Finding a peer capable of matching him in a fight was exceedingly difficult.
However, Nereus just happened to have one right beside him.
Zzzt...
Accompanied by the sharp crackle of electricity, Nereus casually raised a hand behind his back, effortlessly blocking a high-voltage "sneak attack" from his blind spot.
"Not a bad strike. It seems you haven't been slacking off while I was away."
The attacker was Chloe. If there was any genuine surprise waiting for him upon his return, it was that the latent power within Chloe's bloodline had experienced another partial awakening.
Theoretically, this trait was inherited from an electric ray or a similar species. In short, on top of her Lunarian ability to conjure and manipulate flames, Chloe could now generate and discharge high-voltage electricity.
Coupled with Fish-Man Island's ancestral water-manipulation techniques, Chloe alone was fully capable of unleashing devastating tri-elemental combo attacks—water, fire, and lightning.
"Of course I haven't!" Chloe grinned proudly. "Uncle Wobbegong said the voltage I output is way stronger than any other Fish-Man or Merfolk!"
The cellular vitality of a Lunarian was vastly superior to that of any other race. This robust biological foundation meant that when Chloe generated electricity, both its sheer volume and lethal intensity were exponentially higher.
In fact, the first time she unleashed it at full power, she had completely short-circuited Wobbegong's entire laboratory grid.
"Daddy! Big Sis said she's going out for a trip now that you're back, and I want to go with her!"
"Going out?" Nereus raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"
"A place called Dressrosa! One of her friends invited her to meet up."
"Go if you want, but remember to listen to your sister while you're out there."
Nereus felt perfectly at ease letting Nanamo take Chloe out. Although Nanamo hadn't yet reached a state of absolute, global invincibility, the people in this world genuinely capable of defeating her could be counted on two hands.
Coincidentally, Nereus knew every single one of those people personally. And those people knew exactly whose daughter Nanamo was. Unless they were forced into a literal do-or-die corner, none of them would ever be insane enough to willingly provoke Nereus's wrath.
Besides, the outside world was still predominantly composed of oceans. If push came to shove, they could simply dive into the sea, and absolutely no one would be able to touch them.
"Yay! I'm gonna go tell Big Sis! She has no excuse not to take me now!"
With a delighted cheer, Chloe unfurled her black wings and launched herself toward the upper floors of the palace, nearly crashing straight into Amphelite in the hallway.
Amphelite, however, had absolutely zero objections to the trip. She never minded Chloe maturing and gaining combat experience early. In fact, based on Amphelite's personal standards, Nereus was being far too overprotective.
When Amphelite was six years old, she hadn't been practicing her flame manipulation on wooden target dummies—she had been incinerating those disgusting Marine and CP operatives.
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