Chapter 211: Zephyr and Kizaru
"Report!" On the deck of one of the warships, a Marine intelligence officer saluted Kizaru, who was lounging in a deck chair. "Admiral Borsalino, the movements of the Dragon Hunter Pirates' ship have been confirmed. Based on their course, their target is highly likely the Salamis Duchy!"
Kizaru, with his black curly hair and wearing a yellow-striped suit, had been dozing off. Upon hearing the report, he woke up, reached out, and removed the hat covering his face. "The Salamis Duchy? That non-World Government allied nation? I heard it's Whitebeard's territory, is that right?"
"Yes, Admiral Borsalino. According to our speed, we should arrive at the Salamis Duchy in about two days!" The intelligence officer stood at attention.
Kizaru, wearing his amber-tinted sunglasses, scratched his head a bit. "Hmm, this is troublesome. Are we going to start a fight in Whitebeard's territory again?"
"The situation is indeed complex. Please give your orders, Admiral Borsalino!" said the intelligence officer.
"I'm not the only Admiral in this fleet!" Kizaru said. "Let me ask the teacher's opinion first."
With that, he raised his left wrist and called out to a Den Den Mushi attached to it. "Hey hey, teacher, can you hear me?"
However, after calling for a while, there was no response. Kizaru scratched his head. "Hmm, that's strange..."
Kizaru's speech and actions were all so slow and leisurely, probably only slightly better than the chef Matthew on Ian's ship. He tried calling out twice more, but still got no response. Just then, a voice suddenly came from inside the cabin. "Uncle, didn't I tell you that the Den Den Mushi on your left wrist is for eavesdropping?"
With that, a chubby little boy wearing a red bellyband appeared on the deck. There was a scar on the boy's face, and he carried a huge double-bladed axe on his shoulder.
This chubby boy was Sentomaru. At this time, Sentomaru still looked quite young, but no Marine on the ship dared to underestimate him. This nephew of Admiral Borsalino was also a genius. He had already learned Haki at a young age and had now joined the Marine Science Unit, which was Vegapunk's direct unit, specifically for protecting Vegapunk. Those selected were all one in a thousand.
"Sentomaru! It's you!" Kizaru scratched his head and asked, "Then where is the Den Den Mushi I use for calls?"
"It's on your right hand!" Sentomaru said, somewhat speechlessly.
Kizaru suddenly realized his mistake and raised his right hand to call again.
Soon, a voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. "What is it?"
"Teacher, it looks like we're going to fight in Whitebeard's territory again this time!" Kizaru said. "Do you have any good suggestions?"
"Hmph, even if I had suggestions, would you listen?" Zephyr snorted coldly on the other end.
"Of course, you are my former teacher, after all!" Kizaru chuckled.
"Don't ask me!" Zephyr didn't want to talk to him. "You're the one in command of this operation. I'm just an old retired man. If it weren't for Sengoku's request, I wouldn't have come!"
With that, Zephyr slammed down the receiver.
Zephyr could be considered a soul figure within the Marines. Since retiring, he had been serving as an instructor in the Marines. It could be said that almost the entire current generation of Marine officers had been trained by him. Active Marine personnel, including Fleet Admiral Sengoku, would respectfully address him as Instructor or Teacher when they saw him.
The three Marine Admirals were all his former students. However, among these students, Kizaru had the worst relationship with him.
Of course, Kizaru also respected him, but the problem was that Kizaru strongly disagreed with Zephyr's way of doing things.
During his time in the Marines, Zephyr had never killed a single pirate and was known as the "Non-Killing" Marine Admiral. However, when he was 42 years old, his family was killed by pirates, and he began to hate pirates.
Kizaru was the first student in Zephyr's class after he became an instructor and was also the oldest. Aokiji was 19 at the time, Akainu was only 23, but Kizaru was 26.
Aokiji and Akainu were still young then and admired Zephyr, the former Admiral turned instructor. But Kizaru was different. His thinking was already quite mature, so he always found Zephyr's philosophy ridiculous.
What's the use of pitying those sinners? In the end, it only hurts yourself.
It was because of this mindset that Kizaru's attitude towards Zephyr was somewhat different. And although Zephyr also taught Kizaru, he keenly sensed Kizaru's hidden mockery of him, which was hard for Zephyr to accept.
As a result, the relationship between the two had never been good.
However, since both Zephyr and Kizaru belonged to the Marines, although their relationship was strained, they had never completely fallen out. If history followed its course, Zephyr would only break with the Marines after the Paramount War, when Edward Weevil was recruited as a Warlord. Then, Kizaru, who would be responsible for pursuing him, would finally come to blows with his former teacher.
Although Zephyr was old, he was still one of the Marines' formidable combat forces. The Marines and the World Government needed his strength, which was why they supported the Pirate Hunter Unit he had formed.
And likewise, returning the favor, after Fleet Admiral Sengoku made the request, Zephyr still agreed to this voyage, even if his partner was his least favorite student, he still came.
Perhaps Sengoku's intention was also to consider reconciling Kizaru and Zephyr, hoping that through this cooperation, they might be able to mend their relationship.
However, just from that simple phone call, it was clear that Sengoku's efforts were likely in vain.
Although they were all standard warships, the personnel on three of the ships were not elite soldiers from Marine Headquarters, but members of Zephyr's own Pirate Hunter Unit.
After Zephyr hung up the phone, he couldn't help but cough a couple of times. A girl with sea-blue hair and big eyes, standing beside Zephyr, immediately stepped forward and gently patted his back.
Zephyr was indeed old. He had always suffered from asthma. He took out a spray bottle and sprayed it into his mouth twice, and his symptoms eased a bit.
Turning around, Zephyr said to the sea-blue-haired girl, "Ain, thank you. I'm much better!"
This sea-blue-haired girl was Ain, a user of the Revert-Revert Fruit, and also Zephyr's student. However, when she was still a Marine trainee under Zephyr on his ship, the ship was attacked by the pirate Edward Weevil. Only two of the trainee students on the entire ship survived: one was Ain, and the other was Binz. Zephyr also lost his right wrist in that incident.
From then on, Ain and Binz had followed Zephyr, becoming his right and left hands. Since establishing the Pirate Hunter Unit, they had been attacking various pirates in the New World for the past year, constantly searching for traces of Edward Weevil, wanting to avenge that past grudge.
At the beginning of the Pirate Hunter Unit's formation, Ain had also followed Zephyr to the first half of the Grand Line once. It was on that occasion that they completely wiped out the Iron Mace Pirates, inadvertently stealing a kill from Tina as well.
Seeing that Zephyr was feeling a bit better, Ain crouched down in front of him, like an obedient daughter facing her father, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she asked Zephyr, "Teacher, about our target this time, the Dragon Hunter Pirates, I checked their situation back then. Aren't they a pirate crew formed by slaves? Strictly speaking, such a crew isn't really a true pirate crew, is it? Why did you agree to take action?"
"Ain, are you sympathizing with them?" Zephyr was wearing a pair of sunglasses and looked down at her. Because of the sunglasses, Ain couldn't see what Zephyr's expression was at that moment.
"It's not sympathy..." Ain thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I just feel that we shouldn't have come this time."
"I don't want to come either!" Zephyr said. "But regardless, the existence of this Dragon Hunter Pirates is a challenge to the authority of the Marines!"
Listening to Zephyr's sigh, Ain suddenly understood his thoughts a little.
Her most respected teacher had devoted almost his entire life to the Marines. Although it was precisely because the Marines had failed to protect his family back then, leading to their tragic deaths, he still believed in the Marines.