Chapter 18 Alabasta
On the calm sea, warships flying the flag of Naval Headquarters sailed gracefully.
On the deck, countless young Marines with bare chests and arms were training hard.
Although they had left the training camp of the headquarters, the rigorous training of these new Marines continued unabated because the owner of this warship was the current Admiral of Headquarters and the mentor of all new generation Marine recruits: Black Arm Zephyr.
At the forefront of the many young Marines were the two disciples Zephyr was most satisfied with among this generation.
They were Ain, a girl with soft sea-blue wavy hair and a Retrogressive Fruit ability, and Binz, a person with pink flame-like hair and a tall vine-like body with lush fruit abilities.
Among the current generation of disciples, these two had performed exceptionally well. In addition to mastering the Six Powers proficiently, they also possessed powerful Devil Fruits and considerable swordsmanship. Yet, they never relaxed their rigorous self-discipline.
Both of them knew they were still far behind the other disciples taught by their mentor Zephyr. Not to mention, the three seniors who had been designated as future Admirals and the Vice Admirals. They still had a long way to go.
However, being young, they firmly believed that with hard work, even if they couldn't catch up with the three monster-level seniors, reaching the strength of those Vice Admiral-level seniors should be enough to make Teacher Zephyr proud.
Soon, the morning practice was over. Everyone raised their heads and looked at Marine Admiral Black Arm Zephyr, who was wearing a suit that showed off his majestic physique, a stern face, and a Marine coat, standing on the second floor of the warship.
As usual, Teacher Zephyr said nothing, just glanced at them, then turned and left.
But the disciples understood that this meant they could rest.
So, everyone returned to the cabin to wash up and change clothes.
After a while, Ain, now cleaned up and looking brand new in her sky-blue Marine Captain's uniform, returned to the deck. The male Marines couldn't help but be attracted to such a heroic young girl.
Ain seemed not to notice them at all and walked with a cold expression to the deck of the second floor of the warship.
"Teacher!"
"Um!"
Zephyr just nodded and continued listening to a Marine's report next to him.
"Have you not found any trace of the vampire Gnar yet?"
"Zephyr Admiral, none of the Marines currently on the Grand Line have found any trace of the pirate ship or vampire Gnar in the intelligence."
This made Zephyr frown, as it wasn't usually difficult for the Marines to track a pirate.
Taking the first half of the Grand Line as an example, there are only seven main routes. As long as one of the islands can be identified, the pirate's route can be determined accurately.
Most pirate ships are simple wind-powered sailboats. Therefore, their sailing speed can be roughly estimated, and based on the time, the pirates' range can be determined. With nearby Marine bases and patrols, it should be easy to find the pirates' location.
Normally, an Admiral wouldn't be needed to deal with a pirate like Gnar. However, on one hand, this was a personal request from Sengoku, and on the other, it was during the internship period for Marine recruits.
Killing two birds with one stone, Zephyr personally led the warship into action.
"Where are we now?"
"Zephyr Admiral, we should be able to reach Alabasta by evening. Do we need to stay in Alabasta for a while?"
"Alabasta!"
Hearing the name of this country, Ain was also intrigued. After all, it is a famous country on the Grand Line and one of the twenty countries that established the World Government.
The intelligence officer continued.
"According to our intelligence, Vampire Gnar purchased a lot of Log Poses at Whisky Peak, so there's no need for them to store magnetic fields.
Based on the timing, they are probably replenishing supplies in Alabasta.
Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that Vampire Gnar intends not to stop at Alabasta but to continue moving forward."
This made Zephyr frown deeply.
If the Marine warship stops at Alabasta, they might miss Vampire Gnar's pirate ship. But if they don't stop, and Vampire Gnar is in Alabasta, they could also miss him.
"Can't you be sure? Have Alabasta's intelligence officers seen any trace of Vampire Gnar?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Zephyr Admiral. Alabasta's geographical environment is too unique. Its borders are extensive, and most places are hot, desolate deserts. Therefore, we have no way to confirm whether Vampire Gnar has landed in Alabasta."
Seeing his teacher's troubled look, Ain stood up and volunteered.
"Teacher, why don't you leave this matter to me! Let me lead a team of Marines to stay in Alabasta!"
This made Zephyr fall into deep thought. After a while, he nodded.
"This is indeed a solution. You go down first!"
After asking the intelligence personnel to leave, Zephyr turned to his disciples.
"Ain, when we reach Alabasta, you will lead a team of Marines to land. However, remember, your duty is only to find traces of Vampire Gnar. If you find any, don't engage. Just use the Transponder Snail to notify me."
"Is this the teacher worrying about me?"
Sensing the concern in Zephyr's tone, Ain felt extremely warm and bowed respectfully.
"I understand, teacher!"
So, after arriving in Alabasta, Ain led hundreds of Marines to land at the port, while Zephyr led the Marine warships to continue sailing towards the next stop.
With this two-pronged approach, Vampire Gnar would definitely not be able to escape Marine's pursuit.
Meanwhile, in the Drum Kingdom...
As Miss Zala recovered, Gnar, Robin, and Zala also began to sail their new pirate ship towards Alabasta...
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On the rolling sea...
Although Robin and Zala had thoroughly inspected the new ship when they first boarded, they were still amazed by its unique features.
The ship was a huge multi-masted sailboat with a vermilion background.
The boat was over ten times larger than the small single-masted fishing boat Robin had lived on for a year.
The space on the ship had expanded significantly. Not only had the original room increased from one to five, but there were also separate living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, gym, library, infirmary, food storage room, treasure storage room, and wine storage room.
The space, originally limited to one floor, had now grown to three floors.
One floor was mainly a deck, which was incredibly spacious.
It was covered with green lawns and had a small swimming pool, large enough for forty or fifty people to hold parties.
Then there was an exquisite ship building, which served as the captain's cabin, Gnar's residence, and the control center responsible for steering the entire ship.
There was a Little Garden at the rear, but it was empty at this time.
The second floor was the main crew's living space, including various rooms and cabins.
The third floor housed the power room.
A steam-powered boiler could be seen in constant motion, its rattling machinery and gears driving the outer wheels on both sides of the ship, providing immense power.
This power allowed the entire ship to sail at high speeds even without wind.
Additionally, there was a large amount of coal, ensuring a sufficient source of energy.
However, despite the ship's size, there were only three crew members on board.
After boarding the new ship, Robin and Zala immediately became interested in the Little Garden at the stern and began planting various seeds and flowers they had brought from the Drum Kingdom. Gnar, as the captain, was also pulled over to help with the labor.
Originally, this was an extremely easy task for Gnar, but he seemed a bit weak at the moment.
The reason was simple: a pair of black shackles had appeared on Gnar's hands...
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