Chapter 13: Loving Father and Strict Mother

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Sengoku came outside the cabin and fell into deep thought as he looked at the pirate group heading toward them in the distance.

What does it mean?

After so many years in the navy, this was the first time he was chased by a pirate.

The navy on both sides were watching him, waiting for his order to attack the slowly approaching pirates.

Sengoku was silent for two seconds. "Let the fleet speed up and get rid of them."

He must ensure that this naval fleet can reach its destination smoothly and then collect the heavenly gold.

His current achievements had reached the standard for promotion to a Vice Admiral. As long as he successfully completed the task and satisfied the Celestial Dragons, Cyborg Kong could apply to the Celestial Dragons to promote him to Vice Admiral.

If they fought Whitebeard now, it would be hard to avoid damage. If their combat power was insufficient and they couldn't suppress the rebellion after reaching their destination, then his mission would be considered a failure.

...

"The navy has accelerated. Should we continue to pursue them?"

On the pirate ship, Plank shouted loudly.

Whitebeard looked at Larson. "Chasing him?"

Larson rubbed his chin. "Follow from a distance, but don't be discovered by them."

The navy did not choose to fight but instead accelerated away. This was something Larson had not expected.

But this also confirmed that this naval fleet must have a more important mission, so important that they didn't even care about them.

This piqued Larson's curiosity, and he wanted to follow up to see what the mission of this naval fleet was.

Anyway, the Whitebeard Pirates didn't have any clear destination, so they might as well join in the fun by following them.

Larson and Whitebeard had great confidence in their own strength, but this was a source of concern for Marco and Plank.

For Marco, the rookie pirate who had just been at sea for five days, his eyes were opened today.

The navy saw the pirates taking a detour, but the pirates pursued them relentlessly. The navy sped away, yet the pirates still followed closely behind!

If he had heard someone say this before going to sea, he would have definitely thought that person was making it up. But today, this unbelievable scene unfolded right before his eyes. It was as outrageous as it was surreal.

Marco felt both nervous and excited at the same time. He was nervous because he thought they were in danger and excited because he thought they looked very cool!

The pirates were chasing the navy! Who would believe this?

"Little devil!"

At this moment, Larson's shout suddenly reached Marco's ears.

Larson and Whitebeard were already lounging on the Grand Master's chair again.

"Coming!" Marco responded hastily. "What do you need me to do?"

Larson yelled, "We're out of wine! Bring us some wine!"

Drinking while chasing the navy was something only Larson and Whitebeard could pull off.

A scene that seemed unbelievable to outsiders felt perfectly normal to them.

It was as if they were not chasing any navy but just enjoying a swim on the sea.

Marco hurriedly went to the wine cellar in the cabin, bringing out a large barrel of spirits and placing it between Larson and Whitebeard.

This barrel was taller than his entire body, but moving it now was no longer as difficult for him as it had been at first.

Seeing this scene, Larson nodded with satisfaction. In fact, he had been training Marco intentionally.

As the future captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, he needed to be strong enough. In the original Whitebeard Pirates, Whitebeard, the patriarch, protected these "children" too well. As a result, after following Whitebeard out to sea for such a long time, they never encountered any danger, leaving their strength much inferior to that of the real lieutenants.

The real fear of the Whitebeard Pirates came from Whitebeard himself. Once Whitebeard fell, the Whitebeard Pirates would be reduced to a rabble.

Now Larson would never allow this to happen. He had to ensure that Marco and the others, as future captains, would have the ability to carry the banner in the days to come.

Whitebeard had always wanted to maintain the Whitebeard Pirates in a "family" manner. If he played the role of a loving father in this "family," then Larson had to be the "strict mother."

Whitebeard's blind "pampering" would ultimately harm Marco and the others. Larson needed them to understand the cruelty of the pirate world!

Seeing Marco carry a large barrel of wine without panting, Larson felt a sense of satisfaction, but his expression still maintained a façade of toughness. He pointed to the dumbbells not far away, where he usually exercised, and said, "Go do a thousand curls on each arm."

Marco said disdainfully, "It's trivial."

Whitebeard, who had just taken a sip of strong wine, couldn't help but complain, "Larson, you're going to tire him out like this."

Marco thought the thousand curls were no big deal, but Whitebeard knew the weight of those dumbbells.

Usually when Larson trained, he liked to do so when he had nothing else on his schedule. Let's just say, even holding them was a challenge. For Marco, picking them up even once was no easy task.

"Don't worry."

Larson gave Whitebeard a reassuring look. "I'm also training him. He needs to have enough self-protection ability because he's bound to encounter dangers when he goes to sea with us."

Whitebeard shouted loudly, "Whatever he needs for protection, I can provide!"

You can do it!

Larson curled his lips, unwilling to argue with Whitebeard any further.

The ability of the Phoenix Fruit was healing. While it didn't offer much in terms of offensive capabilities, it made Marco essentially a human shield with more health. The most suitable path for him to take was to train his body, essentially following in Garp's footsteps.

It's terrifying to think about the combat power Garp possesses hidden beneath his bizarre healing abilities.

As Marco gritted his teeth and struggled to pick up the dumbbells, Larson smiled and asked, "How's it going?"

Marco grunted, "No, not like that!"

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and persisted.

Larson didn't miss the opportunity to tease him. "If you can't handle it, just put it down. This training gear of mine is quite expensive. If you break it, you won't be able to afford it."

"Who said I couldn't hold on!" Marco grunted, lifting the dumbbells again and again. "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"Ouch!"

Larson pretended to be surprised. "Not bad; it seems I underestimated you."

"Humph!"

Marco wore a proud expression on his face, but at that moment, he was accidentally distracted and dropped one of the dumbbells he had been holding.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Larson shook his head. "Boy, don't break my dumbbells."

Marco sat down on the ground, rubbing his sore arms, unable to stand up.

Whitebeard, who watched this scene from a distance, had a strange light in his eyes. He originally thought it would be enough for Marco to lift the weights, but he never anticipated that Marco would grit his teeth and lift them three or four times.

Larson walked over to Marco and handed him a glass of wine.

Marco took it and drank.

"How about that?" Larson asked with a smile.

This dumbbell had been given to him by the system to help with training. It weighed about 100 kilograms. It was already quite difficult for Marco to manage this.

Marco looked dissatisfied. "Let me rest for a while and then I'll come back."

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