Chapter 8: Zephyr Recruits New Marines

This time, Zephyr had left Marineford aboard three large naval warships. One of them carried a full crew complement, while the other two had only essential personnel onboard—intended to transport any new recruits they gathered.

They had already traveled through more than half the Grand Line, but the situation for recruiting new Marines was far from optimistic.

The reason was simple: the number of pirates at sea had increased dramatically, and they had become far more vicious. The risk of becoming a Marine had skyrocketed.

Most of the islands they visited yielded dismal recruitment results. After all, unless someone had no way to make a living or bore a deep hatred for pirates, few were willing to take on such a blood-soaked career.

People with nowhere else to turn were more likely to become pirates or bounty hunters.

After all, if you're going to risk your life anyway, piracy brings in far more loot than the meager pay offered by the Marines.

And for those with a shred of moral restraint who didn't want to become pirates, bounty hunting was the more attractive option. Same pirate-killing, but with bigger payouts and more freedom.

For that reason, Zephyr's recruitment mission had been far from successful.

What made matters worse was that after all he'd been through, Zephyr now had extremely high standards for new Marines. Anyone just looking to coast through the job—he wouldn't even consider.

As a result, even after sailing for weeks, not even one of the two reserve ships had been filled with recruits. They were still far short of the target set by Fleet Admiral Kong.

One of the rear admirals accompanying him had subtly tried more than once to persuade Zephyr to lower his standards. Otherwise, they'd fail to complete the mission and likely face consequences upon returning.

But Zephyr didn't care. In fact, he was unmoved and firm in his response, even defiant toward the idea of punishment.

"I was already planning to resign, remember? I only stayed because they begged me to help train the next generation of Marines.

If Fleet Admiral Kong isn't satisfied, he can find someone else. I didn't even want this job to begin with—why would I care about so-called punishment?

If the people we recruit are just a bunch of slackers with no sense of justice, I wouldn't teach them even if you begged me."

The rear admiral could only sigh in defeat. He knew full well that his bonus and promotion for the year were probably already gone. When they returned, he would be the one getting reprimanded.

Zephyr was an admiral, a Marine hero with countless students in the headquarters. And with a personality as stubborn as bedrock, he could afford to be bullheaded.

But a rear admiral like him? Not so much...

Just as the rear admiral was preparing to plead his case again, a Marine rushed up onto the deck in a hurry.

"Reporting, Admiral Zephyr! Rear Admiral Kadaru! A pirate ship has been sighted at Red Maple Island's harbor. Judging by the flag, the vessel appears to belong to a rookie crew from the South Blue—The Iron Arm Pirates.

Their captain is Iron Arm Cook, a pirate listed on Marine HQ's wanted list with a bounty of 20 million Berries."

Zephyr and Rear Admiral Kadaru were visibly surprised.

They had already been sailing the first half of the Grand Line for days after passing through the Gate of Justice, but until now, they hadn't encountered a single pirate crew.

That wasn't because there were fewer pirates in this part of the sea. On the contrary, most of them simply fled the moment they saw three massive Marine warships approaching.

Large Navy vessels from HQ weren't something just anyone could command. Local Marine branches might have medium-sized ships at best, and large warships usually signaled the presence of at least a rear admiral.

In this part of the Grand Line, most of the active pirates were still rookies. Faced with such overwhelming force, only a fool would choose to stay.

And since Zephyr's mission was to recruit new soldiers, he didn't go out of his way to pursue fleeing pirates. At most, they'd fire a few warning shots—if a pirate ship got hit, that was just bad luck. Otherwise, they let them go.

"Iron Arm Pirates?" Zephyr muttered. "Never heard of them. But a 20-million bounty... for the first half of the Grand Line, that's not nothing."

"Tell the crew to prepare for battle. Don't let a single one of those scumbags escape.

Red Maple Island is one of our designated candidate locations for a new Navy base. And the redwood there is a valuable strategic resource. Protecting the residents is top priority."

Zephyr didn't remember a nobody like Iron Arm Cook—and neither did Kadaru. Even bounties over 100 million wouldn't stick in Zephyr's mind unless the pirate had done something truly outrageous.

But it didn't matter whether the Iron Arm Pirates were infamous or not. A pirate was a pirate. And to civilians, that alone was already a nightmare.

A moment later, another Marine handed over Cook's dossier—just received from HQ. And when Zephyr read about the crew's atrocities, the aura around him turned cold and heavy.

The Iron Arm Pirates were monsters. Murder, arson, pillaging—nothing was off-limits. They had ravaged several islands in the South Blue.

What infuriated Zephyr most was that they didn't even spare children. Their cruelty had clearly triggered some dark memories within him. His face grew savage and stormy.

"Admiral Zephyr, we must prioritize the elimination of these pirates. Please give the order immediately," Kadaru urged. Even he was shocked by the intensity Zephyr radiated.

As a teacher, Zephyr was known for being stern but fair. But this was the first time Kadaru had seen him this angry.

"Leave a detachment behind to guard the recruits on the ship," Zephyr ordered. "Another group should go burn the pirate vessel in the harbor. The rest of you—follow me onto the island and enact justice!"

"I want my orders relayed to every ship within one minute. Every second you waste could mean another innocent person murdered by those damned pirates."

With that, Zephyr didn't wait. Before Kadaru could even respond, Zephyr launched himself off the deck with Geppo (Moonwalk), streaking toward Red Maple Island alone.