No wonder you ran off after beating up your grandson, turns out you had this plan!
Aokiji's forehead furrowed, helplessly opening his wallet as wide as possible, taking money while shaking his head: "Old man is still the same, huh..."
That's good.
Looks like the old man's mentality has indeed adjusted.
I seem to be about the same now.
He stood up, settled the bill, and pushed the door open to leave the tavern.
The sunlight poured down just in time, warm, a bit glaring, yet somewhat comfortable.
It almost seemed to point a bit of direction for this lost traveler.
Ring-ring~
The bicycle bell rang again, a trail of ice extending across the sea, slowly heading into the distance.
"Excuse me, could you move... Oh? It's you again."
"Quack?!"
The green-skinned duck soared high, plunging into the sea, Aokiji sighed and bowed shamefully towards that direction.
——————
Time passed, day by day.
Unknowingly, August rolled into its later stages.
"Are we there yet?"
Aokiji stopped his bicycle, looking up at the large fortress before him.
Under the twilight glow of the setting sun, it stood in the island's harbor, constructed from numerous large warships, forming a steel fortress.
Normally a bastion, but in times of emergency, it could separate into a formidable fleet.
This was the headquarters of the Neo Navy, recently rising fast in fame across the New World, a new formidable force that none could ignore.
"Following the clues, I've indeed found it. Seems I have a talent for being a CP Agent after all."
Murmuring self-mockingly, Aokiji withdrew his gaze from the large black flag waving, turning it towards the soldiers on the deck.
They wore white uniforms similar to those of the Navy Headquarters, but with prominent "NEO" marks on their chests and backs.
Releasing Observation, he roughly sensed that within this fortress alone, there might be over ten thousand Neo Navy members.
A significant part was out executing missions.
Indeed, much larger in scale than anticipated.
"Stop!"
As he neared the port, a team of heavily armed soldiers blocked the way.
The leading major kept a wary eye on the tall man: "This is the Neo Navy base, no strangers are allowed close!"
His hand was already on his sword's hilt, but in the next second, as Aokiji removed his sunglasses and hat, his eyes widened in astonishment, stuttering:
"K-Kuzan the Grand Admiral?!"
"Not anymore."
Aokiji waved his hand, his gaze moving past him, looking deeper into the base, "Is Zephyr-sensei here?"
Ten minutes later.
In the center of the base, within the Neo Commander's Office.
"A rare guest, indeed."
The burly old man with purple hair crossed his legs, grinning broadly:
"I heard you left the Navy too, admirable! Having guts! This is why I agreed to meet you. If it were Borsalino or Sakazuki showing up, I wouldn't let them off so easily!"
Aokiji observed his former mentor from across the tea table.
It hadn't been months since they last met, and he noticed more silver threads woven into his purple hair, a fierceness in his brow, even more intense than remembered.
"Teacher, you appear..."
"Older? Or perhaps more irritable?"
Zephyr scoffed, cutting him off impatiently, "Stop with the useless chatter, tell me, what brings you here? If you want to join my Neo Navy, you're welcome! But looking at you, it seems unlikely. Did you come to advise me after hearing some rumors?"
Advise?
What rumors?
Aokiji was a bit puzzled, looking around.
He had noticed earlier that the office walls hung with a map of the New World, densely marked with Neo Navy's recent operation trajectories.
Now sitting closer, he noticed more clearly.
——These operations were mostly raids on Navy supply ships and branch bases, as well as pirate hideouts, but there were a few particularly striking marks representing port towns of member countries.
Aokiji's gaze fell on those marks, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Teacher, it seems the Neo Navy's operational range is broader than I imagined." He chose his words carefully, "These places... don't seem to be pirate hideouts, do they?"
"Hmph, I knew you were here because of this."
Zephyr coldly laughed, rising to stand before the map, his thick fingers heavily tapping on those marked spots:
"These places? They're just the World Government's lapdogs! The World Government and Navy still gain endless financial and material support, maintaining that rotten disgusting order, and aren't these member countries involved as well!"
His voice grew even more intense:
"Hey! Kuzan, you've heard my Neo Navy's ideology, haven't you?"
"Every pirate is a target for eradication, and likewise, those unwilling to leave their fame and fortune behind, continuing as Navy soldiers!"
"And these towns are the same, to completely cut off these tumors! Only when the enablers also pay the price can true justice be achieved, and this order collapse entirely!"
Aokiji stared in disbelief at the fervent Zephyr.
The mentor of his memories, after a series of setbacks, had indeed grown more radical, more agitated, but his path of justice, had never wavered.
However.
Zephyr's appearance at this moment was strikingly unfamiliar to him.
"Don't look at me with those eyes!"
Zephyr huffed in displeasure, "My bottom line hasn't changed, what's taken is merely the storerooms and the personal wealth of those government officials, nothing like bombing civilians!"
"To put it simply, the Neo Navy's current funding can't solely depend on the capture from those warships and pirate ships; we still need to take part of it from these World Government lapdogs!"
So that's it?
That is somewhat barely acceptable... Aokiji thought and then asked: "Teacher, does this mean the Neo Navy's funding sources come from plundering?"
Zephyr's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this, his expression instantly darkening.
"Plundering?"
He coldly repeated the word, "Kuzan, you see me as no better than the despicable pirates?"
"Ah, sorry, poor wording on my part."
Aokiji raised his hands in apology, "I'm just curious about the Neo Navy's mode of operation, considering maintaining such a large-scale army relies on the capture... well, appropriating those ill-gotten gains is challenging to..."
"Sustain for long?"
Zephyr burst into laughter, "But I don't need it for long, three months! All I need is three months!"
Aokiji froze, sensing an ominous premonition within:
"Teacher, what does three months signify?"
"Hahaha!"
Zephyr laughed heartily, "Come on, Kuzan! Can't you see yet? I distinctly remember you as seeming slow but actually the quickest thinker of your class!"
He drew a map from the desk drawer, slapping it heavily onto the tea table.
Aokiji looked down, his pupils suddenly contracting.
——This was a confidential map marking numerous Explosive Rock storage points!
"Anyway, after the last few actions, this motive can no longer be concealed, with Tsuru in Navy Headquarters likely scheming an ambush against me, but speaking frankly with you isn't a concern."
Zephyr's finger stretched across the map, "Heh, perhaps being a Navy Chief Instructor for decades comes with its perks, there's hardly any branch base across the Grand Line without someone I can reach!"
"They'll tell me where the World Government's Explosive Rock resources are stored, saving me the hard work of gathering intelligence all over. At this rate, in five months at most I'll have enough Explosive Rock!"
"By then..."
Zephyr clenched his fists tightly, laughing wildly:
"I'll return to Marinfanto, beneath Mary Geoise! With a grand explosion, annihilate the Navy Headquarters, cause the Red Earth Continent to crumble! Make all those haughty Heavenly Celestial Dragons perish alongside this sickening world!!!"
"And this plan has been formally named, 'Return to Marinfanto'!"