Kane looked at the numbers ticking up on the system panel, the corners of his mouth curling up wildly in a triumphant smirk.
This was a total steal!
The two smiled at each other, sharing a sudden sense of being kindred spirits who had met far too late in life, as they continued to enjoy their hard-won afternoon tea in the refreshing sea breeze.
Time passed minute by minute.
The sea breeze suddenly stopped, and the air became unusually sultry and oppressive, making it feel heavy and hard to breathe.
Under those two makeshift sun umbrellas, the two figures were still chatting and laughing, having no intention of moving an inch.
Until—
That familiar, oppressive sound of rhythmic footsteps came from the shore.
"Tap, tap, tap."
Zephyr, with a dark expression and wearing his white coat of justice, stepped onto the gangway with heavy, deliberate strides.
Having finished his official duties early, he specifically came to inspect the progress of the punishment.
He thought he would see two students tired like dogs, sweating profusely while scrubbing the deck, or at least showing a bit of remorse for their earlier actions.
As a result, as soon as he stepped on the deck, the sight that met his eyes almost gave the veteran Admiral a cerebral hemorrhage.
He saw those two eye-catching, repurposed sun umbrellas.
He saw the wisps of thin blue smoke rising into the air.
He even smelled that familiar cigar scent with its unique pine aroma, along with the unmistakable scent of expensive black tea.
That was his special supply of cigars!
That was the black tea he had cherished for half a year and couldn't bear to finish!!
Creak—
The veins on Zephyr's forehead bulged instantly, throbbing with rage.
"Ka—ne—!!"
"Bor—sa—li—no—!!"
The roar, heavily infused with Haki, made the entire massive warship tremble slightly in the water.
"Present!"
"Present."
Two figures instantly launched themselves from their lounge chairs and stood at attention, their movements perfectly synchronized and sharp.
Zephyr strode over, his gaze like a sharp knife, scanning their uniforms which were so dry not a single drop of sweat was visible on them, finally resting on the mop that hadn't even touched a bucket of water.
"This is the result of your scrubbing all afternoon?"
Zephyr pointed at the deck full of dust and bird droppings, laughing out of sheer, manic frustration:
"The clothes are dry, the mop is dry. And you're still drinking my tea! Smoking my cigars!!"
"Good, very good! You've got guts!"
Boom!
Zephyr's "black arm," famous across the seas for crushing pirates, instantly hardened with Armament Haki, and the surrounding air seemed to vibrate with pressure.
"Since you don't want to scrub, then don't. I'll throw you both into the sea right now to learn what diligence is from the Sea Kings!"
Facing the enraged Admiral, Borsalino's eyes behind his sunglasses narrowed slightly, and his body instinctively tensed for a fight. He was about to say something like "How scary, Teacher Zephyr is really angry," but Kane beside him beat him to the punch.
"Reporting, Teacher!"
Kane suddenly shouted loudly, without a trace of fear on his face, but rather with the absolute confidence of someone in total control of the situation.
"The deck cleaning work is ready; only the last step is missing! It's not that we are lazy, but that we are waiting for the right moment!"
"The last step? The right moment?"
Zephyr sneered, the Haki on his fist becoming a bit heavier and darker, clearly on the verge of exploding.
"Relying on your glib tongue to blow it clean?"
Kane didn't speak another word.
He just slowly raised his wrist and glanced at the time on his watch. That certain, focused look made Zephyr pause for a moment, his punching motion stalling slightly in the air.
Kane watched the second hand tick forward.
His lips parted slightly as he began to count down with cold precision:
"3."
"2."
"1."
As the last number fell, Kane's finger flicked downward gently toward the deck.
"Justice from Heaven!"
Boom—!!!
The moment the words fell, a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the dark sky, instantly lighting up the port in a ghastly, brilliant white.
Then, a delayed clap of thunder exploded with a deafening roar.
Zephyr instinctively looked up at the sky.
Before he could react, the heavy rain clouds that had been brewing all afternoon finally collapsed under their own weight.
"Crash—!!"
Raindrops as big as beans smashed down wildly like heavy machine-gun fire; it was as if the heavenly river itself had overturned!
At the moment the thunder sounded, the prepared Kane and Borsalino stepped back in perfect synchronicity, precisely dodging under those two huge, waterproof sun umbrellas.
Pitter-patter!
A torrential downpour and violent gales broke out over the port.
The rainwater washed the deck like a high-pressure water gun, and along with the gale, it instantly swept through every single corner of the warship.
The sea breeze howled, kicking up waves several meters high that slapped against the steel hull, merging with the rain from the sky to form a powerful natural torrent.
The dust, dirt, and bird droppings on the deck disintegrated instantly under the wash of this natural force, gathering into a turbid stream that rushed out through the drainage holes on both sides of the hull.
Only a dozen seconds passed.
The originally dusty deck was now washed bright and clean, even reflecting the silhouettes of the men standing on it.
It was countless times cleaner than any manual scrubbing could have achieved!
And Zephyr... he stood in the torrential rain without any cover, letting the rain soak his short purple hair and slide down his resolute, stony face.
His coat was soaked through, clinging tightly to his muscular body, looking a bit disheveled and out of place.
Zephyr opened his mouth, looking at all this in silence.
For a moment, this battle-hardened Marine Admiral was actually a bit dazed by the turn of events.
This is... meteorological observation?
This kid calculated that there would be a major rainstorm at this exact time?
And he could be accurate down to the very second?
This level of Navigation perception... even the veteran Navigators at the Headquarters who have served for decades couldn't achieve this, right? Is this some kind of mutated application of Observation Haki?
"Truly... a scary monster."
Borsalino shrank further under the umbrella, looking at Kane's back, a sense of genuine awe rising in his heart for the first time toward this trash-talking, rebellious classmate.
Kane poked half his head out from under the umbrella and shouted loudly to the drenched Zephyr in the rain, a pure and harmless smile on his face:
"Teacher Zephyr! Look! Since the mission is successfully completed, can we go to the cafeteria to eat?!"
"I heard there's a special supply of Sea King sashimi tonight; if we're late, it will all be gone!"
Zephyr took a deep breath, feeling his chest tighten with a mix of emotions.
He really wanted to punch that punchable face of this kid out of shape.
He really did.
But... the mission was indeed "completed." And it was cleaner than any manual hand-scrubbing he had ever seen.
This kind of wisdom—utilizing the environment and taking advantage of the situation—is often more important than mere brute force on the ever-changing battlefield.
This is a rare commander talent!
But... Zephyr looked down at the black tea tin on the ground that had been knocked over by the rain, with expensive tea leaves flowing everywhere in the puddles, and his heart bled.
That was my limited edition!!
"Get out!!!"
Zephyr squeezed the words out from between his teeth, his voice hoarse and trembling with a mix of cold and rage.
"Alright! Borsalino, run! If we're late, the meat will all be snatched by Kuzan!"
"Coming. Brother Kane, wait for me."
Looking at the backs of the two running towards the cafeteria in the rain, Zephyr took off his wet sunglasses and slammed them onto the ground in frustration.
He wiped the rain off his face, looking at the bright-as-new deck, both angry and helpless, and finally laughed in spite of himself, with a hint of hard-to-detect relief in that smile.
"Kane... Hmph, what an unexpected brat!"
"But, stealing my tea... this debt, I will settle it with you properly later!"