One Piece: Adopting Akainu at the beginning, adopted son Barrett

Chapter 172 A Smile's Choice
"By the way, Sora, why don't you see Sengoku? Is he on a mission?"

Usually at this time Zhan Guo would appear in the empty office. Ross was naturally curious. He only took Sakaski out for a few days. Did something important happen on the sea?
Kong was not surprised by Ross's question. After all, missions that required the dispatch of generals were not ordinary. However, this was not something that needed to be concealed. He said:
"Didn't that birdman Morgause have a hit magazine before? He was the one who abandoned his identity as a celestial dragon. His family fled to the North Sea to live an ordinary life. In my opinion, he is just being ignorant of his blessings and having nothing to do."

Sora's tone was teasing.

Celestial Dragon, that is an identity that even he, the current Navy Admiral, envy, it is the pinnacle of power in the sea.

But such a person is willing to give up his identity, step down from the lofty Marijoa, and live the life of an "ordinary person" in a barren land.

Should we praise him for his extraordinary ideological awareness? Or should we scold him for being stupid and unable to see the situation clearly?
Probably a little bit of both.

"Yes. I remember Morgans told me last year that his family was retaliated against and is now struggling to survive in a slum near a garbage dump."

Ross nodded to show that he understood, then put down his teacup and uttered the thought he had at the time:
"Actually, when I heard the news, I was planning to save the two children. After all, they were only nine years old. But after thinking about it carefully, I gave up. Huo Minggu is the current patriarch of the Don Quixote family after all. I don't want to be involved with the guy who once stood at the center of the secret."

"Did you get this information from Morgans? That birdman is as bold as ever. He dares to pry into such secrets. No wonder even the Five Elders reported to me a military cost of 30 billion Baileys to hunt him down!"

Sora spoke with emotion, his chin supported by his hands, his eyes filled with greed.

He had wanted to kill the birdman for a long time. Although his bounty within the navy was not high, the Five Elders chose to use military funds to reward the birdman privately.

This kind of bounty is of the same nature as the private bounty in the dark world. After all, the bounty offered by the navy is a comprehensive bounty of individual strength + threat level.

Three hundred billion! If he had known about the birdman's whereabouts, he would have immediately cut off his bird head.

"Well, I recognize Morgans' intelligence capabilities, but I have no interest in this aspect. It is more troublesome than a hot potato. Are they the ones who will take on this mission, Sengoku?"

Ross was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that Morganus' bird head was so valuable. He thought that a reward of 5 billion from a member country of the Dark World was already the maximum.

He was considering whether he should fatten up his old friend a little more and then slaughter him for money.

Sora nodded, confirming Ross's statement, and said:

"Well, because Saint Homing was killed by his eldest son, Saint Doflamingo, this incident caused a big stir within their organization. The Knights of God even stepped in to block the news. The child was half-chased and half-escaped and was let go. Sengoku went there secretly..."

After saying this, Kong slashed his neck with his hand, saying everything.

Ross said nothing more. This was the limit of what Sora was willing to reveal. It would be impolite to talk about it further.

Some things are better left unsaid.

However, Sora probably didn't expect that the Warring States would fail, and even brought back Doflamingo's brother Rosinante for adoption.

If Doflamingo's revenge had not been helped by others, he and his brother would have immediately run away with others after escaping, but they would have been separated from Rocinante on the way.

If not for this, perhaps this mission would have been successfully completed instead of creating a future great pirate and the sorrow of a father.

"The world is so fickle. It would have been great if Huo Minggu wasn't the head of Don Quixote's main family. He made me afraid to even save my two children."

Ross was feeling emotional, closing his eyes and drinking his tea, and it was unclear what his attitude was towards the matter.

From the original work, Doflamingo has some information about the core secrets of the Celestial Dragons, which can reveal many things indirectly. This is also the reason why Ross did not achieve the achievement of "Father of the Celestial Dragons".

He thought about it, but eventually gave up.

The World Government can tolerate a Doflamingo who is alone, but it will never tolerate a Doflamingo with a background.

This is equivalent to letting others master part of your foundation!

Even Ross would not allow this to happen, let alone the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.

"By the way, Ross, is Yixiao okay? I haven't seen him in the past few days. Have you looked for him?"

After a while, Kong suddenly asked a question.

Yixiao has been in a state of autism ever since the game of destroying a country. Kong was afraid that he would commit suicide out of anger. This kind of thing was not uncommon within the navy.

Yixiao has a strong sense of justice, but it is not firm enough. Such sailors are most likely to commit suicide silently after a major setback.

"I'm still trying to enlighten myself. Anyway, don't bother him during this period. I've already helped him. It's nothing serious. It's just that it's hard to say whether he should join the navy or come back to Cloud Island with me. I think he's been in a state of confusion these past two days."

Ross waved the matter away.

He had given Yixiao a choice, and now was the time for him to make a decision.

"OK then……"

Kong nodded and felt relieved. As long as he was not dead, there was hope.

The two of them spent the following time chatting with each other about meaningless things. The only person who caught Ross's attention was Vice Admiral Tsuru's sister Gion.

The little girl didn't join the navy, but ran away quietly with her brother-in-law Mokasi. According to the latest news, the two of them are missing on an island full of gorillas.

"An island full of gorillas? What a coincidence."

Ross thought to himself. He didn't take this matter seriously, but he could look forward to it.

…………

"Qiang Qiang~"

A few days later, there was a gentle knock on the door of Ross's residence in the family quarters of the Navy Headquarters.

Yixiao stood in front of the door with a new bandage on his face. He looked much thinner than before and his clothes were changed into looser ones.

He held a staff and a knife in his hands, his face full of determination.

"It's a smile, come in quickly."

Ross opened the door, spoke in a soothing tone, and led Yixiao in by the shoulder.

The living room of the room was very tidy. Tea had been added to the coffee table on the left, and Ross sat opposite with a smile.

"Whoo~"

Picking up the hot tea, he blew on it symbolically and drank it all in one gulp. After putting down the teacup, he slowly said:

"Have you made a decision? Tell me about it. We are close friends regardless of age. If you need help, just tell me directly."

Yixiao's heart was filled with a kind of determination.

But Ross knew very well that he did not choose the Navy, hence the following polite remark.

But he also felt that Yixiao did not choose him, but made a decision that Ross expected.

"Whoo~"

Yixiao also picked up the hot tea, blew on it and drank it, then put the cup down and said to Ross in a shameful tone:

"I'm sorry, Ross, I want to apply to become the director and caregiver of an orphanage. It's a bit too much, but I want to be a non-staff member and be able to roam around in various orphanages at any time.

I kind of escaped, I couldn't hold on to my heart in that situation, the Navy had nothing that could hold me back.

But I also don’t want to give up, and I don’t want to just take a leisurely job on your Cloud Island and seek the answer you gave me.”

"Of course, it's just a small matter. It's a good thing if a person is willing to be young and not want to sink into depravity. When do you plan to leave?"

Ross nodded in agreement.

This answer was within his expectations. Although Yixiao did not explicitly join his team, he was still one of his own. When he fully entered middle age, he would naturally join his career.

Yixiao is still very young now, and is at the age when he refuses to admit defeat!

The navy has a good core but lousy practices, so it makes sense that it has no appeal to him now, not to mention the two reasons why he joined the navy in the original work.

One is that he was dissatisfied with the Shichibukai system. He once visited Alabasta under the rule of Sakrokdar and witnessed the dangers of the Shichibukai system.

The second is that he has his own strength and does not want to be lost in the crowd.

And directly joining Ross's team to retire early is even more impossible, which is not in line with the youthful vigor and indomitable spirit.

He is also a man of some ability!
Therefore, it was expected that he would become a hermit who constantly traveled between orphanages, helping others while honing himself.

"Thank you very much! I will definitely do a good job in this job. As for time, I am still in the navy, so at least let me eliminate some pirates for them.

I cannot let Marshal Kong down. This is the only thing I can do. As for the rest, I am afraid I can no longer do anything."

He smiled, stood up and bowed to express his gratitude. He did not plan to leave immediately and take up the new post, but chose to stay in the navy first to repay Kong and others for their care during this period.

He only had one arm left, and although it was not strong, it was enough to handle some dangerous combat missions.

As for other tasks, such as accompanying the Celestial Dragons, collecting heavenly gold, etc., he was powerless.

"Well, that's fine. I'll tell Kong and the others to take care of themselves for a few days. Look at you. You look so haggard. I'm afraid you won't be able to fight well.

I can also teach you some advanced knowledge about the Kūbunshūki technique. Just come find me here tomorrow afternoon."

Ross was not surprised by Yixiao's choice. As a fellow possessor of the special observation Haki, he knew the other person's personality and style too well. He just had to take a look into his heart.

Conversely, Yixiao also knows Ross very well.

Time passed slowly, and after about a few hours, Yixiao got up and left. During this time, Ross told him a lot of knowledge about the development of Observation Haki.

After watching Yixiao leave, he looked towards the Red Earth Continent in the distance and couldn't help thinking:
"By this time, the Red Earl should be fighting with Sora, right? Maybe in these two years. I'm really looking forward to the showdown between the top taijutsu masters."

(End of this chapter)