Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 217 The Hidden Lords of the East Sea

Borsalino's compromise was so swift because Vice Admiral Garp's dog-headed vehicle appeared on the horizon.

This senior naval officer has a very good personality. He never tattles on others, nor does he suspect anything is wrong just because Borsalino boasts a little.

Instead, he found it amusing and, after laughing heartily, offered Kizaru drinks, rice crackers, and senbei.

Lieutenant General Garp certainly doesn't tattle, but he has a super loud voice.

If he finds something interesting, he'll definitely tell everyone in Marineford.

If that old man were to hear Xia Zuo's boastful praise of him, it would be as if the entire high command of the Navy knew, and even Borsalino, with his thick skin, would find it hard to bear.

Xia Zuo initially didn't believe that Garp was that powerful, but after boarding Garp's ship and seeing Garp with their own eyes, they had no choice but to believe it.

Vice Admiral Garp was very dissatisfied and in a bad mood. He clenched his fists tightly and stared at the Marine Admiral, asking, "Kizaru, that brat Shanks ran away?"

General Borsalino, completely lacking any sense of duty as a superior, humbly replied, "He ran away."

Garp's face darkened: "Why didn't you stop him? I've wanted to give him a good punch on his straw hat for a long time. I didn't have the chance to punch Roger on the head back then, but being able to punch someone wearing the same straw hat would be a pretty good feeling."

Borsalino sincerely apologized: "I'm sorry, Vice Admiral Garp, we were unable to capture Shanks."

His malicious words successfully piqued Garp's curiosity and diverted his attention: "Hmm?"

"us?"

Garp thought for a moment, glanced at Shaza, who was asking the sailors for spare officer's uniforms, and then asked in a low voice, "Kizaru kid, are you saying that this Shaza kid also played a significant role?"

Borsalino nodded very firmly: "Yes!"

Garp became interested and patted Shaza on the shoulder approvingly: "Hahaha, very good. I'm very satisfied to have a Marine like you in the East Blue!"

"Xia Zuo, I've heard of you, but I didn't expect you to be this good."

"How about it? Want to fight me?"

Xia Zuo, who was being photographed and wincing in pain, firmly refused, saying, "No!"

Garp grinned and said, "Don't be so formal. In the entire Navy, which truly capable officer hasn't sparred with me?"

"Moreover, the benefits of competing against me are substantial."

Xia Zuo asked curiously, "Vice Admiral Garp, can I get paid to fight you?"

Garp shook his head and said, "What money? That's so tacky."

"The naval officers I've fought all made tremendous progress in their abilities. Isn't that more useful than money?"

Xia Zuo was tempted; he thought of Kebi.

It only took three short years for him to grow from a weakling like a bean sprout to a person of considerable strength.

Although Xia Zuo still looked down on this pink-haired naval officer a few years later, deeming him a complete scoundrel with no principles, it must be admitted that his growth in strength was indeed remarkable.

Judging from this situation, Vice Admiral Garp, who valued him from the beginning and nurtured him, must have had some special insight, right?

Xia Zuo shook his head, rejecting this inexplicable idea.

Pshaw, it's not just Coby who's been beaten by this old geezer; the protagonist Luffy has been beaten too.

Thinking about Luffy's initial growth trajectory, and Luffy's straightforward, short-circuitous brain, Shaza would never want to fight Garp again.

If he beats me into a fool, that would be absolutely terrible.

With Shazo firmly refusing, Garp reluctantly gave up the idea of ​​fighting, but he made a new request: "Shazo, I have a favor to ask you."

Shazo asked, "Lieutenant General Garp, you have to tell me what it is before I can consider whether to agree."

Garp first laughed to cover it up, then, seeing that Shazo was unmoved, he awkwardly made a request: "You've done a great job lately, and the entire East Blue has become more peaceful than ever before. I hope you can stay in the East Blue for a few more years."

This is an extremely unreasonable request.

The East China Sea is known as the "weakest sea," but within the navy, it also has a nickname: "the graveyard of officers."

Many sailors here are depressed and frustrated. They can't get military merits or promotions, and can only patrol and train day after day, slowly rotting away.

Knowing that Shaza possessed the fighting strength of an admiral, and even severely injured the Pirate Emperor in his battle against Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, he was still asked to stay in this "grave" for a few more years.

Garp himself felt that this was going too far, not to mention that he was not the Fleet Admiral and could not provide enough compensation to make up for the years of delay.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Zuo responded calmly, "Okay."

Then he stopped replying, jumped off the dog-headed ship, and flew away towards the 77th Division by controlling the Earth's magnetic field using [Magnetic Release].

After being injured, Shanks returned to the Red Voss, reunited with his crew, and then turned back to the entrance of the Grand Line.

There, Shanks has a ship's doctor he knows and trusts who can perfectly heal his injuries.

Razio handed the captain, whose wound had been bandaged, a piece of meat and joked, "Captain, you can't be so reckless next time."

Shanks took a big bite of meat, chewing as he mumbled, "It definitely won't happen again next time. This was an accident."

"Who would have thought that a lieutenant commander in the Navy could be so capable?"

Ben Beckman, wearing a cloak, walked over and agreed, "I really didn't expect this guy to be so powerful, otherwise I should have stayed and faced him with the captain."

"His abilities are truly diverse; his Frost Stream alone is second only to Aokiji Kuzan, and the difference isn't that significant."

Shanks laughed and said, "You don't know, what impressed me most was that after suffering a heavy blow from [God's Evasion], he was actually able to make a breakthrough right in front of me and develop a new move."

Ben Beckman was taken aback; they were far away and genuinely didn't know such details.

Shanks asserted, "This lieutenant commander will definitely become a very powerful Marine in the future, causing a lot of trouble for us, Kaido, Whitebeard, and Big Mom."

Ben Beckman muttered, "Another admiral?"

Shanks shook his head and said, "No, he should be the next 'Naval Hero'."

They all gasped in shock.

Garp's reputation as a naval hero is so great that if he weren't so dim-witted, he would be the most terrifying naval admiral, and his suppression of the great pirates on the seas would be even more frightening.

Shanks himself shuddered.

He thought of Shazo's silence and his seamless teamwork with Borsalino, and a chill ran down his spine.

With Garp's strength and Borsalino's cunning, he is an even younger naval hero.

Just thinking about it is terrifying.

Monkey D. Cop, having failed to get a fight, returned dejectedly to Windmill Village to continue his vacation at home.

Feeling that he had made excessive demands on Xia Zuo, Garp unceremoniously dialed Sengoku's number and demanded additional compensation from his old classmate.

"Sengoku, I've said what you asked me to say, and Xia Zuo has agreed."

"You bastard, you didn't even tell me what compensation you could offer beforehand, making me lose face in front of Xia Zuo."

"I don't care, you have to give this kid enough compensation to make up for the losses he suffers from continuing to stay in Donghai."

"Hmm, hmm, that's more like it."

"It's not that I'm particularly concerned about him, but this kid's efforts have made Windmill Village a very safe environment, allowing Ace and Luffy to grow up better."

"Sengoku, although it was you who made the request, I am one of the direct beneficiaries, so I have to do something in return."

Lieutenant General Karp hummed in agreement a few times before hanging up the phone.

Then he reverted to his unreliable mode and started fooling around on his warship.

Seeing Vice Admiral Garp's condition, Borsalino, who had originally wanted to have a cup of tea and rest on the ship, knew it was time to leave.

So he hurriedly said goodbye and disappeared in a flash of golden light.

The speed of light is the fastest speed in the world; it can reach every corner of the world in the blink of an eye.

After Borsalino turned into light, his speed obviously couldn't reach the speed of light, but he was able to fly back to Marine Headquarters in less than an hour.

As soon as he returned to his office, he found a messenger waiting for him. It turned out that the high-ranking naval officers in Marineford were all waiting for him to have a meeting in the marshal's office.

Borsalino let out an exaggerated sigh, then slowly brewed himself a cup of black tea, and carried it as he walked to the Marshal's office.

Under the watchful eyes of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Chief Instructor Zephyr, Staff Officer Vice Admiral Tsuru, Admiral Akainu Sakazuki, and Admiral Aokiji Kuzan, he calmly sipped his red tea and joked, "So everyone's been waiting for me. What do you want me to do?"

Sengoku didn't reprimand Borsalino; he had gotten used to it back when the guy was still a vice admiral.

His Excellency the Marshal said solemnly, "We need to make a decision, and the most important thing is to hear your report."

"Borsalino, do you really think Shazo is willing to stay in the East Blue without any complaints?"

Borsalino recounted the conversation between Shazo and him, and Shazo's statement that "the Navy is dogs" silenced all the high-ranking Navy officers present.

Upon hearing Xia Zuo's plan to develop his strength in the remote East Blue until he was strong enough to ignore any obstacles set by the Five Elders before emerging to make a name for himself, even Vice Admiral Tsuru thought, "Damn, why didn't I think of this when I was young?"

a feeling of.

Just as Xia Zuo predicted, the current high-ranking naval officers are all young people who have achieved fame at a young age. Before they understand the dangers of the world, they are exposed to the eyes of the Five Elders at an early age.

Then the Five Elders seized upon their weaknesses, and from then on, they were powerless to break free from their constraints.

In fact, there was an outlier in the Navy who figured all this out early on. When Monkey D. Dragon had just become famous and before his weaknesses were exposed, he decisively severed all family ties.

With a resolute attitude, he abandoned everything in the Navy and stood firmly on the side of opposing the Five Elders and overthrowing the World Government.

However, Dragon's resolute and undisguised hostile stance forced the World Government to not only refrain from exploiting his weaknesses, but also to protect and tolerate his son Luffy in order to avoid completely enraging Dragon and causing even greater losses.

Unfortunately, the high-ranking naval officers present were too deeply entrenched in the navy and could no longer break free from their constraints. After listening to Borsalino's report, Sengoku let out a long sigh and said, "It's good that Shazo is willing to stay in the East Blue."

Sengoku had already said this once when Xia Zuo, in the name of Commodore Pudding Pudding, submitted a request to eliminate the Arlong Pirates.

But at that time, the Sengoku commander perceived Xia Zuo as weak, just a guy whose strength was close to that of a major general, not the formidable character he is now who could fight a battle with the Four Emperors and even find a way to turn defeat into victory.

In the world of One Piece, strength reigns supreme. Since Xia Zuo has demonstrated admiral-level strength, Sengoku must treat him with the appropriate attitude and treatment.

Of course, a general is out of the question, and a lieutenant general is also out of the question; those would be too conspicuous.

The Warring States Marshal took out two appointment letters and carefully read them again.

That was the appointment letter that Lieutenant General Tsuru rewrote after the order appointing Xia Zuo as the branch chief of the 77th branch and promoting him to colonel was revoked.

With the new promotion order, Xia Zuo was promoted two ranks, breaking through the ceiling of the rank of colonel and becoming the second brigadier general after Pudding Pudding.

The Warring States Marshal asked again, "Tsuru, there shouldn't be any problems with the brigadier general rank, right?"

Lieutenant General Tsuru smiled calmly: "Sengoku, you're too nervous."

"Lieutenant Colonel Xia Zuo's attitude is very clear: what he wants most is to avoid being noticed by the Five Elders, and secondly, to be valued by us."

"So, the brigadier general rank is just right."

Sengoku took a deep breath and signed his name on the document.

The key to understanding the attitude of the naval leadership lies in the new appointment letter drafted by Vice Admiral Tsuru, which not only appointed Xia Zuo as the branch chief of the 77th Branch, but also as the commander of the East China Sea Patrol Force.

This East China Sea patrol force existed specifically for Xia Zuo, and its formation was only finalized minutes before Borsalino returned.

With this position, Xia Zuo's authority will cover the entire East China Sea, making him the de facto supreme commander of all naval forces in the East China Sea.

On the surface, Xia Zuo is only the branch commander of the 77th branch, but when carrying out specific tasks, the entire East China Sea Navy, including more than a dozen branch bases, must obey Xia Zuo's orders.

Even the headquarters base in Loguetown was under Shazo's direct control.

This nominal commandership was the compensation that Fleet Marshal Sengoku and Lieutenant General Tsuru had painstakingly sought, and he believed that Natsuzo would be satisfied with it.

Xia Zuo was indeed very satisfied.

What he was most satisfied with was the specially equipped rear admiral-class patrol ship and the authority to recruit patrol troops in the East China Sea.

Having become an invisible lord of the East Sea, what could he possibly be dissatisfied with?

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