Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 154 Assistant Officer Ain!

A new world, a certain sea area.

Three warships, arranged in a triangular formation, are sailing here.

In the flagship's cabin, Zephyr was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, while opposite him, Bane was holding a book and looking back with a strange expression.

Behind Bane stood two marines, one of whom was Bane's adjutant and bodyguard, Commodore Webber.

The other one was Rear Admiral Aion, one of Zephyr's favorite students, who had just been summoned in.

"Godfather, what is this?" Bane looked Ain over and then turned to Zephyr to ask.

Zefa took a sip of tea and said, "This is the assistant I recommended to you. He is my trusted and beloved general, named Ain. You can completely trust him."

"Lieutenant General Bane, nice to meet you. I hope you'll take good care of me in the future." After hearing Zephyr's introduction, Ain greeted Bane with a serious expression.

Judging from her completely unsurprised expression, it goes without saying that Zephyr had already told her these things.

Bane scratched his head and said, "Father, I have an assistant. Originally, I planned to arrange for Nami to stay by my side after a while. As you know, I have a good rapport with her, and she's been taking care of me."

"It doesn't matter. Nobody said there can only be one aide-de-camp, right?" Zephyr waved his hand, then continued, "Neither you nor Nami have been in the Navy for long. You don't know much about the processes and procedures involved, nor are you very familiar with how our Navy operates and how our officers should act. She's a colonel, so it's not a big deal, but you can't. You're a vice admiral and also an admiral candidate. You have to demonstrate sufficient competence. Ain is very professional in this regard. I can only feel at ease with her assisting you!"

In other places, this behavior might seem a bit like planting spies, but Bane didn't think Zephyr was acting with that kind of intention.

Considering the issues Zephyr raised, which are indeed issues that need attention at present, after thinking for a moment, Bane nodded and looked at Ain behind him, saying, "Then I'll leave it to you, Major General Ain."

"Please don't be so polite, young master," Ain replied immediately.

This time, however, she changed her way of addressing Bane, from "Lieutenant General" to "Young Master".

The sudden change left Bane somewhat bewildered. He glanced at Zephyr, noticing a hint of helplessness on Zephyr's face, and quickly turned to Ain, saying, "Ahem, Major General Ain, you don't need to be like this."

"You are Master Zephyr's adopted son, and to me, you are my young master. I have long decided to protect everything about my master with my life, and you are naturally someone I must serve!" Ain said with a serious and earnest expression.

I've become the young master in one fell swoop?

What about Doflamingo?

Huh? I'm about to kill him?

That's all!

"I've told her this many times, and she listens to me on everything else, but on this one thing, she absolutely refuses to budge, and I can't do anything about it," Zefa said with a wry smile, shaking his head.

Then, before Bane and Ain could speak, Zephyr added, "Ain, if you insist on doing this, I won't say anything, but you still need to be careful in public, understand?"

"Yes, teacher," Ain replied immediately.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but Ben seemed to be somewhat pleased under her indifferent expression.

Without dwelling on the issue of Ain's address to Bane, Zephyr quickly continued, "Ain has followed me for many years and is one of the survivors of that disaster. She is very familiar with the Navy. If you have any questions after this, just ask her. You two should get to know each other as soon as possible."

"Understood." Bane nodded, then looked at Ain curiously and asked, "Are you an ability user?"

Upon hearing this, Ain immediately shook her head and said, "No, but I have the idea of ​​becoming a Devil Fruit user, it's just that I haven't encountered a suitable Devil Fruit yet."

"I see." Bane muttered, then picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "This is easy to solve. If you ever set your sights on someone's ability, just tell me, and I'll help you get that ability."

Actually, Bane didn't expect that Ain wasn't a power user at this moment.

After all, in his memory, it would have been about two years before Ain became a Paramecia-type Rewind-Rewind Fruit user. Now it seems that she must have obtained this ability after this point in time.

"Yes, I won't stand on ceremony." Ain was also a decisive person, and without any hesitation or politeness, she agreed directly.

After explaining Ain's situation, Zephyr turned to Waver, his expression somewhat strange, and asked, "Waver, didn't you already decide to become a Devil Fruit user? Why haven't you eaten it yet? Have you changed your mind?"

"No, teacher." Waver waved his hand, then said with a smile, "I plan to become a Devil Fruit user with you; that would be more convenient. Besides, I'm currently studying Haki, and even if I absorb a Devil Fruit, I won't have the energy to develop it in the short term."

"Wait for me?" Zephyr paused for a moment, then looked at Bane and shook his head. "You haven't given up yet? Don't let this hold Waver back. Although the Tremor-Tremor Fruit is very powerful, I have no intention of becoming a landlubber. At my stage, becoming stronger is certainly a good thing, but if I have any weaknesses, it will affect my habits and rhythm."

Zephyr's peak combat strength is that of a true top-tier expert, and over the decades, he has already developed his own fighting style. Having another Devil Fruit ability might indirectly enhance his strength, but suddenly having the weakness of not being able to swim would definitely break his already formed and deeply rooted fighting style and seriously affect him.

For example, in his past battles, he was not afraid of the sea. On the contrary, he could use the sea as a favorable main battlefield to deal with those with abilities, and even take advantage of the sea's geographical advantages, such as forcing his opponents to sink into the sea with him.

If he were to become an ability user, he might accidentally get himself killed in a habit.

"Don't worry, godfather. Just follow my instructions. I guarantee it won't cause you any side effects. Didn't I prove it to you before? Zoro, Fubuki, and I are all immune to the sea," Bane said helplessly.

"That's what I'm curious about too, but you won't tell me what's going on," Zefa said, shaking his head.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Just then, there was a knock on the cabin door, and Nami pushed it open and walked in, saying, "Teacher, according to the special record chart and the distribution of the surrounding magnetic field, we are about to arrive at Punk Hazard."

Punk Hazard, the former research base of the Naval Science Unit, is an island without a magnetic field, meaning it cannot be recorded by a logger, making it extremely difficult to find unless using specially recorded nautical charts and a skilled navigator.

Of course, if you're incredibly lucky, then disregard what I said; it's not impossible for a blind cat to stumble upon a dead mouse.

"Is that so? Then I'll take the lead." Zephyr stood up upon hearing this, ceasing his discussion with Bane about the previous events, and walked towards the door.

Seeing this, Bane and the others also got up and followed Zephyr.

After stepping out of the cabin, Zephyr surveyed the surrounding sea, exchanged a few words with Nami, and then began to give directions. Soon, the warship began to move forward according to Zephyr's instructions.

"Two years ago, Punk Hazard suffered a major gas leak accident, which completely destroyed the island's ecosystem. All life on the island became extinct, and the poisonous gas lingered, leading to the island being deemed unusable," Zephyr said, then looked at Bane and asked, "Are you sure that escaped Caesar Courland is really hiding there?"

"It's the darkest place under the lamp. Because he was caught there, everyone thought that even if he escaped, he wouldn't go back. But in reality, he's hiding on that island. After all, there's a large-scale research base there, and it's an island without a magnetic field," Bane nodded.

"Then let's take care of him on the way." Zefa didn't dwell on it. Anyway, if he was going to Egherd, he would just be passing through this area of ​​the sea.

Although Caesar isn't a pirate, he's still a troublemaker, so it's perfectly reasonable to take care of him while we're at it.

For Bane, Caesar was indeed a convenient tool. He might have some talent in scientific research, but when faced with Dr. Genus, he was nothing. Therefore, Caesar's greatest value to Bane was the Logia-type Gas-Gas Fruit.

Bane's primary objective on this trip is the artificial Devil Fruit left behind in the Punk Hazard laboratory that perfectly matches Kaido's abilities!

(End of this chapter)