One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

"No need, I'm already old, it's time for me to retire and go back to my hometown to live out my days."

Without turning his head, Zephyr waved behind him, ignoring Garp's advice and breaking free from his grasp. Under the watchful eyes of the naval officers and sailors, he crossed the square of Marineford and walked step by step toward the inner harbor. He then boarded a small warship moored on the surface of the inner harbor alone.

Smoker gritted his teeth, quickly made his way through the crowd, and stood on the port's breakwater, watching Zephyr slowly pull down the mooring ropes and unfurl the sails.

"Professor Zephyr! Is the justice we uphold truly right?"

He shouted, his voice trembling slightly.

Zefa paused in his grip on the cable, slowly turned around, and looked at the naval officers and young recruits crowding the port and square in front of him. A kind smile that everyone knew so well suddenly appeared on his aged face.

"Of course!"

"Don't underestimate yourself, Smoker! And don't underestimate the Navy's justice!"

"Never forget your original intention when you chose to join the Navy! The mission we Navy bear is to protect the kind and the weak, and to restore order and peace to the world!"

Zephyr grinned, his gaze lingering on the faces of the marines before finally taking a deep look at the towering Marineford Fortress of Justice. He turned away, hoisted the anchor, and never looked back.

An old and deep voice drifted on the wind.

"I'm sorry, but I... can no longer teach you. But, bravely move forward, Navy! One day, we will meet again on the high seas! By then, I hope to see you grow."

The sails of the warship billowed, carrying the tall, purple-haired figure further and further away.

Smoker stood on the embankment of the inner bay, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

He raised his right hand heavily, palm facing inward, and stood ramrod straight.

"To Teacher Zefa!"

"To Teacher Zefa!"

Behind him, thousands of naval soldiers raised their hands in salute.

Chapter 574 NEO Navy

The edge of the cliff at the top of the red earth continent.

Dressed in a black robe with gold trim, Gringu rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, gazing down at the vast ocean of the new world.

Behind him, a CP0 member stood respectfully at attention.

"Have you found Zefa's whereabouts?"

Upon hearing this, CP0's face showed a hint of fear.

“Grimm, our people followed Zephyr after he left Marineford, but we lost track of him after he entered the Sabaody Archipelago. We searched the entire island of Sabaody but couldn’t find him. We suspect… Zephyr may have switched to a coated ship and dived away.”

Having said that, the CP0 member, unable to bear the immense pressure rising within him and fearing punishment from Grimm, knelt down with a thud, banging his head against the hard rock, and cried out, "It is our fault for our incompetence! Please punish us, Grimm!"

Green Ancient Saint, however, gave a cold laugh.

"That old guy is quite cautious. It seems he noticed your actions a long time ago."

"Since that's the case, then let it go. Anyway, with his deteriorating health, he probably doesn't have much time left to live."

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the same Marshal's office in Marineford, Sengoku sat alone behind his desk, his old face, adorned with round-framed glasses, still bearing a worried expression.

"Two months ago, Commodore Shuzo volunteered to lead three warships to the New World to build a new naval branch for the navy's forward positions in the New World."

“A month ago, Colonel Binz led two warships away from headquarters, saying he was going to return to the 162nd branch of Paradise to guard it, but there has been no news of him since. Along with the five warships originally belonging to the 162nd branch, plus three thousand naval soldiers, all of them have disappeared.”

"A dozen days ago, a total of twenty-one warships, led by sixteen rear admirals, commodores, and colonels, went to patrol and guard various parts of the world, but they all disappeared without a trace. During this period, no distress signals were received, and no large-scale pirate attacks on the navy occurred in any place."

Zhan Guo spread out the intelligence reports on the table, his brow furrowed, and tapped the paper with the oil-based pen in his hand.

Where did the warships and marines that left Marineford go?

In this world, apart from the Revolutionary Army led by Dragon, Sengoku could not think of any other possibility that could so quietly and massively annihilate the navy.

But what if the Revolutionary Army hadn't been secretly targeting the Navy, but instead disappeared on their own initiative?

The thought of this possibility weighed heavily on Sengoku's mind.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the office door from the outside.

Judging from the way he knocked on the door, the person who came this time was definitely not that reckless Garp.

"Come in!"

The newly repaired gate was pushed open, and the person who came in was Brannew, who was covered in sweat and looked flustered.

Seeing Brannew's flustered face, Sengoku's heart sank.

"what's up?"

Brannew swallowed hard and reported nervously, "Marshal, the missing naval commander and warship have been found."

"Oh? Where is it?"

Warring States' eyes lit up.

"In the New World, in the Totto Land Sea, near Gingerbread Island, close to Kaido of the Beasts."

Sengoku was stunned. "Huh? What did you say? Where?"

Brannew said with a wry smile, "Marshal, Xiu Zuo and Binz, with twenty-one warships, a total of nine thousand marines, and a large amount of weapons and equipment, used the coated advance method to pass through the G1 and G5 sea areas and enter the heart of the Tottoland sea area. They have now all assembled on Gingerbread Island."

"what?"

Sengoku was greatly shocked and abruptly stood up from behind the table.

"What are they going there for? Gingerbread Island, deep in the Totto Lands, bordering the Beasts Pirates' territory, far from our many Marine branches in the New World. Wait a minute!"

Sengoku's pupils suddenly widened, and a name slipped from his lips.

"Zefa!"

He reached out somewhat irrationally, grabbed Brannew's shoulder, and almost lifted Brannew off the ground as he was reporting the situation.

"Tell me! Is this related to Zephyr?!"

Brannew nodded bitterly.

"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Admiral Zephyr is also on Gingerbread Island. Our intelligence personnel have determined that all the warships and marines who disappeared from headquarters in the past two months have gathered under Admiral Zephyr's command. Furthermore, Admiral Zephyr has established a brand-new armed force on Gingerbread Island, which he has named the NEO Navy."

"what?"

Sengoku released Brannew, swayed slightly, and placed his hands on the table, looking at the intelligence reports spread out on the table and the familiar names of the naval commanders.

He pressed his face in frustration, gritting his teeth and cursing, "Retire and go home? Retire and go home? You bastard Zephyr! Is this what you call retiring and going home to live out your days? You turned tens of thousands of elite marines against you without a word, taking away so much supplies and equipment. What exactly are you trying to do? And you even established the Neo Navy? Neo, a newly formed navy? Is this a complete denial of your past? Zephyr! You bastard!"

"Oh!"

With a loud crash, the table beneath Sengoku was smashed to pieces by his fist, sending papers flying everywhere.

Brannew looked at the enraged Sengoku, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Sengoku looked at him with a dark expression. "Is there anything else?"

Brannew licked his lips and said with difficulty, "It's...it's news from Egg Point Island. A few days ago, Dr. Ian took some research supplies, a lot of data, and several newly manufactured Pacifistas from Egg Point Island, saying she was going to conduct weapons tests in the nearby waters. But three days have passed, and she hasn't returned on time, and...and we can't contact her anymore."

"Aion?!"

Zhan Guo shouted, his vision went black, and he almost fell over.

He slumped back into the chair, utterly defeated.

Even a fool could figure out where Ain had gone.

Xiu Zuo, Binz, and Ain are all Zephyr's prized disciples.

That old bastard Zefa gave him such a big 'surprise' without telling him anything.

While overwhelmed with worry, Sengoku began to feel concerned for Zefa.

Given that old man's physical condition, it would be extremely difficult for him to lead a group of marines to survive in the most chaotic Totto Land seas, which is also close to Kaido's territory.

Worse still, if the World Government learns of Zephyr's betrayal, it might order the Marine Headquarters to send a Marine Admiral to subdue Zephyr.

The worries in the Warring States period soon came true.

Less than half a day later, he received a personal interrogation from the Five Elders, and a Den Den Mushi (snail phone) called him.

After a barrage of scolding, the Five Elders ordered Sengoku to mobilize Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru from the New World to surround and suppress the traitor Zephyr.

"At this sensitive time, sending three Marine Admirals deep into the Totto Land waters, where various forces are intertwined, could easily trigger a massive war that sweeps across the entire New World. Whitebeard, Shanks, and Kaido would likely all get involved. After all, pirates don't genuinely believe that Akainu and his crew are truly going to conquer Zephyr. If it were us, we'd only think we're putting on a show with Zephyr, our aim being to control Totto Land or eliminate another Yonko. This time, things are really complicated."

Lieutenant General Tsuru slowly shook his head and sighed softly.

"I never imagined that Zefa would go to such lengths. Sigh."

"His inner convictions were deeply wounded by the World Government. Back when Edward Weevil became a Shichibukai, he had already begun to consider leaving the Navy."

Upon hearing the news, Garp rushed back to headquarters and sighed, "However, despite Rorschach's persuasion, he still chose to stay. Yet, his most prized disciple, Rorschach, was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. I don't blame him; it was our Navy that let him down, and it also let Rorschach down."

All three fell into a long silence, their faces full of worry.

Impel Down Level 6, the Infinite Hell.

Rorschach leaned against the soft pillows, and in the flickering candlelight, looked at the newspaper in his hand, a wistful smile on his face.

"Zeff's Neo Navy has finally been established. That's great. Hopefully, it will be a good move. If Aokiji really has to leave the Navy in the future because of competing with Akainu for the position of Fleet Admiral, then let Zeeff extend an olive branch to him. Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

From a cell not far away, the deafening snores of a prisoner interrupted Luo Xia's thoughts.

He frowned, put down the newspaper, sat up in bed, and took out his keys.

Several prisoners in nearby cells shuddered at the sight and quickly shrank into dark corners, afraid of attracting the attention of this menacing figure.

A few minutes later, in the cell of the giant warship San Juan Wolf, a cry of pain suddenly rang out, mixed with Rorschach's warning.

"What did I tell you during the day? Huh?"

I told you that loud noises and snoring are prohibited at night, but what you're doing is seriously affecting everyone's sleep.

A prisoner with poor sleep quality and long-term confinement is in a very poor mental state. If there is any oversight, he may go berserk and fight, which is very detrimental to the stability of Impel Down.

Especially you, San Juan Wolf, you've been eating so much all your life, and you're still so fat in prison. I think Uncle Magellan is too soft-hearted. Starting tomorrow, your food rations will be reduced by two-thirds!

"If I ask you to explain your Devil Fruit ability development techniques, you can't; if I ask you to explain your physical combat techniques, you say you have none. You know nothing at all. What use are you to me? What use are you to me?!"

Then came a barrage of pounding and screams, which silenced the other prisoners in the Infinite Hell. They cowered in their cells, desperately covering their mouths, afraid to make a sound that might attract the evil star away from the San Juan Wolf.