I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Higuma was slightly taken aback:

"What do you mean?"

“Is there even a need to say that?” Xiu Zuo added from the side:

"Now that you're a naval captain, you can certainly start building your own team."

"These are extraordinary times, the NEO Legion is newly established... How could headquarters poach Mr. Dort from us..." Xiu Zuo sneered.

"Then we can naturally poach staff from headquarters, provided the other party agrees."

"I see."

After thinking for a while, Higuma actually had a suitable candidate in mind.

There are still three years left... Facing such a formidable enemy, Higuma cannot rely solely on his own strength.

As for whether the other party agrees or not... hehehe, that's not important.

Chapter 988 Higuma's Target

The last time Higuma received training from Zephyr, he was still "Sigu". At that time, not only had he just acquired the Gian card, but his King was not yet at 100%.

Now, although it has changed from its original form to a shadow clone, its physical strength is much stronger than when it was Sigurdsaw, greatly refreshing Zephyr's impression of it.

Thus, an even bolder training plan began to emerge.

At this moment, Higuma possesses the strength of a 12-year-old Gian, a child at the age when he is still growing...

Sigurd still had about 1.5 billion Berries left in his inventory, so he had plenty of nutrition. With Zephyr watching over him, the training intensity was just right, and the training results were naturally excellent.

While there may not be immediate growth in just a few days, it is indeed steadily improving little by little.

After all... when it comes to teaching physical skills, Zephyr is the best teacher in the world, bar none.

The week of training passed quickly, and the rest day had arrived.

On this day, Higuma had already decided on his target.

...........

Marineford, Naval Headquarters.

A middle-aged man with a purple robe and a crew cut, his eyes closed and a scar on his eyelid, walked along the road with Aokiji beside him, holding a cane-sword.

"Mr. Ichisho, what's your decision?" Aokiji asked lazily.

"The Navy is in dire need of manpower right now. If you join the Navy at this time, with your strength, you can at least be promoted to Vice Admiral... and even Admiral is not impossible."

Fujitora closed his eyes and looked at Aokiji, pondering for a moment.

He actually fought against Aokiji.

Back in the Rain City of Alabasta, he and Sieg's men were once imprisoned in Crocodile's Seastone cage.

Later, he secretly used the power of the Gravity Fruit to create quicksand in the desert, making it seem as if Crocodile was attacking from the shadows, which trapped Aokiji.

However, it seems that Aokiji has not yet realized the truth.

"Mr. Kuzan, there are more admirals in the Navy now than ever before, right? There are five of them," Fujitora asked.

Aokiji replied, "You are unaware of the truth. Although we have many generals, the complexity of the situation we face is unprecedented."

"Moreover, a general is just a military rank; he may not necessarily have actual command over his own troops..."

There are quite a few generals currently in office.

After Akainu's return, Aokiji did not step down from his position as acting admiral, but was directly promoted to the position of new admiral.

The current three admirals of the headquarters are Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji.

Although Zephyr's rank is also that of an admiral, his position is the chief instructor of the headquarters training camp and the commander of the NEO Navy Corps, which does not overlap with the positions of Aokiji and others.

Dortmund was similar; although he retained the rank of general, his position was that of Grand Inspector, not a front-line general with significant military power.

"I see...."

Just as Fujitora was about to speak, he suddenly sensed something and turned to face the direction from which the commotion was coming from.

Aokiji looked in the direction of the sound and explained:

"That's the town of Marineford, where the families of marines are usually settled."

"Today is a day off, and there will be quite a few marines relaxing and having fun there."

"Oh?" Fujitora seemed intrigued and quite interested upon hearing this.

"I'm more interested in the marines' pastimes than visiting the headquarters."

Aokiji glanced at Fujitora:

"Go ahead and see if you want. It's not a secret location."

Not having to accompany Fujitora, Aokiji was happy to have some free time. He casually gave his secretary a few instructions, asking the secretary to accompany Fujitora, and then yawned and walked away on his own.

..............

Fujitora, holding his cane, strolled through the streets of Marineford.

He just strolled around casually, not saying much, occasionally putting on a serious face, and occasionally smiling knowingly. These reactions left Aokiji's secretary, who was following him, completely baffled.

He was blind and could not see. Although his Observation Haki could not completely replace his eyes, its range of perception was much greater than that of the naked eye.

A moment later, he suddenly stopped, turned his head and looked in one direction without saying a word.

A small alleyway a few hundred meters away.

A tall, alluring woman with long, wine-red, center-parted hair was walking alone on the street.

She wore a black long dress with slits on both sides that reached her upper thighs. As she walked, the dress swayed, revealing glimpses of her long, straight legs. Her bust was also quite prominent and alluring. She was a rare and captivating beauty in the naval town, attracting considerable attention.

Bakara.jpg

The high heels made a crisp sound on the floor, but she didn't notice that someone was gradually following behind her.

"Hey sis, wanna come to the bar for a drink?"

Several thugs rushed out, squeezed in front of her, and blocked her way.

The red-haired woman wasn't flustered, just somewhat surprised.

"How could something like this happen in a town near the Navy Headquarters?"

"Looks like my luck isn't so good today."

She reached into her chest and rummaged around for a while, just pulling out a gold coin. She tossed it over, but a hand reached out and caught it.

"You're obviously in luck today, because I'm here."

A deep yet firm voice reached my ears.

A blond man appeared from the side, his face expressionless, yet an invisible pressure emanated from him.

King Face looks much more dangerous than these thugs.

“It’s been a long time… Bakara,” Higuma said.

Baccarat, a user of the Lucky-Lucky Fruit, was once a subordinate of the Golden Emperor Tesoro.

In the incident involving the Golden Lion Angel Fruit, the Golden Emperor narrowly escaped, but one of his subordinates was captured.

Although she was arrested... Bakara had no bounty and wasn't a well-known pirate. Plus, she was quick-witted and immediately changed her ways, becoming a new recruit in the Navy.

"You're the navy officer who turned me into a child back then..."

Bakara's eyes flickered. She did remember this man.

In the original incident, Higuma used a strange technique to turn her, who was already so mature and charming, back into a little girl.

That's not all.

When Shiki later lost control and fell into the sea, a massive amount of seawater fell from the sky. It was Higuma who used Tomka to turn his body into a pancake shape and cover her body, helping her, as a Devil Fruit user, withstand the impact of the seawater.

Sun Bear ruined her life, forcing her to join the Navy, but he also did save her life.

Bakara bit her lip, her expression somewhat complicated.

She was about to speak when she saw those shady-looking young men also looking at Rixiong with surprise.

"Big brother, what brings you here too?"

"Are you also getting impatient and planning to take action yourself?"

Bakara's expression changed. When she looked at Higuma's King-like face again, she immediately felt that this man was full of danger.

The style of the story suddenly shifted from a hero rescuing a damsel in distress to a more popular and engaging narrative.

Chapter 989 The weather is getting cooler, drink more hot water

Bakara immediately became alert and took a half-step back warily.

Higuma was also a little confused. He frowned at the thugs who had spoken to him and said irritably:

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't know you at all."

“Oh…yes, yes.” The thugs nodded vigorously.

"That's right, you don't know us. We were just trying to help you out, brother."

The blond-haired leader had barely finished speaking when he quickly drew his gun and, without saying a word, pulled the trigger on Bakala.

call out!

A bullet whizzed through the air but missed. At that moment, Higuma drew his gun with lightning speed, and bullets whizzed through the air, hitting the previous bullets and then grazing the thug's scalp, leaving a bloody mark.

Upon hearing this, Higuma immediately sensed something was wrong.

He was using a real gun, but the thug in front of him was using a silenced pistol with non-lethal rubber bullets, which made Higuma hesitate a bit.

But before they could even catch their breath, another attack was coming.

These men moved with incredible speed. As one man drew his gun, another rushed forward and delivered a powerful chop to the back of Bakala's neck, knocking her unconscious instantly.

The third person took out a rope from his pocket and tied Bakala up tightly on the spot.