A cook, vice-captain of the Rocks Pirates?

Wang Zhi silently screwed the lid on the gourd, seemingly reflecting on whether he had made too much noise when he and Newgate were drinking.

Lingling and Flame Flower exchanged a glance, and surprisingly, they stopped arguing.

Lockes closed the notebook filled with the ship's groans and handed it back to Dorum.

He looked around at his crew, these unruly monsters, each possessing the power to destroy an island.

He knew that Dorum was right; the Beast, this cage, was about to burst open.

"Since this ship is going to fall apart, let's get a sturdier one."

Locke's voice broke the silence, calm yet carrying an undeniable domineering air.

Where can I exchange it?

Dorum asked instinctively, then gave a wry smile: "On this vast ocean, I'm afraid there isn't a single ship that can withstand us..."

"Then let's go and seize one that can withstand the damage."

A haughty smile crept onto Lox's lips.

"Or rather, to seize a base that can build such ships."

He walked to the bow of the ship, facing the sea breeze, his gaze fixed on the distant, fog-shrouded depths of the shipping route.

"Men! Do you remember how we got this ship?"

Everyone was cheered up.

"G-5 Branch!"

Gatz was the first to shout it out.

"Yes."

Rocks turned around, his eyes burning with ambition.

"If a single G-5 branch can design warships of this caliber, then there must be shipbuilding bases even larger and more technologically advanced than G-5 in the deeper parts of the Grand Line, at the core of naval power."

He pulled out a somewhat worn nautical chart from his pocket, which he didn't know where he got it from, and spread it out on the deck.

“I’ve extracted some interesting information from CP0’s brain.”

Lockes tapped his finger heavily on the nautical chart, landing on a huge island marked with skulls and crossbones.

"The Navy's G-2 branch, located in the middle of the Grand Line, is a secret training base for the Navy's three admiral candidates, and also the cradle of the Navy's newest and most experimental warships."

"It is said that a super battleship codenamed Azure Dragon is being built there, and its design concept is to counter natural disasters of our level."

Qinglong!

This word was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples on the deck.

"G-2? Captain, are you kidding me?"

Dorum's face was even paler than when he saw the crack in the hull.

"That's one of the Navy's true core fortresses on the Grand Line! Its defensive capabilities are more than ten times stronger than the G-5 we encountered before!"

Chapter 52 Iron-Fisted Zephyr

"That's right!"

Gatz also unusually put away his belligerent expression.

"I heard that the commander there is a Marine Admiral named Iron Fist Zephyr! He's only been an Admiral for a few years, but he's a monster who's truly fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, an idol to all the Marines!"

The crew's concerns were not unfounded.

Although the Rocks Pirates are all future maritime giants, they are still in their infancy. It sounds like a joke that they would directly attack a top-level fortress guarded by a Marine Admiral.

Locke, however, paid no attention to the reactions of the crowd. He simply crossed his arms and looked at Raine with interest, as if waiting for him to speak.

Raine walked up to the chart and his gaze lingered for a moment on the G-2 fortress marked as extremely dangerous.

"A direct assault is something only a fool would do."

He spoke calmly, extinguishing Gatz's sudden surge of fighting spirit with a single sentence.

"But any strong fortress can be breached from within, especially when its commander has obvious weaknesses."

Raine tapped the name Iron Fist Zephyr lightly with his fingers.

"I've studied this person's file. Zephyr, the Navy's man who doesn't kill, is upright and incorruptible, considerate of his subordinates, and has almost no weaknesses, but..."

A slight smile curved at the corners of Ryan's lips.

"He has a fatal hobby, or rather an obsession—he is obsessed with training strong naval recruits and regularly holds a survival trial called Hell's Kitchen to hone them."

"During this trial, he will personally cook a dish called the Feast of Justice for the new recruits who pass the trial as the highest reward for them. It is said that he is extremely particular about the ingredients for this dish."

"what do you mean……"

A glint flashed in Lox's eyes.

"We don't need a direct assault."

Raine raised his head and looked at everyone, his tone calm but full of confidence.

"All we need is a lure he can't refuse, and ingredients that he believes will hone his strongest recruits, and he'll personally open the gates of that fortress for us."

"Using food to infiltrate, just like last time?"

"Do not."

Ryan shook his head: "This time, we won't use food, we'll use ourselves."

He looked at Lox, then at Newgate and Wang Zhi.

"We will disguise ourselves as a powerful but desperately needy independent pirate crew that has been shipwrecked and will surrender to the G-2 branch."

“A person like Zephyr would never easily trust us, but he would also not miss any opportunity to educate and reform powerful pirates, much less miss a perfect target to be used as the final boss in his recruit training.”

"He will lock us in the deepest special prison of G-2, keep us under strict guard, and then release us on the last day of the Hell's Kitchen trial, making us the graduation gift for those naval elites."

Ryan's plan was bold and audacious, with every step based on a precise calculation of human nature.

"Isn't that just walking into a trap?"

Gatz asked, puzzled.

"Yes."

Ren nodded.

"But for us, that most heavily guarded prison is the Trojan horse that leads us into the heart of G-2, and the so-called Hell's Kitchen trial is the perfect opportunity for us to overturn the chessboard."

"We only need a special token, a kind of ingredient that is absolutely impossible to find in G-2's kitchen, but that Zephyr would absolutely go crazy for upon hearing about, as a gift for our pirate crew."

He took out his food catalog from his pocket and turned to one of the pages.

It depicts a strange creature, resembling a seahorse, yet radiating a golden glow as brilliant as the sun.

"The legendary ingredient - the light horse, a creature that feeds on light and only lives near volcanoes thousands of meters underwater."

"It is said that its flesh contains the power of the sun, which can make the consumer burst out with the purest life energy in an instant. This kind of food is an irresistible temptation for an instructor like Zefa who is eager to cultivate strong people."

G-2 Branch, Commander's Office.

In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, a man with a burly build, as tall as an iron tower, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at his proud steel fleet and the young naval personnel sweating it out on the training ground.

He is the highest-ranking officer of the G-2 branch, Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, the iron-fisted Zephyr.

"What did you say?"

Zefa did not turn around; his voice was deep and thunderous.

"A pirate crew calling themselves the Wanderers are seeking help off the coast of the branch, claiming they are willing to surrender and offering a legendary ingredient as proof of their sincerity?"

"Yes, Professor Zephyr."

A dashing female rear admiral stood respectfully behind him. She was none other than Momousagi, one of Zephyr's most prized disciples and a future vice admiral.

"They are just outside the port's restricted area, saying... saying that their captain has heard of your reputation and hopes to receive your guidance."

"Guide?"

Zefa chuckled and turned around.

His weathered face was full of menacing intent, radiating an unquestionable aura of justice and authority.

"These days, even pirates are so good at talking?"

He originally intended to order the group of arrogant fools to leave, but the words "legendary ingredients" and "guidance" were like two tiny feathers, gently stirring his heart that longed to hone the skills of his new recruits.

"Where are the samples?"

"it's here."

Peach Rabbit presented a beautiful box made of deep-sea jade, which was still emitting wisps of cold air.

Zefa took the box and opened it.

An indescribable warmth, as if imbued with the radiance of the sun, instantly filled the entire office.

In the center of the box, a thin, golden slice of meat lay quietly.

The slices of meat seemed to be breathing, each tremor radiating an even purer life energy.

Just smelling this scent made Zefa feel like every cell in his body was awakening and screaming.

He reached out his fingers, carefully picked up the piece of meat, and put it in his mouth.

boom!

It was as if a sun had exploded in Zefa's mind.

It was an exquisite flavor that defied description, as if the most primal energy of life was concentrated in this one piece.

The flavors change constantly on the tongue as the temperature changes, sometimes like the warmth of the sun, sometimes like the heat of a flame, and sometimes like the joy of life budding.

"This...this is...the flesh of a bare horse!"

A look of shock appeared on Zephyr's demonic face.

The next moment, the order was given directly.

"Take them to the final testing ground in Hell's Kitchen! I want to see for myself whether the guys who can produce this kind of ingredient are truly worthy of being the whetstone for my students!"

……

Chapter 53 Iron-Fisted Examination

G-2 Branch, Hell's Kitchen, the final trial ground.

This is not an ordinary prison or execution ground, but a meticulously designed, enormous open-air amphitheater.

All around were high alloy walls, hundreds of meters high, covered with countless monitoring Den Den Mushi and automatic turrets. The cold steel dome blocked out the sky, leaving only a sliver of light and casting a suffocating glow.

In the center of the arena, paved with hard volcanic rock, there were still traces of blood and scratches from the battle.

The air was filled with a complex smell of rust, gunpowder, and sweat, as if silently telling the story of the countless cruel trials that had taken place here.

Rocks and his party were escorted here by a team of elite naval personnel. They were not shackled with sea stone chains, but the dark muzzles of the hundreds of naval soldiers around them and the undisguised vigilance in their eyes were the heaviest shackles in themselves.

Zefa was already waiting there.

He did not sit on the high command platform, but stood like an iron tower in the center of the field, his Admiral Justice Cloak, symbolizing the highest combat power of the navy, fluttering in the breeze that blew through the steel dome.

He simply stood there, and an aura as heavy and imposing as a mountain enveloped the entire area, making everyone who stepped into the place feel breathless.

"So you're that pirate crew that calls themselves the Wanderers?"

Zefa spoke, his voice deep and resonant, each word carrying immense power, striking the hearts of everyone present.

Rocks, or rather, the down-on-his-luck captain Luke he was now playing, stepped forward, his face showing a hint of weariness, yet he still straightened his back and met Zephyr's gaze with neither arrogance nor servility.

"That's right, we've been shipwrecked and the crew is starving. We've heard that Admiral Zephyr of the G-2 branch is a true righteous naval officer, so we've come to surrender and hope to receive your guidance."

His acting was impeccable; the dejection and resentment in his tone, and the struggle and expectation in his eyes, were all perfectly captured.

Newgate and Wang Zhi stood silently behind him, like two loyal but equally exhausted crew members.

Lingling, on the other hand, seemed absent-minded, her huge eyes looking around as if searching for something to eat. Her simple hunger made her seem less threatening and more naive.