Draw, huh…
Sengoku subtly shook his head. He had no liking for someone with such poor character. As for that Shiryu, he seemed like someone worth keeping an eye on once he graduated.
"Then I'll continue reporting, Admiral."
After the two bigwigs finished their conversation, Brannew continued reading from his document:
"Next is the G-4 Branch. There are 8 new recruits, all of whom passed the monthly assessment. The most outstanding performer among them is Rosinante!"
Zephyr keenly noticed Sengoku secretly inching his butt forward, leaning his ear closer.
"This recruit participated in five combat missions this month, defeating approximately 110 pirates, including three pirate captains with bounties over 10 million Berries. Accumulated total of approximately 50 million Berries!"
Sengoku stroked his beard, his mouth practically splitting into a wide grin.
Until Zephyr, out of nowhere, spoke up to burst his bubble: "I say, Sengoku, you only came here specifically to hear the monthly report for that piece of news, didn't you?"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Sengoku's old face flushed slightly, and he glared at Zephyr. "I'm concerned with the growth of the fresh blood in the Headquarters Elite Camp; I have no personal motives whatsoever!"
Brannew looked bewildered. He naturally didn't know the relationship between Rosinante and Sengoku, and at this moment, it felt like he was listening to two powerful figures speaking in riddles.
"Ignore him, keep reading!"
Sengoku waved his hand. "What about Nao? I remember he was the first place in the last few assessments, right? What's his current situation, and how do his achievements compare to that Shiryu?"
"He's next, Admiral…"
Brannew expression turned a bit odd, but Sengoku, who was lowering his head to sip red tea, didn't notice the change in his expression, only hearing the voice beside him:
"G-2 Branch. There are 12 new recruits, all of whom passed the monthly assessment. The most outstanding performer among them is Natsuya Nao!"
"This recruit participated in fourteen combat missions this month, defeating approximately 2,530 pirates, including twenty-nine pirate captains with bounties over 10 million Berries. The accumulated bounty total is…"
Brannew's voice suddenly rose an octave, "Eight hundred sixty-seven million Berries!"
Pfft!
Sengoku spat out all his red tea. He turned and stared at Brannew in shock, wondering if there was something wrong with his ears. "No, say that again. How much?"
His voice changed pitch on the last two words.
"Eight hundred sixty-seven million Berries, Admiral."
Brannew silently wiped away the tea splashed on his neck and added: "Additionally, this recruit's performance last month was similar, with accumulated pirate bounties amounting to eight hundred twenty million Berries."
Sengoku was instantly dumbfounded, his right hand, clutching the teacup, shaking uncontrollably as if he had Parkinson's.
"Heh heh, I knew you'd react like that."
Zephyr, toothpick in mouth, laughed triumphantly. "This time, I was mentally prepared. Last month, when I received the report, my reaction wasn't much better than yours. I spat a mouthful of sherry wine all over Garp's face."
There's no need to be so proud about that last part, is there?
"Participating in over a dozen combat missions in one month? Doesn't that mean he was practically living on a Marine battleship the entire month? Where did this monster come from…"
Sengoku finally recovered from his shock, rubbing his temples, and muttered, "Over 800 million Berries in a month? Then over three months of the trainee period, wouldn't that exceed two billion Berries?"
Two billion Berries…
Even Kaido of the Beasts and Big Mom, who were currently wreaking havoc in the New World and giving Headquarters endless headaches, had only just reached that bounty level!
Although Nao's sum was accumulated through sheer numbers, it wasn't the same as defeating a single pirate with a 2-billion-Berry bounty.
But even so, the astonishing battle record Nao had achieved in these two months was enough to shake the entire Headquarters and make most of the Marine officers feel utterly ashamed…
"Enough for Rear Admiral?" Sengoku asked.
"More than enough," Zephyr spat out his toothpick, smiling.
"Akainu and Borsalino, their trainee period achievements weren't this terrifying, were they?"
"Combined, they can't even compare."
"There's still nearly another month for him to perform…" Sengoku set down his teacup, lost in thought. "Could it be that the Headquarters Elite Camp, since its inception, is finally about to produce a monster who graduates as a Vice Admiral?"
"Hard to say."
Zephyr shook his head. "Although I think he'll be qualified by then, a Vice Admiral is already considered high-ranking in Headquarters. No matter how outstanding Nao's achievements are, at the end of the day, he's just a young kid not even twenty years old. Giving him that rank outright would inevitably cause an uproar and controversy."
"Controversy, you say?"
Sengoku leaned back in his wicker chair, gazing at the distant white clouds in the sky. He suddenly recalled Nao's extraordinarily charming face and gently shook his head,
"For anyone else, it might indeed cause controversy, but for that kid… hmm, we'll see when the time comes. Who can say for sure now?"
"Achoo!"
Under a drizzling rain, Nao, sitting on the deck railing with a fishing rod in hand, rubbed his reddened nose, feeling puzzled. "I haven't sneezed in ages. Who's talking about me?"
"Are you catching a cold?"
Shia, nestled quietly beside him, tucked his jacket around him with concern. "Why don't we go inside the cabin? It's raining. Why suddenly go fishing out of nowhere?"
"No," Nao huffed. "What's a little rain? I'm not quitting today until I catch something!"
Damn it, is this Master-level Fishing skill fake or something?
He's even using the Somewhat Miraculous Fishing Rod, spent 200 points, and he's been sitting here for over ten minutes. How come he hasn't caught any of these "miraculous items" yet?
"The Marine battleship is going full speed. You actually expect to catch fish?"
Vice Admiral Kizaru, not far away, peered at him with a look usually reserved for an idiot. "Even if a fish could keep up with the Marine battleship's speed, what makes you think it would take the bait for that little… hmm, bait of yours?"
Calling it "bait" was being too generous, because what Nao had hooked was actually his smelly sock, which he had just changed yesterday.
"Anything's possible, Vice Admiral."
Nao shrugged. "Dried fish and socks smell quite similar, you know. Never underestimate their determination and will to seek out their own kind…"
"Before they were dried, they weren't dried fish, were they?! Their smell is clearly a completely different matter from socks!" Rear Admiral Gumiiru, who had been quietly listening from the bow, couldn't help but turn and roar.
"Actually, I don't think Nao's socks smell bad at all…" Shia, holding the corner of her clothes, said with a flushed face. "They even smell a bit…"
Nao swiftly covered her mouth, stopping that insane word from coming out.
"If you keep doing that, I don't want you to help me with laundry anymore."
He glared at the aggrieved blue-haired girl, while Kizaru pretended not to see anything, continuing to advise in his lazy tone, "Alright, stop messing around. Reel it in and head back. I don't want to get soaked out here with you…"
Before he could finish, Nao's wrist suddenly dipped, as if tugged by something.
The few onlookers froze simultaneously, while Nao's eyes lit up. He quickly sprang up, furiously turning the reel, then pulled hard, flinging the object hooked to the end of the line directly onto the deck.
Thud.
The object hit the ground with a heavy thud. Nao examined it closely and found it was an old, dilapidated wooden chest covered in moss.