Chapter 19 — The Reason Behind It All
Though Colonel Enchi had told him to "come over," in reality, the man was already on his way.
By the time Eiger said goodbye to Nico and made it down to the docks, the familiar 315th Branch warship was already approaching, slicing through the frosty waves.
From the look of things, Colonel Enchi was very much in a hurry.
The moment he spotted Eiger, he waved frantically from the deck.
"Move it, move it! Hurry up!" Enchi barked as soon as Eiger set foot on the pier.
The colonel all but dragged him up the gangplank. "Time's short—we're setting off immediately!"
Once Eiger was on deck, Enchi spun around and shouted toward the sailors, "What are you standing there for? Get this tub moving!"
The ship lurched as the engines kicked in.
Eiger greeted a few familiar faces from his old unit, then turned to the colonel with a raised brow.
"What's going on? Why the rush?"
Enchi flicked the ash from his cigarette, his expression heavy. "A sudden assignment," he said grimly.
"An important one."
Then, with a sly grin, he leaned in and added, "But don't worry, kid. If things go our way this time, you might actually get what you've been wanting—complete training manuals for the Rokushiki and Life Return. Maybe even the real methods for Haki training."
"Haki training…?" Eiger blinked, caught off guard.
To be fair, his Haki was self-taught and patched together from experience.
He'd learned Armament Haki under two different commanding officers—
the first, a washed-up opportunist who'd long lost his edge, more interested in lining his pockets than sharpening his will.
His Armament Haki had been sloppy, brittle—a dull blade.
That man eventually got himself killed in a gang skirmish over a crooked deal.
Officially, the report said he'd died "in the line of duty."
The second officer, Enchi himself, was a genius once stationed at Marine Headquarters before being demoted to the West Blue.
He knew the basics of Armament Haki training, but nothing advanced—
no coating, no external emission, no internal destruction.
For common soldiers, his level was impressive.
For Eiger… it was barely scratching the surface.
Which was understandable—if Enchi really mastered those higher techniques, he'd never have been exiled to a backwater post.
"Oi, what's with that look, huh?" Enchi snapped suddenly, catching Eiger's faint smirk.
"I have been your superior once, you know! Show some damn respect, brat!"
Eiger coughed into his hand to hide a grin, but Enchi wasn't done.
He circled the younger man, frowning. "Hey… wait a second. Did you grow taller? You're bigger than me now! And what's with these muscles?!"
"Guess I hit a second growth spurt."
"Growth spurt my ass—you're twenty-seven!" Enchi barked. "Who the hell gets taller at twenty-seven?!"
"That's not the point," Eiger cut in quickly before the conversation spiraled any further.
"Just tell me what this mission is about."
Truthfully, after eating the Light-Light Fruit, he didn't need Rokushiki or Life Return all that much anymore.
But Haki—real, refined Haki—that was something worth pursuing.
As he watched the horizon, though, a frown creased his face.
"Wait. This heading… that's toward the Calm Belt, isn't it? Are we going to the Grand Line?"
"Bingo."
"Cross-sea jurisdiction?" Eiger raised a brow. "That's against regulations."
"Relax," Enchi said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm on direct orders from Headquarters. Totally legal."
Eiger rolled his eyes. "Not my problem. I'm retired. If anyone gets court-martialed, it's you."
Still, his frown deepened.
A cross-sea operation from West Blue to the Grand Line? That wasn't something the Marines did lightly.
Was the Grand Line's situation that desperate?
He turned to the colonel again. "So what exactly are we doing?"
"Escort duty."
"Escort who?"
Enchi sighed heavily, exhaling a puff of smoke. "That's the problem. We're to escort a very important individual to a safe zone."
"Who?"
"The Marine Headquarters' chief instructor," Enchi said quietly.
"My mentor… Instructor Zephyr."
Eiger froze.
His jaw tightened.
He stared at Enchi for a long, silent moment—then without a word, turned and climbed straight up onto the railing of the ship.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Enchi shouted.
"I'm going home!" Eiger yelled back. "Turn this damn ship around right now! You didn't say we were going to help Zephyr! Are you out of your mind?!"
He threw his hands up toward the sky, face twisting in disbelief.
"Escort duty, my ass—this is assisting a former admiral! You've got a death wish, you lunatic!"
The sea breeze howled past them.
Enchi could only rub his temples with a weary groan.
The mission had only just begun…
and it was already giving him a headache.
"West Blue Branch—Unit 315?"
At Marine Headquarters — Marineford, inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
The current Fleet Admiral, Sengoku the Buddha, was frowning slightly, a document in hand as he turned toward the man lounging lazily on the sofa nearby — Admiral Aokiji (Kuzan).
"Why," Sengoku asked, his tone calm but edged with puzzlement, "did you request the 315th Branch from the West Blue for this mission? You should know—even if it's officially just an escort mission, this one isn't going to be simple."
The pirates who had attacked the Marine training camp's recruits had already been repelled.
But after such a commotion, did Kuzan really think other pirates wouldn't catch wind of it?
By now, they'd surely smelled the blood in the water.
Even now, they were probably setting sail toward that very sea.
Sengoku's brows furrowed deeper.
"Don't tell me that particular branch has something special about it?"
"Nothing special," Kuzan replied, stretching languidly, his voice as lazy as ever. "Just… a rather interesting retired marine."
"Retired?" Sengoku's curiosity was immediately piqued.
A spark lit in his sharp eyes. "A mere retired soldier caught your attention? Don't tell me he's some prodigy? Why wasn't he brought into Headquarters?"
"Prodigy? Nah," Kuzan said with a shrug. "He's pretty average."
"Average?" Sengoku raised a brow. "Then what's so interesting about him?"
Could it be… he'd eaten a particularly rare Devil Fruit?
He doubted Kuzan, of all people, would go out of his way to notice some no-name, retired marine—unless there was something about him worth noticing.
As Sengoku leaned forward, waiting for an explanation, Kuzan spoke again—his tone oddly amused.
"That guy," he said, "wants to chop Sakazuki in half."
"…What?"
Sengoku froze. Then his expression darkened instantly.
That's it?
So this "interesting" man was just a reckless idiot with a death wish?
Sengoku sighed heavily, massaging his temple. "An arrogant fool, then," he muttered, though his gaze softened slightly. The thought of Zephyr's recent ordeal still weighed on him.
"I just hope this doesn't turn into another incident," he said quietly. "Tch… that old bastard Garp had to pick now of all times to run off to his hometown. Always disappearing when I need him most."
His brows twitched in irritation. "When he gets back, I'm docking his pay."
If Garp were around, Sengoku would have sent him instead.
At least Zephyr might have been comforted to see an old comrade again.
Snapping back to business, Sengoku gave his next order crisply.
"Have all Grand Line branches tighten patrol. I don't want another pirate slipping through."
Then, turning his sharp gaze back to Kuzan, he added, "And you—what's the status of your mission? Where's the Devil's Child now? The World Government's been breathing down my neck about it, and my head's about to split from their nagging."
Kuzan gave a lazy shrug, completely unfazed.
"Who knows? Maybe she's already off somewhere… married with kids."
"…"
Sengoku's eye twitched.
"…Married? With kids?"
He stared at Kuzan for a long, incredulous moment before finally slamming his palm down on the desk, the sound echoing through the room.
"Married?! The only one here who's lost their mind is you! Stop talking nonsense and get your ass moving—NOW!"
"Ahh, but I just got back…" Kuzan muttered halfheartedly.
"If you don't leave this instant," Sengoku growled, "I'll make sure you don't get reimbursed for your last mission's expenses."
"…Fine, fine~"
Kuzan stood, stretching lazily before sauntering out of the office with his hands in his pockets.
Sengoku glared after him, grumbling under his breath.
"That kid… didn't learn a damn thing except Garp's laziness. And now he's starting to talk nonsense too. 'Married with kids,' honestly—what a load of crap."
He sighed, sitting back down and pulling open a drawer.
From inside, he took out a small tin of his favorite senbei crackers, muttering as he poured a few onto his desk.
"Not a single one of them gives me peace of mind…"
His gaze drifted toward the stack of mission files on his desk.
"Let's just hope," he said quietly, "that nothing else goes wrong."