"What are you reading?" Garp asked as he plopped down beside Zephyr, settling himself under the covered corridor with his characteristic lack of ceremony. Without waiting for permission, he reached out and snatched the book from Zephyr's hands.
Zephyr was clearly accustomed to Garp's behavior. He didn't show even a flicker of annoyance. Instead, he turned his attention to Finn and said, "You've improved considerably. I heard you fought that Whitebeard, but you weren't seriously injured in the end?"
Finn and Gion first offered proper respectful greetings to their instructor, then Finn responded with a modest smile. "I've made some progress, but it's nothing worth bragging about. That man injured me right from the opening exchange, but I managed to avoid further damage during the fight itself. I suspect it's because he wasn't taking the engagement seriously."
"That's more than sufficient," Zephyr said, waving his hand with satisfaction. "In this world, there aren't many people who can walk away relatively unscathed after fighting that monster."
He gestured for Finn and Gion to sit.
Both disciples moved forward casually and settled themselves on the corridor beside their teacher, the afternoon light casting gentle shadows across the wooden planks.
Garp thrust the book into Finn's hands without explanation, then looked at Zephyr and asked, "Are there any promising young recruits lately? Anyone comparable to Finn? I'm short a few capable hands on my ship. I could help train them if you've got good candidates."
"People like Finn aren't exactly cabbages growing in every field," Zephyr replied dryly. "But there are still several promising seedlings in the current training cohort."
The two veterans began chatting about recruitment and training with the easy familiarity of old comrades.
Finn glanced down at the book now in his possession, and his expression shifted to genuine surprise. "Isn't this a banned book?"
Gion leaned her head over Finn's shoulder curiously, examining the cover.
The title read simply: "Spark."
"Dragon's book?!" Gion exclaimed, her voice rising with shock.
Garp, who'd been casually discussing recruits with Zephyr, suddenly froze in confusion. He turned around sharply. "What? Dragon wrote a book? That bastard can actually write?"
"He's written more than one," Finn said, rolling his eyes at the legendary Marine Hero.
"Garp, you're Dragon's father," Gion teased with an amused smile. "How do you not know anything about his activities?"
"I deliberately ignore any information about that traitor," Garp said with a scowl, his voice carrying genuine bitterness. "It just makes me angry hearing about him."
"Possessing and spreading this book carries a death sentence, Instructor Zephyr," Finn said, raising the slim volume with theatrical concern, though his tone remained light and teasing. "Hahahaha."
Zephyr didn't appear bothered in the slightest. He waved one hand dismissively. "It's just a book expounding one man's philosophical thoughts. What crime is there in that? If you ask me, the World Government is simply paranoid about ideas they can't control."
"That's not quite accurate, though," Finn said softly, his expression growing more thoughtful.
Finn understood all too well the power of books and ideas, how terrifying the changes they could catalyze truly were.
After all, he'd lived in a nation transformed by revolutionary ideology in his previous life. He'd seen firsthand what happened when compelling ideas spread through a population ready to embrace them.
"Instructor Zephyr, why did you suddenly start reading this particular book?" Gion asked with genuine curiosity.
Zephyr was silent for a long moment, his weathered face contemplative. Then he said quietly, "I wanted to see exactly how shameless the World Government appears through Dragon's eyes."
"Hmm?" Finn looked up sharply at his instructor, sensing deeper meaning beneath those words. There was something more behind that statement.
"Oh? You think they're shameless too?" Garp asked with a booming laugh, completely missing the subtext. "Hahahaha!"
Zephyr glanced at Garp with something like patient exasperation, then turned his attention to Gion and Finn. "Now that I think about it, you two still don't know what's happened, do you?"
"I'm curious as well, Instructor," Finn nodded, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "You suddenly recalled all senior officers back to headquarters. Something significant must have occurred."
Gion asked with barely contained excitement, "Are we preparing for war against the Whitebeard Pirates?"
However, the veteran Garp had begun to recognize certain patterns by this point. His expression gradually shifted from casual interest to genuine concern. He said in a deeper voice, "Could it be that the higher-ups are interfering in our Marines' internal affairs again?"
Zephyr shook his head at that assessment. "This time, I'm afraid it's not the higher-ups interfering in our Marines' affairs. Rather, our Marines are being forced to interfere in the higher-ups' political machinations."
Garp was momentarily stunned. He'd never encountered that particular dynamic before.
A gleam of understanding flashed in Finn's eyes, as if he'd suddenly connected several disparate pieces of information.
"Have any of you heard of something called the Draft Plan for the Seven Warlords of the Sea?" Zephyr asked quietly.
But it was obvious that beneath his calm exterior, considerable anger simmered just below the surface.
As a senior officer who'd returned from the New World just two days ago, he'd naturally been curious about why Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong had suddenly recalled him, an Admiral who'd officially retired from frontline command to training duties.
Kong and Sengoku hadn't hidden anything from Zephyr. They'd told him everything they'd experienced in Mary Geoise, every humiliating detail.
After hearing that account, a burning ball of rage had taken root in Zephyr's chest.
Garp and Gion were completely lost. "Seven Warlords of the Sea? What the hell is that?"
They'd never even heard the term before.
Finn murmured thoughtfully, "I'm fairly close with Stussy from the CP Agency, and she mentioned something about it to me recently. I understood it was some kind of proposal related to pirates?"
Zephyr glanced at Finn with mild surprise. "Stussy? That woman is extremely cunning and politically dangerous. Not nearly as trustworthy as Gion here. You should be very careful in your dealings with her."
Gion, who'd been quietly listening, suddenly blushed. She glanced at Finn secretly but said nothing, her expression unreadable.
Finn smiled and nodded respectfully. "Yes, Instructor. I'm aware of the risks."
Zephyr glanced at Gion again, smiled knowingly, then said nothing further about that particular topic. His face grew serious once more. "Yes, this is indeed a proposal related to pirates. It's currently still in draft form, but the Five Elders have already made their final decision to implement it."
"What does that mean exactly? I don't understand any of this," Garp said, his brow furrowing with confusion and growing irritation.
"The so-called 'Seven Warlords of the Sea,'" Zephyr said, his voice dropping to something cold and hard, "means the legalization of piracy."
After he finished speaking, Finn's expression remained carefully neutral, already having suspected something along these lines. But Garp and Gion were both visibly stunned, as if they'd been physically struck.
Within moments, Garp reacted violently. His fist came down hard on the wooden floorboards of the corridor, shattering several planks with the force of barely restrained Haki. Zephyr didn't even glance at the damage, clearly not caring about property destruction in the face of this news.
"Those bastards!" Garp snarled, then surged to his feet, practically shaking with fury. "What the hell do you mean by legalizing piracy?!"
"Recruit seven great pirates and grant them official authority to plunder legally," Zephyr explained with forced calm. "In exchange, their political alignment will shift to supporting the World Government. To put it simply, it's systematic recruitment and legitimization of criminal forces."
At this explanation, Garp gradually forced himself to calm down, though the effort was visible. He sat cross-legged on the corridor again, took several deep breaths, and asked, "Don't tell me that Sengoku and Fleet Admiral Kong actually accepted this proposal?"
Zephyr glanced at Garp with something like grim amusement. "What do you think?"
"It's impossible!" Garp said without a moment's hesitation, absolute conviction in his voice.
Regarding this matter, he categorically refused to believe that Sengoku and Kong would swallow such humiliation quietly.
Zephyr smiled then, though the expression carried no warmth. "Of course it's impossible. I heard from the Fleet Admiral that if he hadn't physically restrained him, Sengoku would have created a complete scene in the Five Elders' office. Hehe."
"That sounds more like him," Garp nodded with satisfaction. "Even though Sengoku usually presents himself as calm and measured."
Zephyr continued, his voice taking on a nostalgic quality. "Yes, he maintains such a composed appearance these days that I'd almost forgotten what he was like as a young officer. When Sengoku was young, he had a considerably worse temper than you, Garp."
Finn's eyes flashed with genuine surprise. After all, he'd never seen or heard about the young Admiral Sengoku.
The Admiral had always given Finn the impression of being extraordinarily calm and strategic, very magnanimous and thoughtful in his decision-making.
If pressed to choose descriptive words, "wise general" or "scholarly warrior" seemed most appropriate.
Additionally, Sengoku possessed beautiful calligraphy skills. Finn had always considered him a cultured general proficient in both civil administration and military affairs, a balanced leader.
Today, hearing Garp and Zephyr discuss the past, learning that Admiral Sengoku in his youth had possessed an even more volatile temper than Garp himself?
Completely unexpected!
Thinking about this revelation, Finn glanced at Gion and noticed she looked equally surprised by this historical detail. He felt somewhat relieved. At least he wasn't the only one unaware of this aspect of their Admiral's character.
Sengoku had been hiding his true temperament very effectively all these years.
"So the Fleet Admiral and Sengoku recalled all of us this time specifically to discuss how to deal with this disaster of a Seven Warlords plan?" Garp asked in a muffled voice, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
"That's correct," Zephyr nodded. "Our Marines can't possibly do nothing about this fundamentally unjust proposal."
At this moment, Finn suddenly spoke, his tone measured and analytical. "I don't know as much about World Government internal politics as you veterans, so Instructor, I have a question."
"Go ahead," Zephyr said, waving his hand encouragingly.
"Is there any realistic possibility of completely overturning this draft proposal?" Finn asked without hesitation.
The question cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Zephyr fell silent. Garp opened his mouth twice but ultimately remained quiet as well.
Because earlier, Zephyr had already stated that the Five Elders were absolutely determined to implement this plan. That political reality framed everything else.
"Ah," Finn sighed, reading their silence accurately. "So there really isn't any possibility of stopping it?"
Garp's face shifted through several expressions, pale and then flushed, clearly wrestling with deep frustration.
After a long moment, he finally sighed heavily. "It's not completely impossible. If we provoked an absolute rupture with the World Government, forced them into a corner, they would definitely choose to protect and support our Marines over this plan. But..."
"But we can't do that," Finn finished, touching his chin thoughtfully. The implications were clear and troubling.
"Violence wrapped in shackles, covered in the shell of justice," Zephyr suddenly quoted, his voice carrying a strange mixture of bitterness and understanding. "It maintains both order and the corruption and moral decay that feeds on that order."
Gion looked at Zephyr with a somewhat bewildered expression, and the instructor smiled wryly. "That's something Dragon wrote in 'Spark.' Don't those words ring particularly true right now?"
"Instructor, you're still in the mood to quote revolutionary philosophy ironically," Gion said with a forced, uncomfortable smile.
"Anyway, we'll discuss everything properly at tomorrow's meeting," Zephyr said, waving his hand to dismiss the heavy atmosphere. "Today I'm just giving you advance warning so you're not blindsided."
"No matter what happens, we can't let this plan be implemented smoothly," Garp said through gritted teeth. "If there's genuinely no way to stop it initially, we'll have to find methods to sabotage and undermine it after implementation!"
"That's a sound tactical approach," Zephyr agreed with grim satisfaction.
Yes, if preventing the plan's implementation proved impossible, they could let it proceed. After that, the Marines could systematically work to ruin it from within. Policies from above could be countered with countermeasures from below.
Finn suddenly spoke up, his tone shifting to something more calculated. "If that's genuinely the case, I believe we should seize this opportunity and fight aggressively to extract maximum concessions and advantages for our Marines from this situation."
Both Garp and Gion looked startled by this pragmatic perspective.
Only Zephyr regarded Finn with visible satisfaction. "You've begun developing the proper bearing and strategic thinking of a general."
"It's all thanks to your excellent instruction, Instructor," Finn said with genuine respect and a slight smile.
"No, in this particular regard, credit should go to Sengoku," Zephyr said, reaching out to pat Finn's shoulder firmly. "He's the master of turning political defeats into institutional advantages."
After a brief pause, Zephyr continued, his voice lighter. "We'll discuss all the tactical details tomorrow at the meeting. We haven't gathered like this in far too long, and we've been talking about heavy subjects. I'm getting hungry. Let's go have a proper meal together."
Seeing their instructor's mood shift, Finn and the others didn't press the discussion further. They'd address everything tomorrow when all the senior officers convened. For now, they all stood and followed Zephyr toward the door, ready to enjoy a rare moment of camaraderie before the coming political storm.
The afternoon sun was beginning to set over Marineford, casting long golden shadows across the compound. Tomorrow would bring difficult decisions and heated debates.
But tonight, they would break bread as teacher and students, as comrades, as the family the Marines had become for all of them.