Jin took a long drag on his cigar and stared out over the sea.
Behind him, Kuro and Jango were running drills on the deck. This time, they were coming with him to HQ—his people, and new Devil Fruit users. With what they'd shown in Loguetown, there was no way Sengoku would leave two Ancient Zoans to rot in the East Blue.
One flying Ancient Zoan.
One berserker Ancient Zoan.
Train them right and they were future vice admiral material, easy.
"Attention, everyone! We're entering the Calm Belt! Fire up the auxiliary engines!"
The navigator's shout made the ordinary sailors tense up, but Jin didn't even blink.
Kuro and Jango, on the other hand, leaned over the rail, staring at the unnaturally still water.
"This is Dr. Vegapunk's invention," Tokikake explained, hands in his pockets.
"Sea-stone plates built into the hull. With them under the keel, Sea Kings can't sense the ship."
He side-eyed Jin.
"But White bro, why do you look completely unsurprised? Most people freak out the first time."
Jin shrugged.
"What's there to be surprised about?"
"That man's supposed to be five hundred years ahead of current human tech. If he couldn't manage this, the title would be false advertising."
Gion slid closer, smiling.
"So White even knows about things like that~"
"Vice Admiral Gion," Jin said dryly, "if you don't want me fighting Vice Admiral Tokikake to the death on this deck right now, I suggest you stop what you're doing."
She kept inching closer anyway, lips curling.
"Don't mind him. There's nothing between us."
"Gion," Tokikake said, genuinely wounded, "I've confessed to you nine hundred and ninety-seven times. Three more and you'll say yes—you can't suddenly fall for some punk who's only three points less handsome than me!"
"Shut up."
Gion rubbed her temples.
"How many times do I have to say it? That's all in your head."
Perfect, she thought. Might as well use White as a shield to finally shake this leech off.
"You—" Tokikake clutched his chest like he'd been stabbed and glared at Jin. "You bastard, I challenge you to a duel!"
Jin ignored him and looked ahead.
A flock of Sea Kings lounged on the surface in the distance, sunbathing like lazy cats.
He flexed his fingers, feeling the new power coiled inside him.
Not just controlling wind…
Creating it.
"Creation of wind, huh?" he murmured. "No half measures from you, big guy."
He tugged on the Dragon's power.
Air swirled into his palm.
Jin pointed forward. A steady gust bloomed from his hand, filling the sails and nudging the warship ahead faster.
"Not bad for a Mythical Zoan," Tokikake muttered, envy thick in his voice.
Gion frowned slightly.
"There's no natural wind in the Calm Belt," she said quietly.
"So where is that coming from?"
Jin closed his eyes, letting the air currents circle his body.
Wind is obvious.
But there's more… something deeper, waiting for me to dig it out?
Interesting.
Behind him, Kuro had transformed into his demon mantis form and buzzed lazy circles around the ship, getting used to his wings.
Jango had gone half-beast, saber-toothed tiger muscles bulging as he did weighted squats with a barbell overhead.
Jin drew his greatsword and gave it a casual horizontal swing.
"Gale Slash."
A silent blade of air shot out over a kilometer away.
It barely disturbed the surface… but a second later, a fine white line appeared on the distant sea.
And three Sea Kings a hundred meters long each suddenly split in half.
The rest smelled blood, went berserk, and dove for the floating meat.
"Strength's gone up," Jin murmured.
"Pure sword qi. No Haki, just wind."
"Oi, oi!" Tokikake snapped. "Don't go provoking these things for fun. This is the Calm Belt—if they all get pissed, we're screwed!"
Jin pointed his finger like a gun.
"Finger Pistol—Gale Shot."
A compressed slug of air whistled out.
The nearest Sea King, mid-leap, had its brain punched out through the back of its skull.
Gion's eyes curved, amused.
"Your Rokushiki has gotten a lot nastier."
She'd felt it too—both the sword slash and the finger gun carried wind within the strikes.
"Damn it," Tokikake muttered as he mule-kicked a giant frog-like Sea King in the face. "Show-off…"
"Raaah! Tiger Punch!"
Jango used Moonwalk to launch himself straight into a zebra-striped Sea King's face, fist slamming into its fangs.
"Shff, shff, shff!"
Kuro's mantis arms blurred, carving a dog-headed Sea King into sashimi.
"Still that big a gap, huh…" Kuro thought, glancing uneasily at the three bisected giants in the distance, then down at his own work.
The Sea Kings kept coming, drawn by the blood.
"Back aboard," Jin said.
"We can't stay here."
"Right!"
Jango and Kuro retreated, landing on deck.
Jin snapped his fingers.
A thick gust exploded under the hull, shoving the warship forward.
He pointed again.
"Wind Burst."
A dense spear of compressed air shot toward the cluster of Sea Kings behind them.
It pierced the center of the group—
—then detonated.
BOOM!
Chunks of flesh and bone fountained into the air.
"Gulp."
The surrounding sailors stared at the eighteen-year-old standing calmly at the bow.
Jin held his palm over the water.
"Assist Wind."
Air crashed against the sea, explosively compressing the waves under the ship. The hull surged forward.
"The course?" he called.
"Any issues, Vice Admiral Gion?"
"No problem, White," she said lightly. "The route's correct."
"Good."
"Everyone hold on."
"Oi oi oi, don't you dare—" Tokikake started.
"Everyone grab a rail!" he shouted a second later. "Now!"
He'd seen this before.
Last time, even without a Devil Fruit, this lunatic had punched a warship into the sky.
Now he had a Mythical Zoan too.
The Marines scrambled, grabbing ropes, rails, anything they could reach.
Jin drew back his fist.
"Wind Drive Fist."
He punched.
WHOOOM—!
The warship left the ocean.
A colossal plume of water exploded behind them as the ship soared into the air, wrapped in shrieking wind.
"We're flying?!"
Every sailor yelled the same thing at once.
Gion closed her eyes, feeling it.
"The wind is carrying the ship," she said softly. "He's wrapped the whole hull in a layer of moving air…"
"Ohhh! Rear Admiral "White Ghost" is amazing!" someone hollered.
Because of Shiki, Jin had been bumped up to rear admiral.
Kuro and Jango were now full Colonels.
Gion and Tokikake had both gotten "commensurate contributions" in the paperwork—which meant they'd probably be stuck on promotion boards for the next six months.
"Ten kilometers," Gion said, watching the ocean shrink below them.
"And still flying."
Tokikake swallowed.
"You seriously…"
"This is all wind, carrying the warship, isn't it?"
"Is that not allowed?" Jin asked, smiling a little too pleasantly.
"It's allowed," Tokikake said through his teeth.
"You're terrifying."
Gion's mind was already running ahead.
"If you can maintain this," she said, "you could chase pirate ships no matter where they flee."
"Straight-line pursuit across Calm Belts, over storm walls… your mobility is terrifying."
Jin considered.
"Depends how well I can control it."
"I don't dare push the wind any harder right now. The ship might fall apart."
"Don't joke about that!" Tokikake yelped.
"You and Kuro can fly, sure, but the rest of us can't—what are we supposed to do, Moonwalk all the way out of the Calm Belt?"
"I'm being careful," Jin said mildly.
"This is training, not suicide."
"You sound very reassuring," Tokikake muttered, not reassured at all.
Gion felt the currents again.
"You're getting more familiar with it," she said.
"With wind."
"Yeah."
"Fighting Shiki opened the door. Eating the Fruit kicked it in."
Jin clenched his fist.
BOOM.
The ship accelerated again.
"Quit it!" Tokikake yelled.
"Stop showing off while everyone's lives are bolted to the hull!"
"White Boss keeps getting stronger," Jango said, eyes shining with worship.
Kuro had gone quiet.
Each time Jin unleashed something new, the gap between them grew larger.
"…I can't even see his back anymore," Kuro thought.
"We're basically colleagues on paper."
"On paper."
The observers shouted new instructions.
"Rear Admiral "White Ghost"!" the navigator called. "Another twelve miles straight ahead and we'll clear the Calm Belt!"
Jin nodded.
"Got it."
"Everyone, grip tight."
"We're doing this in one go."
"Reckless man," Tokikake muttered, face dark. "We're going to get killed before we even reach HQ…"
"So cool," Gion countered, eyes sparkling. "He got cooler again."
Jin punched one last time.
The ship howled forward.
—
On the other side of the Calm Belt, at the entrance to Reverse Mountain, the water suddenly churned.
"Brace for landing!" the lookout screamed.
"Splash—!"
The warship slammed into the sea, throwing up a wall of water.
A loud CRACK echoed through the hull.
Every head on deck slowly turned toward Jin.
He scratched his cheek, embarrassed.
"Uh… still getting used to it."
"Wrapped the ship too loosely on the way down."
"Miscalculated the landing. Heh."
"Shut up," Tokikake said.
"If you do that on the Grand Line proper, with these currents, we'll end up flying into a sky island or straight into a Sea King's mouth."
Jin winced and reeled the power back.
Tokikake checked the damage.
"Pheeew."
"Just the mast," he said. "We can fix it on the move."
Before anyone could relax, the Den Den Mushi rang.
"Breeeh… beep… click!"
Tokikake snatched it up.
"Moshi moshi, this is Tokikake."
"Tokikake, where are you now?" Sengoku's voice came through, edged with urgency.
Everyone fell silent.
"We just cleared the Calm Belt, Fleet Admiral," Tokikake answered at once. "At Twin Cape."
Sengoku exhaled once.
"Good."
"You're the closest. Head to Crisis Island immediately."
"Zephyr has been attacked."
"Go support him at once. Aokiji is already en route, but you'll arrive first."
Tokikake shot upright.
"Zephyr-sensei was attacked?!"
"Understood, Fleet Admiral!"
Sengoku didn't waste time.
"Rescue Zephyr. Then hold off the attacker until Aokiji arrives."
"Don't let that man walk free if you can help it."
"Understood!" Tokikake said. "Over."
He slammed the shell shut.
"Set course for Crisis Island!"
"Fix the mast later!"
"All engines ahead full!"
He glanced at Jin.
Jin was already turning.
"Got it."
He snapped his fingers.
Wind roared, catching the sails, pushing the hull like a giant hand.
In his head, a name surfaced.
Is it you…?
Edward Weevil.
The man rumored to have Whitebeard's strength in his prime.
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