"This sea will not be peaceful, Magellan!"
Taro stood up and said solemnly, "Without Whitebeard, those islands under the Whitebeard Pirates' banner will inevitably attract greed from all sides."
"Furthermore, Whitebeard's last words have made this sea boil. There will only be more and more pirates. The era has changed!"
Magellan was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand, I..."
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle..."
Just as he was speaking, a strange sound came. Magellan's expression tightened, and he clutched his stomach.
Taro: "..."
Waving his hand speechlessly, Taro stepped outside. "You get busy then, I'm leaving."
Just as he reached the door, he heard a squelching, 'refreshing' sound from behind. Taro's mouth twitched, and he quickened his pace.
Returning to Marineford, a hint of dawn had appeared on the horizon. The longest day had finally passed.
Knowing that Ace was still alive and having persuaded Magellan out of his suicidal thoughts, Taro was in a great mood.
Humming a little tune with his hands behind his head, he walked off the warship with a light step. Then he immediately regretted it and turned around, wanting to sneak back onto the ship.
"Taro, come over here!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru had noticed when Taro's flagship entered the port. As soon as Taro disembarked, she called him over.
Taro's face stiffened. Instantly dejected, he walked listlessly to Vice Admiral Tsuru's side, forcing a smile.
"Good morning, Vice Admiral Tsuru, Hina, and uh, Vice Admiral Momousagi, you too!"
Taro greeted the three awkwardly, feeling that his luck was truly rotten.
"What a coincidence, you're all here!"
Momousagi's eyes darted around as she laughed, "Hehehe, little Taro, we've been waiting specifically for you!"
Hearing this, Taro turned to run. It's over, they're here to settle the score.
Vice Admiral Tsuru grabbed Taro's Marine cloak, stopping him. She then gave Momousagi a look and said to Taro:
"Don't listen to my little sister's nonsense. She's returning to Marijoa, and we're here to see her off. Why are you running?"
Taro's eyebrows shot up. After a moment of preparation, he put on a brilliant smile and turned back.
"Not at all! I just thought Vice Admiral Momousagi might be leaving, so I wanted to go back to the ship to get something as a farewell gift!"
Momousagi looked at Taro contemptuously. "Hehehe, is that so? Then go get it quickly, I'm waiting!"
Taro's smile froze. "Uh, next time for sure! On a serious note, Vice Admiral Tsuru, is there a reason you called me over?"
As he spoke, Taro peeked at Hina's expression, but saw that she looked normal with no signs of anything unusual, which made him a bit puzzled.
What's the situation? Is Hina's heart really that big?
"It's nothing. You and my sister know each other, and she's done you a favor. Isn't it only right for you to come and see her off?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru glared at Taro with a slightly reproachful look, giving him a meaningful glance.
Taro was slightly taken aback. Combining this with Hina's reaction, he quickly understood. Does this mean Momousagi hasn't told Hina about what happened yet?
What a good person!
Taro looked at Momousagi gratefully. He thought that since he had already called Vice Admiral Tsuru "Grandma Tsuru" many times, it didn't matter if he added another.
Momousagi was Vice Admiral Tsuru's younger sister; their relationship was special. It wouldn't hurt to have another grandma. Having connections in the government makes things easier!
Thinking of this, Taro bowed respectfully to Momousagi.
"Thank you very much, Grandma Gion!"
Hina was wondering what Vice Admiral Tsuru meant by Momousagi doing Taro a favor, when she suddenly heard Taro say "Grandma Gion." She froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha, Gion... Grand... ma... Hahahaha, Hina is dying of laughter!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru was also stunned by Taro's words, standing there in a daze.
Momousagi had been fairly satisfied seeing Taro bow to her, and a smile had appeared on her face.
The next second, she heard how Taro addressed her, and her smile instantly froze.
Shring!
Momousagi drew her sword, Kinpira, and slashed at him, her eyes spitting fire.
"Taro, I'm going to kill you!"
Taro was dumbfounded and instinctively stepped aside, dodging Momousagi's slash.
Hina reacted after Momousagi swung her sword and quickly rushed forward to tightly hug Momousagi's waist.
"Gion, calm down, calm down! Taro definitely didn't do it on purpose. He didn't know!"
Momousagi struggled for a bit until Vice Admiral Tsuru spoke a few words of comfort. Only then did she glare hatefully at Taro for a while before sheathing her sword.
Taro now realized he had used the wrong title. Was Momousagi actually not that old?
However, asking a woman's age to her face didn't seem very polite either. Having escaped death, Taro at least had that much awareness and apologized repeatedly.
"Hmph!"
Momousagi gave a final angry snort, turned around, and left.
Only after Momousagi's warship left the port did Taro say with a long face, "Grandma Tsuru, how many years apart are you and your sister?"
"Don't go prying into things you shouldn't." Vice Admiral Tsuru raised her hand as if to hit him.
Taro took a step back to dodge. "Oh!"
"Taro, Hina, you two come with me!" Vice Admiral Tsuru turned to leave, signaling the two to follow.
Is she going to lay her cards on the table? Taro's heart tightened. He needed to find a suitable opportunity to lay some groundwork first!
Once the three returned to the office, Vice Admiral Tsuru got straight to the point.
"Taro, what other relatives do you have in your family? What do they do?"
Isn't this household check something a mother-in-law does? Given the current situation, Old Lady, do you still want to set me up with Hina?
"Uh, my parents only have me. They are self-employed. Oh, they do business, so I guess they're merchants!"
Taro was stunned for a good while before speaking.
Vice Admiral Tsuru nodded slightly. "May I meet them?"
Taro felt a bit sad mentioning his parents. Hearing this, he shook his head gently.
"I want to see them again too, but it's impossible. They aren't in this world."
Vice Admiral Tsuru and Hina's expressions stiffened. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It must be very hard being alone in this world, right?"
Taro rubbed his face, forced a smile, and waved his hand.
"It's fine. You and Vice Admiral Garp treat me very well. I'm not lonely being alone in this world. Besides, I've made many friends."
As he spoke, he looked at Hina and winked.
Yeah, let's build up some emotion first. That way, when I lay my cards on the table later, she won't just flip out immediately!
"What were you doing before you joined the Marine?"
"Studying! Learning so many things. You have no idea how hard it was. I started studying at the age of three. If it wasn't for... the accident, I would have had to study for two more years or even longer..."
Taro thought about the journey from kindergarten all the way to university, his eyes filling with tears.
"I had to do so many exercises every day. When I finally got a break, there would be even more..."
The two of them continued in this question-and-answer fashion, essentially having a cross-server chat.
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