"You came across that pirate and you let him go!" Smoker erupted, the smoke from his twin cigars swirling violently around his head.
"Call it a slip of the hand. I didn't know he was a pirate," I lied blatantly. The falsehood was so obvious it only served to irritate Smoker further.
"Bullcrap! You knew! Pirates don't just escape your grip, Toji. Don't give me that nonsense."
"Calm down, Smoker. They're gone now, and that's the end of it. There are larger matters we need to address," Garp interjected, stepping in before the confrontation escalated.
Smoker had overstepped his bounds, raising his voice to a superior officer and tossing accusations without proof. I made a mental note. If we weren't friends, I would have punched him so hard he'd have skipped across the surface of the sea towards the redline . Even my patience had its limits, and he was testing them, even when I was in the wrong, though unofficially.
"The Straw Hats aren't the first pirates to seek the One Piece, and they won't be the last," Garp added, his gaze leveling on the Captain.
"Vice Admiral Garp, sir, I need to go after him. I understand he's your grandson, but....."
"You understand nothing!" Garp shut him down instantly.
I sat on the couch to the right, flanked by Bradley and Ichimaru. We remained silent, watching the power dynamic play out. Smoker grunted, a subtle sign of disrespect that Garp chose to disregard for the moment.
"Your request to chase the Straw Hat is denied," Garp informed him coolly.
"Sir...?"
"Your skill sets are needed elsewhere. All of you," Garp added, glancing between the two Commodores and myself.
Naval Intelligence had kept us in the loop a few hours earlier , 12 hours after the incident with strawhat , leaving Smoker as the only one in the dark. With the three of us....heavy hitters in our own right.....Garp clearly believed the crisis in the land of Oasis, Alabasta could be brought to a swift conclusion and the missing princess found.
A national crisis was deliberately engineered by Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the secret leader of Baroque Works, as part of a calculated plan to depose King Nefertari Cobra and claim the throne of Alabasta in his search for the ancient weapon Pluton. To bring this scheme to fruition, Crocodile relied on a forbidden substance known as Dance Powder, or Boogie Powder, which artificially induces rainfall in a specific area while siphoning moisture from neighboring regions. By exploiting this effect, he orchestrated a devastating drought that plagued the country for three years, turning the population against the royal family and paving the way for rebellion.
"The Marines are concerned with real threats to our delicate political..... ecosystem ," Garp continued. "The Kingdom of Alabasta is on the verge of civil war. Their princess is missing, possibly abducted. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Army gains supporters in similar regions near Alabasta every day in its quest to overturn the World Government. So, Captain, do you see now why Monkey D. Luffy is of little consequence, even if Dragon saved him as you claim?"
He could hear smoker grinding his teeth for a quick moment.
Observing them, I had to agree with the old man. It was refreshing to see this side of Garp. In the anime, he was often portrayed as a comedic figure, often un-serious , but here he was a strategist, thoughtful, dutiful, and stern man. The man a many Marines looked up to.
The true reason for my presence in Logue Town had finally surfaced. Jurisdiction to intercede in Alabasta had been signed off after Intelligence briefed us. That bastard of a Warlord, Crocodile, needed to be dealt with, he needed to learn his place and pay for his crimes. He would've gone their directly and confront the perpetrator but such a thing would be foolish even if heroic not that he feared the sand logia users, no. There was a process and procedure for everything, and bureaucracy made things a lot harder. I couldn't just up and do things, even though I do at certain points have a history of breaking protocol.
But point being I couldn't allow Luffy to take all the credit this time even if I didn't intervene earlier in stopping crocodile; I wouldn't let a rookie be the hero while I was standing right here. Yep, I know I'm a darn bastard. A typical Jon Snow.
"Its politically inconvenient for a civil war to brew in a prominent country as that, it needs to end and soon else we might see the lost of another kingdom to rebellion." Bradley made a statement, arms crossed over his chest as his eyes remained closed.
'Yes it was'. I thought to myself
The citizens of Alabasta had suffered a traumatic fate at the hands of a man the World Government had chosen to empower, to serve as one of the seven warlords of the seas. It was the Government's fault, and it should be a representative of that body who should resolve it, though at this point in time the villain of this story was miscued, the navy and its higher ups, the world government wouldn't think crocodile would be the cause of such a conflict nor did they have an inkling of a clue of what the man was truly doing. besides the facade he put up, and so he was absolved of suspicion.
I held my tongue regarding the specifics. If I revealed that I already knew the cause of the war and the location of Princess Vivi, it would lead to a long list of questions I wasn't ready to answer. I would free Alabasta my own way, the most efficient way, to ensure the civil unrest ended and Crocodile ended up in chains and a few teeth loosened. We could call him the salamander by then.
"I have no doubt you'll find information on the princess, if not find her outright, Toji. I have faith in your abilities, so naturally, you'll take the lead going forward on this," Garp said, calling me by my name casually.
It wasn't a surprise it was planned out already hours before now, Smoker could grumble all he wanted about strawhat, but I expected him to fall in line. I wouldn't tolerate unprofessional behavior that risked the operation nor risked misdemeanor. Plus fate too was on the white hunter's side, the surprise he'll have when he see for himself that luffy was actually in Alabasta would see him jump out of that jacket of his, and then he'd realize that he had been sent in the right direction afterall.
"We'll find the princess and take whatever steps are necessary to cease this disorder," I added, contributing my own optimistic opinion. "And we shall proceed carefully. The political backlash of a mistake made especially if the Marine reputation is implicated in the wrong way would be disastrous."
"That's why we chose you," Garp opined. "I expect you and Bradley can put those detective skills of yours to work and sort this charade out the most subtle way possible."
"Our prisoners," Bradley spoke up, his voice as cold as ever. "Since you are on your way to Marineford, sir, I expect you'll take Buggy , Alvida and the rest to Impel Down?."
"I will. Worry not for them," Garp said, standing to signal the end of the meeting. "Complete your restocking and prepare to sail. God speed with you."
"Meeting Dismissed."
"He told you to stay behind, didn't he?" I said, my voice softening as I pulled up beside her on the walls of the fort. from here one could see the majority of Logue town.
She flinched in surprise, then gave a stiff, formal salute when she saw who it was, though said salute lacked its usual enthusiasm.
"Rear Admiral Zenin!"
"Yes, sir... Captain Smoker believes I am not yet ready for the Grand Line."
"Smoker is a many things but a fool lacking good judgement he is not, so his protectiveness isn't entirely without merit," I replied, leaning my back against the rail. "The Grand Line isn't just a sea, Tashigi. It's a graveyard for those unprepared, we know this. It ain't some distant fairy tale. You've seen the pirates in the East Blue men like Buggy or the Alvida's remnants, the rest. They are gnats compared to the predators waiting on the other side of the calm belt."
She looked at me then, her eyes behind those red frames swimming with a mix of frustration and longing. "I know I'm clumsy. I know I may not be the best fighter. But how can I ever reclaim the Meito from the hands of criminals if I am kept in the shallows of this place, my dream would be lost, and I know my resolve doesn't end at the border of the East Blue!"
Well destiny won't leave you behind.
"Dreams can lead to happiness as much as they can lead to ones death, petty officer you must be careful of it," I said, looking out at the black waves. "In the Grand Line, the weather changes on a whim. One moment you're sailing in a summer breeze, the next, a waterspoutis tearing your ship apart and this is just the first half of the grand line I can assure you that second half is horrifically worse. And the people? You'll meet men who'll have your entire philosophy on morality questioned, men who can turn into all types of creatures and things, not only physically, there are monsters who don't even need a Devil Fruit to crush a battleship."
I reached out, resting a gloved hand on the hilt of my wakizashi. "Smoker doesn't want to see you torn apart by a world that doesn't care about your ideals. He's seen what happens to good Marines who go in with too much heart and not enough strength to back it up."
"You have to be hard Tashigi, unrelenting, which you aren't. For you are you, a good soul. "
I could hear sniffle slightly at that. I meant no insult but she needed to hear the truth.
"Is that what happened to you?" she asked quietly. "Is that why they call you the 'Black Wolf'?"
I chuckled, a low, dry sound. "I became the black wolf because no matter who and where, I'd always hunt my prey."
I turned to face her fully, my expression hardening. " I'll allow you to come with us, but If you go, you cannot afford to hesitate, you must follow all orders no matter how cruel it may seem. In the Grand Line, if you even doubt for a second your superiors command and your duty , you won't live to see the next island, I don't like a disorderly crew member that puts the other's lives at risk, I'd kill them myself more often than not."
A look of pure, shock and hope broke across her face. "Thank you, sir!" She was ignoring the last statement.
"Don't thank me yet," I muttered.
Tashigi gripped the hilt of Shigure, her jaw setting with a newfound resolve. "Then I will do as I must. I'll follow diligently and train until my hands bleed. I won't let the Captain nor you down."
"You shouldn't let yourself down overall," I said, pushing off the railing. "Because Garp is right. Alabasta is just the beginning. If you're going to survive the sandstorms and the Warlords, you'd better start acting like a predator."
I started walking away, but stopped to look back over my shoulder. "I hope so.."
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