Within the absolute silence, many marines' jaws were opened wide. With a stern expression on his face, Kong stated,
"Admiral Sengoku, step up."
Sengoku stoically turned around, stepped up to the higher platform, and stood next to Kong.
"The Admiral candidates and Admirals are bestowed with the special code names, consisting of a unique colour and one among the following twelve animals: rat, bull, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, pheasant, dog, and pig." Kong said while taking one exquisite-looking badge off of his justice coat,
"And starting today, the code name of 'Kinyagi' is abolished! Instead, there will be Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who will lead the Marine into a bright future!"
Walking closer to Sengoku, who stood still while facing the front strictly, Kong placed the badge—the symbol of Fleet Admiral—on the former's justice coat.
__________
Kong's announcement was then followed by Sengoku's charismatic speech, the applause from the empowered marines, the promotion of Vice Admiral 'Haironezumi' to the rank of an Admiral, and the occurring party afterward—in order to celebrate this incredible news.
"Someone bring more beer!!"
"We are going to be back at work starting tomorrow... s***! Enjoy while it lasts!!"
"Would you like to dance with me?"
My colleagues too were involved in this mess of a party, drinking carefree and dancing like madmen.
But apart from the joys that were shared among the marines, this event placed me under many thoughts as well.
'Now that I recall...' Sitting down on the chair next to one set-up table, with an orange juice next to me, I thought with my eyes gazing at the drunk disciples of Zephyr, 'Smoker in the canon had a technique named "White Snake." Is that the foreshadowing of his codename? Shirohebi... will that also be my codename, if I were to attain the title of Admiral?'
'Then there's the matter of Seven Warlords,' I tapped my fingers against the table, 'Two most prominent concerns among the seven are Crocodile and Doflamingo, who will scheme against an entire nation. In contrast, Hancock becomes Warlord to protect her island, Moria dwells in the Florian Triangle, Mihawk doesn't actively commit evil, and Jinbe and Kuma are inherently good in nature—at least in my opinion.'
'Considering that the reputations of the powerhouses in the New World are becoming more and more widespread, it is only a matter of time before the World Government issues the establishment of Seven Warlords to "balance" the power of the world. Problem is, once Crocodile and Doflamingo become Warlords, stopping their plots becomes much trickier. This means that if I truly want to prevent the calamities that will befall upon the civilians, I must stop them before the Seven Warlords system begins.'
'Time is the key. The lesser amount of time it takes for me to reach an adequate level of strength, the more I will be able to save. In order to do that, I must not only train vigorously, but also efficiently. And the first step is to really understand the full scope of what my fruit ability is capable of doing.'
Shifting my eyes, I looked at a campfire nearby, where numerous people gathered around and baked marshmallows.
'The campfire utilized the wet woods. In order to light up the flame, numerous attempts were made, however, only the smoke was produced.'
There was one particular observation that I was able to make during such a process.
'White smoke. They were technically formed of water vapours that evaporated from the wet woods. I initially believed that such a concept overlaps with that of a "steam," but...'
Within the canon, there was a scene where Smoker clashed against Portgas D. Ace, and in contrast to what my smoke did back in G-4, Smoker in canon managed to go in par against Ace's flame.
'White smoke. Whiter the colour, the more water vapour the smoke contains.' Thinking deeply, I now remembered, 'The smoke that I thoughtlessly produced back in G-4, had a greyish colour. Burnt particles, I was thinking of them as I generated the smoke, and the result was exactly what I imagined.'
Which means,
'The smoke of pure white colour is not inflammable...' I speculated with some degree of certainty, 'while the dark-coloured smoke combusts easily.'
The world of One Piece is full of water. The sunlight tends to evaporate the surface of the ocean, and if such evaporated water particles were to belong within the scope of smoke, then it explains why Smoker's smoke didn't combust against Ace's flame.
'He was too used to using only the smoke constituted out of water, and did the same in the water-scarce Alabasta.'
This meant one thing: I could develop an entirely new set of skills using Smoke Smoke fruit, distinct from the abilities of 'White Smoke' that the canon Smoker showcased.
'There. It finally feels like I'm going somewhere—'
"What are you doing here, alone?" My thought was interrupted by a voice, waking me up. Looking at where the voice came from, I saw Hina, who was out of her former all-black attire, "Hina didn't know Smoker was a shy guy."
My expression softened upon sighting Hina. I asked her who took a seat next to me, "Did you send a good farewell message to your grandfather?"
"...Yes, indeed," Hina nodded with a nostalgic smile, "Hina spoke until there was nothing left to say."
'Death. Leaving this world…' Taking a sip from the orange juice, I thought as the two of us fell into silence, 'Do I fear death?'
I couldn't help but think while remembering the coffin of Hina's grandfather,
'I can't remember myself before the transmigration well. In contrast, many memories regarding One Piece are very clear in my head. Perhaps... before the transmigration happened, I died in my previous world.'
Survival. Was the fear of death the reason why I was so desperate to survive upon my arrival in this world?
'No.'
With some time having passed, I can say with confidence, 'What I didn't fear was death—I feared, and still do fear, dying a "meaningless" death.'
"So," Breaking the silence, Hina asked, "When are you heading out?"
Reaching her hand to a waiter who was walking by, Hina snatched a cup of grape juice before gulping it down. Watching her antics with amusement, I replied,
"Tomorrow, right away."
"What? That soon?" Hina remarked with a frown on her face, before pausing in realization, "...But Hina suppose that's expected of Vice Admiral Garp... haa..."
"Why? Are you that depressed to be separated from me?" I said jokingly, trying to ease the mood, but in contrast to my expectation, Hina lowered her head with sadness in her eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Grabbing her by the chin and lifting her face up, I grinned, "It's only going to be a little while, right? No need to be so sad over it."
"G-get your hand off Hina!" Blushing due to embarrassment, Hina slapped my hand away and turned her head away from me.
"Y-you know, when Hina first met you back in Logue Town, Hina thought you were a hopeless guy, beating up everyone on your left and right! And that turned out to be true, and... and..."
"And what?" I asked with my lips twitching, struggling not to burst out a laugh.
"And you need someone to take care of you! Hina was with you until now, but now that you will be with Vice Admiral Garp, Hina can only fear what you may become in the future!"
"Well, I will become jacked for sure," I said while flexing my right arm, before widening my eyes at my bicep, "oh, I already am to some extent."
"Hmph!" Hina crossed her arms and snorted, "As if Hina cares!"
'And this is who you are, Hina,' I chuckled while watching Hina's antics, 'You try to act strong and mature, being strict in all circumstances. But once such a facade is broken, you tend to become quite emotional; quite cute, I'd say.'
Being a marine gave me a sense of belonging. I now had a teacher to rely on, and friends whom I can entrust my back to. I do admit, that I currently was in a great mood, unable to believe that I managed to adapt to this world so well.
But... it is also true that the Marine has a dark side. In the future, if the situation where I need to make a decision between friends and righteousness is to come by, what choice will I make?
"…You know, Hina, I'm not going to say a goodbye," I spoke with a certainty, "Because we are going to meet again in the future, higher up in the ladder, right?"
"…Hina suppose so."
__________
"Hey, brat, did you say goodbye to your friends?"
Early in the morning, Garp, whose huge hands were on his waist, asked me with a grin on his face.
The day of the Grand Ceremony has already become 'yesterday,' and the time for me to depart from Marineford has already arrived. All my colleagues probably are sleeping noisily right now, with those snot-bubbles inflating and deflating repeatedly.
Giving the Marineford one final look, I turned at Garp and similarly grinned,
"No need to say goodbye," I replied while taking out two lolipops from my pocket, "because we'll be meeting again soon anyway."
"Bwahaha! Good answer!"
As Garp laughed, I took off the wrappers from the candies and plopped both of them into my mouth.
'Many things happened since I came here. There were ups and downs, and there certainly were desperate moments. However, let's place all my concerns down now. What comes first…'
"Welp, starting from now on," I said while holding my right hand out at Garp, "I will be under your care, Vice Admiral Garp!"
"Heh, you bet!"
'…Is to get stronger.'
Garp then slapped his hand on top of mine—
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
—causing me to scream at my lungs due to the sheer shock of it, with my right hand now swollen.
"Bwahahaha! Set sail!"
"""Yes, sir!"""
And just like that, I've begun my very own journey in One Piece, walking down a different path than the canon Smoker.