Marineford.
Dylan, who completed his training under Admiral Aokiji's leadership, finally earned a cape and an independent office.
Bell-mère's file was also transferred from the Marine Department, and with Aokiji's promotion, her re-enlistment procedures were completed smoothly. She was reappointed to the rank of major.
"What is this!? Can this be considered 'Marine's justice'? Bastard, what is the difference between this and a pirate!?"
A roar echoed in the huge corridor, and Aokiji rubbed his forehead in distress.
"Ah, it's really..."
Bang!!
The door slammed open, and a man with short white hair and a cigar in his mouth stormed out of the office angrily.
"Smoker, are you arguing with the people in the inspection department again? Don't you wonder why you're still a major?"
Because he is too weak.
Dylan looked at the guy approaching them—One Piece's biggest enemy—Smoker, the shame of Logia.
"Military rank..." Smoker puffed out a large cloud of smoke nonchalantly.
Walking up to the two of them, Smoker looked at Dylan, who had put on a Rear Admiral cloak: "Are you the guy Kuzan has been talking about? You look very thin."
"Ah, this guy..."
Aokiji glanced at Smoker with a headache, and then said to Dylan: "He is my friend, be gentle."
"Asshole Kuzan! Who are you looking down on?"
Smoker was furious. Although he was still only a major in the Marines, he was a Logia user and had a lot of merits. However, he was stuck in the rank of major for several years because he was too willful.
After all, "Mad Dog Marine" isn't called that for nothing.
But Dylan didn't give Smoker time to react. Before Smoker could finish speaking, a dark arm grabbed his collar.
"White...huh!?"
"Ability is not omnipotent." Dylan grabbed Smoker and pressed him against the wall.
The powerful Armament Haki completely suppressed Smoker's elementalization.
"You guy..." Smoker pulled out his seastone weapon.
Kuzan told him that this guy is also a Logia user.
Although Haki can catch him, as long as the seastone touches him, it can instantly imprison his ability.
The Nanashaku Jitte whizzed down at Dylan, and Aokiji's eyes narrowed slightly.
Seastone? How will he handle it?
Dylan held down Smoker with his left hand, tightened his right hand, and the dark Armament Haki instantly covered it.
"Seastone... is also not omnipotent!"
The dark right hand moved towards the Nanashaku Jitte inlaid with seastone without fear.
"Wha...what!?" Seeing the top of his Nanashaku Jitte being grabbed by Dylan, Smoker's anger disappeared, leaving only a look of shock.
He had tried touching himself with seastone, and it basically knocked him out instantly, and his abilities were also imprisoned.
Click! There was a cracking sound from the top of Smoker's weapon.
Smoker's shock turned into panic, and Aokiji's eyes narrowed slightly beside him.
"Hey, is it true?"
Snap!
Dylan held the top of Smoker's weapon and twisted it, breaking off the part inlaid with seastone.
Then Smoker and Aokiji saw Dylan's palm clenched, and tiny pieces of metal powder fell from his hand.
"Seastone is indeed very hard." Dylan put down the completely stunned Smoker, studied the small seastone in his hand, and then threw it towards Smoker: "Give it back to you, build a new weapon."
"Newcomer? What an amazing skill."
"Hahahaha, if Kuzan hadn't been recruiting all day long, I would have kept him in East Blue. This would save me a lot of trouble."
At one end of the corridor, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Akainu, and Admiral Kizaru walked towards the three of them side by side.
"Very powerful. Have you ever considered joining me? I have learned about your past. Your style is very similar to my own. You should not be under the command of a lazy guy like Kuzan."
Akainu looked at Dylan with admiration.
He admired Dylan's attitude towards pirates very much, and this guy Kuzan... Humph!
"Ah, Sakazuki, are you robbing someone openly like this?"
"Bwahahaha," Garp laughed while stuffing donuts into his mouth: "Forget it Sakazuki, this kid is different from you."
Sengoku glanced at Garp with some confusion.
This guy has basically not stayed in the headquarters in the past few years and rarely interferes with its affairs. Why did he directly reject the opinions of Sakazuki, who is an Admiral, this time?
"Hmph!" After hearing Garp's words, Akainu didn't bother and snorted coldly before walking through the crowd and leaving first.
"Oh~it's so powerful and scary~young people today~"
Kizaru looked at Dylan with a crooked mouth but didn't say much. He greeted Kuzan and left.
As for the great miscreant Smoker?
Major Smoker was ignored by Akainu and Kizaru.
It's not that they don't know each other, but Smoker's reputation within the Marines is not good, and his military rank and strength are not enough for the two Admirals to take him seriously.
This severely wounded the Marine Mad Dog's pride.
"Am I really weak..."
A light flashed under Sengoku's lens. Although Smoker's strength was not exceptional, as a Logia fruit user, he still had potential.
Don't let him give up on himself easily.
"Smoker! You are also a student of Zephyr. You should know that there are many ways to fight. In this sea, almost no one can develop Taijutsu, Swordsmanship, Haki, and Devil Fruit abilities to the ultimate level at the same time."
"So you have to choose what you are best at..."
"Pfft hahaha... There are still some. Isn't that what Newgate and Linlin are like?"
Garp laughed and interrupted Sengoku's words, then turned to look at Smoker: "But Sengoku is right."
"If you want to become strong, you need to recognize yourself first and find your own path. After all, you are outstanding in all abilities. There are only a handful of monsters on the sea from ancient times to the present."
Garp glanced at the Shura that Dylan carried around his waist, thinking silently: "Maybe there will be one more now."
After listening to Garp and Sengoku, Smoker fell silent. Although the Smoke-Smoke was powerful, his level of development was indeed very poor. In terms of physical skills, because of the fruit's ability, he had almost no Rokushiki training and zero sword skills. Haki...so far, he has not even mastered Armament Haki, still relying on the seastone embedded on the top of Nanashaku Jitte hands to fight against ability users.
"I understand, Mr. Garp, Fleet Admiral. I will think carefully about my path."
When facing Garp and Sengoku, even someone as arrogant as Smoker humbly lowered his head and accepted their opinions.
Sengoku turned to Dylan: "What about you?"
"Me?"
Dylan didn't understand what Sengoku meant.
"To be honest, after you accepted Aokiji's recruitment, came to the headquarters, and obtained the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the headquarters conducted two rounds of investigations on you."
"It's confirmed that you were born into a merchant family in West Blue. Later, your family's merchant ship was attacked by pirates, and you lived in East Blue. You have done a good job in East Blue over the years, maintaining the style of Garp. Let East Blue still continue to be called the 'Weakest Sea.'"
Dylan smiled and didn't answer. East Blue is not as weak as expected. During his more than ten years of cleaning up, he has encountered many potential threats. And he can't guarantee that he can completely clean up East Blue. After all, the sea area is so big, and he only relies on the branch's warships. It's hard to cover everything. Figures like Krieg were about to become kings.
"You are strong enough. Although you are currently affiliated with Kuzan, you can choose to become a Rear Admiral directly under the headquarters, or we will make an exception and send you to become the branch base commander."
"The Grand Line's base is not universal."
"Ah! Sengoku-san, this is not very fair to me."
"Kuzan, you guy, I know you have doubts in your heart. You still have doubts about the Marines and the actions of the government, but for the sake of the peace of most people, sometimes I do need to make some sacrifices."
Aokiji scratched his head and looked at Garp.
"Let's do it. I am willing to accept the position, but I need to choose the position myself. I am still under Kuzan's command. I will go on missions in his place, but..." Dylan looked at Sengoku, who was getting serious, and continued:
"I need you to give me enough autonomy."
"What do you mean by autonomy?" Sengoku frowned slightly.
He has also heard of this young man's style, and his attitude towards pirates is almost the same as Sakazuki's. If this guy was placed in the New World... No, even in the first half of the Grand Line, this guy will definitely cause an uproar among pirates and even start a war.
"It's just what you think, Fleet Admiral Sengoku." Dylan chuckled. "But you don't have to worry too much. I'm not crazy. Even if there is a war, I will wait for a good time."
"Choose the timing..." Sengoku looked at Dylan and smiled meaningfully: "So, where did you choose?"
"G-5!"
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