From today onwards, Satoru has been officially marked as a member of the Revolutionary Army.
In truth, as an outsider, the current state of the world shouldn't have concerned Satoru. But after living here for so long, he had formed a deep bond with this world—the Old Man Garp, Luffy, the villagers of Windmill Village, Master Zefa, and the students of the elite class, who were now under his care. He had to do something for them.
Without a goal in life, everything would become meaningless, so Satoru chose the most difficult challenge to undertake. It was the same as Gojo Satoru wanting to change the status quo in the spell world—both of them aimed to change the world.
The two didn't speak for long, and soon, Dragon left. As the leader of the Revolutionary Army, his daily responsibilities were numerous, and those who could get him personally involved were undoubtedly important figures.
"Should I also try to pull Master Zefa into the Revolutionary Army?" Satoru suddenly thought. After all, Zefa's future plans—forming the NEO Navy—indicated that his sense of justice had begun to diverge from the current world government and the Navy. If Satoru could get Zefa to join the Revolutionary Army, it would undoubtedly enhance the strength of the organization.
Zefa was a military instructor, and his influence could help raise the overall level of the Revolutionary Army. However, Satoru understood that getting Zefa to join wouldn't be easy. It wasn't as simple as issuing an invitation, and given Zefa's current stance, Dragon likely had already made his own attempts to recruit him.
Directly discussing this with Zefa now would probably be met with rejection, and Satoru feared Zefa might try to correct his way of thinking instead.
Meanwhile, the Navy forces had been clearing pirates in the New World for another month before returning to base. The operation was considered a complete victory. While they hadn't confronted any of the Four Emperors, many second-tier pirate crews had been taken down, and every capture was celebrated by the Navy.
As a result, the Navy's prestige had greatly increased, and the public had begun to regain trust in them. Although the pirates' morale had been shaken, Satoru knew they would soon recover, and what mattered most was the people—the strong individuals who would emerge from these pirates.
Next came the Navy's commendation ceremony. Though Satoru couldn't attend at headquarters, he was still awarded great merit. His involvement in uniting forces against the Beast Pirates and Kaido alone was enough to earn him significant recognition. And with the many pirates he'd helped to capture, Satoru was promoted to Vice Admiral, even though he remained stationed at the G8 base. The promotion meant he could return to headquarters whenever he wanted.
The most surprising development, however, was that the G8 base was finally beginning to resemble a real naval base. After its destruction, Satoru had designed a new, far more grandiose blueprint than even the original headquarters, following the principle of building from the ground up. This ambition made it clear that Satoru could easily leverage this power to reshape things to his will.
"It will probably be completed in half a year," Satoru mused, mentally calculating the amount of work needed. Though half a year was a long time, it was nothing in comparison to the time they spent going out to sea to catch pirates.
Each mission could take anywhere from a week to two months.
In the meantime, training at G8 continued. Besides mastering the Navy Six Styles, Satoru had them learn to use Observation Haki. While the crew had mastered Armament Haki, most were unfamiliar with the subtleties of Observation Haki.
Satoru took the most basic approach to training them: pairing them up, one blindfolded and the other attacking. The objective was to dodge attacks by relying solely on their sense of observation.
At first, the crew was excited by the prospect of learning Observation Haki. It was a tool that would help them survive longer. But once they saw the method of training, their excitement quickly turned to dread. Every training session ended with them bruised and battered, hoping their luck would hold and they'd avoid getting hit.
However, there was no mercy, as Satoru personally supervised. If anyone showed leniency, they would end up being the target of Satoru's training.
Now, the only sounds at the G8 base were the clatter of construction and the pained groans of the Navy personnel. The pirates, who were forced into hard labor, couldn't help but sympathize with the Navy. After every training session, the sight of bruised and bloodied soldiers was a common one.
Seeing the condition of the Navy after training, the pirates no longer entertained thoughts of escape. They might have once tried to run, but as soon as they even thought about it, they'd find themselves face down on the ground—unable to resist Satoru's overwhelming power. Realizing the difference in strength, they simply accepted their fate, focusing on serving their time in labor and hoping for a reduced sentence.
The G8 base continued to grow and thrive, with the crew working hard and the atmosphere becoming more and more pleasant every day.