"The ship capsized?"
"Yes, you and Garp are old comrades, aren't you? You know how powerful his punches are. Isn't it normal for the aftershocks to overturn a ship?"
These words directly plunged Zephyr into silence. Each event, when stated individually, seemed perfectly reasonable.
Given the conditions in the Grand Line, even the most experienced navigator cannot guarantee absolute safety.
In the face of true natural disasters, human power always seems insignificant. Only true monsters have a way to overcome them.
Garp's nickname, Iron Fist, isn't for nothing. He's punched through countless mountains during his training, and the G1 Branch's scrapyard still holds Garp's warship bag.
Those scrapped warships are the tools Garp uses to train his body. It's also very reasonable for him to overturn nearby ships with a single punch. However, when these two events are put together, it becomes somewhat abstract.
"This is quite a coincidence."
The Log Pose for Firefly Island takes six days to record. To prevent Roger from leaving immediately after the log was full, Garp used unconventional methods to quickly travel, cutting the sailing time by more than half.
Roger had predicted that Garp would use unconventional methods of movement, which was why he estimated seven days, but he ultimately underestimated Garp's level of abstraction.
Today, there are still two days until the agreed-upon delivery date.
Due to the journey, it's usually delivered to the nearby G6 Branch first, which only takes a two-day voyage. The rest is the Marine's own business.
It's also very reasonable for Oran to load the supplies onto the ship and prepare to depart at this time.
There are too many pirates in this sea area. It's clearly impossible to stop all activities because of the appearance of one or two pirates.
"How are things?"
"It's good. I felt something was off when I saw your warship 'jumping' from a distance, so I evacuated the people from the port first. There were no casualties, but some cargo sank.
You know that my products are all tested for water resistance. It just takes time to salvage the goods, and the pier is also a bit damaged and needs to be repaired."
"I understand. Should I convey that for you, or do you want to talk to Tsuru yourself?"
"You tell her for me. I'm quite busy here."
"Okay, I understand."
It's a good thing that den den mushi technology hasn't evolved to video calls, otherwise Zephyr would have seen Oran, dressed in casual clothes, sunbathing and playing chess with Lyliana on the platform at the top of the royal city.
Oran is truly busy when he's busy, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have time for leisure.
"Castling, checkmate, Lyley, you lose."
In a sense, this chess game was still a family game. Moving the two-meter giant chess pieces was not easy, so Zack and Frankenstein acted as their respective chess players.
During growth, companionship is a very important part, and of course, this companionship refers to effective companionship.
If a parent always appears accompanied by scolding and punishment, children will only not want to see them and develop serious rebellious psychology.
Idly wandering around every day also doesn't have any effective use. How to do it specifically depends on the family.
"Ah, Papa, you actually used the king as bait."
"This is a chess game. Everything on the chessboard is a piece, including the king. Sometimes, this is the only way to lure out the enemy's defenses and finally checkmate them.
Every piece has its own value, and everything it does is for victory."
The game ended, and the pieces were moved back to their respective positions, but Lyliana understood the meaning of Oran's words. The king he spoke of clearly referred to himself.
"But Papa, that's very dangerous. Wouldn't being a chess player allow one to jump out of the chessboard?"
"Of course, that's the most perfect outcome, but reality always has many dissatisfactions. Entering the game yourself is the only way to win by half a move against fate.
Hmm, this term might not be suitable for this game. Tomorrow, I'll teach you a new game."
"Okay~"
"Meow~"
At this moment, a calico cat climbed up the wall beside them, with a bamboo tube tied around its neck with a red string.
This was Kate's training method. She was training these police cats to adapt to more work, and delivering messages was just a special form of exercise.
Although den den mushi and other radio communication methods are more convenient, paper letters also have their uses.
"Hey, Kate, I received the letter from Little Calico. Is there anything going on?"
"The port side is almost done. The Roger Pirates have already fled far away, and the warship led by Garp is still chasing them.
Should we immediately start the salvage work at the port?"
"No hurry, wait a bit longer, so as not to have any unstable aftershocks later."
"Okay, then Meow will go gather people. Is the pay the same as usual?"
"Today is a holiday, right? Find people at three times the usual rate. It's hard work to salvage things underwater."
"Understood."
Firefly Island has more than one port, and many locations can be used for landing, but there is only one natural deep-water port, currently located in the seventh district.
This area has the smallest land area on the entire island, and correspondingly, the largest sea area.
The conditions here are most suitable for large ships to dock. Deep water also means an increase in salvage difficulty.
Oran's industries are accumulating foundation for his goals, and at the same time, they are earning money. Oran never denies this.
If he has the ability to make money but still lives a hard life, then he must be overthinking things.
He already earns a lot, so there's naturally no need to exploit his employees. People don't resist overtime; they resist overtime that doesn't come with corresponding compensation.
Under the temptation of profit, there are always people willing to put in more labor. Oran's company in Piltover has been operating this way, and facts prove that employees welcome him; at least, there have never been any major problems.
As for some trivial matters, those are also unavoidable. The human heart is always difficult to grasp, and one will always encounter some ungrateful people who cannot be satisfied.
In such situations, Oran would show his "cruelty."
He is also doing business, not charity.
Meanwhile, at Marineford, Zephyr belatedly realized some inconsistencies.
"Yeklik, your Uncle Oran just said… How did Garp's warship get there?"
"Uncle Oran said Uncle Garp's warship 'jumped' over. He must have used the wrong word, how can a warship jump?"
"No, you don't understand Garp enough. What that guy says… maybe the warship really did jump over."
Zephyr didn't suspect that all of this was arranged by Oran. Roger himself was a lawless pirate, and Garp was pretty much the same. Neither of them would obediently follow anyone else's orders.
Even Sengoku sometimes had to use Roger as bait to get Garp to act proactively.
Zephyr didn't believe Oran could simultaneously control these two people to act for him. In fact, it really was a coincidence, because if Garp had used conventional methods, he wouldn't have affected the port at all.
"Alright, you continue training. I'm going to see Sengoku for a bit, and I'll be back soon."
Sengoku is currently extremely busy. Marineford's Admiral configuration has always been three people.
But now, Zephyr has retreated behind the scenes, and Garp refuses to be promoted, which has led to Sengoku becoming the only active Admiral.
Although Garp's combat power can always be considered that of an Admiral, some matters can only be handled by an Admiral, which means Sengoku is doing the work of more than one person.
The good news is that Zephyr's training camp has successively produced three monsters, all of whom have the potential to become Admirals. They just need some more tempering, which means Sengoku's burden will soon be lightened.
The bad news is that this time is still far away, and Sengoku is still considered as the successor by Kong.
In other words, Sengoku is currently the acting Fleet Admiral of Marineford, and he is extremely busy.
After hearing about Garp's actions, Sengoku said nothing, only weakly covering his face.
"So, he overturned Sidilier's cargo ship at the port in pursuit of Roger, right?"
"Yes."
"And Roger did nothing on the island; the biggest destruction was actually caused by Garp?"
"Yes."
Sengoku waved his hand, indicating that he understood the situation. It was just a mess caused by Garp, he was used to it.
Sengoku casually pulled open a drawer beside him, which contained some rice cracker chips and senbei. Sometimes Sengoku felt that eating could relieve his stress to a certain extent, so the drawer was always stocked.
But this time, he found it empty, seeing only a blank note with a grimace drawn on it.
"Garp!!!"
Undoubtedly, the only person who could enter the Admiral's exclusive office, steal snacks, and even leave a signature, was Garp.
Some time later, Garp's warship was anchored about a day's journey from Firefly Island.
"Damn Roger, I was so close to catching him!"
Garp ultimately failed to catch Roger. Roger's crew, relying on the Golden Jackson's flexibility, successfully shook off Garp by using the underwater currents in that sea area.
It was at this moment that Garp's den den mushi rang.
"Garp! Look at what you've done!"
"Puhahaha, did you finally find out? That's right, I was the one who stole and ate the senbei in your drawer."
"Who's talking to you about that?! Don't you have any idea what you did when you passed Firefly Island earlier?!"
Sengoku was still restraining himself, not calling Garp immediately, but waiting for a while.
If Garp hadn't caught Roger by now, he probably wouldn't catch him later, so he could scold him without worry. He didn't expect Garp to bring up that matter first.
"What? I didn't even land, what could I have done?"
"The intelligence I received said your warship 'jumped' over. Don't you think I know how you made a warship jump?
Or are you going to tell me that you've surpassed Vegapunk and Sidilier, and developed a ship-jumping device?"
"Puhahaha, I don't have that ability. You really know how to joke. Do you want me to transfer to the scientific research unit and give it a try?"
"Who's joking with you! I'm asking you, did you catch Roger?"
Sengoku's blood pressure was gradually rising. They say Devil Fruits affect the owner's personality to some extent, but Sengoku, who ate the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Daibutsu Model, was anything but Buddha-like.
Garp also helped a lot in this regard.
"About that, I was just a little bit away, but unfortunately, he still got away.
Speaking of which, I have a suggestion. Let's also build a warship using treasure tree adam. That way, we can pursue pirates better."
treasure tree adam, known as the strongest tree in the sea, can stand firm even if a war occurs on an island and a nation is destroyed by cannon fire. There aren't many of them in the entire sea, and each time they appear on the black market, they sell for an astronomical price.
"You wish. If that wood were so easy to find, the Marine would have already equipped these ships on a large scale."
"I'm not asking you to equip them in bulk. Wouldn't it be fine to just get one for me?"
"And then let the Marine not be able to catch you, you turn off your den den mushi, reasonably choose not to receive orders, and finally sail your own ship around the world?"
"Don't say it so harshly, this is also for capturing pirates."
"Heh, alright, if you agree to be promoted to Admiral, I'll immediately apply for it for you."
"Then forget it. I don't want to be as busy as you are every day."
Sengoku's blood pressure continued to rise. If the den den mushi had a teleportation function, Sengoku would definitely instantly appear in front of Garp and grab his collar to ask him who made him so busy.
But over the phone, forget it. Garp would only laugh and say it was all the pirates' fault, or simply not explain.
"All in all, you failed again, right?"
"Yeah, Roger is too cunning. I lost track of him the moment I wasn't paying attention."
"I don't care how Roger escaped. Since you've lost him now, go back to Firefly Island! You just happened to overturn the next batch of orders!
Since you're idle now, go be a salvage worker for me! After you repair the other people's pier! Bring the new equipment back!
You figure out how to make up for the wasted time!"
Click.
The sound from the receiver indicated that Sengoku hung up the phone with considerable force, enough to show how irritable he was at the moment.
By skipping the process of transporting to the G6 Branch and having Garp directly bring the items back to Marineford, the time consumption would naturally decrease.
As military prosthetic bodies, these items are naturally consumables, as their existence is for combat.
Oran spent a lot of time making this prosthetic body sturdy yet not indestructible, allowing it to withstand only a small amount of high-intensity combat.
The safety guidelines also clearly state that when a certain degree of damage occurs, it should be replaced promptly. If the items never break, the difficulty of doing business would increase.
High-quality products also exist, but those are mostly supplied to his own people or for private customization. That price is relatively unacceptable for mass-produced equipment.
"Seriously, it's all Roger's fault, why am I getting blamed? Forget it, turn around and head to Firefly Island!"
Garp grumbled a bit, but still followed Sengoku's order.
While Garp was turning around, Oran was looking at the specific accounts. Although the appearance of these things was a coincidence, it would be too regrettable not to take advantage of such a great opportunity to balance the books.
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