"Daren! Daren! Let's go!"
Early the next morning, Kuzan's passionate voice rang out from outside the family compound.
Daren, who had just woken up, rolled his eyes in annoyance, gently tucked the quilt around Toki, who was still fast asleep, and got up to wash and dress.
"Stop shouting, I'm coming," he said.
He replied, washed up quickly, changed into the military uniform Toki had prepared for him, and walked out of the house yawning.
As soon as he pushed open the gate, he saw Kuzan standing there in his military uniform, looking energetic and excited.
He raised the copper gong and milk he had bought earlier, bared his teeth in a smile, and said,
"Dahahaha! Daren, it's finally our turn to go on a mission together!"
"I've been waiting for this day for so long, and it's finally here!"
Daren took the breakfast Kuzan handed him and began to eat, muttering,
"It's not a special mission, just representing the Marines at King Neptune's wedding."
"Is the warship ready?"
With that, he headed toward the military port.
Kuzan followed closely behind, jumping up and down restlessly.
"Everything is ready! Garp-san will also be going to offer his congratulations, so we'll be riding on his flagship this time."
"Also..."
He corrected him with a serious look on his face.
"Although there probably won't be any fighting, this is our first mission together!"
Kuzan's eyes were filled with longing.
"This is truly a memorable day!"
Daren ignored this hot-blooded fool, but another thought crossed his mind, and he asked,
"Isn't Vice Admiral Garp busy fighting Roger's pirate crew?"
"How does he have time to attend a wedding at Ryugu Palace on Fish-Man Island?"
Kuzan scratched his head and said,
"I'm not sure about that. It seems that Roger got away again not long ago, and Garp-san lost track of him, so he returned to headquarters first."
Is that so...
Daren sighed inwardly.
Roger really is a man favored by fate. He's not so easy to kill.
Judging by the time, he shouldn't be far from reaching the final island, Laugh Tale, and becoming the "Pirate King" that countless people would sing about for generations to come.
Should I go find that guy and cause some trouble?
As soon as this thought popped into his head, Daren secretly rejected it.
With his current strength, he probably wouldn't be as passive as before when facing Roger. Overall, he could barely manage a 60-40 split.
But after the last "Celestial Dragons frame-up incident," he guessed that if he faced Roger again, Rayleigh and the others probably wouldn't give him and Roger a chance to fight one-on-one.
It would be fine if it was just Roger, he could always run away if he couldn't beat him.
But if Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban, the three legendary pirates, joined forces to attack him, Daren guessed that he would definitely not end well.
Once the three of them joined forces, he wouldn't even have the chance to use his flying ability to escape.
"Hey, Daren... What are you thinking about? Did you hear my proposal?"
Just as Daren's mind was wandering, Kuzan waved his hand in front of Daren to get his attention.
"Oh? What did you say? A duel, right?"
Daren's eyes flickered for a moment, then he came to his senses and replied casually.
"That's right!"
Kuzan clenched his fists and stared at Daren with a fierce fighting spirit.
Daren sighed helplessly and decided to go along with it.
"All right, from now on, we'll have a duel."
"Whoever speaks first loses, how about it?"
Kuzan was taken aback and quickly covered his mouth with both hands and nodded vigorously.
The world was finally quiet!
Daren was instantly relieved.
But before he could take two steps,
"I lost!"
Kuzan's face turned red as he "broke free" from his own hands and said with conviction,
"You really are my 'lifelong rival'. I lost to you again, Daren!"
Daren: "..."
The corners of his mouth twitched painfully, and he had no choice but to endure Kuzan's chatter all the way to the military port.
At the military port, a strangely shaped dog-headed warship was docked, and marines were busy repairing and maintaining it.
"Bwahahaha, Daren, you're here!"
Garp, wearing a dog-head military cap, stood at the port, happily munching on a bag of rice crackers. Seeing Daren's arrival, he laughed loudly and gave him a hug.
Daren took a step back in disgust, calmly blocking his big hand stained with rice cracker oil, and greeted him with a smile:
"Vice Admiral Garp, long time no see."
Garp didn't mind and looked at Daren with admiration.
"Hmm, you're a good kid."
"—And me, and me, Garp-san! I'm here too!"
Kuzan jumped out from the side, looking like a puppy waiting for praise, and looked at Garp eagerly.
"Kuzan, you're here too. Hmm, you're not bad either."
His tone was a little perfunctory, but he still gave Kuzan a warm hug.
Daren clearly saw Garp wipe the grease from his hands directly onto Kuzan's military uniform.
"…"
Noisy Kuzan, mischievous Garp... Daren felt a headache coming on and was uncomfortable all over.
It seemed that he wouldn't be able to relax on this trip to Fish-Man Island.
He took out a cigar, put it in his mouth, lit it, and took a deep drag.
Daren would rather go fishing with Borsalino or go on a mission with Sakazuki to fight pirates than stay on the same ship with this pair of idiots.
There was no other reason—they were just too noisy.
With Borsalino, at least they could each have a beach chair, not disturb each other, sunbathe, drink watermelon juice, and be comfortable.
As for Sakazuki, he was always quiet and kept to himself, and even when they were fighting pirates, Daren could sneak off and slack, since Sakazuki would jump in to handle everything anyway.
However, he could understand Sengoku's arrangement.
The people chosen to represent the Marine Headquarters at the Fish-Man Island wedding were all doves within the Marines.
This was equivalent to the Marine Headquarters sending a friendly signal to Fish-Man Island.
Otherwise, it would not be appropriate to send Borsalino and Sakazuki.
The former would affect the image of the Marines, and the latter's temperament was not suited to attending a joyful event like a wedding.
"I hope that only the two of them will be the representatives of the Marines this time, otherwise I'll have a headache..."
Looking at Garp and Kuzan, who were grinning from ear to ear, Daren couldn't help but pray silently.
However, as soon as he turned his head, he saw a face with a lecherous smile and a sloppy drawing style.
Daren: …
Tokikake: (*￣︶￣)
Daren: …
"Hehehe, you didn't expect this, Daren... Even if you didn't let me go to G5 to protect Fish-Man Island, I still found a way."
Tokikake rubbed his hands together excitedly, winked at Daren, and gave him a look that only men would understand.
"..." Daren covered his face in agony.