The last time Finn had come to the New World, he'd barely seen any scenery. The Marines had been marching at full speed, rushing to the Edd Sea in one breath to catch Shiki off guard.
This time, the journey was far more relaxed.
Fleet Admiral Kong's warship sailed slowly and steadily across the sea, heading toward G-1 Marine Base at a measured pace.
Even while on patrol, the Fleet Admiral remained incredibly busy. Sitting in his cabin, he'd contact Admiral Sengoku at Marineford via Den Den Mushi at regular intervals, discussing critical matters.
The Den Den Mushi fax machine in his cabin never stopped running. As long as the Fleet Admiral sat there, the machine continuously transmitted documents back and forth.
Compared to this busy commanding officer, Kuzan and Finn were far more relaxed.
Kuzan had placed a sun lounger on the deck and donned an eye mask. Seeing that the weather was pleasant today, he'd stretched out to nap in the sun.
Finn sat on a small stool next to Kuzan, fishing rod in hand, enjoying the peculiar charm of sea fishing.
He now understood why a dignified Fleet Admiral needed guards when traveling. To put it bluntly, they were there to handle trivial matters during the voyage, preventing these issues from disturbing the Fleet Admiral's work.
"Kuzan, how long until we reach G-1 Marine Base?" Finn asked suddenly.
Kuzan, who'd been dozing, didn't bother removing his eye mask. He responded leisurely, "What's wrong? Can't stand the boredom? Most sea voyages are like this. They sound exciting and adventurous, but in reality, they're dull as dishwater. So as someone with experience, I'll give you some advice: prepare an eye mask or something similar. Sometimes you can arrive at your destination while sleeping..."
"Forget it. Instead of sleeping, you might as well practice swordsmanship or something," Finn complained. "To be honest, I think if you weren't so lazy, your strength would have reached a much higher level by now."
"As a fisherman, you have no right to lecture me," Kuzan retorted, clearly unhappy. "Just because you're fishing doesn't mean you're not being lazy too."
"I can at least bring some food reserves to the warship. You're just daydreaming. We're completely different," Finn shot back bluntly.
"But you, rookie, haven't caught anything this entire trip!" Kuzan yanked off his eye mask.
"That's because I've only just started. Practice makes perfect with this kind of thing. Do you think you can improve at sleeping?" Finn continued his nonsense.
Unable to win the argument with Finn, Kuzan could only glare at him viciously.
After a moment, both of them suddenly burst into laughter.
Just as Kuzan had said, sailing the seas sounded like an interesting adventure, full of romance and excitement.
The reality was entirely different. When sailing, you might not see an island for more than ten days. Everywhere you looked, nothing but vast ocean.
The chances of something interesting happening weren't particularly high.
Instead, loneliness and boredom dominated.
In this environment, if you didn't find something to occupy yourself, you'd go mad from tedium.
Kuzan chose to sleep soundly. Finn had decided to learn fishing.
Because of this, when both were bored on the ship, they'd started finding fault with each other and bickering to add some entertainment to the monotonous voyage.
"So, how long actually?" Finn asked again.
He was just a Commodore captured by Kuzan. He didn't even know which direction G-1's door faced. Navigation wasn't his responsibility, so he genuinely had no idea.
As for Kuzan, even though he seemed extremely leisurely now, he was the one who'd arranged all the trivial matters for the warship's voyage.
"Almost there, almost there," Kuzan said helplessly.
"Give me a more accurate answer," Finn complained.
Looking at the sun's position in the sky, Kuzan made a quick estimate. "We'll arrive by afternoon at the latest."
"Excellent." Finn's mood brightened immediately.
After sailing for more than ten days, the most exciting news was that you were about to reach your destination.
At that moment, the fishing rod in Finn's hand suddenly trembled. His eyes lit up and he laughed loudly. "Finally! You've taken the bait!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the fishing rod with his wrist and yanked upward, swinging out with brute force. After the tough fishing line shook, a figure was pulled from beneath the sea.
The creatures in these waters were all strange and exotic. The fish Finn had hooked had a large knife-shaped bone protruding from its head, looking extremely ferocious. The whole creature was about the size of a Marine lifeboat. Sharp teeth jutted out so far that its lips couldn't cover them at all. Obviously a dangerous predator.
"Oh, bluefin swordfish. The meat's quite delicious. Is this your first catch? You're really lucky!" Kuzan said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, the bluefin swordfish swung its tail violently in the air, even accelerating, using the sword bone on its head to slam toward Finn with extreme aggression.
"Hahaha! Quite feisty!" Finn laughed and flicked his wrist. An inexplicable force transmitted from the fishing rod. The aggressive bluefin swordfish was suddenly fixed in the air by invisible power. It struggled several times but couldn't break free.
Finn also stood up slowly and calmly, drawing the long sword from his waist. The blade flashed with cold light.
"Secret Technique: Boning Knife!" Finn announced with completely nonsensical flair. Cold light flashed in his hand.
Several slashing strikes flew out. The bluefin swordfish, so ferocious moments ago, was dismembered instantly. The bones and internal organs remained fixed in the air by gravity, while tender fish meat fell slowly and orderly from the air onto the deck.
After finishing his cuts and resheathing his blade, Finn gestured to the nearby Marines. "You guys, take this fish to the kitchen for dinner."
"Yes, Commodore Finn!" the Marines responded quickly.
"I'm increasingly convinced that your ability perfectly complements your swordsmanship," Kuzan teased with a smile. "With this ability, even if your sword skills are only mediocre, you could still be known as a great swordsman, right?"
"Doesn't mean much. I don't seek false titles, nor am I obsessed with swordsmanship. As long as I'm strong enough, that's sufficient." Finn waved his hand indifferently.
After a brief pause, Finn added with some anticipation, "Come to think of it, we haven't really communicated yet..."
His meaning of "communication" naturally meant having a proper fight.
Kuzan raised an eyebrow. "Are you getting a little too arrogant? You want to fight me?"
Finn grinned. "I said communicate."
At that moment, a hearty laugh came from nearby, sounding both bold and heroic.
"Hahahahahaha! Seeing how energetic you two are makes me feel confident the Marines will have worthy successors! Kuzan, Finn, if you two really want to spar, I'll have to watch closely!" Fleet Admiral Kong strode out of the cabin with the gait of a dragon and tiger, laughing openly.
"Fleet Admiral!" Kuzan and Finn responded simultaneously.
Before they could stand at attention and salute, Fleet Admiral Kong waved his hand domineeringly. "No need for formalities."
Despite his fierce appearance, Fleet Admiral Kong was actually quite gentle. The intimidating look came mostly from the scars marking his face.
But those scars also proved this Marine Fleet Admiral had fought his way back from the brink of death countless times.
Currently in his fifties, Kong should be considered at his physical peak in terms of conditioning and capability.
Finn was well aware that this man would continue holding the position of Fleet Admiral for more than ten years.
According to his memories, after the Mary Geoise arson incident and the slave liberator Fisher Tiger's death at Borsalino's hands, Fleet Admiral Kong would be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the entire military and relocate to Mary Geoise.
Following that, Admiral Sengoku would become Fleet Admiral, while Borsalino, Kuzan, and Sakazuki would become the three Admirals.
It had to be said, Fisher Tiger was a pivotal figure for the Marines. He'd influenced enormous changes in the organization's top leadership.
Finn had never seen Fleet Admiral Kong fight, but looking at his beast-like physique and powerful, domineering aura, there was no doubt he was a top-tier master.
"Are we almost there?" Kong asked.
Kuzan responded quickly. "Yes, Fleet Admiral. Very soon."
"I heard from Sengoku just now that when you return this time, you'll be promoted to Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, Kuzan. I've watched you grow step by step in the Marines. After you become Vice Admiral, you must not slack off." Kong smiled at Kuzan.
Kuzan nodded quickly. "Yes, Fleet Admiral."
Finn understood the implication. Admiral Sengoku had already paved the way for Kuzan, making all the arrangements. He was just waiting for Kuzan to complete this assignment and return to claim the Vice Admiral rank.
Though he felt somewhat regretful that the gap between himself and Kuzan would widen again, Finn was still genuinely happy for him.
Fleet Admiral Kong encouraged Kuzan a few more times, then looked at Finn. "The Sixth Chief? Looking at you is like seeing young Sengoku, Finn."
Every Officer Training Camp held a competition at graduation to determine rankings.
The one with the best and strongest performance would be called the "Chief" of that session.
Though there was no proof, Finn suspected that if he hadn't appeared, the Sixth Chief might have been Gion.
Now, there was no doubt. It was Rodriguez Finn.
Gion had settled for second place.
Compared to two years ago, Finn was far more relaxed and less cautious. Hearing the Fleet Admiral's words, he smiled and responded openly, "Admiral Sengoku often says the same about me. It would be wonderful if I could become like him in the future."
"That's not quite right. You should say it would be better if you could surpass him in the future. That would represent our Marines' progress. Each generation should be stronger than the last!" Kong patted Finn's shoulder encouragingly.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral. I'll do my best!" Finn responded quickly.
After chatting for several minutes, the observer in the warship's watchtower suddenly shouted, "G-1 Branch has appeared in sight!"
Hearing this, Finn turned his head toward the horizon. Nothing visible yet, but after a moment, a black dot appeared in the distance. No doubt, the destination was approaching.