Success is never a whim, but a long and continuous persistence!
Esdeath deeply believed in this statement; although she was a shut-in in her previous life, she still achieved some minor successes online.
After tidying up their clothes, the two appeared on the training ground.
As expected, two familiar figures were training.
Ain and Binz.
The two trained silently without speaking to each other, and upon seeing newcomers, they merely glanced up before continuing their training!
Their goal was to become General Instructor Zephyr's disciples!
"Woohoo, I didn't expect anyone to be here earlier than us. Let's warm up first!"
After some simple warm-up exercises, Esdeath and Tashigi plunged into their training.
In a tall building not far away, Zephyr's office light was on, and he was still handling official business; despite retiring to a secondary role, he was still working tirelessly for the Marine.
He was diligent and responsible.
Bang!
The office door was kicked open.
Zephyr, with a face full of black lines, looked at the uninvited guest who had burst into his office and roared, "Garp! How many doors have you broken this month!"
"Hahaha, don't mind it. I just passed by and felt like coming in for a look on a whim," Garp chuckled. He didn't want to break in either, but he just didn't like the look of that door.
Rubbing his head, Zephyr finally asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing, it's just that my senbei ran out. I saw your office light was on, so I came in to check."
Hmm! That's so Garp!
...
Zephyr was speechless. His old friend was good in every way, except for being a bit thick-headed.
As soon as Garp sat down, another familiar voice came from the doorway.
"Still busy, Zephyr! Hahaha!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku's tall figure appeared, laughing, completely unconcerned about his image.
Perhaps only in front of a group of old friends could he shed his long-worn mask and enjoy this feeling.
"Going? Want to grab a drink?"
Zephyr and Garp stood up simultaneously; it seemed this kind of thing happened quite often.
"Did you call Tsuru?"
"Not this time." To Garp's question, Fleet Admiral Sengoku waved his hand. It went without saying that it was on a whim; there was no time for that.
"I wonder if Momousagi is home; otherwise, this drink might not happen."
"Hahaha, why care so much?"
They were already overwhelmed with a pile of work, so it was a rare chance to relax.
...
"Ha!"
A sword slash aimed at Esdeath, with no mercy shown.
She dodged sideways, then kicked the sword out of Tashigi's hand.
The long sword spun a few times before embedding itself in front of Garp, Zephyr, and the others.
"You lost, Tashigi-chan."
Touching Tashigi's little face, Esdeath smiled. A blushing Tashigi was truly adorable.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Vice Admiral Garp! General Instructor Zephyr!" The still-shy Tashigi suddenly saw three figures standing side by side and quickly stood at attention, saluting.
Her eyes kept darting to Esdeath, signaling Esdeath to look behind her.
"Hahaha, don't trick me. How could those three old men be out so late at night? Don't be a sore loser, Tashigi-chan."
How could Esdeath fall for such a small trick? She directly pulled Tashigi into her embrace and started to playfully mess with her.
A serious Tashigi was also so cute!
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Vice Admiral Garp! General Instructor Zephyr!" Ain and Binz glanced in Esdeath's direction, quickly saluted, and gave Esdeath a 'good luck' look.
After all, she called the three legends 'old men' in front of them.
"Uh..."
Letting go of the blushing Tashigi, Esdeath slowly turned her head. Three figures were indeed looking at her.
"Yo!"
She raised her hand to greet them.
Bang!
General Instructor Zephyr's sandbag-sized fist landed on Esdeath's head.
A hot bump swelled up.
"Yo my ass! Aren't you going to salute!"
Esdeath bent over, covering her head and complaining with a hiss, "Hiss! That stinky old man hits hard!"
This was also because Esdeath understood the three's temperaments better; if they were truly angry, it wouldn't be just a bump that could solve it.
Of course, she wouldn't dare to be so casual with others.
"Hahaha! I'm dying of laughter!"
Garp held his stomach and burst into laughter. That "Yo" just now was truly identical to his grandson's.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku also couldn't help but smile; he didn't expect to encounter such an interesting Marine at such a late hour.
Only Zephyr felt embarrassed in front of his two old friends, but he did have some impression of this young girl.
"Are you four doing extra training?"
Zephyr scanned the scene and immediately understood. He didn't expect to encounter such diligent students. Good, it truly made him feel relieved to see them training late at night.
"Tch, isn't that obvious? Otherwise, would we be out drinking late at night!" Esdeath grumbled indignantly, which terrified Tashigi beside her, who pulled Esdeath with her head down.
She signaled her to say less. She wondered why Esdeath wasn't usually so bold.
That one sentence made Zephyr and Fleet Admiral Sengoku's old faces flush. Only Garp was still laughing, so the two of them each gave him a punch.
He stopped laughing and could only draw circles on the ground. This matter had nothing to do with him, yet he got hit.
He didn't expect their thoughts to be guessed.
"You all?"
Looking at the silent three, Esdeath looked at them suspiciously. Could it be that she really guessed correctly?
"Cough cough, we were just under a lot of pressure, so we went to relax a bit." Fleet Admiral Sengoku couldn't bear the gaze of this young girl; he couldn't ruin his image in the students' eyes.
"Really?"
"Um, do you want to join us?"
There was no other way. They were caught by students while going for a drink, so they had to resort to this. Anyway, they probably wouldn't go.
Unfortunately, Fleet Admiral Sengoku underestimated someone's thick skin.
"No, you've worked hard, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
Ain and Binz didn't express an opinion; they just seriously replied that they didn't want to go.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku nodded in satisfaction, then was about to leave with Zephyr and Garp.
"We're going, right, Tashigi-chan!"
Excitedly pulling the reluctant Tashigi, she followed them. Why not freeload if you can?
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter!"
Garp looked at the two uninhibitedly following them and couldn't help but burst out laughing again, then, under the threatening glares of Zephyr and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, he started to stifle his laughter.
He didn't expect such a bad start today. Usually, his Fleet Admiral's authority worked every time, but today it failed!
"Hehe, thank you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, for the treat."
This was a rare opportunity to get closer. As the saying goes, 'a shameless person is invincible under heaven!'
Tashigi didn't dare to say a word and could only lower her head, letting Esdeath pull her forward.
"Little girl, what's your name?"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku also became interested. Anyway, it wasn't work hours, and this little girl seemed nice and quite familiar.
"You can call me Esdeath. From now on, this name will resound throughout the entire world!"