Rosinante's easy surrender not only surprised Yoriichi, but even Zephyr was taken aback that Sengoku's adopted son would give up so easily.
Zephyr hadn't seen Rosinante much before, but he had always heard Sengoku talk about how sensible and determined his adopted son was, how hard he worked to become an excellent Marine.
But seeing Rosinante's appearance today, Zephyr chuckled inwardly, but then his face quickly darkened. He laughed at Sengoku's excessive pampering of his
adopted son, and his darkening expression stemmed from his own seriousness regarding training. Even though Rosinante wasn't a Marine yet, even though he wasn't a student at his marine academy.
Before Yoriichi could even encourage Rosinante to continue, Zephyr snapped,
"Rosinante!"
"Stand up!"
"The Navy isn't child's play. On the battlefield, you could die at any moment!"
"If you don't work hard in training, you'll be killed by pirates on the battlefield. Do you want Sengoku to bury his son?!"
"You're Sengoku's adopted son, aren't you?! Don't be a coward, stand up!"
Zephyr's sudden shout startled Rosinante, who was lying on the tatami mat. He immediately scrambled to his feet and hurriedly replied, "Yes...yes!"
"I'll continue immediately!"
Zephyr, being an admiral, held considerable authority within the Marines. After hurriedly getting up, Rosinante grabbed his bamboo sword, let out a roar, and attacked Yoriichi again.
"Oh~"
"Very spirited"
Zephyr's praise had barely faded when Yoriichi dodged Rosinante's attack with a sidestep, then crouched down and struck Rosinante's ankle with his sword. Crying in pain, Rosinante stumbled and fell to the floor.
"Ouch...it hurts!" Yoriichi's grip tightened; pain ignited Rosinante's anger, and anger fueled his fighting spirit.
Sure enough, Rosinante, lying on the ground, gripped his bamboo sword tightly, gritted his teeth, and charged at Yoriichi once more.
...
The entire morning, Rosinante sparred with Yoriichi, with very little rest.
This kind of training didn't help Yoriichi much, but it was different for Rosinante.
Rosinante's willpower was actually very strong; he just habitually slacked off. Sengoku had always doted on his adopted son, Rosinante, and let him slack off when he did.
Therefore, over the years, Rosinante's strength had increased very, very slowly. Even after he reached adulthood, his strength was only mediocre, at the level of an ordinary marine.
If we disregard Devil Fruit abilities and simply calculate Douriki Power, Rosinante at his peak would probably only have around 20 Douriki Power.
Now, at twelve years old, Rosinante's strength is only slightly stronger than that of an average child.
At lunchtime, Rosinante, his muscles cooled down, felt sore all over, his hands trembling violently from exhaustion, even struggling to hold the spoon.
"Hey, hey, hey..." "
Yoriichi, I've never undergone such rigorous training before."
"I'm still growing! Won't this kind of training affect my development?!"
"Won't you stunt your growth, Yoriichi?"
"Look at you, I think you're short because of the training!"
Eating was difficult despite his muscle soreness, but Rosinante's mouth smacked incessantly. From the moment he sat down to eat, the kid hadn't stopped.
"..."
"My height... is standard height,"
Yoriichi replied, glancing sideways at Rosinante. To be honest, Rosinante really had the right to say that. Although he was only 12 years old, he was nearly two meters tall, incredibly tall.
Yoriichi, on the other hand, was only about 170cm.
Yoriichi didn't know how to refute Rosinante's words.
"You're already tall enough, being that tall is useless,"
Yoriichi mumbled, shoveling rice into his mouth.
"No, no, no."
"I think being tall is more important."
"I don't want to be a short person."
Rosinante shook his head. Although Yoriichi knew he wasn't insulting him, he still felt a little awkward hearing that.
This world was different; human height was generally far greater than in the world Yoriichi knew. People of Rosinante's height were common in the Navy. Even without considering the existence of giants in the Navy, there were many Navy personnel nearly two meters tall.
Yoriichi and Rosinante ate and chatted for a while when the restaurant door was suddenly opened.
"Rip!"
Zephyr entered the dining room carrying a tray. After Zephyr entered, a tall, middle-aged man wearing a cloak of justice also entered.
The man also carried a tray piled high with various foods, several tens of centimeters high, completely obscuring his face.
Yoriichi and Rosinante both looked up at the person behind Zephyr, their eyes filled with curiosity.
"Yo~"
"Yoriichi, kid!"
Garp poked his head out, grinning, and called out to Yoriichi. Then, ignoring Zephyr, he plopped down in his seat and placed his tray on the table.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
"Hello, Vice Admiral Garp."
Rosinante seemed to recognize Garp, exclaiming in surprise. Yoriichi also looked at Garp and greeted him politely.
"Hahahaha!"
"Don't be shy!"
"I heard Zephyr is cooking here today, so I came to freeload. You're just in time, hahahaha!"
Garp sat down next to Rosinante, talking as he took food off the tray. He seemed very happy.
"It's all your fault, you came without a word. I didn't even prepare enough food."
Zephyr sat down next to Yoriichi, a smile in his eyes, but complaining. His plate was piled high with food, which he then divided among Yoriichi and Rosinante, leaving very little for himself.
"Garp, didn't you go chasing Roger? How come you're back so soon?"
"It's only been a couple of weeks since you set sail, not even a month."
"What, lost him again?"
Zephyr teased.
Within the Marines, Garp has always been a maverick. Steel Bone Kong, considering Garp's achievements, tried several times to promote him to Admiral, but Garp refused each time.
Garp, who remained a Vice Admiral, didn't actively pursue the New World like other Vice Admirals. Instead, he focused his attention on the Roger Pirates in the East Blue. Unless there was a major event at headquarters, he was always chasing Roger in the East Blue.
In his pursuit, he also eliminated any other pirates he encountered.
Because of Garp's activity, the pirate forces in the East Blue have always been the weakest of the four seas, and the social order is relatively the best.
However, not long ago, the Roger Pirates arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, then entered Fish-Man Island, heading towards the New World.
Upon receiving the news, Garp gave chase, but unexpectedly returned so quickly.
"Tch!"
"You know the climate of the New World. I was almost there, but then a sudden downpour made me lose sight of them."
"The surveillance ship hadn't found Roger's trail for several days, so I came back."
"And, by the way, I also wanted to see how you've been training this kid!"
As he spoke, Garp's gaze fell on Yoriichi, giving him a quick once-over before grabbing a piece of meat and stuffing it into his mouth.
"As expected, you lost him." "You always lost him back in the East Blue. Now that they've changed ships in Water 7, they should be able to escape even faster."
"The climate in the New World is unpredictable. I bet you'll never catch Roger in your lifetime."
Zephyr said sarcastically while eating.
"Well, don't worry about me, I'll catch him."
"He seems to have a clear goal all of a sudden, and his actions have become more frequent."
"I don't know what his purpose is yet, but I think I'll figure it out soon."
While Garp and Zephyr were chatting, Yoriichi was listening intently. Hearing Garp say this, Yoriichi roughly knew what Roger was looking for.
Without a doubt, it must be the Poneglyphs.
Roger had been active in the East Blue for years, and his sudden activity was probably because he knew he had a terminal illness and wanted to fulfill his dream of traveling the world.
Roger, who had already entered the New World, had probably already seen the Poneglyphs on Fish-Man Island. His next goal was probably to obtain all the Poneglyphs and reach Laugh Tale.
Just as Yoriichi was pondering this, Garp, who had only been sitting down for a short while, suddenly stood up and said to Yoriichi,
"Kid, come on, let me see if you've improved."
"You're the Marine I brought here, I have to be responsible for you."
"If you waste your talent, I'll be very troubled!"
"Hahahaha!"
Hearing this, Yoriichi snapped out of his daze and looked at Garp, only to be surprised to find that Garp had completely devoured the food in front of him!
He was clearly chatting with Zephyr, and yet he had already finished all that food?!
"Hey, stop daydreaming, you've finished eating too, come on, let's digest."
Garp laughed heartily, not allowing Yoriichi to say anything more, walked to Yoriichi's side, grabbed Yoriichi's arm, and headed into the courtyard.
"Hey, Garp, wait a minute."
Seeing Garp's hurried manner, Zephyr wanted to stop him. It was normal for Garp to want to check if Yoriichi had grown, but he should finish eating first! You can't just stop others from eating after you've finished!
But just as Zephyr reached out to grab Garp's shoulder, Garp stopped him.
"He's really willful," Yoriichi sighed inwardly, then said to Zephyr,
"Zephyr-sensei, I've finished eating, this will help me digest."
"It's alright."
As he spoke, Garp led Yoriichi into the courtyard.
"Come on, attack! Let's see how much you've improved."
Garp stood in the center of the courtyard, beckoning Yoriichi with his finger. Hearing this, Yoriichi turned and went to the nearby dojo, grabbed a bamboo sword, and returned to the courtyard, standing before Garp.
On the veranda beside the courtyard, Rosinante held a tray full of food, eating while mumbling encouragement to Yoriichi: "Hey, Yoriichi, good luck!"
"You'd better hold on a little longer, hahaha!"
Rosinante shouted "Good luck!" but his face showed a smug expression.
"I'm starting."
Yoriichi didn't look at Rosinante, greeted Garp, took a deep breath, and charged at Garp with his sword.
"Oh! A frontal assault!"
"Not bad, that's more like a Marine!"
Garp smiled and praised.
Even as Garp spoke, Yoriichi was already in front of him, his body slightly bent, his bamboo sword thrusting upwards towards Garp's chest.
"Oh! So fast!" Rosinante, watching from the side, didn't even see how Yoriichi drew his sword. By the time he saw the bamboo sword, Garp had already grabbed it.
Garp, who had been all smiles, frowned, looking displeased.
"Stop!"
"Why is it still this kind of attack?!"
"I've brought you back to the Marines almost twenty days ago."
"With your physical abilities, you should be able to learn the Six Powers of the Marines, and you have the aptitude; theoretically, you should be able to master Haki quickly."
"Why...are you still so weak?!"
Garp stopped Yoriichi after just one attack. Glancing at Yoriichi for a moment, Garp turned to Zephyr and questioned,
"Hey, I'm entrusting this kid to your teaching."
"What have you taught him?!"
"Why hasn't this kid improved at all in over half a month?"
Hearing this, Zephyr snorted coldly and retorted, "How could he not improve? Isn't enriching his knowledge the key to progress?"
"He's still young; mastering knowledge is the most important thing."
"The Six Powers of the Navy can wait until he's older!"
Although Zephyr spoke loudly, Garp sensed the unease in his tone.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and Garp immediately realized something. He casually tossed the bamboo sword to Yoriichi, walked to Zephyr's side, put his arm around Zephyr's shoulder, and whispered,
"Is this what Old Kong sayed?"
Instantly understanding the reason, it must be said, Garp's mind worked quickly. Unlike his grandson Luffy, Garp's style, though "reckless," didn't mean he was brainless.
"Since you already know, why ask?!"
Zephyr snorted, his tone somewhat displeased.
Garp's conjecture was confirmed. He nodded slightly, looked at Yoriichi, and after a moment, shook his head and sighed,
"This won't work. Training him like this won't produce a powerful Marine."
"Next time we go to sea, I'm taking this kid with me!"
Garp had barely finished speaking when Zephyr immediately objected, "No! He's too young, and besides, he hasn't officially become a navy officer yet. You can't take him to sea."
"That's an order!"
However, upon hearing this, Garp's voice immediately rose:
"Foolish! A man this age can already sail the seas!"
"Roger's ship also had two brats, probably around his age."
"If pirates this age can go to sea, can't we navy?! Huh?!"
"An order? What a load of rubbish!"
"I'm taking this kid with me on my next voyage. Anyone who objects can come and talk to me themselves!"
"Hmph!"
With that, Garp snorted, turned, and quickly left Zephyr's residence. Watching Garp's departing figure, Zephyr, who had been furious just a second ago, suddenly smiled.
"Vice Admiral Garp, he's really easy to provoke!"
Yoriichi , who hadn't spoken until now, saw the smile on Zephyr's face and sighed softly.
Yoriichi had genuinely thought Zephyr and Garp had argued, but seeing the smile on Zephyr's face, Yoriichi knew he had underestimated the situation.
If Yoriichi wasn't mistaken, Garp had probably already been used as a pawn by Zephyr.
"Hahahaha!"
"This is for your own good!"
"You can't become a powerful Marine just by reading books!"
"This bastard came back just in time, hahahahaha!"