On the deck of the warship, a thousand Marines were as silent as cicadas in winter.
Even Vice Admiral Doberman stood frozen in place, his mind in a jumbled mess.
According to his hawk-like nature, he should have roared and led his subordinates to besiege the intruder. But a few days ago, during Roger's execution, they had clearly seen through the Visual Den Den Mushi how Broly instantly killed Admiral Sengoku with a single move. With just this ship full of people going up against him, wouldn't it be like looking for death with a lantern in a toilet?
Just as Doberman was at a loss, a crisp boy's voice suddenly came from the pier behind: "Marine-sama, he is going to Headquarters to change his wanted poster!"
Everyone turned their heads in unison, only to see a white-haired brat of seven or eight years old standing on the pier, shouting with his head raised. Doberman was stunned and asked, "Change the wanted poster? What do you mean?"
Meanwhile, Broly lay lazily on Doberman's chair, scanning the people on the ship.
Besides the unlucky Doberman, whose fate under that scum boss in the future was unknown, he also caught a glimpse of an unexpected figure: a little loli around five years old with pink hair, completely out of place among the surrounding Marines in formal uniforms.
"Wh-Why are you looking at Hina?"
The little loli noticed Broly's gaze and timidly took two steps back.
Hearing this timid question, Broly suddenly remembered.
Isn't this girl the female Marine who would have a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Smoker in the future?
He remembered she was the user of the Cage-Cage Fruit, capable of creating iron cages, and was in the same Marine batch as Smoker, so it wasn't strange for her to appear on this ship.
On the other side, Smoker expressed his desire to join the Marines. Seeing that he seemed to know some inside information, Doberman let him board the ship.
At this moment, Smoker quickly explained the cause and effect to everyone, and everyone's gaze snapped back to Broly.
Is there something wrong with this kid's brain?
Everyone thought this in their hearts, but not a single one dared to say it out loud.
It was no wonder they were surprised—for the sake of changing a nickname on a wanted poster, a pirate actually wanted to break into Marine Headquarters alone. This was too outrageous!
Doberman fell into a dilemma again.
Logically, he shouldn't obey a pirate's orders. But the problem was that Broly held the "logic" right now.
"Vice Admiral-san, don't provoke Broly."
Smoker lowered his voice to remind him, "It takes more than half a month to get from here to Marineford. You can report to your superiors on the way."
Doberman's eyes lit up, and he took a few more looks at Smoker—This kid is quite smart!
However, he didn't know that Smoker made this suggestion not because he was smart, but because he understood Broly a little better than others.
As long as no hostility was shown, he basically wouldn't attack. Absolutely never attack him; that was the bottom line.
Having made up his mind, Doberman ordered his adjutant: "Bastille, turn around and head back to the Grand Line, to Headquarters."
Broly followed Doberman's gaze to look at that Rear Admiral.
A burly man over two and a half meters tall, draped in a Rear Admiral's coat.
He suddenly remembered that this was the Marine wearing a bull mask who lost to Sabo in the future Dressrosa Arc. It seemed he was still only a Rear Admiral now.
Originally, Doberman had planned to go to other bases in the East Blue to pick seedlings for the Marine Academy, but given the current situation, he had absolutely no mind to care about these things anymore.
At dinner time, the Marines in the cafeteria were all dumbfounded—the empty plates beside Broly were piled up like a small mountain.
"Is he a pig?"
5-year-old Hina couldn't help but whisper a complaint.
Just as she spoke, Broly finished another plate of food, casually tossed the empty plate onto the "small mountain," and waved to the cook serving food: "Another bowl."
The cook was already numb, mechanically handing over a plate filled with food.
Broly buried his head in his meal, ignoring everything else, while the cook muttered in a low voice, "With this appetite, will the ship's inventory last until the Grand Line?"
Except for Smoker, all the Marines were shocked by this appetite.
Taking advantage of this time, Doberman sneaked out of the cafeteria and dialed a number on the deck.
Soon, the Den Den Mushi opened its eyes, transmitting Fleet Admiral Kong's voice: "Hello, Doberman?"
As a Vice Admiral of the Headquarters, Doberman had the authority to contact Admirals or even the Fleet Admiral directly. But at this moment, his tone was full of panic as he quickly recounted today's encounter.
Far away in Marineford, Kong listened and widened his eyes in shock: "That kid is coming to Headquarters?"
Honestly, he was almost getting used to pirates breaking into Marineford alone.
Before Broly this year, two people had done this: one was Roger surrendering himself, and the other was Shiki the Golden Lion, who turned Marineford upside down because of Roger.
Kong simply wanted to curse.
What do you pirates take Marineford for? A public toilet?! Come and go as you please!
But at least the first two had serious reasons, unlike Broly who was so... nonsensical.
Just as Kong was dazing off, Doberman's voice came again: "Fleet Admiral-san, what should we do now?"
Kong was also in a bind.
With Roger's precedent, he was really afraid that this kid named Broly was hiding some earth-shattering conspiracy.
Even if there was no conspiracy, if he really let him come to Marineford, what if he threw a tantrum and blasted Marineford? That would be disastrous!
After a long silence, Kong responded: "Stall him first. I need to report this matter to the Five Elders."
Doberman could only agree: "Yes, Fleet Admiral. I will try my best to delay on the way, hoping not to arouse his suspicion."
Kong nodded, then remembered something: "By the way, when passing Alabasta, take those people on board and send them back to Headquarters. They are all people the World Government wants."
Hearing the words "those people," Doberman's face darkened, but he eventually gritted his teeth and agreed: "I understand, Fleet Admiral."
Two days later in the afternoon, the warship arrived at Reverse Mountain—the inevitable path from the Four Seas into the Grand Line. At this time, the Marines hadn't recruited Vegapunk yet, nor had they invented the new type of warships with Seastone coated on the bottom to prevent Sea Kings from approaching, so the warship couldn't travel through the Calm Belt. They could only cross Reverse Mountain into the Grand Line like ordinary pirate ships.
Smoker and Hina looked up at Reverse Mountain, which almost pierced the sky, and the current rushing from the foot to the peak against the flow, swallowing their saliva to relieve their inner tension.
The current of Reverse Mountain was terrifyingly swift, and the ship shook violently. Many soldiers couldn't stand steady, falling all over the deck.
Hina, who was only 5 years old, was even more miserable. Every time the ship shook, her short legs left the deck, and her whole body floated in mid-air.
"Everyone hold on to whatever you can! Be careful not to be thrown off!" Doberman shouted at the top of his lungs to remind them.
"Yawn—"
Broly, lying on the chair that originally belonged to Doberman, opened his eyes and yawned.
After cultivating for so many days, his biological clock had been established. Nap time was over.
Opening his eyes, he saw the warship was about to cross the peak of Reverse Mountain.
"Time to start the afternoon training."
After muttering to himself, Broly suddenly jumped off the stern of the ship under the incredible gazes of all the Marines.
Is he crazy?!
Everyone's heart skipped a beat.
Hina moved her short legs to the stern railing and looked down, only to see Broly landing on the sea surface, pushing the stern with both hands and kicking fiercely against the water with both feet.
There was only one thought in Hina's mind: Is he still human?
In the next second, the warship seemed to be equipped with rocket thrusters. Its speed suddenly soared to over 200 kilometers per hour, turning into an afterimage speeding across the currents of Reverse Mountain.
The Marines on the deck were all scared silly, their souls almost flying away.