Conquering The World With One Piece

(Author's Note: Thanks for those who commented last chapter. I read all the comments… I liked the discussion and arguments… There'll be a turning point in the future and I'll announce my decision then. Thanks again!"

On the deck of a large Marine battleship, which was heading to Marine's 7th Branch in East-Blue, an elderly woman was inspecting me with a slight frown.

"So, you're saying that you weren't running away… And in fact, you were taking your boat with all your luggage just for a stroll, right?" Tsuru said, her voice hoarse and stern.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Tsuru!"

I rubbed my nose and avoided eye contact with Tsuru, who seemed to be staring at my soul.

"Sigh just call me aunty or aunt Tsuru. Momousagi did say you didn't listen to her at all, but it's my responsibility to help her raise you after all… Ahhh, you were such an innocent kid when I last saw you."

I just chuckled forcefully at Tsuru's words without replying. This aunty of mine was harder to deal with than I thought. She had quickly noticed an escaping boat and gone right after us.

"Tsuru-san, I've done correcting the ship's navigation path!"

At that moment, Nami ran up to Tsuru with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, you are such a bright girl, Nami!" Tsuru gave a pat to the head to Nami.

The old woman seemed to like Nami a lot for some reason. For now, I suspected it was a combination of her appreciation towards Nami's talent and women talent in general.

"Listen Nami, what do you think about Marines?"

"I think they're great, since my mom was a proud one! I love woman Marines the most!"

The corners of Tsuru's mouth turned upwards into a smile for the first time today. Then, she asked one of her subordinates to hand out Marine uniforms to us.

"Due to the recommendation from two Vice-admirals, Nami and you will be directly promoted to Chief Petty Officer and Warrant Officer respectively. I'll be your instructor for 1 month at the 7th branch, where you'll both be stationed right after."

After nodding, Nami and I began to inspect our uniforms with our own thoughts. I narrowed my eyes on the Marine emblem, falling into deep thought.

"What is it; do you not like your rank, Leo? Well, it's the highest we could have got for you. Our protocol dictates that at least 2 years of service is required to join the ranks of Marine commissioned officer; furthermore, an extra two years to be qualified for any admiral position."

"No, it's not a problem… Thank you for your help, aunt Tsuru!"

Due to a certain motivation, the rank wasn't too much of a deal-breaker to me for now…

[You have been directly promoted to Marine Warrant Officer… A total of 4 free attribute point is awarded.]

**

Later that day, I was roaming the streets of Purple town. Tsuru had settled us into the living quarters of the Marine base and asked us to report with the other recruits' tomorrow. Purple town was a fair-sized town that housed the Marine Base, which protected the town and the territories around it.

Currently, I was walking into the famous 'Purple Café' of the town. I was about to get myself a seat when…

"Hey, you!"

I glanced in the direction of the voice.

"Yes, you! You must be a new recruit! Why don't you join me?"

In front of me was a girl with dark brown eyes and black hair between chin and shoulder-length. She wore a Marine uniform and rectangular glasses with red frame. I focused my eyes on her and thought, 'That must be Tashigi! No doubt about it…'

I nodded and took a seat next to her.

"Hi, I'm Tashigi. I am just a recruit like you… Well, I was just now promoted to a Petty Officer, but you don't need to refer to me as a senior."

While she was mistaken about seniority, I didn't mind at all. We were both given the same Marine uniform after all.

We both shook hands and introduced ourselves… when both of us suddenly became preoccupied with something. Tashigi had zeroed in on my face with half-lidded eyes. "Wait a moment. Have I seen you before, Leo?"

"No, but I do get that a lot! By the way, is that the Shigure, a Wazamono grade sword?!" I pointed to the sword next to her.

Tashigi's face radiated brightly. She leaned closer to me and said, "Yes, it is! Not many recognize this sword at first glance. Are you a swordsman too?!"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm just a fan and a little curious…"

"That's fine too! It's still refreshing to find someone who knows about katanas."

Tashigi took out a pocket Meito field guide (book about swords), and we started discussing it. While it was a little boring to see her rambling on and on about swords, her passion made up for it.

"Yeah, I've seen the Wado Ichimonji before! It was with a girl I saw."

"Wow, for real?! Is she still around?! Was she a nice person?"

Uhm, Uhm… I cleared my throat. Tashigi had gotten too close to my face from excitement. She was close enough to make it harder for me to breath. Tashigi realized that soon and leaned back in a fl.u.s.ter, almost tripping over.

With a tinge of red on her cheeks, she corrected her glasses and said, "S-Sorry. I g-get a little too excited discussing swords. I like them so much… that it's actually my goal to remove all Meito from those who use it for selfish ambitions!"

"That's an admirable dream! I'm your fan of yours already!"

I nodded at Tashigi, who was a bit startled but happy at my open approval for her ambitions. We walked back together to the Marine Base later…

**

The next morning, Nami and I were in the courtyard at the Marine Base. About 30 Marine recruits of age 16-18 had gathered here to train. This base specialized in training batches of recruits to send to other bases.

Although there weren't any instructors present, the recruits were busy sparring each other for practice. Though they sparred with wooden swords, their spars were more of an intense imitation of real battles with victory and defeat decided at the end.

"Hey, look over there! We have two new recruits and that girl's very cute. ♥ I want to go talk to her! I'm going to sign out of Tashigi-Chan fan club and go to hers!"

"Yeah, I think she's better than Tashigi-Chan too! Sigh… I am jealous. That guy is just sitting and fooling with her, not ever sparring anyone!"

The recruits started talking to each other in hushed voices, only close enough for Tashigi to hear them.

Tashigi gritted her teeth in annoyance, but she also kept glancing at the boy time and time again. She had somewhat of an urge to prove her skills to the man who supported her dreams.

After some time, Tashigi walked over to me and said, "Hey, Leo! We generally start off by sparring on our own until the instructor gets here. I can start of as your partner for now."

"Nah, I think I'll pass for now!"

I scratched my face and gave Tashigi a wry smile. I didn't want to spar with her, while her skills were not enough to last one blow from me.

"What is it? You can't be scared now, can you?! Don't tell me… You are one of those that say they won't fight a woman!'

Tashigi bared her teeth as me she spouted one wrong accusation after another. She genuinely thought I was avoiding her because I looked down on women. After seeing me carry such a heavy trident with me, she didn't believe I feared a spar with her…

From her accusations, and to top it off, Nami going around and collecting gambling money for the spar, I was driven into a corner.

Soon I was facing Tashigi bare-handed, while she held on to a wooden katana. The Marine recruits had gathered around us to watch our spar.

"Go Tashigi-Chan! ♥ There's no way she'll lose. She was just assigned the rank of Petty Officer and an offer for Smoker's team at Loguetown!"

"That orange hair girl is so cute~ I bet all my money on Tashigi-Chan on her insistence!"

Just when we were about to start… a voice sounded that demanded silence from the recruits.

"Attention, everyone!"

I glanced over to see a tall and slim woman with straight, waist-length pink hair. She wore a burgundy-purple two-piece suit and was smoking a cigarette. I recognized her as the "Black Cage" Hina, a Marine captain.

The recruits trembled in fear, and they organized their lines in a panic. They didn't know why the Captain of the base had come herself, without any warning, to meet them. I was about to follow suit, but Hina singled me out and probed me.

"I wanted to introduce someone very special; but first... let Hina test you out, Leo Magnus!"

Awase Baori…! A fence-like case of bars sprouted out of her arms and immediately surrounded me. I glazed my eyes over it and waited patiently for Hina to make her move.

In this interim, all the recruits were clearing off the ground in a hurry, discussing the scene.

"H-Hey, that was the Leo Magnus, right?"

"That boy did resemble those pictures on him. Only someone like Leo Magnus would interest our captain anyway!"

Tashigi heard all this and asked, "Who's this Leo Magnus?"

"Leo Magnus, the bounty hunter you know? He recently defeated the Krieg pirate fleet, once again coming into headlines…"

Tashigi's eyes widened and she remembered all about the man's reputation. A complicated feeling rising within her; she couldn't say she liked bounty hunters who worked for pure money.

Meanwhile, Whoosh… Hina sent the fence like cage closing in on me. Clang… When the cage collided, contrary to people's expectations, I had escaped the cage to stand right behind Hina.

Hina knew she lost, and she said, "Your reputation suits you. Hina surprised!"

People watched with pale faces as the captain was defeated. Before anyone could react further, an old lady walked into the scene and squinted her eyes at me.

"I see you're a Logia-type… explains your current achievements. Your first lesson will be that your body isn't invincible…"

An invisible armour of Haki surrounded Tsuru's arms, and she rushed at me with Soru...

Without delay, I activated Armament Haki of my own and yelled, "You don't need to tell me."