Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

Hope, who had previously brought Yorn to Marineford using seastone handcuffs, quickly saluted Yorn and reported.

"Captain Yann, his adjutant Hope reports to you that the warship is ready, all personnel are in place, and supplies such as ammunition, food, fresh water, and medicine have been replenished. It is ready to set sail at any time."

"Stop joking, Colonel Hope. I'm just a captain. How can you, a colonel, be my adjutant?"

“Quickly, tell me where you hid my adjutant? I’m in a hurry to get to the North Sea on official business,” Ya’en said.

The burly Hope stood tall and answered with a spirited demeanor.

"Reporting to Lord Yann, I am your adjutant. I was recently demoted for disrespecting Marshal Sengoku. My current rank is Second Lieutenant. Please give me your instructions."

……

Ya'en.

Silently, Yann raised a filial finger toward the emerging Warring States Garden.

Old man, you're really something, capable of doing something so outrageous.

[Chapter 33 The Fruit of the Fortified City - Little Gold]

It's important to know that Hope was a long-time subordinate of Sengoku. While he might not have been capable enough to serve as a general, he held absolute admiration and loyalty for Sengoku, the marshal.

Disrespect for the Admiral of the Navy led to a change in rank? What an absurd excuse the old man could come up with.

It would be more accurate to say that Hope was severely punished for stepping into Marineford with his left foot first, causing a slight tilt in the terrain, which was considered disrespectful to the Celestial Dragons.

"They can't even make an excuse."

Yarn muttered a helpless complaint, then turned to Hope and said...

"Hope, if you've been coerced, threatened, or framed by Marshal Sengoku, just blink. I'll take you back to Marshal Sengoku right now and argue with him to get you back to your original position."

Upon hearing this, Hope seemed to deeply feel the care and tenderness emanating from Yann, and spoke with an even more resolute tone.

“Lord Yann, you are very kind, but this is my own choice.”

“No, you are not,” Yann said.

"No, I am."

Hope raised her voice and answered loudly.

"I volunteered to follow Lord Aon, and I applied to Marshal Sengoku to serve as Lord Aon's adjutant. As long as I can stay by Lord Aon's side, a mere military rank is not worth mentioning."

As Hope's voice suddenly increased, the naval soldiers on the warship and even in the port all looked in the direction of Yann and Hope.

The countless curious and astonished gazes gave Arn a strange feeling of dread.

Arn's temple throbbed slightly. He waved his hand and said, "Stop, stop talking, let's get going!"

"Yes, Lord Yann."

Immediately, under Hope's command, the medium-sized warship set sail, heading towards the Gate of Justice.

It must be said that Hope, as a former subordinate of the Warring States Marshal, rose through the ranks from a lowly soldier.

They may lack decision-making and strategic abilities, but they are competent in warship operation, personnel command, weather and celestial phenomena management, and combat capabilities.

"Fine, Hope it is. At least if Hope is my adjutant, I won't have to spend much energy on other trivial matters."

Yaen sighed softly and tried to console himself.

"But this makes going to the North Sea more like a vacation. Hope's combat power as a captain in the Navy Headquarters alone already surpasses the level that the North Sea Navy should have."

According to the current naval rank system, the highest rank is Admiral of the Navy, followed by generals, field officers, lieutenants, and various ranks of enlisted personnel.

The highest rank in the four sea navies is only colonel, and there are no officers above the rank of general. Furthermore, the rank directly under the Navy Headquarters is much more prestigious than that of the four sea navies.

In other words, as a captain in the Navy Headquarters, Yann's status is equivalent to that of a captain in the North Sea Navy.

Perhaps that is why, when the Warring States period marshal established the Four Seas Inspectorate, he set the rank of the officer in charge of the position as captain.

Generally speaking, in this vast ocean where the strong are respected, one of the essential requirements for promotion in the navy is one's own strength.

In other words, if former Navy Headquarters Captain Hope were to go to the North Sea, there would be virtually no navy in the North Sea capable of defeating him.

"Tsk, with Hope around, I guess I can't be too unruly in the future, otherwise the old man will definitely find out. This is practically blatant surveillance..."

As Yann muttered to himself, he suddenly realized what he had said and mocked himself.

“If the old man really wanted to monitor me, he wouldn’t have needed to specifically send Hope, whom I know well. Sending any trustworthy adjutant would have been enough, so…”

Yann turned his head to look at Marineford, which was gradually moving away. He could vaguely feel a concerned gaze on him and murmured to himself.

"The old man is so stubborn on the surface, but he's probably worried about my health, so he specially sent Hope to protect me. Really..."

As he finished speaking, a smile crept onto Yann's lips as he spoke softly.

"But I'm sorry, old man, I'm still too weak right now, so you stay here in Marineford and I'm going to wander around for a few years..."

"No, do you think I'd come back unless I've been an old man for ten or twenty years?"

After directing the warship to maintain its normal speed, Hope hurriedly ran back to Yarne's side and shouted.

"Lord Yern, I'm sorry, I forgot to take you to your room to put your luggage first... Oh? Lord Yern, you didn't bring any luggage?"

Yann smiled and said to the canary perched on his shoulder, “To travel to the beautiful and peaceful North Sea, all I need to take is my bird.”

"A bird?" Hope looked in the direction Yern was pointing and then noticed the canary that was standing quietly on Yern's shoulder, motionless.

What puzzled Hope was that the canary's eyes occasionally flashed with a human-like light, even giving Hope the inexplicable illusion that the bird was smarter than herself.

“That’s right, its name is Little Gold. Say hello,” Yann said.

Little Gold raised one wing, gave Hope a salute-like gesture, and called out, "Chirp chirp."

Seeing this, Hope quickly returned the salute, but he was a little hesitant about what to say.

After a moment of surprise, Hope suddenly remembered something and reminded Yaen, "Lord Yaen, you didn't inform us about keeping birds beforehand, and there's no special bird food prepared on the ship."

"Don't worry, Little Gold is a 'Fortress Fruit' user. It has its favorite birdseed and dozens of different snacks inside its body."

"Huh? A bird, a Fortress Fruit?" Hope said incredulously.

“That’s right. Although it’s quite rare, animals can become Devil Fruit users, and Little Gold is a canary that accidentally ate the ‘Fortress Fruit’,” Yann explained.

Of course, the reason why Xiao Jin became a power user was entirely because Yann forcibly fed Xiao Jin the 'Fortress Fruit'.

Furthermore, when it was being fed, Xiao Jin showed a strong will to refuse, as if it knew that Ya En was feeding it Oli Gei.

However, there was no other way for Yann to do this, since the Devil Fruit he ate would transform into the "Hollow Soul Slayer Blade," and he himself could not become a Devil Fruit user.

And for the time being, there is no one around Yaen who can be completely trusted.

After some thought, Yann remembered Chopper, who was originally an animal but accidentally ate a Devil Fruit, and the Skypiea bird that ate the Horse-Horse Fruit.

Both of them displayed extremely high intelligence after consuming Devil Fruits, with Chopper even being proficient in medicine.

[Chapter 34: The Sudden Opening of the Gates of Justice]

Therefore, Yann used many different methods to barely persuade Xiao Jin to voluntarily become a Devil Fruit user.

Afterwards, Yan began to patiently teach Little Gold, making it deeply understand "who is the most important person in the world" and the principle that "following the other birds has no future or hope".

Because of this, with Xiao Jin, which is like a flying fortress, Yann has almost gained a portable warehouse, or even an escape route.

Therefore, it's not that Yann didn't bring any luggage; rather, all of his luggage was placed inside Xiao Jin's body.

Furthermore, all the "evidence" that Yann had previously confiscated on Capone Island was placed inside, along with a large amount of various conventional and unconventional supplies.

for example……

Soon, on the deck of the warship, Yan took out a beach chair and a parasol from Xiao Jin's body. While continuing to contemplate important matters of life, he didn't forget to ask Xiao Jin to help him apply sunscreen.

After leaving Marineford, with Yann's permission, Xiao Jin took out a pair of pink sunglasses and put them on.

"Wait, pink?"

Suddenly realizing something, Yann turned to look at Little Gold and asked, puzzled, "Little Gold, you actually like this color? Are you perhaps a female bird?"

"Chirp, chirp chirp chirp..." Little Gold nodded and made two affirmative chirps, then seemed to be blaming Yaen for not knowing her gender.

Lying lazily on a beach chair, Yann said with a slightly perfunctory tone.

"It's no use calling out to me. You can understand human speech, but I can't understand bird language. Besides, isn't it normal that I can't tell the difference between male and female birds? If I could, that would explain something strange."

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!!!" Suddenly, Xiao Jin's voice became even more urgent.

Hearing the noisy birds, Yann said, "If you keep chirping, you won't be allowed to eat snacks for three days."

In an instant, Xiao Jin's voice fell completely silent.

"That's more like it. Oh, and don't forget to apply the sunscreen evenly."

Yann reminded him.

"Chirp." Little Jin's voice carried a hint of emotion.

While enjoying the pressure from Xiao Jin's massage on his back, Ya'en continued to lecture.

"Little Gold, you need to understand that you are no longer an ordinary canary, but a canary that has transcended base desires and possesses noble sentiments, understand?"

"Little Jin, do you know about an animal named Chopper? After eating a Devil Fruit, he set his sights on becoming a doctor, and his medical skills are already extremely high, enough to easily defeat 99% of human doctors."

"You have to learn from it. You can't be lazy, and you can't be temperamental. You have to study and practice the massage techniques I'm going to teach you. Become a qualified master as soon as possible, so you can earn all the delicious snacks in the world from your master..."

"Yes, yes, right here, just a little more pressure would be better."

"Ah~~~"

……

Soon, under Lieutenant Hope's command, the warship arrived at the Gate of Justice, not far from Marineford.

This is a massive steel gate that stands in the middle of the sea and reaches the clouds, with its edges barely visible at a glance. It is also one of the important defensive lines protecting Marineford, the headquarters of the Navy, from pirate attacks.

In addition to the Gate of Justice on Marineford, the main naval headquarters, the Gate of Justice also protects two other important locations: Impel Down and Enies Lobby.

These three gates of justice are arranged in a triangle, with a huge, strange ocean current resembling a whirlpool at the center.

If the warships want to reach the North Sea quickly, they need to enter the Great Whirlpool through the Gate of Justice, ride the huge ocean currents to leave through the other side of the Gate of Justice, and then follow the route to the North Sea.

Soon, amidst a deafening roar, the all-encompassing gate of justice slowly opened a crack.

This tiny crack, insignificant to the Gates of Justice, is enough for a standard 500-strong navy warship to pass through.

Watching Hope handle these matters skillfully, Yann felt relieved and prepared to focus on pointing out Xiao Jin's current shortcomings.