One Piece: Get Stronger by Watching Battles

"G-2 Fortress, huh? Come to think of it, I was the base commander there 16 years ago when I was still a vice admiral!" Kizaru remarked with a sigh.

Zhou Ze was completely bewildered. Wasn't this about my promotion? Why is the G-2 fortress being brought up all of a sudden?

Although Zhou Ze couldn't understand it, all the high-ranking naval officers present did.

Sengoku pondered for a moment, then said, "Lieutenant Zhou Ze, you are hereby promoted to Navy Lieutenant Commander. You are to proceed immediately to Fortress G-2 to support Lieutenant General Gumir!"

Zhou Ze exclaimed "Huh?" in confusion before being kicked out.

In fact, if officers from the Navy Headquarters are assigned to a branch, they should be promoted one to three ranks according to regulations.

Zhou Ze is currently a lieutenant in the Navy Headquarters. He has been promoted to major in the Headquarters due to his merits, which has already made Akainu very dissatisfied. If he is promoted to lieutenant commander in the Headquarters again, Akainu will definitely be furious.

So when Aokiji mentioned this, he was trying to remind Sengoku that this was a way to solve the problem.

Kizaru mentioning his past as the commander of G-2 base clearly indicates that he agrees with Aokiji's idea.

Two of the three admirals agreed with this idea. Garp already wanted Zhou Ze promoted, so he wouldn't object. Vice Admiral Tsuru also didn't seem to be against it. So in the end, Sengoku decided to promote Zhou Ze according to the minimum standard for promotion by one level for overseas assignments, so Akainu had nothing to say.

……

"So, Lieutenant General Gumir, the base commander of G-2 Fortress, is subordinate to Admiral Aokiji?"

On the deck of the warship, Zhou Ze lay on a beach chair, took a sip of sherry, and asked Lieutenant Mike next to him.

Lieutenant Mike is the same Sergeant Mike who was the handyman on Cap's ship before. When Zhou Ze joined the Navy, Mike was his superior. He was promoted to sergeant first class for his many meritorious service on Cap's voyages.

Now that Zhou Ze had his own ship, Lieutenant General Cap promoted Mike to warrant officer and transferred him to Zhou Ze's ship. Zhou Ze then simply promoted him to ensign and put him in charge of the warship.

“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Ze,” Mike, who was lying on a beach chair nearby, replied.

Zhou Ze was relieved; Qingzhi's subordinates should all be easy to get along with.

Fortress G-2 is located near the Kingdom of Lulusia on the Grand Line, and is also close to an island called the Kingdom of Kamabakka, and is responsible for the jurisdiction of the surrounding sea area.

When Zhou Ze heard Mike mention Kamabakka, he felt a strange sense of familiarity. However, he had never been particularly fond of place names, and after thinking about it for a while without figuring it out, he quickly forgot about it.

Just then, a marine came to report that they were almost at Fort G-2. Zhou Ze then downed the rest of his drink and walked toward the bow of the ship.

The warship slowly docked at the fortress base's pier, and the marines lined up to disembark. Zhou Ze was the last to step off the warship, accompanied by Mike.

Ok?

As Zhou Ze walked, he suddenly felt that one of the marines in his group looked familiar.

He looked closely and was shocked. Holy crap! When did Ace infiltrate my unit?

Zhou Ze forced back his furrowed brows, turned his head away, pretended not to see, and continued walking into the fortress.

"Haha, Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Ze, right?" A burly, bald admiral in a naval vice admiral's uniform, with a large belly, approached. He had two swords tucked into his waistband. "I received a message from Admiral Aokiji. I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

"Lieutenant General Gumir, Zhou Ze has come to receive orders!" Zhou Ze saluted.

Gumir grabbed Zhou Ze's arm, looking extremely happy.

"Forget about dispatching troops, I'm glad you came to help. I've heard so much about your reputation. After we wipe out that gang of pirates, we'll have a friendly spar. I hope you'll be so kind as to teach me!"

Zhou Ze was completely bewildered and could only say helplessly, "I dare not presume to offer my guidance. I have heard that you are a master of the dual-sword style, so please enlighten me as well."

Gumir was even more pleased with Zhou Ze's humble attitude and pulled him forward.

Zhou Ze glanced at Ace out of the corner of his eye and saw him slipping out of the line. His cheek twitched again. He hoped that Akainu wouldn't cause any trouble. Akainu was already very dissatisfied with him.

Lieutenant General Gumir held Zhou Ze's arm the whole way, and the two first went to the officers' mess hall in the fortress for a meal. Because Zhou Ze was worried that Ace would cause a big scandal, he ate a little something rather hastily.

It must be said that the food at G-2 Fortress was quite good, but Zhou Ze was simply not in the mood for it.

The two then went to the operations room, where some naval officers were already waiting. Vice Admiral Gumir introduced Zhou Ze to everyone, followed by another round of pleasantries.

"Hmm, it's almost time. Is anyone else still missing?" Lieutenant General Gumir asked slowly as he settled into his seat at the head of the table.

His adjutant replied that two officers had not yet arrived and that someone had been sent to inform them.

A moment later, two naval officers walked in one after the other. Zhou Ze, who had just taken a sip of coffee from the table, suddenly spat it out.

Zhou Ze's eyes widened. He recognized the man who followed him in, wearing a navy lieutenant commander's uniform and sporting a small mustache—it was Ace!

Chapter 46 Ace's Purpose (Third Update)

"Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Ze, what's wrong?" Lieutenant General Gumir looked over curiously.

"Oh, no, it's nothing." Zhou Ze quickly wiped his mouth, his lips still twitching. "I've just never had such delicious coffee before, and I was a little excited."

Ace recognized Zhou Ze from the navy he had met once in Alabasta when he heard his name.

Zhou Ze was slightly surprised to find that he had been promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel in just a few days.

Zhou Ze and Ace exchanged a glance, then immediately looked away, pretending not to know each other.

The naval officers at the fortress base knew very well what their coffee tasted like. Could that stuff even be drunk? So they looked at Zhou Ze with somewhat strange eyes.

Zhou Ze was startled. "Damn it, we've been exposed?"

Zhou Ze forced a smile, and then he saw the naval officers, including "Lieutenant Commander Ace," pick up their coffee cups with some skepticism and take a sip.

"puff"

"puff"

"..."

Then, all the officers in the conference room vomited, and Lieutenant Colonel Ace stuck out his tongue, exclaiming, "It tastes awful!"

Then, the tone suddenly changed, and everyone started complaining about how bad the coffee tasted.

Zhou Ze was stunned. He thought his knowledge of Ace had been exposed, but he never expected it to be like this. Finally, he felt a little relieved, picked up his coffee cup, and took a sip to calm his nerves.

"Pfft, it's so bitter!"

Zhou Ze immediately spat it out. "Damn it! The food in the restaurant is so delicious, how could this coffee be so awful?"

Vice Admiral Gumir was also somewhat embarrassed. What was supposed to be a proper war meeting had turned into a farce and ended hastily. Fortunately, Ace's pirate identity was not exposed, and Zhou Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After the meeting, Ace disappeared in a flash, while Zhou Ze was dragged to a coffee shop by Lieutenant General Gumir.

Why did Ace appear at G-2 Fortress?

In his previous life, Ace didn't appear much in the anime, and the details depicted were even fewer. In addition, his memories were also much more hazy. Zhou Ze racked his brains but still couldn't figure out how he could have met him here.

Lieutenant General Gumir poured himself another cup of coffee, took a sip, and then spat it out with a "pfft." In the coffee shop, the other marines also spat out their coffee, complaining that it tasted terrible.

Zhou Ze was speechless. Are all the naval branches like this, with such a peculiar style?

Just then, a marine suddenly shouted, "The top-secret intelligence ship is on fire..."

Lieutenant General Gumir hurriedly ran out of the base, and Zhou Ze followed closely behind.

On the sea outside the base, a naval intelligence ship was engulfed in flames, and the marines on board scrambled to escape using lifebuoys and lifeboats.

This intelligence ship was a two-masted wooden sailing ship, which did not look as sturdy as a naval warship, but its advantage was its high speed.

The most outrageous thing is that, although it was clearly an intelligence ship, the words "Top Secret" were written on its sails.

Zhou Ze felt his intelligence had been severely insulted; was this some kind of joke?

The fire quickly spread throughout the entire intelligence ship. Just as Vice Admiral Gumir and the other naval officers were at a loss, a naval lieutenant commander leaped high into the flames.

Zhou Ze recognized the person as Ace and frowned slightly.

Something's not right; this is strange.

Lieutenant General Gumir, who was standing nearby, also found out that it was the remnants of the pirates that had been wiped out earlier who set fire to the intelligence ship in retaliation.

Just as Zhou Ze was wondering about Ace's motives, a figure burst out from the raging fire—Ace had emerged!

Ace was carrying a naval officer who had been knocked unconscious by the thick smoke on his shoulder, and a box in his left hand. The box was marked with the word "Top Secret". It was a naval intelligence box!

Zhou Ze suddenly woke up. He had been so focused on criticizing the design of the intelligence ship that he realized Ace's true purpose: Ace wanted to find information about "Blackbeard" through the Navy's intelligence!

Vice Admiral Gumir was praising Lieutenant Commander Ace's bravery, surrounded by a group of marines, when suddenly a marine behind Ace noticed a pirate's tattoo visible beneath Ace's charred and tattered naval uniform.

The marine cried out in alarm, collapsing to the ground. He raised his arm, pointed at Ace, and cried out in terror, "Whitebeard! He's a pirate! A pirate from the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Zhou Ze's heart skipped a beat. It's over!

Ace remained calm about his exposure, tearing off his tattered naval uniform and revealing his bare torso. He smiled warmly at the surrounding marines and said, "Hello everyone!"

"He, he's Portgas D. Ace, the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace!" a base lieutenant colonel exclaimed in surprise. "Quick, grab him!"

The surrounding sailors also came to their senses, drew their swords and guns, and surrounded them.

"Bang, bang, bang"

A gunshot rang out, hitting Ace's body, but ordinary bullets had no effect on Ace's flame-infused body. A burst of flames rose around him, forcing back the marines who approached him, and then he transformed into a streak of fire, breaking out of the encirclement.

Vice Admiral Gumir first glanced at the Marine who had been rescued by Ace lying on the ground, then looked inexplicably in the direction Ace had fled, lost in thought.

Unexpectedly, another streak of fire flashed, and Ace, who had already escaped, reappeared, taking a few steps to stand in front of Lieutenant General Gmir.

He pulled a letter from his shorts and handed it to Lieutenant General Gumir, a smile returning to his face. "Oh, sorry, I almost forgot to give you the letter!"

Another burst of gunfire rang out, but Ace had already turned into flames and escaped.

Zhou Ze stared blankly at Ace's actions, wondering what he was doing.

He walked over to Lieutenant General Gumir, who was also opening the letter with a puzzled expression.

Inside was a photograph and a letter. The photograph showed a little girl holding a can of milk and posing with a cow.

The girl in the photo is smiling happily, and the letter reads, "Would you like a delicious glass of milk? -- Moda".

In the blank space at the bottom right of the letter, there was a map drawn from the fortress base to the little girl's house.

Zhou Ze was dumbfounded. This was actually an advertising email?!

Lieutenant General Gumir's expression changed for a moment. Just as Zhou Ze was wondering, Gumir turned around and handed the letter in his hand to his adjutant, whispering a few instructions.

Soon, G-2 Fortress took action, but not to pursue Ace. Instead, a naval restaurant procurement ship slowly sailed out from the fortress.

Zhou Ze's eyes widened. Holy crap, what's going on at this base? Are they going to take this slacking off to the extreme?

But then Zhou Ze's cheeks twitched again. This really does have Aokiji's style!

Chapter 47 Setting Sail Again (Fourth Update, Seeking Silver Tickets)