The bonfire celebration continued late into the night. Pini, who was never short of Berries, had stocked up a large quantity of alcohol aboard several of the merchant ships, and every day he even flew to the nearest towns in the Four Seas from Reverse Mountain to replenish supplies.
Crocus shamelessly enjoyed free meals and drinks. Ash Thalos chatted with him at length, casually mentioning that he had just reached Jaya Island, had already completed half the journey toward the Florian Triangle, and planned to rescue Brook once the villagers were settled.
Crocus visibly relaxed upon hearing this. After sharing a drink with Ash, the elderly doctor joined the Village Elders and, predictably, got everyone drunk before collapsing face‑first into the sand.
Later Ash learned that Crocus, that old rogue, had spent the past several days freeloading food and drink simply because the Village Chief had offered him a few polite words.
When everyone woke the next morning, the sun was already beginning to set in the west.
The Village Elders were stirring, but seeing the youth still snoring loudly and remembering that Ash had not rested properly in over ten days of travel, they did not have the heart to wake anyone.
Seeing that sunset approached and it was clearly unsuitable for sailing, the Village Chief announced that everyone would rest one more day right where they were. The bonfire festivities would continue later, but this time no one was allowed to drink.
Most of the alcohol, fruits, and vegetables prepared aboard the ships had been consumed by the big eaters the night before. Taking advantage of this pause, Sali and the other three ability users set out again, each flying in four different directions — north, south, east, and west — to gather more supplies.
This time, without any mishaps, after a bonfire party without alcohol, everyone went to bed early.
The next morning they set sail at first light, refreshed and full of energy.
Before leaving, Ash instructed Crocus not to dismantle the stone house at Twin Capes, because he planned to bring people back later to continue blocking the entrance to the cape.
Crocus rolled his eyes at this. Who would even think of tearing down a house? And listen to how Ash put it — "blocking the entrance." Was that even proper language?
So you know that kind of behavior is called blocking the entrance, right? Even the Marines never did that!
Bah, you scoundrels who prevent good men from rushing out to sea!
Fortunately for Ash, his Observation Haki was only average at this time. He did not possess abilities like Gol D. Roger's Voice of All Things, Fujitora's perception of others' emotions, or even Red Count's uncanny ability to see through hearts and browse memories.
Otherwise Ash would have been debating with Crocus about what it truly meant to be a "good man."
In Ash's view, young adults like Sali, who possessed formidable skills yet willingly stayed to protect the villagers, were good men. The young Marines who had not lost their passion and joined the service to stop pirates from harming ordinary people were good men.
Including but not limited to scoundrels like Yasopp, who abandoned their family to rush out to sea — far from noble, and hardly deserving of the title "brave sea warrior." At best, they were just powerful thugs.
Meanwhile Ash and the Diwen villagers sailed through wind and waves, but that was a story for another time.
On the other side of the sea, Vice Admiral Tsuru had just arrived at Long Ring Long Land, where the Marine G‑8 Branch was located.
Upon learning that Vice Admiral Tsuru, Chief of Staff of Marineford, was arriving, Vice Admiral Jonathan, the commander of the G‑8 Branch, led his subordinate officers to the dock along with his wife, Jessica, to greet her.
The two parties were old acquaintances.
Jonathan had been one of the first trainees at Zephyr's training camp when Zephyr served as the Marine's Chief Instructor, and he was good friends with Akainu Sakazuki.
Vice Admiral Tsuru and Zephyr were Marines of the same generation, having fought side by side until one became an Admiral and the other Vice Admiral and Chief of Staff. Furthermore, Tsuru was two years older than Zephyr.
Not only was she a senior Marine, but with so many connections between them, Vice Admiral Jonathan naturally showed her great respect.
"Jonathan, Jessica, long time no see," Tsuru said with a smile as she led her Marines off the warship.
"Long time no see, Vice Admiral Tsuru," Jonathan responded, bowing slightly, "It's clear you're in excellent health."
Heh heh, I'm not so old that I can't go to sea yet, Tsuru joked.
"Ah, you misunderstood," Jonathan quickly replied, "I didn't mean that."
Heh heh, I know, just joking, Tsuru laughed.
She turned to Jessica and said, "Jessica, I'll be relying on you for a while."
Jessica, the head chef of the Marine G‑8 Branch, would be responsible for preparing meals for the Marines accompanying Vice Admiral Tsuru during her stay, hence Tsuru's comment.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, you are too polite. This is my duty, don't worry," Jessica said immediately. "However, there is one thing I would like to trouble you with."
"Oh, what is it?" Tsuru asked with interest.
"If possible, during your stay at G‑8 Fortress, I hope Vice Admiral Tsuru can dine with Jonathan and me."
Upon hearing this, Jonathan's expression tightened. A bad premonition surged within him as he quickly tried to stop Jessica.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru is here on important business, Jessica. Do not burden her!"
Seeing this, Vice Admiral Tsuru became more curious and said, "Oh, come now. Dining together won't be much trouble."
"That would be wonderful," Jessica laughed. "Jonathan has a nutritional imbalance because he refuses to eat vegetables. I worry he might get scurvy. Though I often beat him for avoiding vegetables, he persists. With Vice Admiral Tsuru here, at least for a while, he won't be able to act so recklessly!"
Tsuru smiled with a 'I expected this' expression, "Jonathan, after all these years, you still have this bad habit. Not eating vegetables is not good, you know."
Jonathan argued, "But Sakazuki also doesn't like vegetables, and he never stops smoking cigars!"
Tsuru laughed, "Sakazuki's physique is monstrous. We are all just normal people. Besides, Sakazuki eats chili peppers, so he's not completely avoiding vegetables."
Jonathan wanted to argue that Sakazuki just liked spicy food and not chili peppers, but after imagining Jessica's iron fist, he chose silence.
Just eating vegetables for a few days, he thought. I can endure that.
The group walked toward the base, chatting and laughing. During this time Vice Admiral Tsuru also took a moment to call Sengoku on her den den mushi to inform him of her arrival at G‑8.
Once everything was settled, Tsuru returned alone to her guest room. Only then did she take out Ash Thalos's uniquely angled bounty poster from her pocket and study it carefully.
Vice Admiral Tsuru's first impression of Ash had been similar to Sali's: young, dressed in unfamiliar yet high‑quality clothing, fair and healthy skin, like a runaway noble youth.
But despite Marineford commanding all North Blue branches to investigate for over half a month, there was still no clue to Ash's identity or origins.
This made Vice Admiral Tsuru even more curious about the mysterious young man Ash Thalos.
Tsuru was deep in thought when the den den mushi in her pocket suddenly rang.
"Hello. Oh, it's Gion. Heh heh, I'm not at Marineford, I'm at the G‑8 Fortress in Paradise for some matters."
Hearing Gion's voice, Vice Admiral Tsuru's face immediately brightened into a smile.
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