On the way to the sword-forging unit, Gion frowned deeply.
Was she hallucinating?
She felt as though she could vaguely hear someone speaking to her, but the voice was intermittent. It sounded like an introduction—someone stating their name—but every time they reached the name itself, it was as if they were being jammed, and the voice would abruptly cut off.
"Captain Antonio, do you hear anything?"
"Sounds? No, nothing at all!"
"I see... let's keep moving then."
Antonio was riddled with confusion, but Gion didn't bother explaining.
Ten minutes later, the two finally reached their destination. However, the moment they arrived outside the forge, Sean's voice drifted out from within.
"That guy Antonio! And here I thought he was a decent person, but he actually absconded with the sword!"
"This is too much! Absolutely too much! I'm going to find old man Sengoku and have him issue a bounty!"
"Right, we're at Marine Headquarters; he probably hasn't managed to escape yet. If we block the harbor right now..."
"Exactly! I'm going to find old man Sengoku this instant!"
Standing outside the forge, Antonio's face turned dark. Gion shot him a strange, sidelong glance.
"Did you not tell him when you took the sword?"
"I was in a rush to find the Fleet Admiral, so I did forget to mention it. But calling it 'absconding with the sword' is a bit excessive, don't you think...?"
Right then, Sean stormed out of the forge. He and Antonio immediately locked eyes, staring each other down in silence.
However, as soon as Sean noticed that the sword he had forged was not in Antonio's hands...
"You!!! You didn't sell my sword, did you?!"
"What are you talking about, kid? Your sword is right there!"
Several more black lines of frustration appeared on Antonio's face. 'This kid has totally convinced himself that I'm a fugitive, hasn't he?'
It was only then that Sean noticed the person standing beside Antonio.
'Hiss...'
'Is that... no, that's definitely Gion!'
Seeing her in person, she was far more striking than in the original story, especially...
"Kid, where exactly are you looking?"
"Ahem... Vice Admiral Gion, please return my sword!"
After masking his embarrassment, Sean spoke with a straight face. Yet, for some reason, his gaze kept drifting downward, even though he was trying his best to control it.
Sean could swear that in both his past and current lives, he had never seen a woman with legs that long—and such a generous bust.
Quite an eye-opener...
Although Ain in the training camp was also quite something, she didn't quite have the same aura as Gion.
"I suspect you are thinking some extremely impolite thoughts, though I have no evidence!"
"Let's put that aside for now. Vice Admiral Gion, could you return my sword? After all, I haven't even touched it since I finished forging it."
"You really forged this blade?"
"Of course!"
"Fine, here it is."
'Oh, Gion is actually pretty easy to talk to,' Sean thought.
He nodded, took the sword, and drew the blade. Suddenly, a thick wave of Sword Energy surged forward, pressing directly against him.
Sean's brow furrowed slightly.
'Does the blade choose its master? Interesting!'
"Now that you have the sword, can I formally be granted its use?"
While Sean was curiously examining the blade he had created, Gion spoke up as if it were the most natural request in the world.
???
Three giant question marks practically popped up over Sean's head.
"What? Is there a problem?"
"In the Marines, I doubt there is anyone more qualified to possess this blade than I am."
'Is there a problem? No, there's a huge problem!'
'I forged the damn thing! Why on earth do I have to hand it over to you?'
"Vice Admiral Gion, I want to ask—just a hypothetical question—what would happen if I gave this sword to someone else to use?"
"Simple. You challenge them to a duel. Whoever possesses the superior swordsmanship keeps the blade!"
Alright, Sean understood now. He knew exactly what she meant when she said no one in the Marines was more qualified than her.
In a way, it made sense. The loser loses everything, right?
However, this seemed to be a blade that chose its own master; it wasn't something anyone could simply use. After all, this bastard of a sword had just attacked its own creator!
"Vice Admiral Gion, did anything unusual happen while you were holding this sword?"
"Unusual? I felt as though there was a blood-link between the blade and me. Why do you ask?"
"I see..."
Hearing this, Sean fell into deep thought. 'Could it be that this thing actually chose Gion as its master?'
'So that's how it works; this is how it selects its owner?'
Glancing at Gion's figure once more, Sean nodded and muttered to himself.
Regardless, this was only his first attempt. In the future, with better materials and improved forging techniques, he would definitely be able to create something even better. After all, he still had a month left.
So, if Gion wanted it, he wasn't entirely opposed to giving it to her. But...
"Vice Admiral Gion, I can give you this sword, but you have to agree to one condition."
"What condition?"
"Since you are the strongest swordsman in the Marines, and I am very interested in the art of the sword, I want you to guide my swordsmanship training for the next three months!"
'Guide his training?'
'You're a blacksmith who forges swords; what kind of profound swordsmanship do you need to learn? Wouldn't it be better to just focus on forging more famous blades?'
"Gion, just agree to it. Sean's aptitude for the sword far exceeds yours, and there are very few people in Marine Headquarters qualified to guide his training!"
At that moment, Zephyr's voice rang out. The group looked over to see Zephyr walking toward them alongside Sengoku.
"Vice Admiral Zephyr, are you saying his aptitude exceeds mine?"
"That is exactly what I'm saying!"
"Very well. Let's have a spar. If your aptitude is truly as Vice Admiral Zephyr claims, I will accept the condition!"
After a moment of hesitation, Gion spoke. She was proud, and she didn't entirely trust Zephyr's words without proof.
"Deal. But can we wait until next month? I don't have a suitable sword in my hand right now."
"Hmm? You intend to forge another famous blade within this month?"
"That's the plan!"
"Fine. I'll wait for you."
Gion nodded and agreed. As a Great Swordsman, she knew exactly how much a suitable, high-grade blade could impact a warrior's strength.
Seeing that they had reached an agreement, Sengoku stepped forward.
"Sean, did you really forge that sword?"
"It really was me!"
"Very well. Can you craft more blades of this caliber?"
"Skillful Grade Swords aren't a problem. As for Great Grade or even Supreme Grade, that depends on the materials and luck," Sean answered after a brief moment of thought.
The first sword he had crafted hadn't quite reached the level of a Skillful Grade Sword, but the gap wasn't far. Therefore, if he could simply double or triple the quality output, he should be able to cross into that tier.
Besides, hadn't he been worrying about the lack of high-quality materials? Look at that—the materials were practically delivering themselves to his door.
Hearing Sean's answer, Sengoku felt a surge of excitement. If they could truly mass-produce famous blades, even if they were only Skillful Grade Swords, it would significantly boost the combat strength of the Marine officers who wielded swords.
That was the first benefit. The second was... if the Marine possessed a large quantity of famous blades, they could use them as a lure to recruit skilled swordsmen from across the globe.
Fifty Skillful Grade Swords, twenty-one Great Grades, and twelve Supreme Grades!
Those were the only famous blades in the entire world, and many of them were currently missing. However, the number of master swordsmen far exceeded the number of famous blades. Sengoku knew exactly how irresistible a famous blade was to a swordsman.
"Good! The Marine's treasury is now fully open to you. Pick whatever materials you need, and just send me a report afterward!" Sengoku declared grandly with a sweeping wave of his hand. "Even if the Marine doesn't have what you need, I can arrange for people to find them for you or buy them directly!"
"Old man Sengoku, you really are generous. Shall I go pick the materials now?"
"You may! But could you stop calling me that? I am, after all, the Fleet Admiral of the Marine..."
"Alright, Fleet Admiral Old Man Sengoku!"
"Forget it, just go back to what you were calling me before. At least that felt a bit more affectionate..."
Sengoku felt a wave of depression. Why was it that when Sean saw Gion, he called her Vice Admiral Gion, but whenever he dealt with him, Zephyr, or Garp, he just called them "old man"?
'''
That same day, Sean followed Sengoku to the Marine's treasury.
Inside was a vast array of loot seized by the Marine, including a reserve of over ten Devil Fruits. However, Sean had absolutely no interest in those.
He headed straight for the rare materials storage and eventually borrowed over ten Marines from Sengoku to haul away more than half of the various materials.
Then, he entered the forge... and got to work.