Paper Paper Fruit In One Piece

"Mm, this is going to be tricky."

Everyone is having... no, enjoying themselves too much. Although Roman could use the excuse of protecting Nami while slacking off, it still feels a bit too idle...

!

Great, no need to stress over it anymore.

"Nami, protect me!"

?!

"Are you going over 'there'?"

Having lived with Roman for two years, Nami immediately understood why he would say something like that.

"That's right, looks like someone from Marine Headquarters has arrived."

Don't forget, the real 'The White Knight' is still leading the 211th fleet on the seas. — Just after sending those unlucky guys like Caribou to Impel Down, now Marine Headquarters is sending reinforcements. It's really tough...

"Mm, go ahead."

Nami straightened up, flipping through her book, preparing her abilities!

"Don't be nervous, just remember to call me if anything happens."

After Roman finished speaking, he froze for a moment. Though he still looked the same, the lively light in his eyes had vanished. — When he was remotely controlling The White Knight, Roman always looked like this.

——————

On the flagship of the 211th fleet,

"Cough, cough, sorry, sorry~~"

As 'Roman' pushed open the captain's cabin door, then quickly shut it again, the orange hair that flashed inside made the waiting Vice Admiral Doberman outside twitch his face in irritation.

In broad daylight, the young man doesn't take care of himself...

"Doberman Vice Admiral, what's the matter at headquarters? Why do you need to deliver the message yourself?"

A transponder snail was, of course, standard on every Marine ship. But the Marine also had 'black transponder snails' capable of eavesdropping. — This was the tool Smoker used to track the Straw Hat Pirates.

Although there were 'white transponder snails' that could prevent eavesdropping, they were very rare, so many important matters were passed along through 'person-to-person' methods.

"We'll talk inside... you all step back!"

Thinking about the Rear Admiral inside the cabin, Doberman had to relax his Observation Haki and face the sea breeze while talking to 'Roman.'

"I..."

Doberman, with four X-shaped scars on his face, curly mustache, and brown flowing hair that reached his shoulders, appeared like a tough military man—actually, he was always a tough military man—yet he hesitated.

"Roman, do you know Instructor Zephyr?"

Zephyr?! 

Black Arm... Could it be...

Roman certainly knew who Zephyr was.

Zephyr, the former Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, was known as the "Black Arm" due to his powerful Armament Haki. Throughout his life, he had fought countless pirates but never killed a single one. He earned the nickname "The Marine Who Never Kills."

Later, after losing his entire family to pirates, Zephyr's view of pirates changed drastically. He was forced to become a trainer, starting to teach new recruits for the Marine. Two years ago, the three current Marine Admirals—Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu—were all his students.

Nine years ago, the training ship led by Zephyr was attacked by pirates. Most of his beloved students, except for Ain and Bins, were killed, and his right arm was severely injured, forcing him to replace it with a mechanical arm.

This incident made Zephyr's hatred toward pirates reach its peak...

"Of course, Zephyr-sensei is a well-known senior in the Marine, and even Fleet Admiral Akainu and Admiral Kizaru were his students... I remember that Doberman-san was also one of his students?"

"Yes, but a year ago, Zephyr-sensei became unhappy with the Marine's actions of completing the Seven Warlords, so he angrily left and formed 'NEOMarine,' with the goal of destroying all the pirates in the world."

"I know that," Roman nodded. After all, as a star Vice Admiral with amazing accomplishments in capturing pirates, Zephyr had once praised Roman generously, believing that if all Vice Admirals were like him, the world would have already been free of pirates.

"But... didn't Fleet Admiral Akainu say not to worry about 'NEOMarine'?"

Akainu, being a bloodthirsty military man who would love to see all pirates dead, had turned a blind eye to Zephyr's open split from the Marine. Unless...

"Recently, the Marine received news that Zephyr... sensei is looking for a substance called 'Explosive Rock,' which is said to be as powerful as ancient weapons. Once he obtains enough of it, he plans to ignite several volcanoes in the New World, which would destroy the entire New World!"

...

Roman didn't even know how to react.

The term "comparable to"—how should one say it? Whenever someone says "XXX is comparable to XXX," it's almost always a sign they're about to be beaten! For example, in many Three Kingdoms stories, whenever a new general appears, someone always says, "This person is comparable to Lü Bu!" Then, that general is likely to be wiped out.

As for how powerful this Explosive Rock is, forget about it. But just the idea of destroying the world...

"Even if a volcano erupts, how would it destroy the entire New World? With volcanic ash?"

That's laughable!

Crocodile and Luffy's dad would probably say: Is that all?

Besides, for skilled fighters, a volcanic eruption is nothing. With Armament Haki, swimming through lava is just another normal thing.

"...In any case, the Marine must stop Zephyr-sensei's actions. This time, he's gone too far!"

That's true. If Zephyr's plan succeeds, it's hard to say how many pirates will die, but ordinary people would...

"So, what does the headquarters want?"

...

After Doberman Vice Admiral left, the cold-faced Doberman pulled his face tight and finally said with an icy tone:

"In the name of justice—"

"Eliminate the traitor Zephyr!" 

———

After Doberman Vice Admiral left,

"Boss, are we really going to..."

As a "second-generation marine" and a young officer with the rank of Rear Admiral, Bolkin naturally received the message passed on by Vice Admiral Berman. This left many of the "second-generation marines" feeling confused. 

After all, many of their elders, and even some of them, had trained under Zephyr, though they were kicked out due to poor performance. But now, they had to go after him. This was... 

"Give me the Den Den Mushi." 

Roman wouldn't let such nonsense happen. Putting aside the "explosive rock"—Roman believed it was most likely something left behind by a former user of the Explosion Fruit—whether it could destroy the New World was another matter. As for Zephyr himself: 

After killing his student and the man who severed his arm, "Whitebeard II," Zephyr would soon be removed from the Warlords of the Sea due to the "Dressrosa Incident," and then be besieged by the Marines. Thinking about it, didn't Zephyr essentially die for nothing because of this "split"? 

"This is Fleet Admiral Akainu, it's me." 

Once the Den Den Mushi was connected, Roman got straight to the point. 

"Let me try to talk to Zephyr first." 

————— 

"Aah! The sky is getting darker!!" 

"What's going on? Why is Noah from Fish-Man Island up there?" 

"The bubble is going to break! If that huge ship falls, it will destroy all of Fish-Man Island!" 

? 

When Roman came to his senses, a massive ship was already hovering over Fish-Man Island, pressing down on the enormous bubble surrounding the island. 

"Roman, what's happening?" 

In response to Nami's question, Roman answered without hesitation. 

"It's the Target-Target Fruit." 

"Huh? What's that?" 

Luffy jumped over, looking curious. 

"It's a type of Devil Fruit: the Target-Target Fruit lets the user throw objects that automatically follow their target, no matter how far, unless they're shot down or blocked." 

Roman pointed up at the sky. 

"This giant ship was clearly thrown by someone using that power." 

"Isn't this the same as what happened with the things that attacked Princess Shirahoshi?" 

"Ha ha ha... Shirahoshi, you rejected my love! I'll never forgive you!" 

In fact, the Devil Fruit user didn't need Roman to explain. On the deck of the massive ship Noah, a four-legged ugly man holding a loudspeaker was shouting. 

"Disappear with this fish-man island! My lover!!" 

What kind of crazy person is this... 

Roman rubbed his forehead. Thinking about it, he decided not to dwell on it. There were plenty of lunatics on the Grand Line; this one wasn't special. Zephyr was still planning to blow up the world after all~~ 

"Please, don't involve others because of me. If you're coming, come at me." 

Knowing that the target was herself, Shirahoshi immediately fled towards the outside of Fish-Man Island. While this would put her in a difficult situation, it could save everyone else here. 

"The giant ship is moving?" 

"Princess Shirahoshi, she's leading Noah away!?" 

"What a naive girl, but I don't dislike her." 

"Roman!" Nami grabbed Roman's hand urgently, "Why are we talking about this now? Think of something!" 

"Calm down, look—" 

"That Shirahoshi, I told her not to wander off!" 

Luffy had promised to protect Shirahoshi when he brought her out, and now someone was trying to hurt her! Was this how the future Pirate King was going to act? 

Of course, to Luffy, his friends and crew were more important than any pride. 

"Roman, let me go!" 

"Okay." 

With a point from Roman, flying paper formed a pair of wings behind Luffy. Then: 

With a whoosh— 

The wings flapped as Luffy shot into the sky, chasing after Shirahoshi! 

Meanwhile, Hody Jones, who had just been beaten to the ground, seized the opportunity to use a bubble and fly to the giant ship Noah's iron chain. 

"Damn Vander Decken, does he want to kill me too?"

"However, this is an opportunity. As long as we break the bubble around Fish-Man Island, those human pirates will drown immediately!"

He was already scared by Luffy. As long as he could kill the enemy, he would do anything! As for how many residents of Fish-Man Island would be affected?

"For victory, this is a necessary 'sacrifice.'"

In an instant, the situation shifted—Princess Shirahoshi of the mermaids fled ahead, and the giant ship, Noah, changed direction behind her! Luffy flapped his wings and followed closely, while Hody Jones climbed up the huge iron chains!

Roman, who was skilled in 'aerial combat,' didn't move, and Jinbe, who excelled in 'naval combat,' didn't either.

"Sorry, Roman."

Jinbe apologized in a low voice, and Roman shook his head.

"It's fine, I understand."

The "hero" who should save Fish-Man Island was Luffy, and only Luffy! Because he was the captain, the backbone of the Straw Hat crew.

So, both Roman and Jinbe chose to 'lay low.'—Anyway, even in naval combat, they were confident Luffy wouldn't lose to someone like Hody Jones.

And that random fish-man, what's his name again?

---

 ----You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu