One Piece : Admiral Falcon is Pissed off again today!

"According to the report submitted by Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander Michael, while deployed at sea, has successfully hunted and captured over 1,600 pirates during his service!"

"Among them, 52 were bounty pirates."

"The total bounty amount reaches 1.2 billion berries!"

"After verification by Marine Headquarters, all above information has been confirmed as factual."

"Marine Headquarters hereby specially promotes Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander Michael to the rank of Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral!"

After listening to the Marine soldier finish reading the document, Michael yawned.

Then he glanced at old man Garp sitting nearby, who was giving him meaningful looks.

"Michael! This is a promotion and commendation ceremony! Could you at least pretend to take it seriously?"

"Yeah, yeah," Michael nodded repeatedly.

"So you called me all the way back from Sabaody Archipelago just for this?"

"What? Is there a problem?"

"Of course there's a problem! For promotions, just send a promotion order! No need for all this fuss!" Michael scratched his neck lazily.

"I was having a great time in Sabaody Archipelago."

"Having a great time? Or killing a great time?" Sengoku waved his hand, signaling the soldiers responsible for reading and recording to leave, then glared at Michael.

"Your actions in Sabaody... were far too reckless."

"If burning slave smuggling ships only made the Celestial Dragons aware of your existence before, now... you've completely drawn their attention."

Sengoku frowned deeply—he wasn't exaggerating.

The Celestial Dragons had indeed taken action...

They sent a CP0 agent.

Though that CP0 agent had been turned away by Sengoku himself, if Michael continued being this high-profile, the Celestial Dragons—or rather the World Government—would soon direct their underhanded tactics at him.

Being recalled to Marine Headquarters now was Michael's greatest protective shield.

"Alright old man, no need to beat around the bush with me," Michael chuckled.

"With our relationship, being indirect would just be impolite."

After exchanging glances with Garp, Sengoku sighed.

Then he continued.

"Starting today, Rear Admiral Michael of the Marine Headquarters is hereby specially appointed as the Chief Commander of the secret special unit 'SWORD'!"

"In addition to internal oversight authority, he is granted the maximum theoretical autonomy!"

Michael blinked and asked.

"What does 'maximum theoretical autonomy' mean?"

"Within the entire Marine, anyone below the rank of Vice Admiral who disobeys orders or assignments can be temporarily removed from their position by you!"

"Any Marine personnel found engaging in private dealings with underworld organizations or even slave trading rings can be directly executed by you if the evidence is conclusive!"

"Moreover, with the consent of the individual being recruited, you can enlist anyone into the 'SWORD' Secret Special Forces."

After finishing his speech, Sengoku took a sip of tea from the cup on the table.

Hmm, refreshing.

Michael looked at the transfer order in his hand and suddenly said to Sengoku out of the blue.

"In that case... Rosinante has just joined the Marine..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Michael noticed Sengoku's frown.

To enter such a special unit right after joining the Marine?

Would Rosinante... really be up to the task?

But since he had already granted Michael the authority, he certainly wouldn't interfere.

Perhaps...

This was fate.

Rosinante being taken out of Marie Geoise by his Celestial Dragon parents was fate.

His parents' tragic deaths and his elder brother fully unleashing his fury was fate.

Drifting at sea and being picked up by Sengoku was fate.

Having Michael as his elder brother...

That, too, was fate.

Some people are just destined, damn it, to do something big!

****

"Michael aniki! Are you sure you want me to join?"

Rosinante hadn't eaten the Calm-Calm Fruit yet at this point.

He was quite the chatterbox.

"Enough nonsense, Lieutenant Rosinante! When your superior tells you to do something, you do it!"

Michael jumped up and smacked the guy's shoulder, his expression slightly twisted.

"Tch, why'd you have to grow so tall for no reason!"

Rosinante was both amused and exasperated by Michael's words.

It was supposed to be a happy occasion, so why bring up height all of a sudden?

Rosinante himself had noticed that his body was still developing, showing signs of potentially reaching the four-meter mark.

"So, Aniki, where are we going next?"

"Since the old man has given me the authority to recruit at will, it's only natural that I should take responsibility and help him pick out some promising talents from the Marine's..."

Michael had a rough plan for the people he wanted to recruit.

Why rough...

Well, if they really didn't want to leave their original units to join SWORD, there wasn't much he could do.

Forced recruitment would only lead to bitterness, not sweetness.

Moreover, many of the talents he had his eye on were subordinates of elite Vice Admirals.

With Sengoku's authorization, Michael was generally feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Rosinante, do you know how many elite Vice Admirals are currently at Headquarters?"

"Vice Admiral Gion is still stationed at Sabaody Archipelago, Vice Admiral Chaton is out on a mission, Vice Admiral Akainu is guarding G-1 and the other Vice Admirals are mostly at Headquarters."

Michael nodded as he listened to Rosinante's report.

Just as expected.

These past few days were actually part of the Marine's periodic debriefing schedule.

After all, the Marine was an official organization—not the kind where you just joined and kept your head down working without a word.

After pondering for a moment, Michael clapped his hands and said with a laugh.

"In that case, our first stop will be Grandma Tsuru's place!"

Rosinante had been about to take a sip of water before setting off, but upon hearing the name his brother mentioned Tsuru name's, he nearly spat it out in shock.

Grandma Tsuru!?

The Marine's master strategist, Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Tsuru!?

Big bro!

Starting off by going straight for the highest difficulty level right away!?

This is beyond ridiculous.

"Aniki, are you sure about this?" Rosinante made one last attempt to protest.

"To be honest, we could totally save Vice Admiral Tsuru for last..."

"Hahaha, Rosinante, your impression of Grandma Tsuru isn't great either, is it?" Michael patted Rosinante's belly.

"Don't worry, Grandma Tsuru is actually very gentle."

"As long as you're a good kid, Grandma Tsuru would never mad at you."

Michael spoke to Rosinante with full confidence.

With his brother saying so, what else could Rosinante do?

He had no choice but to go along with it, even if it meant risking his life.

"Alright, then our first stop is Vice Admiral Tsuru's office!"

Though Rosinante tried to hype himself, his enthusiasm still felt somewhat forced.

When they arrived at the office of the Chief of Staff, Rosinante was still taking deep breaths to calm himself when Michael went straight up and knocked on the door.

It nearly scared the shit out of him!

Knock knock knock!

"Grandma Tsuru! It's me! Michael! Open the door!"

"I'm here to poach your people!"