PIRATES: I WORK IN NAVY FROM NINE TO FIVE

Two days later, just ten nautical miles from Alabasta's shores, a massive Marine battleship cut swiftly through the waves.

Inside the large training chamber onboard, Vivi, Igaram, and the others stood at the doorway, glancing back anxiously.

Their eyes fell on two colossal figures—Dorry and Brogy—soaked in sweat, arms braced against the deck as their bodies trembled in agony.

Their faces had gone pale.

Two days ago, after being defeated by Admiral Luo Yu, the two giants had agreed to board the Marine warship—but under one condition:

Luo Yu must fulfill his promise—to help them awaken both Armament and Conqueror's Haki in a short span of time.

Initially, Vivi and Igaram found this demand absurd.

Even in the New World, dual-Haki mastery was exceedingly rare.

To truly grasp it usually took at least a year or more, sometimes even longer.

Yet what they witnessed next shattered that belief completely.

The two giants had entered a strange room—Luo Yu's training chamber—and what happened inside…

Was utterly unreal.

They awakened dual Haki at a pace so smooth, it felt like sneezing.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they never would've believed it.

Vivi, Igaram, and even Chaka felt an involuntary itch in their hearts.

A wild thought took root.

Could they do it too?

"Don't overthink it," Luo Yu took a swig of his clay bottle, smiling as he walked up behind them. "Dorry and Brogy have over a hundred years of experience. Their foundations are solid—they just lacked the right trigger."

"All I did... was push them to the brink of life and death. That kind of brush with mortality forces a person's potential to erupt."

"Honestly, even without me, they would've awakened their Haki in another year or so."

He paused, taking another sip, then added with a grin:

"Of course, if you want, I can take you for a walk down the road to the underworld too."

"NO THANK YOU!" the trio instantly shook their heads like rattles.

Just thinking back to what happened on Little Garden made their spines tingle.

If awakening Haki meant that kind of ordeal... they'd rather take their time.

"Admiral Luo Yu!"

Vice Admiral Doll approached in a hurry, her face serious.

"We just received a report from Marine HQ. The two special combat assets that Fleet Admiral Sengoku personally attempted to recruit… both refused."

"Sengoku asked for our status—but I haven't reported anything yet."

She paused, then added awkwardly, "I… I don't know why I said I'd keep it confidential."

Had this been two days ago, she never would've considered hiding a mission's result.

Maybe it was because she'd seen the giants fight with her own eyes?

Doll still remembered the scene vividly—the combined attack Bágua (Bákoku) unleashed by Dorry and Brogy had carved up a significant portion of the island.

It still made her blood run cold.

If they mastered Flowing Armament Haki and applied it to that technique...

Doll didn't dare imagine the result.

If she tried to block that attack directly?

She'd be either dead or crippled, no question.

"Both rejected the offer?" Luo Yu took another drink and smiled faintly.

"Looks like the burden falls on me again."

"Have you already selected your next special combat candidate?" Doll asked quickly, sensing this was no time to delay.

Marine HQ had just issued an All-Forces Mobilization Order.

Every regional base had begun pulling elite forces back to Marineford.

The public execution was only forty days away.

In her eyes, if they were going to declare war on one Emperor, the Marine's current power would suffice.

But if it escalated to two Emperors...

Even Marineford might fall.

This wasn't about a 50-50 gamble.

They needed a guaranteed victory—or they were marching to their doom.

And now, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku had failed to recruit new special forces.

But Luo Yu?

He had not only recruited two giants—he'd strengthened them to the point of madness.

It flipped everything Doll thought she knew about military operations.

She couldn't help it—she needed to know who was next.

"Next candidate?" Luo Yu took another long sip, then turned toward the coastline—toward Nanohana Port.

"Relax," he said, smiling. "I've already picked the next target."

"Didn't expect our luck to be this good though..."

"The bounty's delivering itself to our doorstep."

Delivering itself?

Everyone looked puzzled.

They followed Luo Yu's gaze toward the coastline.

All they saw was chaos—panic, smoke, confusion—but no sign of a special combat asset.

"Princess Vivi!" a guard ran over, voice urgent. "Nanohana Port has come under pirate attack! Dozens of travelers are being harassed and trapped. Can we request the Marines to intervene?"

The guard, having witnessed the annihilation of Little Garden firsthand, spoke with genuine urgency.

In his eyes, this young but terrifying Admiral offered a level of safety no one else could provide.

If Luo Yu acted, these pirates wouldn't stand a chance.

"Igaram..." Vivi turned toward her adviser. "Didn't we assign Royal Guard units to support the Marine detachment at Nanohana? Why are pirates still causing this much damage?"

Vivi knew better than to rely on a single Marine action.

Even if Luo Yu helped now, it would only solve the immediate problem.

Alabasta needed long-term stability.

That was why she had sought the giants out—to serve as enduring guardians.

"Princess Vivi," Igaram sighed, face heavy.

"I just received word from the Royal Guards stationed at the port. They say Marine HQ has summoned all elite troops back to base for the upcoming war."

"The forces left at Nanohana are now dangerously thin."

He hesitated, then added:

"And these pirates aren't ordinary. They're members of the Donquixote Family, under Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo."

"They claim someone tampered with their cargo and are demanding to conduct a forced inspection."

"The Warlords again?" Vivi's expression darkened.

Just as they'd sent one Warlord away, another had arrived.

This time, Doflamingo's forces.

And with the Warlords being officially summoned by the Marines, they now held a temporary untouchable status.

If the Marines interfered with them...

Would that jeopardize the Marine's strategic use of the Warlords?

Vivi glanced sideways at Luo Yu.

There was something new in her gaze—an unmistakable tension.

A hope... or perhaps a fear.

She didn't speak.

She simply wanted to know—

How would Admiral Luo Yu respond?