One Piece: Adopting Akainu at the beginning, adopted son Barrett

Chapter 22: Young Zefa
"It turns out there are more than just family members here at the Navy's side. It seems the Navy is quite lenient in this regard!"

Arriving at the family quarters, which is located at the rear of the entire naval headquarters, it is like an autonomous town. The only difference is that there are no nobles here, and it is almost entirely made up of ordinary families.

As soon as he arrived, Sakaski saw a three-meter-tall purple-haired man holding flowers. He looked uneasy, like a little boy preparing to make a confession.

"Wuhu~~ I didn't expect it to be Vice Admiral Zefa!"

Long recognized the man at a glance, loosened his hand that was hooked around Sakaski's shoulders, and straightened his body while holding his face with both hands.

What was even more exaggerated was that he started twisting his body like a badger that had eaten a big melon, which made Sakaski feel very embarrassed. He wanted to get away from him and pretend not to know him.

As expected, like father, like son, and the dragon's nerves are pretty abstract after being disconnected.

"Ahem, let's go, let's talk while we walk, don't disturb Mr. Zefa from confessing his feelings, hehehe."

Pulling Sakaski, Long said as he made a detour:
"The Navy's family quarters were originally established just to allow some officers to work with peace of mind. After their death, their families will always be protected by the Navy. This will not only inspire some grassroots sailors, but also demonstrate the goodwill of the Navy itself.

The children and wives of officers live here. As time goes by, this place has gradually developed into an excellent source of recruits for the navy. I am actually one of them. There are actually quite a lot of single girls here!

This place is like a small kingdom, the only difference is that everyone is a soldier, right? That's how I would describe it."

There are also quite a lot of orphans...

Long kept this sentence in his heart silently, without saying it out loud.

Although this is one of the safest places in the world, that is only for women and children. The men in the family are basically navy men, a profession where their heads are tied to their belts.

It’s OK if you have both parents, but if you are from a single-parent family…

The Navy will ensure their basic living and safety, but more...

Long shook his head silently and continued:

"The man before was Mr. Zefa, who had just been promoted to lieutenant general. He was a very remarkable man. Even my father was very close to him and they often ate and chatted together."

"As for the person he confessed his love to, it was a girl in the family quarters. According to some gossip, she was the daughter of a former school officer and the guide of Mr. Zefa's hometown!"

After saying this, Sakaski nodded and said:

"That's really lucky. The person Mr. Zefa confessed to is his childhood sweetheart."

His tone was nostalgic, his emotions emanated uncontrollably from his body, and his face began to look uncontrollably lost.

He once had such a childhood sweetheart, but unfortunately, the sweetheart died in front of his thirteen-year-old self, and he buried the sweetheart with his own hands.

I thought I had buried the pain deeply after three years, but I didn't expect that the sadness would surge up when I saw the scene.

Long Ye felt the mood of his friend around him. He seemed to understand something. Without saying much, he could only silently take the other person walking on the busy street.

He had heard from his father that Mr. Ross was an absolute philanthropist. Apart from his family and guards, most of the people on his ship were homeless orphans.

They have different identities, some have their hometowns destroyed by pirates, some have broken families, and some have been captured by slave traders.

Sakaski's past must have been happy, right?

But the happier you are, the more sad you seem to be after losing something.

"Good brother, I won't go home until I'm drunk today! Don't worry, you still have at least three days to adapt. At worst, I can ask Aunt He for leave for you!"

The only thing Long could think of to appease Sakaski was drinking.

But Sakaski shook his head upon hearing this and said:

“It doesn’t matter, it’s just something from the past. I’m very happy with Master Ross now. Moreover, I have already embarked on my dream now, so why should I dwell on the sadness of the past?

Moreover, deaths occur every day on the sea. If I become stronger one day later, dozens or even hundreds of lives will die in the future, and countless families will be broken up.

Don’t you agree, Long? “This… isn’t as serious as you say, is it?”

Long didn't know how to respond. He was still in a period without dreams, and the only thing he wanted to do was to see the real world.

Compared to Sakaski, who already has dreams and ideals, there are some things that he is completely unable to understand.

For example, at this moment, Sakaski's firm belief speaks of possibilities between fantasy.

Sakaski just smiled slightly without forcing it. He understood Long because the other party was still in the greenhouse.

But he will experience hardships one day, and maybe then they will change from friends to "companions".

.........

Just as the two kids were on their way to the pub for dinner.

On the other side, the young and inexperienced 35-year-old Zefa has waited for the girl he has been dreaming of.

At this moment, he did not have the high spirits on the battlefield, nor the heroic and free-spiritedness when leading a warship. He was just a reserved little boy, holding flowers and trying to say some romantic words awkwardly.

The girl in front of him was very beautiful, with a feeling of a pastoral beauty. She stood quietly in front of Zefa, smiling, waiting for her childhood hero to confess to her.

After all, a hero never runs away from a battle.

Looking at the girl, Zephyr seemed to have returned to his childhood when he aspired to become the hero "Z".

At that time, the girl was still a bullied little crybaby. She fell to her side and sobbed while holding her doll.

He stood in front of her like a true hero, drove the three gangster boys out, and for the first time shouted the slogan he had carefully prepared for himself:

"I am a hero of justice, Z!!!"

Now, the hero has grown up and become a real hero, a brave and powerful vice admiral!
The girl has grown up, and is now graceful and beautiful, ready to blossom.

"Shirley, this is for you, I hope..."

Zefa scratched his cheek with his fingers and handed over the pure white lilies he had prepared with his other hand.

Before he could finish his words, the girl Shirley couldn't wait to take it.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed the boy's lips in front of his stunned eyes.

"I am willing!"

Not far away, two good brothers watched all this silently.

It was not until Zephyr hugged the girl that Garp sighed while biting a senbei:

"Zeffa finally found his true love. When are you going to confess your love to Xiaohe, Sengoku?"

"Me? Forget it. My ideals don't allow me to have love. That would be a very irresponsible behavior."

"Damn it! What nonsense are you talking about!"

"Bang!!"

Garp punched Sengoku angrily, but the other party just endured it silently without saying anything.

Garp sighed, and said with a look of dismay:
"If I had known this would happen, I would never have thought of giving Xiao He to you!"

Zeff was 74 years old when he died, while Garp was around 78 years old.

Zeffer was promoted from lieutenant general to general at the age of 38, which was about three years after Rocks' death, when Whitebeard and others were recruiting soldiers.

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(End of this chapter)