"Don't worry, my promotion ceremony won't be held for a while. I can't exactly ask the injured marines to move out just so I can hold a celebration, can I?"
Borsalino spoke calmly. Of course, the real reason was to buy more ti for Boros to stir up trouble—and to prevent the Five Elders from bypassing him to issue direct orders to other marines.
There weren't many in the Navy who had the courage—or the qualifications—to defy the orders of the Five Elders.
Especially the Vice Admirals of Headquarters. If they weren't gathered together, even if the Five Elders wanted to send them on a suicide mission, few would dare refuse.
"Yes, I understand!"
Hearing this, Dalmatian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he could still make it to the Fleet Admiral's promotion ceremony, it was fine.
Otherwise, if he—the self-proclaid key figure under Admiral Borsalino—weren't there, wouldn't it make the Hawk and Dove factions look down on them?
Of course, whether Dalmatian just wanted to show off was up for debate. Thanks to their faction leader being a total slacker, Dalmatian had taken plenty of flak from both the Hawks and Doves over the years.
Now, finally having the chance to get so payback, there was no way he was going to miss it.
"Alright, soone will be here soon to take you to study dinosaurs… Oh, by the way, Dalmatian is a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user. If you can convince him, he might even help with your research."
Borsalino didn't think there was anything wrong with having a Marine Vice Admiral babysit a little girl doing "science experints." After all, while the Marines were supposed to fight pirates, more often than not they were just the World Governnt's enforcers.
Compared to helping so corrupt king of a mber nation suppress a rebellion, escorting Haibara Ai to study dinosaurs at least contributed sothing—however minor—to humanity.
"And don't forget to help return to my original body!"
Haibara pouted. Just before leaving, she suddenly rembered sothing and quickly reminded him—before the "battlefield" between the dog and the woman reignited.
Compared to her interest in researching prehistoric dinosaurs, regaining her original form was Haibara Ai's true purpose for this trip.
The "Organization" in her world was no longer a threat, and once she returned to her adult form, Haibara—or rather, Shiho Miyano—planned to start looking into how to revive her sister.
Of course, not by sothing like Orochimaru's Edo Tensei. What she wanted was her sister, Akemi Miyano, truly brought back to life—living, breathing, and real.
"Mm… don't worry, once old man Zephyr gets back… mmh—Hancock, wait—then I'll have Ain help you rewind to your original self…"
Borsalino struggled to "resist" Hancock's kisses, answering with so difficulty.
Blushing furiously, Haibara quickly left the office, afraid she'd witness even more scenes unfit for children.
"Um… little girl, is this Admiral Borsalino's office?"
Not long after stepping out, Haibara was approached by Dalmatian's adjutant—a shy-looking Headquarters major.
"You're with Vice Admiral Dalmatian? Lead the way, I'm the person you're supposed to escort."
Haibara snapped irritably. She didn't want to stay here even a second longer.
She swore she'd roast that scumbag Borsalino when she got the chance—how dare he make out with another woman right in front of her!
…Wait. Why did that sentence sound kind of weird?
"Ah! Y-Yes! Please co with !"
The flustered major hadn't expected the person Admiral Borsalino designated to be a little girl. Before he could even ask for confirmation, Haibara shot him a glare, and he had no choice but to lead her back to report to Vice Admiral Dalmatian.
"Damn scumbag! Stupid womanizer! Perverted bastard!"
Haibara kept grumbling under her breath as they walked, feeling utterly indignant for her bestie Fubuki and her newly sworn big sister Tatsumaki.
The worst part was that Borsalino was shaless about it—Tatsumaki and Fubuki both knew full well what kind of womanizer he was. Even in the dinsional chat group, he had soone like Esdeath on the side.
Even if she exaggerated everything and ratted him out to Fubuki, the "best" outco would only be to make her friend heartbroken.
More likely, Fubuki wouldn't care. She was even willing to share Borsalino with her sister, Tatsumaki—so how could she care whether he had other won in other worlds?
Ahead of them, the poor major was sweating bullets. Considering that this girl had just walked out of Admiral Borsalino's office… was she seriously cursing him right now?
Although the major's adjutant rarely interacted with Admiral Kizaru, her direct superior—Vice Admiral Dalmatian—had always considered himself Kizaru's number-one subordinate.
He often quarreled with Vice Admiral Viviane over this, so if he ever heard her bad-mouthing Kizaru, the consequences would be unthinkable!
Fortunately, by the ti Ai Haibara t Vice Admiral Dalmatian, nothing the adjutant had feared had co to pass.
Dalmatian held a favorable view of Ai Haibara for donating a huge stock of dicine to the Marines. anwhile, Haibara herself was keen on building a good relationship with him so she could study a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
Despite Dalmatian being old enough to be the little girl's grandfather, the two got along surprisingly well—like cross-generational best friends.
"I'll leave the rest of the journey in your hands, Mr. Dalmatian."
Haibara politely said while directing Marine personnel to load her precious research equipnt onto the ship.
In a world where mad scientists were not uncommon, it wasn't exactly wise to straight-up say she wanted to study soone. Haibara planned to first get on Dalmatian's good side, then later ask for a few strands of hair.
From there, she'd take her ti. She didn't expect to produce any groundbreaking results—just satisfying her own curiosity was enough.
If she happened to discover anything special in the process, maybe she could even trade it for so benefits from Orochimaru.
Even though she was already considered a "little rich girl" in the chat group, Haibara knew she still needed far more dinsional currency if she wanted to resurrect her sister without side effects.
"Rest assured—I won't let anything happen to a benefactor of the Marines!"
Dalmatian laughed heartily. Perhaps it was due to his age, but he was exceptionally tolerant of Haibara.
He even personally helped move her equipnt, praising how incredible kids were these days. She was the sa age as his grandson, yet already engaged in serious research.
---
Several days later, Vice Admiral Dalmatian successfully caught up with the slower-moving Vice Admiral Viviane and her crew.
"A… a giant?!"
This was the first ti Ai Haibara had ever seen mbers of the Giant Race in person. Even Dalmatian, who was quite tall himself, only ca up to their knees. These won were nearly twenty ters tall—about the height of a six- or seven-story building.
"The boss sent you to escort this little girl to see dinosaurs?"
The female giant Viviane bent down to get a better look at Haibara. Once she confird the girl didn't look anything like Borsalino, she let out a small sigh of relief.
"A human kid, huh? She's so tiny…"
Another giantess, Gulz, leaned in as well. With both won standing on one side of the ship, the vessel began to tilt dangerously.
"Idiot! Sit back down before you sink my ship!"
Viviane quickly shoved her fellow giant back. Their movents were so forceful that the ship nearly capsized.
Even a specially reinforced ship designed for giants couldn't withstand roughhousing from two beings thousands of tis larger than a normal human.
Once the two had settled down, the Marines hurried to inspect the vessel for any damage.
Although the giants ant no harm, ordinary ships might as well be paper toys in their hands.
Fortunately, this kind of trouble would soon be a thing of the past. A new generation of battleships designed personally by Vegapunk was nearly ready for deploynt. Though three tis more expensive than the old ones, they were said to be more than five tis stronger in combat.
Thanks to their steel keels, the new ships would be far more durable and capable of carrying trendous weight—tough enough that even giants wouldn't be able to easily break them.
---
"Hina really regrets getting on this ship…"
Wearing her Justice cloak, Hina covered her face in embarrassnt. It's worth ntioning that her Devil Fruit powers had made a big impact during the Summit War, and she had just been promoted to Rear Admiral.
However, her appointnt wasn't yet official, and she'd been dragged aboard by Viviane to serve as temporary muscle.
"Vice Admiral Viviane may be a bit… energetic, but her strength is definitely trustworthy!"
Seeing the nearby warship making such a commotion it almost capsized — nearly dragging theirs down too — Vice Admiral Dalmatian hurriedly ordered the marines to steady the rudder. Then, a bit embarrassed, he turned to explain to Ai Haibara.
"Yeah, I can tell..."
Ai Haibara responded half-heartedly with a nod. Even so, she did accept Dalmatian's explanation. If nothing else, just considering Vivienne's height of nearly twenty ters, even a tyrannosaurus would look like nothing more than a big mutt in front of her.
Moreover, Vivienne was a Vice Admiral of Navy Headquarters. After spending several days in the pirate world, Ai Haibara had gained a basic understanding of how things worked here.
Borsalino, the Navy Admiral, was one of the top-tier powerhouses in this world—perhaps even the strongest among them.
After all, during the recent Paramount War, Borsalino had already defeated the infamous "World's Strongest Man," the great pirate Whitebeard.
As a Vice Admiral, only a rank below an Admiral, Vivienne was certainly not just so ordinary giant relying on brute size to win fights.
°°°
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