The Marineford base of the Marines' headquarters was the largest and most fortified military installation Darren had ever seen.
As he stepped out of the naval hospital's doors under the bright and rather passionate farewells of the nurses and doctors, a towering fortress of gray-black stone lood before him, occupying nearly his entire field of vision.
Massive black cannons lined its flanks, and from a distance, the stronghold resembled so colossal war beast, its gaping jaws open, poised to devour any enemy foolish enough to approach.
Upon the wall of the fortress, the bold, sweeping calligraphy of a single word dominated the landscape: Justice.
Its presence emanated a palpable, oppressive aura.
Beyond the fortress, the massive oval-shaped military port stretched across the coastline.
Buster Call Class battleships — colossal vessels taller than buildings — lay moored in tight formation, while patrol fleets steadily sailed in and out.
The gleam of endless seagull-flags flapping in the wind nearly blotted out the blue sky.
Darren swept his gaze across the harbor.
Along both sides of the port and the military buffer zones, rows upon rows of towering black artillery emplacents stood in solemn silence, their obsidian barrels reflecting the sunlight like silent gods of war.
The Marines who patrolled or repaired the area below them looked insignificant — like ants crawling across a titan's skin.
Everywhere Darren looked, soldiers moved with sharp, seasoned efficiency.
Their presence alone spoke volus: these were not green recruits, but battle-hardened elites.
"See that?"
Tokikake's voice, smug with pride, broke through Darren's reverie.
Puffing contentedly on a cigar — one shalessly "borrowed" from Darren's get-well-soon gifts — Tokikake gestured grandly at the scene before them.
"This is the headquarters of the Marines," he said, puffing out his chest like an overstuffed rooster.
"Sure, your North Blue Fleet is decent, I'll give you that. But this—"
He swept his arm dramatically.
"—this fortress, this harbor, this firepower... It's the might of true justice, sothing your little sea can't even dream of matching."
There was an unmistakable pride in his voice, the kind you'd expect from a city slicker boasting about his hotown to a country bumpkin.
"No one," Tokikake declared, "has ever breached Marineford. Not once since its founding."
Darren rely smiled faintly, his gaze lingering on the towering cannons, the wall, the placent of the patrols.
Tokikake frowned, sensing the lack of awe he'd expected.
"Oi, oi, you listening? What are you thinking about?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing much," Darren said casually, snapping out of his study of the defenses.
"I was just wondering... if it were , how would I go about taking this place down?"
There was a short pause.
Tokikake blinked.
"What the hell did you just say?"
"Relax," Darren laughed, holding up his hands innocently.
"I'm just joking."
But the glint in his eyes said otherwise.
Suspicious, Tokikake squinted at him.
"Seriously though... could you do it?"
Darren stopped walking for a mont, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.
"If I had the North Blue Fleet at full strength... if I could avoid the areas covered by the heavy batteries... if I could launch a surprise assault from the skies—"
"Hold up," Tokikake interrupted, waving his hands.
"From the skies? What are you even talking about?"
"Oh, right."
Darren smiled as if he had forgotten sothing obvious.
"'Aerial assault.' It's a thod where forces attack from the air. In simple terms — raining death from above."
Tokikake's mouth opened slightly.
For this world, where even the concept of true air power barely existed, it was like hearing a fantasy.
"R-right... I knew that," Tokikake muttered quickly, pretending nonchalance.
"So what's the plan?"
Darren laughed and continued walking.
"If I could pin down Borsalino and Dragon sohow...
I'd say I'd have about a thirty percent chance of disabling Marineford's key facilities."
His voice turned light, almost playful.
"And maybe a ten percent chance of leveling the entire island."
Tokikake stumbled, staring at Darren like he had grown two heads.
"You're kidding , right!?"
Darren winked.
"Of course. This place is the stronghold of justice.
How could it ever fall?"
He threw a hand over his shoulder and strode onward without looking back.
Tokikake stood frozen for a mont, watching Darren's back lit by the morning sun.
The silhouette stretched long across the ground, swallowing up the Justice inscribed behind him in a dark, heavy shadow.
He shivered.
Sohow... even though Darren had said it was a joke, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had been deadly serious.
Above them, white seagulls wheeled joyfully in the perfect blue sky, their cries sharp and clean.
But in Tokikake's mind, another image intruded:
Monstrous iron ships breaking through the clouds, cannon fire screaming downward, raining apocalyptic destruction across the Marineford fortress... until nothing but burning ruins remained.
He jolted awake as Darren's voice called out lazily.
"Oi, Commander Tokikake — you planning to stand there all day?"
Tokikake hurried to catch up, plastering a grin on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!"
As they left the towering military harbor behind, the stone gate of the Elite Officer Training Camp ca into view.
Vines of ivy crept up its walls, and before the entrance stood a massive stone slab, carved deep with the words:
'All Glory and Life Belong to Justice.'
The signature beneath it — Zephyr — glistened faintly in the morning light.
---
To be continued...
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