The warship cut through the waves, sailing across the boundless sea under the oppressive gloom of the night.
Zephyr's warship was different from T-Bone's—not only was it equipped with a complete electrical system, but it also boasted unique futuristic technology from Egghead island.
For instance, there were some bizarre power devices whose exact energy source Jake hadn't yet figured out.
But when they had recently crossed the Calm Belt and encountered Sea Kings, the ship had managed to burst forth with speed rivaling the Thousand Sunny's Coup de Burst, sustaining it for over ten minutes.
The warship's lights illuminated the dark waters as Jake stood outside Zephyr's cabin, giving the door two light knocks.
At the voice from within, Jake pushed the door open and saw Zephyr hunched over a stack of documents, scribbling notes.
"Zephyr-sensei, still working this late?"
Without looking up, Zephyr continued marking the papers in his hands and replied.
"Even though I'm retired, there are still things I can't let go of. Sengoku is too busy and that idiot Garp is of no help, so I often take on some of the workload for him."
With that, he set the documents aside and rubbed his temples before addressing Jake.
"You should be asleep. What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to ask you a few things about the Kingdom of Prince."
But before he could continue, Zephyr shot him a glance and cut straight to the point.
"I know what you want to ask—and what you want to do. But don't overthink matters concerning World Government-affiliated kingdoms. Just focus on completing your mission. Of course, helping ordinary civilians along the way is fine. But if you're planning anything more drastic, you'd better drop that idea now."
Hearing Zephyr's response, Jake fell silent for a moment before looking up, his tone laced with an indescribable complexity.
"You know what happened in that country, don't you?"
"What does it matter whether I know or not? It has nothing to do with your mission. Until you're strong enough, recklessly meddling in such affairs only makes you seem arrogant and overambitious.
You're still too young.
Borsalino told me about your thoughts—though you didn't mean for him to hear, you have a habit of speaking too freely with strangers. I don't know why you trust people you've just met so easily, but you need to fix that."
Listening to Zephyr's reprimand, Jake was momentarily stunned.
From his perspective, he actually knew these people's personalities and performances in the original work, which made him unconsciously trust characters he had favored in the original story.
But he seemed to have forgotten one crucial point - this wasn't the anime world.
Everyone here had the potential to change and he truly didn't realized this before.
Lowering his head, he respectfully said to Zephyr.
"Thank you for your guidance, Zephyr-sensei."
Hearing this, Zephyr's expression softened slightly as he continued speaking to Jake.
"Plans succeed through secrecy but fail through leaks. I'm not saying that trusting others is a bad habit, but as someone who may become a Marine officer in the future, you're destined not to share too many of your personal thoughts. You'll need to take responsibility for the soldiers under your command. As for the matters of Prince Kingdom, of course I'm aware, but what good does knowing do?"
Zephyr sighed, his voice low and resigned.
"Jake, there's still much you don't understand. For a World Government affiliate nation, the impact one person can make is too small. Let me ask you this—after overthrowing Prince Kingdom current regime, what means would you use to rebuild that nation?"
"Would you install a new government? But do you have the funds? The personnel? The authority? Would you get approval from all parties? Do you even have the time? You have nothing. You're just relying on a young man's idealistic vision of the world to change things you dislike, without considering that your actions might lead to even more deaths."
"Have you considered that perhaps by doing nothing, the people of that nation might still survive, but your so-called changes could end up killing those who might have lived otherwise?"
Zephyr's questions left Jake silent.
He wanted to respond, but Zephyr continued.
"When you can properly handle all these matters, then come talk to me about missions beyond your scope. I'll support you then. Until that time, I won't approve your actions. What I've told you comes from personal experience—I don't want such tragedies to happen again, whether to you or to any nation."
With that, Zephyr dismissed Jake.
After the stern reprimand, Jake stood on the deck, letting the sea breeze wash over him as he pondered Zephyr's words.
Though harsh, they struck true.
A chilly wind blew, slightly invigorating his spirits.
He sighed, conflicted, but after long consideration, decided not to abandon his idea just yet.
After all, Zephyr himself had said he would support Jake if solutions to those problems could be found.
He'd always claimed he wanted to bring justice to this world, yet had accomplished nothing.
To shrink from challenges when real opportunities arose would be the height of hypocrisy.
But if his so-called justice came at the cost of personal gain while the people of that nation suffered, Jake wouldn't mind being called a hypocrite.
Staring at the dark sea, he felt a headache coming on.
The One piece world was far more problematic than the anime had portrayed.
About five hours later, at 4 AM, the ship reached a landing point on Prince Kingdom's northern coast.
A chilling cold spread, freezing a path across the sea.
The soldiers who had been preparing to cross the water now turned to Monet with grateful smiles.
Especially Hina and Ain, both Paramecia-type Devil Fruit users, who excitedly hugged Monet.
For the two of them, reaching the island from here wouldn't have been an easy task.
Zephyr's voice rang out, carrying an air of authority.
"You have half a month to eliminate all the pirates in these waters."