Chapter 48: Please keep reading! The ultimate second-generation navy elite!

South Sea, Navy Sub-base 194, stationed at Watermelon Island.

The island was named Watermelon Island because, when viewed from above, its shape was an oval with a narrow, vine-like extension at the northern tip. Inside, two winding rivers resembled the stripes of a melon, making the entire island look like a massive, flat watermelon.

Most crucially, over fifty percent of the island was covered in melon fields, thirty percent belonged to the Navy base, and only the final twenty percent served as the residential area.

Originally, the residential area had occupied thirty percent, but ever since a new Colonel arrived at the Navy base five years ago, the base's expansion had grown steadily, eventually seizing more than ten percent of the land.

Because the melon fields were the residents' primary source of income, they were unwilling to shrink their cultivation areas to make room for living space. Combined with a growing population, their living environment had become extremely cramped.

Even so, the people could only suppress their anger.

Firstly, they were powerless to resist; secondly, the presence of the Navy base did indeed prevent pirate raids.

Nowadays, everyone knew that pirates on the sea were becoming increasingly numerous. Residents traveling to other islands to sell melons often heard rumors of villages or towns on certain islands being plundered by pirate crews.

In recent months, they had even been escorted by warships during their trips to sell melons.

Of course, it wasn't free. The Navy base had proactively proposed a deal: they would provide full-course protection services in exchange for forty percent of the total melon sales.

This was another choice that left the residents helpless.

Having Navy escorts was certainly a good thing, as it guaranteed the safety of both the sellers and the melons, but a forty percent cut was far too exorbitant.

As a result, the living conditions of the residents of Watermelon Island had dropped from being relatively prosperous and spacious to barely meeting their basic needs.

Inside the base stood three blue-painted columnar buildings—one tall and two short. In front of them was an extremely vast parade ground, while behind them were numerous warehouse-like small buildings connected to the harbor docks.

Robust Marines with ruddy complexions stood guard at various posts, clutching muskets. Eight small warships were moored side-by-side in the harbor; this model of warship could typically carry three hundred people, with a maximum capacity of five hundred.

At this moment, in an office spanning nearly three hundred square meters on the top floor of the main building, Colonel Haros—a man born with pale yellow hair and a hooked nose—stood before a wide floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the view of the entire island, his gaze occasionally drifting toward the distant horizon.

"Judging by the time, they should be arriving soon..."

[Knock, knock, knock!]

"Come in."

An unremarkable Major walked in carrying an ordinary wooden box. After closing the door, he looked respectfully at Colonel Haros's back.

"Base Commander, the goods have arrived, along with your item..."

"It's here!"

The Colonel spun around abruptly, looking at the wooden box in the Major's hands with pleasant surprise. He walked quickly to take it, but just as he was about to open it, he paused and glanced at the Major.

"You may leave."

"Yes, sir!"

Once the man had left the office, Colonel Haros impatiently lifted the lid of the wooden box. In the next second, a bright green Devil Fruit covered in spiral patterns appeared before his eyes, accompanied by a small card.

"Haha, finally! Now my son's future is secured!"

He excitedly took out the Devil Fruit and examined it up and down as if looking at a rare treasure. In terms of price alone, it truly deserved that title.

He had spent a full 500 million Berries to buy this from King Taklamakan, effectively emptying his life savings.

Fortunately, since becoming the Base Commander, his annual income had been substantial. This didn't refer to the money from the residents' melon sales—which wasn't worth much—but rather the regular "protection fees" sent by the Kingdom of Thutmose.

This wasn't directed at him as a Sub-base Colonel, but rather at his position as the Commander of Sub-base 194.

The so-called "goods" mentioned earlier referred to this!

Colonel Haros's son was named Gaspardi. Because he was naturally tall, sturdy, and strong, and thanks to his father's written recommendations, he had entered the Navy Headquarters as a Seaman Recruit three years ago.

Yet after all these years, he had only risen to the rank of Private First Class. Although the Colonel had contacted his son and heard he was about to be promoted to Corporal, he still felt it was too slow.

In truth, he understood that the difficulty of promotion at Navy Headquarters was certainly much higher than in the Four Seas branches, and the pirates on the Grand Line were much stronger.

Therefore, for the sake of Gaspardi's future and safety, he had thought about finding a powerful Devil Fruit to send over. However, despite being a Navy Colonel, his influence was limited.

Of course, there were channels at Navy Headquarters to exchange combat merits for Devil Fruits, but not only was it tedious and difficult, the abilities of the fruits couldn't be guaranteed. Over the years, the truly good fruits had long been picked clean by others!

For this reason, he had been troubled for many days before finally deciding to seek help from the "all-powerful" King Taklamakan, whose influence "spread across the Four Seas."

Initially, he had only asked out of curiosity, but before long, the other party had actually agreed to provide a Devil Fruit that sounded very reliable.

A special Paramecia-type Gum-Gum Fruit, which could grant the user a gummy-like ability similar to a Logia-type elementalization!

Colonel Haros was naturally extremely satisfied with such a surprise, but the other party did have conditions.

First, the price had to be 500 million!

It was extremely high; the normal market price for a Paramecia Devil Fruit was around 100 million Berries, but since this was a special Paramecia, it was understandable.

Second, he had to guarantee that he would not be transferred within the next five years.

This was nothing, as the Navy currently had no fixed terms of office. As long as one ensured no mistakes were made while in office, or achieved some great feat that forced Headquarters to take notice, one basically wouldn't be dismissed or promoted.

He just needed to stay put!

Third, he had to further support the business of the Kingdom of Thutmose—for example, helping to dispatch fleets for escorts when needed.

In short, he agreed.

"With this special Paramecia Gum-Gum Fruit, that kid Gaspardi will be at least a Captain at Headquarters in the future, maybe even a General. That way, my management of the South Sea will have a foundation!"

Colonel Haros was well aware of his own lack of talent; even if he ate a Devil Fruit, his ceiling would be limited, so it was better to give it to his gifted son.

If his son truly became a Navy Admiral in the future, he would basically have no more inhibitions in this South Sea.

[Knock, knock, knock!]

At that moment, the office door was knocked on again. This caused Colonel Haros, who was lost in visions of a beautiful future, to frown slightly in displeasure, but he still placed the Gum-Gum Fruit back in the box.

"Come in."

"What is it now?"

The same Major entered to report: "Base Commander, Rear Admiral Monkey D. Dragon is leading a fleet of five Headquarters warships into the South Sea. He says he is here to capture the Black Cat Pirates and the White Cat Pirates, and requires our help to investigate their locations and stand ready to provide support at any time."

"What? Five warships?"

Colonel Haros looked bewildered.

"Although the bounties on these 'Black Cats' and 'White Cats' are quite high and they have a significant number of members, there's no need for so many warships, nor for us to be on standby for support?"

The fleet led by Dragon, as mentioned by the Major, would certainly consist of Headquarters-class warships. When he had taken his son to report at Marineford years ago, he had personally witnessed how terrifying the specifications of those warships were.

"Ahem, Rear Admiral Ivan, who is currently acting as Rear Admiral Dragon's adjutant, quietly told me that this Rear Admiral Dragon is the son of Vice Admiral Garp. Therefore, he requested that all departments in the South Sea take this very seriously!" the Major added with a wry smile.

Colonel Haros froze, then burst into a realization-filled laugh.

"I see! So that's how it is! The son of a Navy Hero... he's here to rack up combat merits! Those two cats are in for some bad luck. If the operation goes smoothly, fine; but if they manage to injure Rear Admiral Dragon, tsk tsk, the consequences will be even more disastrous! Hahahaha!"

After speaking, his expression turned serious, and he looked at the Major with a stern gaze, commanding: "Issue the orders. Prepare to deploy the warships. As soon as the command arrives, depart immediately. No delays!"

In his view, this was a rare opportunity to make contact with Dragon. It would be even better if he could mention his son's name in front of him.

The son of Vice Admiral Garp... that was considered the absolute top tier of the "second generation" in the Navy system!