Man in Pirates: Robin is my cousin? Chapter 020

Ranpo extended his right hand, slowly clenching his fist. Inky black matter coiled around it, enveloped by a layer of translucent red energy.

Around him, wisps of black lightning roared, as if to tear the very air apart.

This was the strength of his Busoshoku Haki, feeling even harder than Ryuo.

Gazing at the faintly visible Marine Headquarters in the distance, Ranpo closed his eyes, resting.

Not long after, Ranpo arrived at Marine Headquarters. The colossal characters “Marine” exuded an air of majesty, sacred and inviolable.

“So this is Marine Headquarters, much bigger than in the anime.”

Ranpo looked up at the massive building before him, unable to help but exclaim.

“Please show your identification!”

As soon as Ranpo stepped ashore, a Marine approached him.

Without a word, Ranpo directly presented his ID card and the verification documents given to him by Cartel.

The Marine took the documents to inspect them, then stared at Ranpo with a strange expression.

“Hello, please follow me.”

Without much conversation, the Marine already knew Ranpo’s purpose.

Following the Marine, Ranpo was led to a dormitory building. The Marine handed him a key marked with the number 404.

“This is your temporary dorm. There will be a gathering tonight, and someone will come to take you.”

Ranpo nodded and said, “Excuse me, may I ask who else is participating in this mission?”

The Marine explained, “Someone will inform you of the operation arrangements tonight. Please wait patiently.”

Ranpo inquired, “Alright, can I look around here then?”

“Go ahead.”

With that, the Marine turned and left.

CP intelligence organizations and the Marines were both under the World Government, so a visit was naturally not an issue.

Seeing this, Ranpo didn’t rush back to his dorm but instead wandered around.

He had only seen Marineford in the anime before; he never expected to visit it in person one day.

Ranpo leisurely toured Marineford. Aside from a few restricted areas he couldn’t access, he had a general understanding of the Marine Headquarters’ layout.

“Bang!”

“Bang!!”

“Bang!!”

A series of booming sounds from not far away caught Ranpo’s attention.

Walking towards the source of the sound, Ranpo soon saw two figures, bare-chested, punching a scrapped, colossal warship.

Garp and Kuzan.

“Hoo…”

“Kuzan, when you go to capture Kaido this time, remember to punch him hard for me twice!”

Garp stopped swinging his fists and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“That’s Kaido, you can’t just punch him whenever you want, can you?”

Kuzan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Old man, do you know why we’re capturing Kaido again this time?”

Kuzan was a bit confused. Ever since he became a Marine, Kaido was constantly being captured. They couldn’t kill him, so why keep capturing him?

“How would I know? Go ask the World Government.”

Garp pulled out a donut from who knows where and began eating it.

He never paid attention to such matters; capturing Kaido was just a task assigned from above.

“Speaking of which, is that kid over there your friend?”

Garp looked at Ranpo in the distance and asked Kuzan.

“Hmm?”

Kuzan turned to look at Ranpo, frowned in thought for a moment, then shook his head, “Don’t recognize him.”

Indeed, he didn’t recognize him. If Robin appeared here, he might recall her.

But as for Ranpo, he only knew his name and identity. Ranpo’s appearance?

Would you remember a snot-nosed kid you only met once several years ago?

“Cough cough, hello, my name is Belial, from Enies Lobby. I’m here to participate in this mission.”

Seeing that the two had noticed him, Ranpo had no choice but to step out and greet them.

“So, a Cipher Pol agent,” Kuzan understood.

“Kid! Want to have a donut eating contest? Let’s see who can eat more!”

Garp didn’t care where Ranpo was from, raising the donut in his hand and asking.

Huh?

Ranpo was stunned. This was very Garp!

“Bring it on!”

Garp’s eyes lit up, “Hahahaha, good kid, come on!”

“Kuzan, go get all the donuts I’ve been saving! I’m going to break a record today!”

Garp shouted loudly, while Kuzan reluctantly went to get the donuts.

Kuzan hadn’t expected anyone to actually be willing to play such a game with Vice Admiral Garp.

He thought more highly of Ranpo now; being so calm in front of the Marine Hero was enough to prove his psychological fortitude.

“Kid, are you CP 9?”

From what Garp knew, the strongest combatants from Enies Lobby were CP 9. In the past, such missions were carried out by people of his level.

But this time, the Marines and the Cipher Pol organization had reached a consensus, deciding to give the younger generation an opportunity to gain experience.

To help their strength reach a higher level.

“Not yet, but I will be soon.”

Perhaps even higher than CP 9, Ranpo silently added in his mind.

“Hahahahaha, kid, not bad! Interested in becoming a Marine?”

Garp slapped Ranpo heavily on the shoulder, laughing heartily.

“Cough cough, we’ll see… later.”

Ranpo subtly took a step back, declining Garp’s invitation.

Whether Marine or agent, they were merely tools for him to disguise himself. It didn’t matter where he was.

So, he currently had no intention of changing jobs.

Soon after, Kuzan returned, carrying a large bag of donuts.

“Yo! Kuzan’s here! Let the donut contest begin!”

Garp didn’t continue trying to persuade Ranpo to join the Marines, focusing his attention on the donuts.

“Kuzan, you be the referee!”

And so, an absurd contest began.

It ended in a draw because they ran out of donuts.

After today, Ranpo probably never wanted to eat another donut; he felt his sugar intake was a bit excessive.

However, it wasn’t a complete waste. At least he learned the details of the Kaido capture plan.

The Marines would send two Vice Admirals, Aokiji and Kizaru, along with five Marine Rear Admirals.

The Cipher Pol headquarters sent five CP 0s, plus voluntary participants from various CP organizations. The exact number hadn’t been tallied yet, but according to Kuzan, as of today, Ranpo was the first voluntary agent he had seen.

That night, Ranpo was led by a Marine to a conference room to discuss the Kaido capture plan.

In the conference room, there were only a dozen or so people.

Besides the mission participants, there were Sengoku, Tsuru, and Garp, who had come to join the fun.

Ranpo scanned the room and found that the Cipher Pol side, including himself, only had seven people.

This meant that besides the five CP 0s, only two agents had volunteered for this mission.

Ranpo and the other voluntary agent were arranged to sit in a corner, listening to the important figures give instructions.

“Hey, brother, what’s your name? Are you here to ‘gild your resume’ too?”

Ranpo was spacing out when the agent beside him, who was also a “small fry,” nudged him and asked.

“What do you mean? Gild my resume?” Ranpo was confused.

“Heh~ Don’t pretend. You’re so young, you must have pulled some strings beforehand. I’ll tell you a secret: my father has already smoothed things over with the five CP 0 adults.

When we’re capturing Kaido, I just need to hide, and they’ll protect me. As long as I make it back alive this time, I’ll be promoted to CP 9!

Oh, by the way, my name is Beno. What’s your name? We can hide together then.”

The agent named Beno was beaming with excitement, a joyful smile on his face, as if he could already see himself becoming a CP 9.

“Uh… we’re quite fated. My name is Belial,” Ranpo said, speechless.

As expected of the pirate world, people with connections were everywhere. Using a mission like this to “gild one’s resume,” weren’t they afraid of getting themselves killed?