Chapter 333: The Wise Jonathan

Chapter 333: Chapter 333: The Wise Jonathan

Chapter 333: The Wise Jonathan

Jonathan arrived at the section of G-8 that had been damaged by the Sea King.

He stood at the edge of the devastation for a while, quietly surveying the scene.

"It really is tragic, Major."

Drake paused, then looked around.

G-8, also known as Navarone Fortress, was surrounded by steep land and fortified structures. Now, one entire section had been torn apart.

Cannons had been destroyed.

Passageways had collapsed.

A huge crater had been carved into the reinforced ground.

For a Marine fortress, the damage was unquestionably severe.

Drake nodded.

"The destruction is extensive."

Jonathan’s expression became strangely somber.

"That’s not what I meant."

Drake turned toward him.

Jonathan sighed.

"My favorite fishing spot was right there."

He pointed toward the destroyed section.

"Now I’ll have to find somewhere else."

Drake’s face stiffened.

For a moment, irritation crossed his expression.

Their fortress had just suffered a massive attack, and the commander was mourning a fishing spot?

Jonathan noticed, but did not care.

He stepped down into the crater.

Several Marines were already photographing the area.

Even damage caused by natural disasters or Sea Kings had to be properly documented.

Nearby, engineers were surveying the broken structures and estimating what would be required for repairs.

As Jonathan passed, the Marines straightened and saluted respectfully.

He ignored the ceremony and crouched.

Reaching down, he picked up a handful of sand and rubble.

He rubbed the material between his fingers.

Drake watched him.

"Commander, what are you looking for?"

"Nothing in particular."

Jonathan let the grit fall from his hand.

"I’m just looking."

He glanced across the crater.

"Still, this really was quite an impact."

Drake nodded.

"A Sea King capable of causing this much damage must have been enormous."

"Mm."

Jonathan wandered toward the edge of the destroyed area.

Then he kept walking.

A short distance away, near the trees beside one of the corridors, he crouched again.

He scooped up another handful of sand.

Rubbed it between his fingers.

Then smiled.

"So it seems our fortress wasn’t attacked because something smelled delicious after all."

Drake blinked.

"What?"

Jonathan stood.

"Major Drake."

His tone remained casual.

"It seems we have guests."

Drake’s expression sharpened.

Jonathan held out the sand in his palm.

"The ground around Navarone isn’t the same as ordinary soil."

He rubbed his fingers together.

"When the reinforced structures were built, fragments and metallic residue from the steel passages mixed into the surrounding ground."

Drake looked down.

Jonathan continued.

"So why would debris thrown up by the Sea King’s impact appear all the way over here, near the woods beside this corridor?"

Drake’s eyes narrowed.

Jonathan pointed back toward the damaged wall.

"There’s something else."

"There are two impact marks."

"The first is obvious."

He gestured toward the enormous crater.

"That one came from the actual collision. Deep. Violent. Full force."

Then he indicated another depression nearby.

"But this one is different."

"Shallower."

"Much more controlled."

Jonathan’s smile faded slightly.

"It looks less like an attack and more like something extremely heavy deliberately lowering itself onto the ground."

Drake stared at the two marks.

Then he understood.

His expression changed.

Someone had ridden the Sea King into the fortress.

Or used it as cover to enter.

For all of Jonathan’s lazy habits and odd behavior, moments like this reminded Drake why he commanded G-8.

"So should we announce an enemy infiltration immediately?"

"No."

Jonathan answered at once.

Drake looked at him.

"Why not?"

"Because shouting ’enemy invasion’ without knowing who the enemy is would accomplish very little."

Jonathan brushed the dust from his hands.

"It would only make the entire fortress nervous."

He turned toward the nearby officers.

"Our priority is to tighten internal security."

Then his demeanor changed.

The casual fisherman vanished.

In his place stood the commander of G-8.

"You."

One Marine stepped forward.

"Sir!"

"Strengthen security around the bay and the strait."

"Yes, sir!"

Jonathan pointed toward another officer.

"You’ll reinforce the ammunition depot, important facilities, and all major passageways."

"Yes!"

"You’ll handle the eastern section."

Another salute.

"You’ll take the western patrol routes."

Orders came one after another.

Within minutes, Jonathan had reorganized the fortress’s defenses.

Every important entrance, passage, and facility would be watched.

G-8 was quietly turning into an iron cage.

Still, Jonathan was not finished.

He looked toward Drake.

"Major Drake."

"Yes, sir."

"You’ll handle the internal search."

Drake nodded.

Then Jonathan added,

"But don’t call it a search."

Drake paused.

"What do you mean?"

Jonathan looked toward the grass nearby.

"A green caterpillar is difficult to spot when it hides among green leaves."

Drake listened carefully.

"I trust the abilities of our Marines."

Jonathan continued.

"But we don’t know who entered the fortress."

"We don’t know how many there are."

"We don’t know what they want."

"And if they’re capable of disguising themselves in Marine uniforms, ordering everyone to search for infiltrators may only make them more careful."

Drake nodded slowly.

"So you want us to search without letting them know we’re searching."

"Exactly."

Jonathan smiled.

"Call it a drill."

"A surprise exercise for the newer recruits."

"Tell everyone we’re testing how quickly the base can respond to infiltration."

His eyes sharpened.

"During the drill, look for unfamiliar faces."

Drake immediately understood.

"Yes, sir."

"One more thing."

Jonathan turned away.

"If they entered through that Sea King, they’re almost certainly not Marines."

"If they were Marines, they wouldn’t need to break into one of our bases this way."

He paused.

"But regardless of who they are, if they’re human, they’ll eventually get hungry."

Drake blinked.

"The cafeteria?"

Jonathan smiled.

"Keep an eye on it."

"Yes."

"And if the search turns up nothing..."

Jonathan looked back at him.

"Relax security."

Drake frowned.

"Deliberately?"

"Yes."

"We don’t know their objective."

"If they realize the fortress is tightening around them, they may hide and wait."

Jonathan’s expression remained calm.

"But if they think we’ve stopped looking..."

"They might reveal themselves."

Drake stared at him for a moment.

Then saluted.

"Understood."

Jonathan gave a satisfied nod and walked away.

...

Elsewhere in the fortress, Vivi, Chopper, Karoo, and Wapol were moving along a hillside path.

Chopper glanced toward Vivi.

"Vivi."

"Hm?"

"Why are you still traveling with someone like him?"

Vivi blinked.

She knew exactly who Chopper meant.

Axel.

After a moment, she answered honestly.

"I’m not completely sure."

Then she gave a small, complicated smile.

"Maybe I’m using him."

Chopper stared at her.

"Using him?"

The word did not fit the Vivi he had come to know.

She seemed too kind for that.

Vivi nodded.

"Yes."

She looked ahead.

"I’m the princess of Alabasta."

Chopper’s eyes widened.

"A princess?"

"My country is being destroyed by Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

Vivi’s expression became serious.

"And I can’t stop him."

Chopper absorbed the revelation.

Under normal circumstances, learning that Vivi was royalty would have shocked him much more.

But after watching Wapol, an actual king, get reduced to Axel’s terrified subordinate, his standards for what counted as shocking had shifted considerably.

"So that’s why you found Axel?"

Chopper asked.

"You want him to save your country?"

Vivi nodded.

"He may be the only person I can rely on to do it."

The statement sounded extreme.

But from Vivi’s perspective, it was not far from the truth.

There were certainly others in the world capable of defeating Crocodile.

Any Marine Admiral could probably deal with him.

But Alabasta had already sought help.

And the Marines had chosen not to see what was happening.

That experience had taught Vivi something unpleasant.

Having the strength to help and being willing to help were two very different things.

Chopper thought about Axel.

"If you ignore his personality..."

He scratched his cheek.

"He really is strong."

Vivi gave him a strange look.

Then she asked,

"What about you?"

Chopper blinked.

"Me?"

"Why are you treating him?"

Chopper fell silent.

He lowered his head slightly as he walked.

After a while, he answered,

"I don’t really know."

Vivi waited.

"If there’s a patient in front of me and I refuse to treat them..."

Chopper rubbed the back of his head.

"Doctorine would definitely get angry."

Then his expression became more certain.

"Besides, treating sick and injured people is what doctors are supposed to do, right?"

Vivi stared at him.

The answer was so simple that she did not know how to respond.

During her time away from Alabasta, she had seen far too much of the world’s uglier side.

People pursued profit.

They abandoned principles when the price became high enough.

Friendship, loyalty, and kindness often seemed fragile when compared with survival or self-interest.

Then she met Chopper.

A doctor willing to treat someone he disliked simply because that person was injured.

And Axel.

A man whose actions were so strange that they could barely be explained through ordinary ideas of profit at all.

Axel seemed to act according to his own interests, whims, and rules.

Sometimes that made him terrifying.

Sometimes ridiculous.

And sometimes unexpectedly helpful.

Vivi sighed.

"Whatever."

She looked toward the buildings ahead.

"We should focus on finding what we came for."

They still needed to locate the Marines’ records.

And somewhere inside G-8, there had to be a sea chart that could lead them toward Alabasta.

....

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