[1866 Words]

------

Year 1524, G-2 Marine Base, North-East of Lulusia Kingdom,

Grand Line had always been an ever-changing place. Unexpected events were always expected in Grand Line.

People in the four blues called it a graveyard. And it is indeed a graveyard, a massive graveyard. Many lives had been lost in this unforgiving place. People are getting killed even now at this very moment in a corner of this humongous place.

After the Summit War of Marineford which happened two years ago, pirates started coming to Grand Line in huge numbers. They were riled up by the words of the man who was the closest to getting One Piece and achieving the title of Pirate King. That day many dreams, goals and purposes were decided upon. They got that last push for spurring them into following their dreams.

However, this meant hell for the Marines. They had suffered great losses in the war and restricting a large number of pirates at once was next to impossible if their current forces were considered. Marine Officers went through an absolute inhumane amount of work. They had sleepless nights and most needed to overwork themselves.

Both sides faced a lot of bloodshed and in this period, the Grim Reaper was busier than usual.

The marine officers of the G-2 Base also went through the same agony but now after two years, things have finally returned to the Grand Line level of usual. They still face skirmishes with the pirates and some unusual events happen but nothing out of the ordinary.

It was an amazing day for the marine officers of the G-2 Base. A bright day with no cloud in sight. The rays were radiating the whole base and the warmth of the sunlight was permeating through the soul of every living being on that island.

Birds were chirping merrily, their sweet sound filling the ears of the inhabitants of the island. Flowers were blooming and trees were basking in the sunlight. Animals sleeping in the cool shade of the trees in the forest. Even the strongest predator of the forest, the three-eyed tiger was resting in his cave peacefully.

The term 'life' itself had materialized on that island.

------------

At the Marine Base,

"Hultre, when was the last time we could be so lazy in the marine base?"

Hultre, one of the marine captains replied with a happy expression on his face, "It feels like an eternity, Marua. Those damned pirates came in the Grand Line after hearing those words of one of the former emperors, Whitebeard. We were there in the Summit of the Marineford and his words gave me goosebumps."

"Yeah, I felt a shudder run down my back as his tall figure riddled with bullets, with swords pierced in his body and a part of his face gone was able to speak with such gusto. And that was Whitebeard when he was far from his peak. I can't even imagine how strong he would have been at his strongest."

Hultre agreed to the words of his fellow captain, "I couldn't even go near him. My heart which followed justice wanted to go after that man and give my everything to contribute to his death by wounding him, even if slightly. But my legs refused to move, my instinct was screaming to not go near him as I would just die helplessly from the shockwave of his attack which would be directed at some other person. Both of us are measly ants in front of a person of his calibre."

Both of them grew silent and had a pale faces as if imagining the might of Whitebeard directed at them.

That feeling of vibration permeating and crackling through the air.  That moment when the attack was just in front of them and what their thoughts would have been at that time. How his attack would just crush their bodies, their bones crushed to bits, their muscles trained with hard work torn into bits, their faces mangled beyond recognition. As he moves on to another person as his target, their blood leaking out of their body as they stop existing on this plane of life. Their body turning cold and their eyes turning lifeless as they are added as one of the many unfortunate people who lost their life.

It meant Death for them...

...

...

...

Marua shook himself out of the stupor and laughed awkwardly while putting his hand on the shoulder of his comrade Hultre, "Hultre, I think we shouldn't think too much about things like these. That demon is dead. We are safe here, we might not be strong enough to battle against the top powers of the world but we do possess strength. We are not helpless. We need to aspire to get stronger for the sake of justice."

Hultre looked at Marua as despair seeped out from his eyes and said earnestly, "Thank you, my friend. I think this much overthinking is an effect of the nightmares I got after the war. I am really thankful for you supporting me."

Marua gave a thumbs up to his friend as he said while changing the subject, "Well, let's not linger on this topic anymore. Tell me about your child! How many years is your son gonna be this year?"

Hultre's eyes shone brightly as soon as he listened to that and he said, "My son? He is turning 7 this year. He is so cute. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No, you just told me that your wife and he lived in the Lulusia Kingdom. "

Hultre just got an opportunity to gush about his son and he started rambling, "Oh Marua, you don't know what kind of gem my son is! He is the cutest kid in the world. Do you know he said that he wants to be a marine? My son will become the strongest marine in the world! No pirate will ever be his match! He has already started swinging his sword. I am in awe of him as he works so hard. But I just fear if he trains too much and gets ill..."

Hultre kept speaking on and on for ten minutes before Marua saw their head, Vice Admiral Comil coming into the hallway.

Marua nudged Hutre and said, "Hey, Vice Admiral Comil is coming this way. Greet him!"

Hultre stopped his blabbering and looked at his senior coming towards them. Both captains saluted to their superior.

The person who presided over the G-2 Marine Base was Vice Admiral Comil. He was a vice admiral stationed here from the headquarters.

Comil saw his subordinates and said as he gave them a hearty smile, "Marua and Hultre, what are you two doing here?"

Marua spoke up instantly and said, "Hultre was telling me about his son."

"Hahahaha, he must have worn your ears off. He spoke to me about his son for half an hour. I even got to know the last time his son didn't take a bath.", said Comil while guffawing loudly.

Hultre said seriously, "But Vice Admiral, I still haven't told much about my son! He is the best kid in the whole world! I don't have enough time in this life which would allow me in this life to speak everything about myself."

Comil and Marua looked at him incredulously for a second before both of them shook their head at the lost cause.

Comil said with a hand on his chin, "Hultre, isn't your son in the marine base currently?"

"Yes, vice-admiral. He wanted to see a marine base with his own eyes, so I brought him for the weekend. But I know it's dangerous so I will send him back to the Lulusia Kingdom tomorrow. It's just for a day.", said Hultre.

"I see, Well, how about we go to the kitchen to drink some coffee? Let's go to Kyuji and Koda to drink some coffee." offered Comil.

Marua and Hultre agreed to it and the three of them walked to the kitchen. They found two head chefs working hard for making their dinner, Kyuji and Koda. Both were married to each other.

Vice-Admiral Comil asked, "Hey, Kyuji. Can we three get a cup of coffee?"

Kyuji, the head chef said with a grin on his face, "Of course, Vice Admiral! It's our job to serve you, people. Just wait for some minutes and you will get your hot, steaming coffee. Till then Koda will be serving you some cookies."

Koda, the head chef brought chocolate cookies to them. Marua asked, "Miss Koda, how is your daughter Moda? Is she growing up fine?"

Koda replied with a pleasant look on her face, "Yes, Captain Marua. She is doing great. She can handle things on her own and even her milk is also getting popular in Marine Bases."

"That milk makes your coffee great. It's amazing. By the way, when are you going to visit your daughter?"

"My husband and I will be visiting her next week. It will be nice to see her after a month. I am so happy we managed to find my daughter."

Their talk was interrupted as Kyuji brought a tray which had their cup of coffee in it, " Here you go, Vice-Admiral and Captains. A cup of coffee for the three of you."

The three of them took a sip of the coffee and sighed almost simultaneously.

Vice-Admiral Comil complemented Kyuji, "Ah, drinking your coffee in such pleasant weather is the best."

Marua and Hultre agreed as they were relishing their coffee with a satisfied expression on their visage.

Comil looked out of the window to see a beautiful and pristine ocean and said, "I wish life stopped at this moment."

------------------

At entrances of the base,

There were two marines stationed at each of the three entrances of the base. Usually, there were four but Vice-Admiral didn't think that it was that much of a problem if there were only two people at the entrance.

One of the marines at the middle entrance of the base said to his other partner, "Jake, when will our shift end? Why do we have to guard on such a nice day? Nothing will happen to us if we don't keep a watch. Look at the weather. It's so good."

Jake replied, "I know that but they are the orders given by the Vice-Admiral. We can't disobey them."

The marine was going to reply back but his attention was taken by another thing that happened in front of him.

A person came up the platform, fully soaked with wet locks of hair, water dripping from his face. He was wearing a loose blue shirt and black shorts which were now soaked.

Presumably, he had swum to this base from somewhere, the marine soldiers were shocked while the man was looking at them with an emotionless expression.

------------------

(End of the Chapter)

Well, it's a start of a journey. Hope you guys come with me through it. I will give my best in making this fanfic as good as it can be.

If you have any questions, then ask me in the comments. 

Join my Discord server for interacting with me- https://discord.gg/qDVsxP3CAg