One Piece: From Marine to Legend

A few minutes later, Storm made his way from the admiral's office on the top floor to the Marines' Finance Department below.

His purpose was simple—to collect his salary.

The Marines operated in a structured manner.

For pirates, making money was as easy as committing crimes—pillaging, burning, and looting their way across the seas. But for the Marines, salaries came from the World Government, and they could only wait for their payments like clockwork.

The Marines followed an annual salary system.

A newly enlisted Marine earned a base salary of two million Baileys per year.

This did not include other benefits, such as uniform allowances, meal subsidies, and performance bonuses.

From this perspective, the benefits of the marines were quite good.

It didn't take long before Storm received his salary from the Finance Department— Two hundred brand-new ten-thousand berry bills!

Storm casually tucked the two million into his pocket.

Then, he left the Finance Department and made his way toward the Logistics Equipment Department.

After all, what was the point of receiving wages if not to spend them?

Once wages were paid, the next logical step was to purchase equipment.

The person in charge of handling Storm was a muscular, unshaven middle-aged Marine.

His gaze swept over Storm's uniform before briefly shifting to the bulging pockets of the new recruit.

"New blood? That's rare! What kind of weapons and equipment do you need?"

"I want to customize two weapons—a long sword and a baton," Storm stated confidently, now that he had the money to back up his request.

"However, I have special requirements for the baton."

Storm's expression turned serious.

"I want it made out of seastone."

He had yet to awaken Haki, and since there was no telling when he would, he decided to commission a seastone weapon as a precaution.

A seastone baton was an excellent tool against Devil Fruit users.

Every strike would deal real damage. Every hit would be a critical hit.

As for the long sword…

Storm was still just a human.

He didn't possess Big Mom's "steel balloon" physique, which made her nearly invulnerable to physical attacks.

Storm relied on his fists, but he also needed a blade.

His original goal was to purchase a well-forged sword from the Equipment Department.

If he was lucky, he might even find a famous blade on par with the (Skillful Grade) Ryo Wazamono grade blades.

Generally speaking, a well-made, sharp sword cost around one million berries.

Storm could afford it.

However, good swords were always in high demand.

On the vast seas, there were far more swordsmen than snipers.

Even within the Marines, there were countless swordsmen and even masters of the blade.

Acquiring a famous sword from the Equipment Department was difficult.

"Seastone, huh? Now that's smart!"

The middle-aged Marine grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

"The last guy who came here asking for a seastone weapon was that kid Smoker."

He scratched his stubble and continued, "The Equipment Department has seastone in stock, but we don't have any seastone batons readily available. If you want one, we'll have to custom-make it, which might take a day or two."

"I can wait."

Storm nodded. A day or two wasn't an issue.

"What about the long sword?"

"Swords, huh?"

The Marine rubbed his chin, glancing again at the recruit's pockets.

"As it happens, we recently received a batch of Liquor Iron ore."

[T/N: This material is present in canon. This ore is mentioned in Chapter 803 of the manga.]

"Liquor Iron Ore?" Storm raised an eyebrow.

The middle-aged Marine nodded.

"It's a rare and special mineral. When struck, it can ignite—just like alcohol."

"Blades forged from this material light ablaze."

Storm's mind instantly went to the Flame-Flame Fruit.

So now even swords could wield fire?

"The weapons don't just ignite manually; they can also be set ablaze through friction," the Marine explained further.

"This kind of weapon is quite popular in the New World."

Storm had to admit—it sounded interesting.

Still, there was one key question left.

"How much for a sword using this material and a seastone baton?"

The Marine smirked.

"The seastone baton is fairly simple to make. I'll charge you the material cost—200,000 Baileys."

"But the sword is different. That'll cost you 800,000 Baileys. It's not a famous sword, but it's well worth the price!"

"A total of one million Baileys."

The Marine grinned. "Would you like to pay in cash or check?"

Storm reached into his pocket—but suddenly paused when he caught sight of his uniform.

He hesitated, then changed his approach.

"I'm just a recruit!"

The Marine's expression darkened immediately.

Something wasn't right.

This kid wouldn't dare say "I'm a recruit, so give it to me for free," would he?

No way! That wasn't going to happen!

Not even for a new recruit!

"Sir!" Storm flashed a bright smile.

"I'm a new recruit! Give me a discount!"

The Marine's fists clenched.

He suddenly wanted to punch this kid in the face.

"The logistics officer is actually quite a nice guy!"

Storm walked out with a pleased expression.

He had successfully purchased:

A 'flaming' sword

A seastone baton

A cross-island Den Den Mushi

A permanent Log Pose to Marineford

The last two were gifts.

Not bad at all.

After leaving the headquarters building, Storm made his way to the training grounds.

Over the past year, Storm had trained relentlessly at the boot camp.

As a result, he had learned a variety of combat techniques, including,

the Six Styles (Rokushiki), swordsmanship, and even some spear techniques.

However, today, Storm had a different goal.

Rather than continuing to refine his combat skills, he was more interested in testing the Clay-Clay fruit.

As Storm approached the training ground, he could hear the sounds of combat.

"Ha!" "Hmph!" "Take this!"

The sound of fists colliding, warriors grunting, and…

Something else.

Then, a rather strange voice reached Storm's ears.

"I just want to be Kujaku's loyal dog—!"

A loud cracking sound followed.

It was unmistakably the sound of a whip striking flesh.

Storm's eyebrow twitched.

'Did I just hear that correctly?'

He turned his head—and immediately spotted the source of the commotion.

In an open clearing, a tall, blonde-haired, green-eyed young woman was mercilessly whipping a Marine.

Storm raised an eyebrow.

He recognized her immediately.

She was Kujaku, the granddaughter of Vice Admiral Tsuru.

However, as far as Storm knew, Kanjaku's weapon of choice had always been a long sword, not a whip.

He observed her for a moment longer.

Then it clicked.

'That's not a whip at all…'

No—it was a sword.

But one that had been softened and extended like a whip.

Storm's eyes flashed with realization.

"Kujaku… did she eat the Whip-Whip Fruit?"

At that moment, Kanjaku suddenly sensed Storm's presence.

She stopped mid-swing, turned toward him, and her green eyes lit up.

"Storm?!"

Her grip on the whip tightened.

"Get over here!"

Putting aside the fact that the two of them once counted stars and admired the moon together, Storm and Kujaku were among the best-performing Marines in last year's boot camp.

The two often sparred and fought. Storm knew Kujaku's abilities. Kujaku knew Storm's strengths and weaknesses. Their relationship was solid.

At this moment, Kujaku once again took the initiative to challenge someone to a fight.

Storm, who originally wanted to test the specific effects of the [Devil's Ring], certainly wouldn't refuse the invitation.

However—

Just as Storm took a step forward, Kujaku, impatient from waiting, stretched out her two long, straight, snow-white legs and charged straight at him.

Her speed was so fast that ordinary people couldn't react in time.

It was— Six Styles: Shave!

Kujaku raised the whip-like sword in her hand, the figure of the man in front of her reflected clearly in her sharp green eyes.

"Let me teach you a lesson!"

With a powerful swing, the soft sword in Kujaku's grip cracked through the air, heading straight for Storm.

Whoosh—

The flexible, whip-like blade tore through the wind with a sharp whistle, sending a chill down the spines of those watching.

Faced with this sudden attack, Storm stood still, motionless.

It seemed as if he was caught off guard, frozen in place.

But at some point, the color of his skin had changed.

His flesh had turned a smooth, pale white, almost like clay.

He neither dodged nor defended.

Kujaku's whip struck Storm squarely.

However—it was as if she had lashed a puddle of mud.

Thud!

A strange, muffled sound echoed through the air.

Puff!!

"What?!"

Kujaku's pupils shrank in an instant.

She was the closest one to him.

She could clearly see that her attack had almost severed Storm's left arm.

But what came out of the "wound" was not bright red blood.

Instead—it was white clay!

An endless stream of white clay gushed out from the opening in Storm's arm, like a flowing fountain.

The clay kept expanding, rapidly spreading across his body.

In just a few moments..

Storm's body had grown taller and larger. Six meters tall!

He had transformed into a towering giant.

The next moment, Storm swiped his right hand across his mouth.

A crescent-shaped white beard curved upward into place.

Clay-Clay Fruit? Nope! 

Transformation Fruit? Yes!

After his "transformation," Storm let out a deep, rumbling laugh.

"Gurarara!"

Before Kujaku could even react—

The Marines who had been watching the fight from the sidelines suddenly burst into screams.

"Whitebeard!!"

"The strongest man in the world!"

"Whitebeard has attacked Marine Headquarters!"

[Footnote:

Swordsmen who can use fire (Without the Flame-Flame Fruit):

Fossa - Whitebeard Pirates' 15th Division Captain

Hannyabal - Impel Down's Director

Kin'emon - Master of the Foxfire Style

After investigation (and speculation), this ability is attributed to [Liquid Iron Ore].

-Fossa can ignite his blade using a cigar.

-Hannyabal can set his weapon ablaze by spinning it rapidly.]