In such situations, it is always better to act first and speak later.
Rance: "Close in!"
Appearing next to the pirate, Rance shot him in the knee. The pirate reacted quickly, but not fast enough, and as he rolled to the side, Rance holstered his gun, took out his last loaded one, and shot at the same knee again, even before completing the roll.
Standing up, Rance holstered the final gun, and when the pirate roared and swung his massive club with difficulty, Rance delivered a swift kick, releasing a compressed air wave that sliced the pirate from the groin to the crown.
Rance had to give credit to the half-giant—the blow would have cut an ordinary man in half, but the pirate's eyes simply rolled back, and he lost consciousness with a large wound across his body.
Not showing any surprise, Rance assumed a commanding posture and shouted: "Drop your weapons, and you will be spared! If you don't lay down your arms, you'll be killed!"
To reinforce his words, Fia transformed her fingers into ten tiny cannons and fired near the feet of the astonished pirates. Upon seeing her Devil Fruit, the pirates began surrendering one by one, pleading for mercy and blaming their former captain for their actions.
This didn't affect Rance, and he methodically began capturing the prisoners and aiding the wounded.
Turning to Captain Bop, Rance realized that he would probably need a long time to recover, if he could at all, and fortunately, none of the crew's lieutenants dared to challenge Rance's orders after witnessing his strength.
The next stage of the journey involved delivering the prisoners and towing the pirate ship. Rance and Fia had experience with this.
A few days later, after bringing the ship to port and selling the prisoners, Rance and Fia stood on a small fishing pier, exchanging a couple of letters.
The first letter, addressed to Rance MacGrew, read:
"In recognition of your outstanding service to the Marines of the Southern Blue Sea, you, Rance MacGrew, are appointed to the rank of Commander to uphold and protect justice in all matters concerning the social welfare of law-abiding citizens.
Signed: Blue Vestito, Rear Admiral of the sea and so on.Fia received a similar letter appointing her as a Commander-Lieutenant, which infuriated her, as she simply wanted to be a cook.
There were also other documents detailing their new assignments. As a Commander, Rance was assigned his own ship and a patrol zone around the island of Centauria.
He was required to report to the location within sixty days, meaning that he and Fia would have no free time on land, except for today.
While the two were talking on the pier, mostly about work, Fia pointed to a flock of carrier pigeons, and one large bird swooped down. Somehow, the creature knew how to deliver messages, and after handing the package to the girl, it flew away.
Rance asked, "What is it?"
"Uhh..." Fia replied, looking at the sender's name.
Then, turning her head, Fia handed the letter to Rance, "Oh, it's a letter from Bill!"
The past year and a half had been tough, Ricky thought. Power was crucial at the Marines Academy in Marineford, but if a cadet didn't possess overwhelming strength, it was barely enough to compensate for other shortcomings. This was the current situation for Sasha and him.
They were strong enough to win most ranked fights, but after the first evaluation, Sasha was in last place, and he was not far from her. Considering they joined a year later, reaching the top 30 in the rankings by their second year was extremely difficult. Especially for Ricky, who didn't want to be a Marine in the first place.
Sword training? Who even likes swords?! Fighting monsters? Who would want that?!
All Ricky wanted was to work six hours a day in some office and spend the rest of his time as he pleased. If it weren't for... "Ugh."
Trying to suppress a sigh, he just stared at the top bunk. The Instructors were supposed to arrive soon to reprimand anyone who wasn't properly dressed or for anything else they thought needed "fixing."
After eighteen months, Ricky got used to sleeping less. His biological clock had adjusted to wake him up on time.
Despite all the downsides, Ricky thought his time here wasn't all that bad, at least because he got to be with Sasha every day. He also met many high-ranking Marines, starting with Hero Garp and Admiral Red Dog.
Thinking about the officers, Ricky realized they were all a bit strange. It seemed that Aramaki wasn't the usual senior officer.
His thoughts were interrupted when other cadets in the room started waking up. Ricky quietly got up, neatly made his already tidy bed, and finally put on his slippers. After that, he went to Sasha's bunk, placed a hand on her shoulder, and gave a gentle nudge.
"Wake up, they'll be here soon," he said quietly.
Turning over, Sasha looked at him with a trace of drool on her cheek. Her hair was a mess, and noticing who it was, she just murmured something, wiped her face, and got up to start getting ready.