Missaya's death marked the definitive end of the battle.
Already at a disadvantage, the Hawkeye Pirates completely lost their will to fight after witnessing their captain fall. Their forces collapsed in full retreat.
And when Nao, finally free, descended from the sky and joined the fray, things went downhill for the pirates even faster.
Without a high-level enemy like Missaya to counter him, Nao was practically unstoppable—cutting through the enemy like a tiger among chickens.
Pirates with bounties in the millions? Most didn't even see his sword before their heads hit the deck.
Even those with bounties over ten or twenty million lasted no more than a couple of exchanges before they were brutally cut down.
By the end—
Even Rear Admiral Buma and the G2 officers found themselves... standing around.
All they had to do was follow behind Nao, mopping up whatever scraps were left.
Victory had never come so easily.
Two or three hours later—
Under cover of night, the Marine warship, having finished cleanup, turned and began its return voyage to G2's island base.
On the quiet deck—
Rear Admiral Buma stood bathed in moonlight, a cigar in her mouth, staring toward the cabin with a complicated look.
That kid… is he even human?
Just a moment ago, she'd watched Nao return to the ship, give himself a quick rinse—then march straight into the training room and lock the door behind him.
Not even a break?
Buma glanced over at Kawakawa Shuma, who'd also fought hard during the battle and was now sprawled on the deck, snoring like a log.
Buma fell into thought.
Both were elite recruits from HQ. Both were personally trained by Zephyr-sensei.
How could the gap between them be this wide?
"Rear Admiral."
A voice from behind interrupted her thoughts. She turned—her subordinate officer had appeared.
"Something wrong? Is it about the children?"
Before setting sail, she had ordered full efforts be made to rescue and treat the kids found in the ice coffins. Any updates were to be reported immediately.
"Yes," the subordinate officer nodded. "The children appear not to have been frozen for long. Thanks to Dr. Rhea and the medics, over thirty have regained consciousness. Another fifty or so are stabilizing and slowly waking up."
"And the rest…" He paused, looked up at her, then sighed without finishing.
Buma exhaled a plume of smoke, saying nothing.
She'd counted the coffins earlier—over a hundred and ten.
The subordinate officer had only reported the majority. The remaining thirty-something, deliberately left unspoken… didn't need to be explained.
"Damn pirates."
Buma crushed her cigar underfoot and growled, "Take me to see the children."
"Yes, ma'am."
They entered the ship's interior, passing through long corridors, and finally stopped outside a door at the end of the hall.
Buma pushed it open.
Inside, rows of medical beds were lined up. Heaters and rewarming equipment filled the room. Doctors and logistics personnel buzzed around, barely able to keep up.
Some children were still unconscious. Others had woken but looked fragile and weak, barely able to sit up.
Female support staff sat at many of the bedsides, carefully feeding the kids warm porridge and water.
Seeing this, the weight on Buma's chest lightened just a little.
She looked around—then suddenly paused, eyes catching on something near the wall.
There stood a white-haired boy, around fourteen or fifteen, helping one of the staff spoon warm food to a newly awakened child.
He had a buzzcut, wore a leather jacket and pants—an oddly mature style—but his face was unmistakably youthful.
Pale, clearly recently thawed himself, and still recovering. Yet his eyes burned with quiet resolve as he moved busily between beds.
Buma watched him for a while, her gaze softening.
"Hey, kid."
She walked up and crouched down, speaking gently. "You should rest. We've got enough hands here—you don't have to push yourself."
"I just want to help, ma'am." The boy shook his head without stopping. "Don't worry. I've always been sturdy. I can manage."
There was something in his tone that reminded Buma of Nao during the fight.
She smiled faintly and ruffled his hair, saying no more.
Her subordinate then handed her a folder—a report listing basic info collected from the kids who'd regained consciousness, along with corresponding photos to help reconnect them with their families later.
On the first page, topmost photo: the white-haired boy.
Buma's gaze landed on the name listed beneath it. She murmured the words aloud:
"East Blue. Loguetown. Smoker…"
In the training room—
Nao wasn't training just yet.
He sat alone in front of the steel wall, quietly organizing his thoughts and tallying the results of the battle.
First—battle merits.
He'd not only taken down Hawkeye Missaya solo, but also killed more than ten pirate officers with bounties exceeding ten million Berries—three of whom had bounties over thirty million.
In terms of contributions, he had clearly done the lion's share of the work in wiping out the Hawkeye Pirates.
The Marines had a well-established internal merit system. While there wasn't an exact exchange rate between bounty value and rank points, long-standing precedents existed to help gauge credit.
Nao figured that with what he'd accomplished, it was enough to promote a Marine HQ lieutenant commander to full commander—and then some.
In other words, even if he filed for graduation right now, he'd likely be awarded the rank of commander on the spot.
And considering his previous defeat of the giant bear pirate Sano, plus the sheer strength he'd demonstrated, it wasn't out of the question that he'd be named a rear admiral candidate.
"If I get another couple pirates like Missaya in the next two months, just two or three more… that rank would be locked in."
"And if I manage to take down someone with a bounty over 100 million—then I might just graduate straight into the rank of rear admiral, like Akainu or Aokiji did back in the day."
A nice plan. But…
Where around G2 could he find that many high-level pirates just waiting to be caught?
"Still not enough time…"
Nao groaned and scrubbed his face hard.
Whether he got lucky or not, didn't matter. For now, all he could do was push harder.
Zephyr would return in three months to bring them back to HQ. Every minute of this internship was precious. If he wanted to max out his gains, he had to stay sharp and efficient.
Beyond the battle merits, there were two other rewards.
The first—progress on his Yone Twin Blades.
Nao never held back against pirates. He didn't care if they were Devil Fruit users or not—if they could be cut down, he cut them down. If he had a chance to finish them off, he did.
If even then they somehow survived… well, they were tough enough to earn a cell in Impel Down.