Chapter Thirty-Four: The Troublesome Borsalino

"Borsalino, your request to build a swimming pool on your flagship for the physical and mental well-being of the marines has been approved. However, the pilot phase is strictly limited to your own ship!"

Fleet Admiral Sengoku tossed the stamped document over with a dark expression. Building a pool on a warship was absurd, but it was still better than having Borsalino slack off on his duties.

"Oh! So I can finally build a pool on the ship? That’s fantastic! I’ll go find someone to handle the modifications right away!"

Borsalino hadn't expected the Fleet Admiral to have such a trick up his sleeve. He truly lived up to the title of the Navy's "Wise General."

Watching Borsalino leave the office, satisfied with the application in hand, Sengoku let out a small sigh of relief. Even the previous Fleet Admiral, Kong, had never found a truly effective way to handle Borsalino, who had become an Admiral at roughly the same time as him. This man cared neither for power nor wealth, and unlike Sakazuki or Kuzan, he lacked any burning ambition or goal to pursue. To Borsalino, a naval position was just a job; it was already a miracle that he managed to complete his duties between bouts of laziness. Expecting him to work overtime was undoubtedly asking for the impossible.

Logically, a slacker like Borsalino shouldn't have been popular with his superiors. However, his strength was simply too immense, and over time, he had accumulated enough merit that his promotion to Admiral had become unavoidable. Both the current and former Fleet Admirals had exhausted their wits trying to get him to work properly, only just managing to stumble upon this method of dealing with him. As long as one could tolerate his laziness and idle nature, he was, in a sense, the best subordinate one could have. At the very least, he wasn't capricious, and even when he was slacking, he stayed within the bounds of the rules.

"Pool, pool... should it be open-air or indoor? Ah, I almost forgot—I need to discuss this with little Nami first!"

Borsalino was self-aware enough to know that Sengoku’s approval was the absolute limit. Even with the "slacking" warning, the Fleet Admiral would never agree to use the Navy’s budget to fund a private pool for him. Unless he was willing to go on strike, but upon reflection, there was no real need for such drastic measures. Building a pool, even on a warship, would cost at most a few tens of millions of Berries; it wasn't worth playing his trump card over that amount.

"Little Nami, I'm back~"

Borsalino walked into the office, now dressed in his formal Admiral’s uniform and coat. For some reason, Nami preferred seeing him in his naval attire. Whenever he wanted to curry favor with her, he would proactively change into this "battle gear." This way, as long as his requests weren't too outrageous, Nami usually agreed.

"Hmph!"

Nami, who was busy writing and drawing behind Borsalino’s luxurious desk, felt a surge of joy upon hearing his voice. However, she immediately wrinkled her nose and let out a cute huff. That hateful guy had been gone for over ten days and had only called twice—it was simply too much!

"Heh heh, don't be angry. Look what I brought for you..."

Borsalino had come prepared. He reached into his pocket, produced an exquisite necklace, and walked over to Nami with a beaming smile. After a few rounds of sweet talk, he easily coaxed a smile out of her. He then seized the opportunity to pull out the application for the pool, asking her to arrange the construction. As his adjutant and financial officer, Nami not only managed his private coffers but also oversaw all of his official budgets and expenditures.

"The shipwrights and engineering department at headquarters are all busy repairing warships and reinforcing the fortresses. I’m afraid they can’t spare any hands in the short term."

Having accepted the gift, Nami sat in Borsalino’s lap quite naturally. Her petite frame made her look like a large doll against his tall, imposing figure.

"Oh, is that so... Then how about we commission shipwrights from another branch or Water 7 to do the modifications?"

Borsalino had been looking forward to this pool for a long time. As a Devil Fruit user, he couldn't swim in the ocean; the Pyrobloin contained within seawater would leave him completely drained. With a pool, he could swim in specially treated water with the Pyrobloin removed. Of course, the real highlight would be seeing little Nami in a bikini.

"I'm afraid that won't work. Your flagship has already been integrated into the combat sequence as the first line of defense blockading the outer seas. If we send it to another branch or Water 7, it won't arrive at its assigned combat position in time..."

Nami wore a look of mild distress. She wasn't as desperate for the pool as Borsalino, but the prospect of having one on board was still something to look forward to.

"So it's been integrated into the combat sequence... Tell me, Nami, how many years has my flagship been in service?"

Borsalino stroked his chin, a meaningful expression appearing on his face.

"Your flagship? I recall it was assigned to you eleven years ago. Counting the six years it served before that, it has been in operation for seventeen years." As his adjutant, Nami was quite competent; she remembered exactly how many times his ship had undergone repairs.

"Is there any possibility... of swapping my flagship with one of the ships blocking the port?"

Borsalino wasn't a picky person; otherwise, he would have refused the old ship in the first place. But given the rare opportunity to get a new ship—and to do so legitimately—why would he refuse?

"Are you sure about this?"

Nami understood his intent immediately. Simply put, he wanted to place his current flagship on the front lines. If it were sunk, he would have a valid reason to ask Sengoku for a new one. And given his status as an Admiral, the new ship assigned to him would have to be the best available.

"That old boat was due to be decommissioned in a few years anyway. Headquarters is starting to commission new warships embedded with Seastone; is it appropriate for an Admiral like me to still be using an antique?"

Borsalino said, feigning annoyance, completely forgetting that he had rejected several offers to replace his flagship in the past, citing that he was too lazy to move his belongings. Back then, his reasoning was simple: as long as he kept using an old ship that was slow and unable to cross the Calm Belt, he wouldn't have to carry out those troublesome missions. After all, by the time his old ship arrived at the scene of most incidents, the targets had usually already escaped. With that old warship, even if he wanted to give chase, he couldn't.