After Rouge moved into Garp residence at Marine Headquarters, Michael hired two experienced midwives.
With that, Rouge situation was completely settled.
Indeed, the final step in achieving the 'hiding in plain sight' strategy was the principle that 'the most dangerous place is the safest'!
Who the hell would expect the Pirate King widow to be living at Marine Headquarters?!
Not even novels would dare write something so absurd!
More importantly, in the environment of Marine Headquarters, Ace would absolutely not be influenced by the chaotic outside world to make becoming a pirate his life goal.
Killing two birds with one stone! A single move with double gains!
After all, in Michael plans, Ace importance was no less than that of the four major recruitment bases—perhaps even slightly surpassing them!
But the setup had only just begun and results wouldn't be visible anytime soon.
It was the busiest time of year at Sabaody Archipelago, where the Great Pirate Era had just begun. It was difficult to carry out his planned cleansing operation for the Sabaody Archipelago at this crucial moment.
Consequently, Michael found himself suddenly idle.
Boring!
So Damn Boring!
During this idle period... Michael figured he might as well improve his own strength.
He hadn't forgotten Garp promise to take him and Stella out to sea for training!
So after settling Rouge, Michael went to find Stella.
After some time apart, Stella gaze had grown sharper, with the demeanor of a Marine now clearly overshadowing her original singer aura.
Her golden hair had also grown longer, cascading over her shoulders.
"Hey, Stella, how've you been these days?"
"Aside from being a bit tired... not bad." Stella smiled.
Though Michael hadn't been by her side these days, her life had been fulfilling nonetheless.
When Shiki attacked, she used her abilities to evacuate people to safety—a feat that was reported to Admiral Sengoku.
She was the fourth Logia-type Devil Fruit user discovered among the Marines!
And a member of the new generation at that!
Sengoku placed extraordinary importance on this. So he personally oversaw a series of training sessions and evaluations for Stella. And two days ago, he formally awarded her a rank.
Straight to lieutenant no less, assigned under Michael command.
As if showing off, Stella spun around, the "Justice" cloak—reserved for lieutenant and above—wrapped around her graceful figure, blending martial pride with a hint of charm.
The tips of her golden hair playfully brushed against Michael' nose.
Suppressing the sudden flutter in his chest with difficulty, Michael told Stella about Garp plan to take them both out to sea for training.
"Great! With Vice Admiral Garp guidance, we'll definitely get stronger." As expected, Stella agreed without hesitation.
Michael smiled knowingly.
Stella had just begun to gain power. Since her starting point was low, any training would yield significant improvements—the stage where positive feedback was most abundant.
In other words... addiction.
Michael had experienced this feeling in his first few years after reincarnating into this world. Back then, he'd even gotten quite full of himself, thinking he was destined to be the protagonist...
Looking back now... how ridiculous.
Pure, unadulterated chuunibyou syndrome.
Fortunately, he'd long since moved past that phase.
He figured once Stella continued improving and gradually hit a bottleneck, this addictive training fervor would fade.
"Alright, since there are no objections, let's go find Garp." Michael nodded, took Stella hand and headed toward Sengoku office.
No need to guess—at this hour, Garp would definitely be slacking off in the old man office.
Sure enough, when Michael arrived, Garp was just popping the last spicy rice cracker into his mouth.
"Old man Garp, remember you said you'd take us out to sea for training?"
"...Damn, you kids in that much of a hurry?" Garp blinked, suddenly cursing. "This old man methods are brutal!"
"Duh! Of course we'd want a strict teacher! This is about getting stronger!" Michael rolled his eyes.
Just as long as it wasn't those goddamn awful methods he'd used to train Ace and Luffy in the original story.
"As long as you don't randomly toss us into bottomless pit, or dump us in monster-infested jungles at night, or tie us to hot air balloons to free-fall from the sky, we're good!" Michael rapid-fire demands made cold sweat break out on Garp forehead.
How did this brat know my exact training plans?! These were my signature techniques! Dragon had become a true powerhouse through this very training!
(Though it might also be why Dragon became even more determined to ditch the Marines!)
And in the future, Garp had planned to use these methods on Ace... and Dragon son too!
"Ahem"
"Where'd you hear such ridiculous things?"
"Who else would know your training methods that well besides Dragon?" Another eye roll.
This old coot really had no awareness of how much his son resented him.
"Enough! You don't understand the wisdom from such training!" Garp stubbornly doubled down.
"But relax, I never planned to train Stella that way—"
"...Not Stella, meaning you DID plan to train ME like that?!"
"..."
"Fuck! Your sudden silence is pissing me off!"
Sengoku watched his adopted son and his old comrade suddenly start performing a comedy routine in his office, feeling his brain begin to tremble!
These two always giving him headache!
"YOU TWO IDIOTS! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
Under Admiral Sengoku towering rage, Garp had no choice but to take Michael and Stella back to his Vice Admiral flagship.
"Earlier i was just joking around, but now that you've boarded my ship, there's no turning back." Garp declared, pointing toward the vast ocean.
"Your training begins today! From now on, there's only one training regimen! And that's fighting! Constant fighting! When there are no pirates, you fight me! When we encounter pirates, you fight them! In short, aside from sleeping, you'll be in combat mode at all times! Even eating will be done while fighting!"
Michael blinked, observing Garp passionate speech that gave off strong "hot-blooded teacher" vibes.
Then asked the crucial question "About that... do we get to keep the pirates' bounties?"
"If you dare say something like '70-30 split,' I'm absolutely reporting you!"