Marine Headquarters.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
The pen tip scratched across the paper with a soft "shasha."
Sengoku was sorting through a flood of miscellaneous intelligence coming in from around the world.
Suddenly, "thud—thud—"
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The office door was pushed open and Vice Admiral Tsuru walked in with measured steps.
Sengoku didn't lift his head; he asked casually, "What is it, Tsuru?"
"Da—"
Tsuru walked to the desk and gently placed two bounty posters on top of the pile of documents.
"Sengoku, take a look—there are new wanted pirates appearing in the East Blue..."
"East Blue?"
Sengoku's pen stopped moving.
He slowly raised his head, a look of puzzlement in his eyes.
"Wasn't the East Blue already plowed with iron and blood by that Hawke kid?"
"To make sure the East Blue remains absolutely stable afterward, I even had Sakazuki send two authoritative Marines to stay there from Headquarters."
"A pirate who could break out from their encirclement?"
The Navy's rules were strict.
A small fry who was captured the first time they met the Navy had no right to get a bounty.
If the wanted posters were on the desk like this, it meant only one thing.
This new pirate had, in fact, successfully escaped from the Navy's hands.
"See for yourself..."
Tsuru's expression gave nothing away.
Sengoku picked up the first wanted poster and his eyes fell on the photo.
It was a man with clown makeup exaggerated into a comical mask, a bright red nose perched on his face.
[Clown · Buggy]
[Bounty: 15 000 000 Belly]
"Buggy?"
Sengoku read the name and a sealed memory flickered across his mind.
That trainee from Roger's crew?
He remembered this fellow having vanished like steam after Roger was executed...
He hadn't expected him to pop back up after so many years.
A mere fifteen million wasn't enough to make the Fleet Admiral overly concerned.
He casually tossed Buggy's poster aside and picked up the second one.
The photo showed a boy wearing a straw hat, a radiant grin on his face as if he had no fear of the world.
[Straw Hat Kid — Monkey · D · Luffy]
[Crime: Evading Navy capture; escaped together with "Clown" Buggy.]
[Bounty: 5 000 000 Belly]
When Sengoku saw the surname "Monkey," his pupils suddenly constricted.
"Monkey...!"
He looked up toward Tsuru in disbelief.
"That's right."
Tsuru nodded slowly.
"He's the son of Monkey D. Dragon, the Revolutionary Army leader."
"Also...he's Garp's own grandson."
"Crrrrack—!!!"
Sengoku abruptly stood up from his seat.
"That damn Garp!"
"How on earth did he raise his grandson like this?!"
"A descendant of a Navy hero!"
"And he actually chose to become a pirate?!!!"
Sengoku felt his blood pressure spike wildly.
This was the Navy's biggest joke in history!
A Navy hero's family — the father is the world's worst criminal, and now the grandson has taken up the pirate flag!
Where would the Navy's face be left?!
"Tsuru, what do you think?"
Sengoku forced down his anger and turned to the ever-calm Tsuru.
"That Hawke kid is taking his G-3 fleet toward the Impel Dawn..."
Tsuru's voice was even and measured.
"Sakazuki is stationed in the New World and confronting the Four Emperors; he has no spare hands."
"Now is still in time..."
"!!!"
Sengoku immediately grasped the meaning behind Tsuru's words.
The Straw Hat Kid was, for now, only a rookie with a five-million bounty and hadn't committed any great crimes.
But if he escaped the Navy's pursuit and entered the Grand Line and started acting recklessly—
Then whether he ran into Sakazuki's "absolute justice" or Hawke's "justice of slaughter," the outcome would be the same: death!
A Navy hero's grandson executed publicly...
That would be an unbearably ugly scene.
So they had to strangle this budding seed of sin now, while it was still small.
"I understand."
Sengoku took a deep breath; the anger in his eyes hardened into resolve.
"Summon that Garp bastard to me!"
A moment later.
"BANG—!"
The Fleet Admiral's office door was thrust open.
"Sengoku, what's all the fuss about?"
Garp strolled in with a Senbei stuffed in his mouth, chewing loudly with crackling crunches, swaggering in.
"In such a hurry?"
"Hmph—"
Sengoku, expressionless, grabbed the wanted poster from the desk and flung it straight at Garp's face.
"See for yourself!"
"Oh?"
Garp casually caught it and saw his grandson's stupid smiling face.
"Oh, oh!"
"That Luffy kid's been yammering about going to sea to be a pirate, and he actually did it!"
He poked his finger into his nostril.
"But...only a 5 million Belly bounty? Pathetic!"
"Shames the old man!"
"???"
"!!!"
"Garp!!"
Sengoku could no longer suppress his fury. He pointed at Garp's nose.
"Only 5 million Belly?!"
"I'll raise his bounty to 500 million right now!"
"And I'll call that Hawke kid to tell him not to go to Impel Dawn, but to return to the East Blue and clean it up properly!"
"!!!"
At the instant the name "Hawke" was spoken, all the jocularity and ease on Garp's face froze.
The grin dropped from his face...
Oh no!!!
Oh no!!!
Oh no!!!
Alarms blared in Garp's head!
He realized instantly: the Navy now was not the half-hearted Navy of old!
The Navy was turning harder and harder, iron-blooded and righteous, at an unprecedented rate!
If that brat Luffy really ran into Hawke...
That junior who even Sakazuki praised as "one who carries slaughter to the extreme"...
Luffy would be done for!
Thinking that, Garp immediately wiped every bit of playfulness from his expression; he looked at Sengoku with unprecedented seriousness.
"Sengoku...I..."
"Go."
Sengoku wearily waved his hand and sank back into his chair.
"Make sure it's done cleanly—don't disgrace the Navy."
"..."
Garp looked at his old comrade, then at Tsuru who encouraged him with a look.
He nodded and strode away.
Soon, a canine-headed warship sped out of the Marineford harbor.
...
"Hold on tight, all of you!"
Garp stood at the bow, roaring to his aides and soldiers behind him.
"We're in a hurry!"
No sooner had he spoken than he leapt backward, right fist clenched, his forearm muscles bulging. He threw a savage punch at the air behind the warship!
Then, with a nimble twist, he landed steadily on the bow.
"BOOM—!"
An invisible shockwave, like the hand of a god, suddenly lifted the ten-thousand-ton canine warship from the sea!
The hull sliced through the waves and shot toward the sky.
Then it became a streaking arrow, tearing through the air toward the East Blue!
"..."
Garp kept his fist tightly clenched, feeling the gale in his face, his eyes filled with determination.
"Luffy, you damned brat!"
"Let your grandpa here—shatter your pirate dream with a single punch!!!"
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