Garp sensed that something was wrong.
No—something was terribly, absolutely wrong!
Preparations on this scale could only be aimed at one thing: a Yonko.
But within the World Government's grand strategy, there were clear requirements involving the Four Emperors.
Before receiving permission, the Marines were not to go to war with a Yonko!
He did not believe Sengoku had grown so old that he would make such an oversight. Even if that possibility existed, the World Government would step in and stop it.
The Fleet Admiral of the Marines stood at the peak above millions of Marines, but above the Fleet Admiral were still the Five Elders!
This institution was merely one part of the World Government.
"Has it reached the point where we have no choice but to fight? Why… Could it be—no. Ace isn't the kind of man who can't get back up after being defeated."
Garp's steps unconsciously quickened. The unease in his heart transformed into something far more terrifying.
Although he had spent half his life acting careless and rough around the edges, that did not mean he was a fool.
He simply could not determine whether this was the worst possible situation.
Right now, the only person who could give him an answer…
Was Sengoku.
When the messenger officer stopped and refused to go any farther, Garp saw the quiet, deserted highest office.
Or rather, there was only one person waiting inside.
"…So that's how it is?"
Garp's heart slowly sank. He clenched his fists, hesitated for a moment, and out of the corner of his eye, saw the messenger officer lower his head and slowly leave.
For a certain period of time, only two people would exist in this area.
"Are you not coming in, Garp?"
Sengoku's voice came through the wall.
Garp could no longer remain standing still. Still wearing that carefree expression, he strode into the highest office.
"Bwahahaha, Sengoku, what big matter is it this time?"
"Do you truly not know?"
Sengoku raised his head at precisely that moment, calmly gazing at his old comrade-in-arms, who had tilted his head back and was picking his nose with an attitude that was a little too arrogant.
Too fake. Too deliberate.
It lacked the natural feel of before.
If this had been any other time, he would already have walked over and started rummaging through the drawers for senbei.
"I'm just a Vice Admiral. How would I know about these things? Asking me to handle so many matters would be worse than killing me."
Garp sat down on the sofa in his usual careless manner and casually flicked away the black ball on his finger.
In the past, that action would have made Sengoku roar in anger.
But this time, nothing happened.
It seemed something was different.
Sengoku lowered his head. While signing documents, he said indifferently, "You know about the commander under Whitebeard who was defeated not long ago, don't you?
"I imagine you must know. After all, it was published in the World Economic Journal's newspaper.
"The pirate Super Rookie who made a name for himself over these past few years—Fire Fist Ace.
"That troublesome problem who gave us endless headaches, to the point where we even sent him an invitation to become a Warlord of the Sea.
"This time, due to internal conflict within the Whitebeard Pirates, he left the New World to hunt down Blackbeard Teach, who betrayed and stabbed his family in the back.
"But unfortunately, he failed. He was defeated by Blackbeard Teach, captured, and handed over to the World Government.
"Now, he has already been escorted back to Marine Headquarters.
"This matter is related to him. Or rather, he is the protagonist of it. The World Government has decided on a public execution.
"The location is Marineford. Everyone returning this time is preparing for that execution.
"The order from above is to achieve it at all costs.
"Remember—at all costs!"
When he spoke the final sentence, Sengoku's tone became incomparably cold.
He stood up, picked up the document he had finished signing, and as he left the office, flung it onto the table in front of the sofa.
Then he left the highest office without looking back, leaving behind only one icy sentence.
"Just this once, you need to understand where you stand, Garp."
"…"
Garp remained silent, his entire body stiff as stone.
His face, lined with deep nasolabial folds, turned several shades paler. His back unconsciously bent slightly. It was only the tiniest shift in posture, yet it made him seem as if he had aged greatly in an instant.
At the end of his line of sight, the content recorded on the document bearing Sengoku's signature was very simple.
If simplified, it meant only one thing.
Garp was permitted to visit Ace under layer upon layer of blockade!
If just now he had only sensed some terrifying possibility, then now it had become reality.
The Yonko, who had stood upon the seas for decades, had never been easy opponents to deal with. The forces under their command were nearly equivalent to a portion of the Marines' strength.
Even though Garp knew the current Whitebeard was extremely aged.
Every injury he had suffered in the past would come back to claim him in his old age. Whether he could even use Haki was an unknown.
But in truth, when facing that man who held the title of the world's strongest…
The best solution was still to wait for him to die naturally, then prune away the organization that had lost its dragon's head.
Finally, they could sit back and watch as the pirates slaughtered one another for that position, entering a long period of internal conflict.
Not—
Starting a war!
What was a mere commander of the Whitebeard Pirates worth?
There were more than twenty commanders of that status!
In the past, there had never been an incident where one was executed, much less dealt with through a public execution!
Killing Ace like this—aside from provoking Whitebeard and igniting a large-scale war, what benefit could it bring?
This did not conform to the grand strategic policies established by Marine Headquarters and the World Government.
But Sengoku had just said it too. The World Government's instruction was to achieve it at all costs.
Then…
There had to be some necessary factor, something that could not be delayed, something that had to be done.
The only thing he could think of was that.
"…As expected of you, Sengoku."
Garp smiled bitterly and raised his head, preventing himself from looking at that departing back.
He knew he had actually concealed it very well. Yet he also knew that those concealment methods were meaningless before an organization like the Marines.
If they truly insisted on investigating, there were very few things in this world that could be hidden from the Marines' intelligence network.
Because as long as something existed, it would leave traces.
Moreover, he returned to Windmill Village every once in a while.
And he was not the only one who went there. The Marines who accompanied him would not vanish without reason either.
It was just like how the recently famous Luffy being his grandson had come to light.
There were far, far too many things that could expose it.
Even the Warlord of the Sea invitation letter that Marine Headquarters had sent to Ace back then had only existed because he had secretly pushed matters along.
Of course…
That was also because Ace had been dazzling enough.
Garp simply could not figure out one thing.
The most essential point… Ace's bloodline and origins… How exactly had that been exposed?
That child had grown up in an environment that was extremely cruel to him.
Everyone he came into contact with cursed and reviled the Great Pirate Era that Roger had brought about.
He would not, did not dare to, and was even ashamed to admit that he was Roger's son.
The only ones who should have known were Luffy and Sabo.
The former would never say anything unless someone asked him. The latter was already dead.
What kind of circumstances had made him say such a thing?
And how had it been transmitted into the World Government's hands, becoming the current reality in a way that left Garp no time to react?
For the World Government to understand that the operation in the South Blue back then had failed…
They would definitely need decisive evidence. A mere verbal admission would not be enough.
So… how exactly…
There was no answer. Garp placed the document over his face.
Reality had already become fixed. There was no meaning in it anymore.
"Sorry, Roger… And sorry, me."
His memories seemed to flow back to that time.
To that Pirate King who had willingly walked into a trap, handing his bloodline over to him from behind iron bars.
Because of trust—and other things as well—Garp made a decision he would regret for the rest of his life, yet one he would still make again if given another chance.
He had sat by and watched that island flow with the blood of the innocent, allowing Ace to come into this world alive.
But now, fate seemed to have played a joke on him.
That child—his grandson Ace—had not reached Roger's level.
Yes.
Garp knew Ace would definitely become a pirate, even though he had always tried to discipline him with his iron fists.
Those born bearing guilt would always chase a burning path, even if the end of that road would burn them to ashes.
That Devil Fruit, which suited his personality so perfectly, had probably fallen into Ace's hands for that very reason.
But even though Garp had known all this, he had not tied Ace up and dragged him to a Marine branch to enlist.
After all…
What he had hoped for was not some future where "Ace becomes a Marine, Luffy becomes a Marine," and grandfather and grandsons happily carried out justice together.
Never!
What Garp truly hoped for was—
An unpredictable variable!
He had once experienced God Valley.
Within that truth that had already been erased, he had witnessed what absolute evil truly looked like.
People were treated like livestock, like toys, provided as entertainment for those with absolute authority, slaughtered as if their deaths were nothing more than amusement.
They were clearly all human.
So why were some people placed high above all others, while others lived worse than beasts?
In the reality he had witnessed, human lives were as worthless as weeds!
All the justice that had been whitewashed in the past was torn to shreds at God Valley!
Every Marine who witnessed it would have their justice shaken.
Even Garp was no exception.
At that time, he had been shaken too.
Was the coat of justice draped over his shoulders white… or blood-red?
Were the ones killed by his fists evildoers, or people resisting injustice?
What he had strangled to death—were they pirates, or…
The hope of change?
There was no answer.
Even to this day, Garp could not obtain an answer.
Even though he was actually very intelligent, a man possessing both wisdom and courage. Even Sengoku, who was known as a resourceful commander, would discuss the state of affairs with him.
His vision was long-term, and his grasp over the direction of the world was extremely precise.
But still, he could not reach a conclusion.
The world was complicated. The Marines were good, and they were also bad. The World Government was bad, yet it also had a small amount of good.
Order, even terrible order, was still better than no order at all.
But… this kind of order was something Garp could neither adapt to nor accept.
That was why he called the Celestial Dragons trash. That was why he used chasing Roger as an excuse to refuse promotion to Admiral.
That was why he was unwilling to hunt down those pirates who could still be considered kind.
That was why, while educating Ace and Luffy with his iron fists, he also watched them set out to become pirates.
Because the place he stood in was not enough to make him believe in justice so firmly that he would give everything for it!
It was enough for him to remain here.
As for the younger generation, they could walk their own paths.
He had even allowed something more terrible to happen.
Because he believed—
Sacrifice could be exchanged for a variable that might bring change!
Just as Roger had brought about the Great Pirate Era, he had also brought forth stormy waves never seen before.
The pressure on the Marines grew greater by the day, but variables were also being nurtured amid the chaos.
Perhaps the change brought by the Great Pirate Era was wrong.
Perhaps it made the world bleed.
But it was still far, far better than unchangingly marching toward despair!
(End of Chapter)