Sengoku had the captain write a specific and detailed report about the situation.
After he and Vice Admiral Tsuru carefully analyzed it, they could only helplessly accept the final conclusion.
"This was just an ordinary pirate attack."
There had once been plenty of low-bounty pirates who tried to raise their bounties by attacking Marine warships.
But some pirate attacks did not succeed.
The moment they showed their faces, they might be captured by the Marines.
So sudden attacks where the attacker vanished immediately afterward were extremely common.
The only reason they had gathered specifically to discuss this matter was because it involved Garp's disciple.
Seeing this, Sengoku could only step forward and comfort him.
"We don't have any crucial clues, this incident can't be treated as a premeditated group operation. We can only consider it a pirate attack, your disciple was simply caught up in it by coincidence."
"I see…"
Garp's clenched fist slowly loosened.
Seeing this, Sengoku sighed softly and deliberately changed the topic.
"The dead can't come back to life. You need to accept it, Garp. Let's talk about the living first."
"For example, your grandsons, Cain and Ace. What should we do with them? Release both of them, release only one, or lock them both up in Impel Down?"
The instant he heard Ace and Cain's names, and then remembered the secret in his heart powerful enough to shake the entire sea, Garp snapped awake.
He tossed Koby's matter to the back of his mind and silently sighed in his heart.
'Sorry, Koby. All I can say is that your luck was really bad.'
Immediately after, his eyes shot up sharply, and he began arguing with Sengoku on the spot.
After all, Ace's background was a matter of tremendous importance.
How could a cheap disciple who was already dead compare to his precious living grandsons?
In the end, the Marines officially sealed Koby's soldier number and listed him among the fallen.
From that point onward, there was no longer a Marine named Koby!
As for Garp, he no longer had the luxury of drowning in grief.
After living for most of his life and seeing countless partings between life and death, he had long since learned to control his emotions.
As long as a family member had not died right before his eyes, Garp could set the matter aside.
…
Smoker's Warship, Prison Cell
"ACE, DON'T WORRY. I'LL DEFINITELY SAVE YOU!"
"CAIN! I KNEW NOTHING GOOD WOULD HAPPEN IF I STAYED WITH YOU! IT WAS LIKE THIS WHEN WE WERE KIDS, AND IT'S STILL LIKE THIS NOW! I NEVER SHOULD'VE BELIEVED YOUR NONSENSE!"
"YOU'RE BLAMING ME? THAT'S JUST OUR FAMILY'S OLD PROBLEM! WE GET SLEEPY FOR NO REASON AND CAN'T CONTROL IT! BESIDES, DIDN'T YOU SLEEP PRETTY WELL TOO?"
"EVEN IF I WAS GOING TO SLEEP, I SHOULD'VE BEEN SLEEPING ON THE WAY TO CHASING BLACKBEARD, NOT GETTING LOCKED UP IN THIS DAMN PLACE WITH YOU!"
"I'M DOING THIS TO PROTECT YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
"WHO ASKED YOU TO MEDDLE?! YOU CALL THIS PROTECTION?!"
The two had nothing left on them except a pair of briefs each, and their hands were locked together with Seastone cuffs.
Earlier, while they were disguised, they had stuffed all their belongings into Ace's bag.
After they were caught by the Marines, the bag vanished. Even the Marine uniforms they had been wearing had been stripped clean.
Now, they were on the prison floor, complaining at each other and wrestling.
Cain raised his foot and kicked toward Ace's face, his toes jabbing straight into Ace's nostrils.
Ace cried out in pain, then grabbed Cain's underwear with his free hand and yanked it upward with all his strength.
After adapting to the Seastone for a while, that powerless feeling it brought could no longer stop them from moving normally.
This was especially obvious for Cain.
After all, his Devil Fruit was a Zoan type.
The powerful body and astonishing recovery granted by the fruit would not disappear just because Seastone suppressed his ability.
Just as the two were tangled together in an impossible mess, the iron door of the cell suddenly opened with a creak.
A head poked in, its gaze sweeping across their nearly naked figures.
"Would you two be interested in taking me as your master and learning the art of the Okama Way? In my opinion, both of you have quite the talent."
"You're… Bon Clay? Why are you here?"
Cain's eyes widened, and he recognized the visitor.
"Because I'm here too!"
A clear voice suddenly rang out, and Uta jumped out from beside Bon Clay.
She smiled and waved at Cain, carrying their clothes in her hands.
"You're from Luffy's ship…"
Ace had only just begun to speak when Cain suddenly shoved him against the wall, pressing his cheek firmly against the cold, hard steel plate.
"UTA! DON'T LOOK THIS WAY!"
The instant he saw Uta, Cain completely panicked!
He hurriedly used his backside to shove Ace behind him, blocking Ace's body tightly with his back.
At the same time, his hands frantically moved all over himself, trying to cover up, so flustered that he did not even know where he should hide first.
"It's fine, Cain. Everything's okay now."
Uta's voice sounded very light.
"I already knocked out all the Marines here."
Before her words had even finished, Uta had already walked into the cell and unlocked the Seastone cuffs on Cain's wrists.
Cain's face was red the entire time, even the tips of his ears faintly flushed.
Because Uta was also a Devil Fruit user, she inevitably touched the Seastone while opening the cuffs.
Her legs went weak instinctively, and Cain quickly supported her.
The key slowly slipped from her hand.
Seeing this, Ace immediately stretched out his hand to catch it.
But Cain, without another word, raised a hand to cover Uta's eyes, snatched the key one step ahead of Ace, and then hoisted Uta over his shoulder before striding toward the door.
With a backhanded swing, he slammed the prison door shut, locking Ace inside again.
Then he grabbed Bon Clay, who had been enjoying the show from the side, and quickly rushed into the corridor.
Inside the cell, only Ace remained, awkwardly extending his right hand and standing there all alone.
...
In the corridor, Cain clumsily put on his clothes while repeatedly asking the two of them what had happened, how they knew each other, and why they had appeared here.
Seeing this, Bon Clay explained, "Actually, after my Boss was defeated, I became good friends with everyone in the Straw Hat crew! So I voluntarily came to help them out by guarding their ship."
"Later, on the Straw Hats' ship, I happened to meet Uta-chan. The moment I heard her singing, I immediately felt that the melody was a match made in heaven for my Okama dancing!"
Bon Clay thought back to how Uta had directly smacked him in the face with a broom when they first met, but he spoke as if he did not mind at all.
"That's about how it went. Although there were some little misunderstandings along the way, this okama guy… no, guy-girl, really isn't a bad person."
When Uta remembered that Bon Clay had come to guard the ship on his own, while she had used her fruit ability to drag him into the music world and whip him for a while, she felt rather embarrassed.
Fortunately, the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up.
Cain remembered that, in the original story, there had indeed been a plot where Bon Clay helped Luffy and the others guard the Merry.
So he did not continue pressing the issue. Instead, he asked how they had found this place.
Bon Clay and Uta exchanged a glance, then turned at the same time to look toward the end of the corridor.
The person at the end seemed to sense their gazes. Draped in a cloak, that person slowly walked over.
They stopped in front of Cain and spoke in a low voice.
"I originally came here with only one purpose. But after seeing the recent newspaper, I gained a new idea."
As the words fell, the visitor slowly removed the hood covering their face and looked at them earnestly.
"Please, save my country."
---------
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