A Reassuring Name
Since Garp was established as a naval hero, the deep-seated conflict between the World Government and the Marine Headquarters has been no secret to the higher-ups.
The navy has always been the most powerful military force under the World Government.
If the Navy's belief in maintaining the absolute rule of the descendants of the twenty kings were to waver, it would be a devastating blow to the World Government.
Of course, questioning the Celestial Dragons and the descendants of the twenty kings is itself shaking the very foundation of the world's superficial stability and peace.
Even a Marine like Garp, who utterly despises the Celestial Dragons, or a rebellious pirate like Roger, had to admit that destroying the Celestial Dragons system would bring unpredictable chaos to the world.
That's why they joined forces decades ago to defeat the Rocks Pirates, who were attempting to shake the very foundations of the world.
But this level of loyalty is still unacceptable to the World Government.
They urgently need to further strengthen their control over the navy.
Garp refused to be promoted to Admiral because he was unwilling to obey the direct orders of the Celestial Dragons.
At that time, the World Government realized how limited its power was, that it could only mobilize Admirals!
If this opportunity could be used to establish a rapid response force composed of young mid-level officers who could directly serve the World Government, it would indirectly increase the World Government's control over the Navy.
Therefore, Ma Qiao's proposal immediately received high attention from the World Government, which then mobilized its agents, who were planted among the fifty kings, to push for the proposal's passage.
Meanwhile, in a corner where no one was paying attention, a meeting recorder secretly slipped away under the pretext of going to the restroom.
A moment later, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who was arguing with Garp over the bento box, instantly returned to a dignified sitting posture.
Then the clerk appeared silently in front of him.
"Little Peanut, what's wrong?"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, some unexpected events have occurred at this Reverie."
The young clerk respectfully handed Sengoku a detailed set of meeting minutes.
Upon receiving the record, Sengoku's brows immediately furrowed.
Garp ate the delicious heart-shaped meatballs and glanced at his old classmate's expression.
His face looked quite pale, as if he were constipated.
Garp wasn't surprised by the sudden appearance of this young man.
The Sengoku was also known for its skilled use of spies.
Donquixote Rosinante, the younger brother of Doflamingo who was killed by him, was an intelligence agent trained by Sengoku.
However, apart from Garp and Tsuru, even Zephyr was unaware that Sengoku had planted spies in Marineford.
It wasn't exactly espionage; Sengoku had no intention of defying the World Government. However, in order to stay ahead of the curve in the complex political landscape and secure greater benefits for the Navy, he needed to conduct necessary intelligence gathering.
Looking at the young man he had raised since childhood and treated as his own son with a complicated expression, Sengoku's facial muscles twitched for a long time before he finally let out a long sigh.
"Little Peanut, these days everyone's talking about paperless offices, so next time just text me... If all else fails, you can write the information on a pizza with ketchup..."
As he spoke, under the dumbfounded gaze of the naval informant codenamed Little Peanut, Sengoku crumpled the classified information into a ball with his hand and swallowed it in one gulp, his movements so practiced it was almost heartbreaking.
Before he could even be surprised, Little Peanut vanished again from the office where Sengoku and Garp were.
"A very interesting ability."
Garp nodded. "But it's still far inferior to millet fruit."
"Little apple..."
Thinking of the gentle and kind Rosinante, even a tough guy like Sengoku's eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."
Garp realized his slip of the tongue and quickly pulled an extra-large pork meatball from Sanji's Love Story arc, stuffing it down Sengoku's throat. "As compensation, let me show you my disciple's cooking!"
"Cough cough cough..."
Sengoku covered his throat and asked curiously.
"Disciple? Didn't you say you bought it online?"
"Uh... that's not important. What information did that kid bring? You seem quite serious," Garp quickly asked.
"Oh, you mean that? It's nothing serious."
Sengoku snatched the health-preserving cola cup from Garp old scoundrel Garp, gulped down a big mouthful, and then let out a comfortable burp.
Garp snapped, "Was your constipated expression just now simply because Little Peanut's intelligence paper was too long?"
Sengoku shrugged. "Not only are they long, but the quality is also too rough; they made my throat hurt..."
"You're being too childish! As an old classmate, I have to criticize you a bit. How old are you? You're Fleet Admiral, why are you always acting like a child?"
When will you learn from me and spend more time on spiritual practice? Look at me, I've been practicing for four hours every day for the past two years, rain or shine.
And what you do is promote your paperless office everywhere, day after day. Have you even heard of Sakazuki or Borsalino?
"Isn't Marineford's paper consumption increasing year by year?"
Garp seized the opportunity to teach Sengoku a good lesson.
Even when Sengoku opened his mouth, he was completely unable to refute it.
Because in the past two years, Garp has indeed been working exceptionally hard, as if he's taken the wrong medicine, and recently he even took Kuzan with him on a training journey.
The Sengoku was ashamed of its inferiority.
After all, he had only spoken to Kuzan to inspire him to fight for the position of Fleet Admiral, while Garp had personally taken action, leading by example and teaching by word and deed.
It's clear who put more effort into nurturing Kuzan and working hard for the future of the Navy.
After a fierce Sengoku with Sengoku, Garp left satisfied.
Sengoku sighed and dialed the phone number of Vice Admiral Tsuru, who was stationed at Marineford.
"Ah Tsuru, the World Government is planning to tighten the leash around our necks again..."
Briefly inform Vice Admiral Tsuru of the intelligence brought by Little Peanut.
On the other end of the phone, Vice Admiral Tsuru's worried voice came through:
"A rapid reaction force directly controlled by Mary Geoise in terms of personnel, and simultaneously under the dual leadership of the Marine Headquarters and the World Government?"
How can this be!
Young men at the rank of Rear Admiral are still too naive in their understanding of justice. If they were directly controlled by the World Government... then...
Then... their sense of justice will be distorted...
"You're absolutely right, that's exactly what I was worried about, but..."
Even before he noticed it, a slight smile appeared on the corner of his Sengoku:
"This proposal was put forward by that insightful young man, Ma Qiao, and in the end, the Big Bird Consortium became the arms contractor for this rapid reaction force."
Although it's hard for me to explain, I did breathe a sigh of relief when I saw the name of young Ma Qiao.
I always felt that things weren't so bad after all...
"Oh no, this is absolutely terrible!"
Inside the conference room, Ma Qiao, watching his Cobra eloquently on the podium, helplessly covered his eyes.
Can you believe that my Cobra even secretly prepared a PowerPoint presentation?
His speech was titled "Promoting Alabasta's Culinary Culture: A Small but Beautiful Country, Not a Powerful One, But a Happy and Prosperous People, and Making Alabasta a World Culinary Capital."
Watching his Cobra on and on, Ma Qiao was so embarrassed he almost tore his fine boots apart.
Fortunately, female companions were not allowed at this meeting; otherwise, Vivi would have been even more embarrassed.
Alabasta a superpower with a regular army of 600,000, a land area equivalent to Egypt, and a population equivalent to Pakistan.
Cobra, after pondering for half a year and keeping your governing plan a closely guarded secret, it turns out to be this kind of thing.
I'm not being modest, but it seems that I, Ma, am destined to be the first in line to the throne of Alabasta, whether I want to or not.
Ma Qiao sighed helplessly and began studying the legal provisions concerning the Union in the One Piece world.