The Biggest Beneficiary!

The main port of Marineford.

"I'm finally back!"

Standing on the deck of the Oxhead Battleship, Vidal gazed at the magnificent and awe-inspiring Justice Fortress, feeling a surge of excitement and awe, but all of this stemmed from a feeling of relief.

I'm so glad I can come back here again, so glad I can see my family again, so glad I'm alive to witness this scene.

He wasn't the only one with this thought; Major Rogers, Captain Rabani, and Lieutenant Isoka behind him all wore the same expression. The pressure they were under was immense; being hunted by an enemy of Admiral rank was far more terrifying than encountering a monstrous storm at sea!

"Go home first today and have a good time with Cornell and the others. Come to my office tomorrow," Kong was standing at the front, said with a smile as he turned around.

There was no other way; he didn't travel on any warship when he left. He traversed the Grand Line alone using Geppo. Otherwise, given the speed of a warship, he wouldn't have been able to rescue Vidal and the others in time, and he would have been left with the corpses of Sakazuki and the other two.

Therefore, the reason why he lost to the Red the Aloof due to physical strength was not only because of his age, but also because of this other important reason: after all, being in your sixties and being in your seventies are two completely different things.

Therefore, upon returning to Marineford, Kong could only board Vidal's warship, as could Borsalino and Sakazuki.

"Monkey, Doggy, let's get together for a nice meal and drinks tomorrow!" Vidal first responded, then suggested to his friends.

"Hmph, haven't we been having dinner parties every day these days?" Sakazuki snorted coldly, his face darkening, when he heard him call him that again. He had previously expressed strong dissatisfaction and protests, and even issued stern warnings, but to no avail, and in the end, he could only pretend not to hear them.

As for Borsalino, he's completely used to it now. Monkeys are Monkeys, whatever!

"Dinners on a warship are nothing like dinners at headquarters. After this, the three of us will definitely have to go back to our respective places. I don't know when we'll be able to get together here again," Vidal sighed.

Since he truly accepted them as his comrades, he has become somewhat sentimental. In the past, he wouldn't have cared about these things, as long as the two of them didn't defect from the Navy. He didn't know whether this change was a good thing or a bad thing.

Hearing this, Sakazuki fell silent and tacitly accepted the suggestion to have dinner together.

At this moment, the Oxhead Battleship slowly docked, only to find Sengoku standing below, with a squad of marines on each side, leaving space in front of him. However, as the Oxhead Battleship appeared, the various ranks of naval personnel walking in the square gradually surrounded it.

"I didn't expect you to be back!" Kong had just stepped off the wooden plank when he looked at Sengoku with surprise. "Have you taken care of things in the New World?"

"We fought the Roger Pirates and forced them out of the G-3 Branch's waters. We also captured two groups of Flying Fleet pirates. They've been getting increasingly arrogant lately, daring to approach Marine Bases at will!"

Sengoku appeared slightly angry, and the imposing aura emanating from him made the surrounding marines and officers like Rabani involuntarily tense up.

"After receiving the news from there, I rushed back, but Tsuru told me that Fleet Admiral, you had already been dispatched, so..." Sengoku said this not only to Sora, but also to explain to his disciples why he, as their teacher, had not gone to provide support.

Some might think that someone of his status didn't need to do this, but the wise Sengoku wouldn't overlook such details, and he wasn't the kind of teacher who was overbearing.

Sure enough, hearing him say that made Vidal feel somewhat better. The Marine Headquarters cannot be without the presence of Admirals; this is a rule that must be followed.

As for Zephyr, I'll say it again: he's already retired, he's no longer Admiral!

"Sigh, our fighting strength in the New World is still insufficient," Kong shook his head helplessly, then his face showed anger. "If it weren't for that bastard Garp's reckless behavior, we wouldn't need you to go to the New World. He's the commander of the G-3 Branch!"

He genuinely didn't understand Chinjao a nobody like him was worth a naval hero training for two years.

When Garp told him about this decision, it caused a huge argument. He even considered going after Chinjao, since Chinjao was a pirate captain, so why not just go and take care of him?

But Garp stubbornly insisted on stopping him, determined to defeat Chinjao's sharp-tongued head himself. Otherwise, that twelfth generation pillar of the Happo Navy would have been gone long ago!

Now that Garp is gone, the Navy in the New World has no means to contend with those great pirates. They can only cower in their bases and watch as pirate ships roam freely within their sphere of influence.

Take those two pirate ships under the command of the Flying Fleet, for example. If Sengoku hadn't personally intervened, normally even if the Vice Admirals of the G-3 Branch could have defeated them, they wouldn't have easily been dispatched to drive them away or capture them.

But if Garp were still alive, those pirates probably wouldn't even dare to approach him.

"That Garp guy, ugh, let's not talk about him, he just gets angrier the more we talk about him, let's just leave him be." Sengoku also had a headache over his old friend, and then said, "It's already good that nothing serious has happened yet!"

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Vidal, Sakazuki, and the others, and he felt a surge of relief.

With the two bigwigs speaking, Vidal and the others naturally couldn't interrupt. During this time, he noticed that the naval officers of all ranks who were watching were all looking at him with unanimous admiration, which made him realize the enormous influence of the latest newspaper.

Although the newspapers stated that Red the Aloof fought a twelve-day battle with Kong before the three of them ambushed a weakened Red Count, the final photo of him single-handedly choking his opponent still made him the biggest beneficiary of the entire event.

Borsalino and Sakazuki could only get a taste of the spoils, even though they fought a fierce battle. Ironically, it was Kong, who contributed the most and dealt the highest damage, who ended up with a stain on his record.

The Fleet Admiral was defeated by the Red the Aloof, tsk tsk tsk, this is the front page headline, the World Economy News Paper is blatantly trying to smear Kong.

Therefore, news media are all the same, no matter which world they are in.

"Well, thinking about it now, I've really got quite a record of victories. In the last two years, I've defeated Redfield, Bondi Wilder, Gecko Moria, the Giant Keji, and all sorts of insignificant pirate crews." Vidal listened to the conversation between the two big shots while mentally counting his kills.

After the big shots finished their conversation, Vidal first made an appointment with Sengoku to meet at his office the next day, and then everyone dispersed to go home.

Welcome home, Vidal!

As he led the manatee by the little hand to the gate of his yard, he saw his family gathered together, greeting him. Cornell, Enid, Bullet, Enel, Rosinante —these faces completely dispelled Vidal's despair, tension, pain, and anger of the past few days, and he felt a surge of warmth welling up from his heart.

Indeed, it is family that gives a person a sense of purpose in this world.

"Ah, I'm back, everyone!"

"Wow!"

I am incredibly grateful to Zhao Jiufeng for becoming the fourth leader of this book!! Thank you, thank you so much, I bow deeply in gratitude. May I invite you to join the group?

Thank you so much, Yongmian, for the 100-coin reward! Thank you, thank you so much!