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"Y... You what?" Momousagi's voice trembled slightly, her heart still filled with doubt about Haku's feelings for her.

Watching Momousagi's expression, Haku knew he was being too sudden. He needed to give her some time to accept his feelings.

"I'm sorry, I was too sudden." Haku's voice carried a hint of apology.

Immediately afterward, Haku continued, "To make up for my rudeness, may I cook for you personally and share today's dinner with you?"

Under the gaze of the crowd, the figures of Haku and Momousagi slowly vanished from the spot. Only the dazed expressions of Sengoku, Garp, and everyone else remained.

Frowning, Sengoku turned to Garp and said, "What's wrong with this kid Haku? How did he become so..."

For a moment, Sengoku did not know how to describe Haku.

Garp was also somewhat at a loss for words, unable to fathom why Haku would suddenly declare his affection to Momousagi. Moreover, the situation was so abrupt that even he had not reacted in time.

Vice Admiral Tsuru, who had appeared out of nowhere, stood beside Sengoku and analyzed calmly, "Haku saw Gion yesterday as well, but the kid didn't act like this. This might be the effect of that mask he was wearing!"

Sengoku went on, "Could this be why Haku wanted us to come out and watch him? But is this situation good or bad? And shouldn't we go stop them?"

Vice Admiral Tsuru said indifferently, "We can't be sure of the specific circumstances. We can only wait and see how things develop."

Vice Admiral Tsuru looked unusually calm, but the slight upward curl of her lips betrayed her true thoughts!

Glancing at Chaton in the distance, who wore an expression of intense indignation, Sengoku shook his head helplessly and said, "Us old folks shouldn't meddle in the romance of youngsters!"

Garp laughed heartily, "It looks like there shouldn't be any problems on Haku's end. Come on, come on! Tsuru, let's go to Sengoku's office and have some tea. I know this old man has been hoarding a lot of good tea leaves lately!"

"You bastard, Garp!" Sengoku protested loudly in exasperation.

As everyone drifted further away, only Akainu and Kizaru were left at the scene. Finally, Kizaru patted Akainu on the shoulder, leaving Akainu all alone in the square as he gazed into the distance at the sea, which had already frozen into a sheet of ice. He fell into a long, deep contemplation!

In the corner of the port, only Morgans was beside himself with excitement. By now, he had secretly taken quite a few photos. No one expected that even after Haku completed his promotion ceremony, the president of the World Economic News Company had still not left Marineford!

He had not yet returned to his newspaper office, but his mind was already brimming with all kinds of news headlines waiting for him to write!

Early the next morning!

News Coo of the entire pirate world dispatched simultaneously. Islands and nations across every sea, as well as all ships sailing upon the ocean, looked in shock at the freshly minted newspapers in their hands.

No one expected that the Marines would suddenly add a fourth Marine Admiral, and what was even more unimaginable was how young this newly promoted Marine Admiral was!

Some of the most heinous pirates on the ocean rubbed their hands in eagerness. In their eyes, a Marine Admiral of such a young age surely lacked strength! They could not wait to take Haku's head and use it to make their own pirate crew famous throughout the world!

On an island somewhere in East Blue

"Captain! Wake up!" Holding a chunk of meat, Lucky Roo was shaking Shanks, who had been sleeping off a night of heavy drinking.

"Lucky, stop bothering me, I'm really tired!" Shanks said strugglingly.

Lucky shook his head helplessly, and finally unfolded the newspaper right in front of Shanks, saying, "The Marines announced the fourth Marine Admiral today! And it's someone we both know."

Sleepily, Shanks opened one eye to peer at the newspaper on the ground, and in an instant, he snapped completely awake!

"Whoa! This brat seems to be Luffy's older brother too!" Shanks sat up and picked up the paper to read it carefully.

Right after that, he spotted a photo of Haku using a Cero, alongside an image of the ocean blasted out into a massive semicircle.

Just then, Ben Beckman, who happened to be walking back, caught sight of the newspaper in Shanks's hand and remarked, "Looks like you already know that brat Haku has become the fourth Marine Admiral."

Shanks laughed heartily and said, "Yeah! I never expected this brat to actually become a Marine Admiral! It's going to be so much fun in the future when Luffy and that guy Ace run into Haku."

Onigashima

Jack looked at the newspaper in his hand with utter disdain, "What's going on with the Marines, actually letting a brat become an admiral!"

With a flushed face, Kaido finished off an entire jar of liquor and snatched the newspaper right out of Jack's hand!

He stared at Haku on the newspaper page and burst into loud, booming laughter!

"Boss?" Jack asked with a puzzled expression.

Kaido laughed heartily, "Such a young brat, I wonder how strong he is? Can he kill me?"

Kaido grabbed the liquor jar from Jack, took a huge gulp, and said, "Refreshing! Another day I'll go down to Marine Headquarters and test out this kid's strength!"

Whole Cake Island

"Mamamamama, so this little brat is the newly appointed Marine Admiral!" Charlotte Linlin looked at Haku's appearance in the newspaper with deep interest.

At the same time, saliva dripped from the corners of her mouth onto the ground, corroding a large pit into the earth.

The Moby Dick on the sea!

"Old Man! The news in today's paper is quite interesting."

Marco handed the newspaper to Whitebeard with an intrigued expression.

Whitebeard glanced at Haku in the newspaper, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes before he let out a booming gurarara laugh.

"This brat is quite interesting. I wonder how his strength is?" Whitebeard said with a smile.

Marco said helplessly, "Old Man! He's just a brat, how strong could his strength possibly be?"

Whitebeard said, "You don't understand! A Marine Admiral is the face of the Marines. If his strength weren't formidable enough, this brat wouldn't have been able to step up so early!"

Curious, Marco asked, "So does that mean this brat's strength is very powerful, Old Man?"

Whitebeard said, "Becoming a Marine Admiral at the age of 17! Such a thing has never been seen throughout the history of the entire Grand Line. I'm afraid the whole ocean is going to get lively from now on."

Baltigo, Revolutionary Army Headquarters

Dragon stared at the newspaper in his hand, falling into a long, profound silence. He had known of Haku's existence for a long time—this boy who was Garp's nominal grandson.

Just as Sengoku and the others, or the Five Elders, had guessed, Dragon had actually harbored the intention of trying to persuade Haku to join the Revolutionary Army all along!