"What?"
"That Garen defeated Dark King Rayleigh."
Sengoku clutched the Den Den Mushi receiver in his hand, momentarily wondering if he had developed dementia in his old age.
"It's absolutely true."
Onigumo's cold, solemn voice came clearly through the receiver.
"You're not joking?"
For the first time ever, Sengoku questioned Onigumo's work ethic.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, do I look like someone who jokes around?"
"I witnessed Garen and Rayleigh's battle myself. There can be no mistake."
There was not the slightest fluctuation in Onigumo's voice. He spoke with absolute certainty.
After carefully listening to Onigumo's report, Sengoku hung up the call in a daze.
Onigumo was certainly not someone who would joke around. As one of Marine Headquarters' infamous cold-blooded enforcement machines, his words carried considerable credibility.
But when Sengoku carefully recalled the intelligence on Garen...
He clearly remembered that half a year ago, Garen had been a rookie who could barely handle even a third-rate Headquarters major, and Garp had also said that when they parted ways, Garen's strength had still been nothing worth noticing.
Later, when Garen managed to kill Crocodile, Sengoku had already been somewhat surprised.
But now...
What kind of growth rate was this?
Sengoku suddenly felt a headache coming on.
A master capable of rivaling Dark King Rayleigh, and such a young one at that, was simply a massive destabilizing factor.
And now that his strength had swollen to this extent, he was clearly no longer some insignificant figure the Marines could manipulate at will.
"Ah..."
Sengoku let out a deep sigh, wondering whether he should simply send men to block the sea route from East Blue to the Grand Line in the future, lest that stretch of sea produce another monster capable of overturning the world.
The only thing worth celebrating was that Garen