"Mr. Sengoku!!"
Gion covered her mouth despite herself.
Even battle-hardened Navy soldiers would feel grief when they saw an elder who had always looked after them die before their very eyes.
"Damn it!!"
Vice Admiral Chaton pulled his hat low, trying to hide his face. He practically gritted his teeth as he said, "Damn Government, damn Imu!!"
Besides Mr. Sengoku, how many Navy soldiers had perished in that bombardment just now?
Damn World Government!!
"Mr. Sengoku..."
Admiral Ryokugyu sighed. "For a man like you to die like this is far too regrettable."
This man should have shone even more brilliantly in the coming war, yet he had died here instead.
"Sengoku chose to die himself."
But at that moment, Vice Admiral Garp suddenly spoke.
"Little Tsuru's Haki was far weaker than Sengoku's. How could she still be alive while Sengoku was dead?"
Vice Admiral Garp looked at Vice Admiral Tsuru, who was still unconscious. "At the very end, Sengoku must have chosen to use all of his Haki to protect Little Tsuru."
That was probably all he could do. Merely wanting to protect the person standing closest to him had cost him his life.
"Really, still trying to look cool at the very end."
A smile curled at the corner of Vice Admiral Garp's mouth, as though he had recalled the days when they had fought side by side.
Back then, they had not yet become legends of the sea. They had merely been new recruits who had just joined the Navy.
He, Sengoku, Zephyr, Little Tsuru—everyone had been young then, striving together toward the same goal.
But—
Tears were already sliding uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes.
"Sengoku—"
Vice Admiral Garp covered his eyes with his right hand, then took a deep breath. "Then leave the rest to