The next day, Senga went to the headquarters building with Kalifa and the others. Inside the building, he ran into an acquaintance, Domino, whom he had met before at the Impel Down.
Upon seeing Senga, Domino exclaimed in surprise, then ran over, bowed to Senga, and said,
"Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you!"
Senga nodded slightly and asked curiously,
"How did a prison Chief Warden end up working at headquarters?"
Domino replied,
"The position of Chief Warden has been taken over by Sadie. As you know, the number of pirates has decreased sharply in recent years, and the prison is quite quiet. I felt there was nothing to do, so I applied to Secretary Kalifa to come and work at headquarters!"
"I see. Well then, you should work hard here. With your abilities, you are indeed more suited to this job."
"Thank you for your encouragement, Your Majesty!"
Domino smiled and bowed to Senga, then looked at Kalifa seriously and said...
"Secretary Kalifa, Dracule Mihawk has just arrived at headquarters, and I've already arranged for him to be shown to the reception room."
Kalifa paused for a moment, then asked,
"Hawk Eyes? What's he doing at headquarters?"
He said he brought his apprentice to visit!
Upon hearing this, Senga immediately became interested and asked from the side,
What is his apprentice's name?
"Zoro!"
"Interesting, how did those two end up together...?"
Kalifa asked curiously,
"Boss, do you know this Zoro?"
"I don't know him, but I know him—a navigation genius. Okay, you guys go back to work, I'm going to check on Hawk Eyes."
Kalifa nodded, then left with Domino.
Senga arrived at the reception room and immediately saw Hawk Eyes, who was standing with his arms crossed and his face covered by a hat, looking as if he were dozing off.
He was the only one in the reception area; Zoro was nowhere to be seen.
After Senga entered, Hawk Eyes slightly raised his head. Upon seeing that it was Senga, he immediately stood up from his chair and said with a surprised expression,
"How could it be you?!"
Senga shrugged, sat down opposite Hawk Eyes, and said,
Are you surprised to see me? We've known each other for a long time, haven't we?
"Um, I thought you weren't at headquarters. Besides, with your current status, it's not like you can just see someone whenever you want."
"Haha, what? Even you're starting to care about status now? I still remember how you were showing off your food in front of me back then."
Speaking of this, the two exchanged a knowing smile, Hawk Eyes couldn't help but sigh,
"I thought you were terrifying back then, but I never imagined that in such a short time you would have achieved so much, even overthrowing the World Government!"
"So you've brought people to seek refuge with me today? Tsk tsk, taking care of you won't be an easy task."
"Who wants to come and seek refuge with you? I just wanted Zoro to come here and broaden his horizons. After all, you took care of most of the strongmen on the sea in that war."
"Oh, is Zoro considered your disciple? Why did you decide to take him on as a student?" (Tianlai Novel Network)
"I'm just bored. Shanks is locked up by you, and I don't even have a worthy opponent. I saw this kid at sea when I went to the East Blue a while ago; he was lost."
"As expected, did you two exchange a few blows?"
"Yes, he was all fired up the moment he saw me. You know what, even though his swordsmanship is a bit rusty, he has a strong conviction that I admire, so I brought him back to the Grand Line. But he hasn't officially become my apprentice yet."
"Where is he now?"
"He just said he was going out for a walk by himself, and he should be back by now."
"... You actually let him go shopping by himself?"
Hawk Eyes paused for a moment, then said,
"Yeah, he's not a child anymore, how could he possibly get lost?"
"Otherwise what? Let me ask you, during the time you spent with him, didn't you notice any particular characteristics about him?"
"Not yet. Before this, we lived on my little island. I left him with a bunch of baboons and didn't really take care of him."
"Alright, now let me see where your apprentice is."
A golden glint flashed in Senga's eyes as he took in the entire scene of Marineford. Almost instantly, he located Zoro in the training grounds on the back mountain.
Go back half an hour,
Zoro frowned as he walked to the back of the mountain. He scratched his head and muttered to himself,
"That's strange. Marineford, so why can't I find the building I was looking at?"
Suddenly, he heard a series of crackling sounds of fighting, mixed with shouts.
"Gomu Gomu..."
"Take this! Iron Fist of Love!"
"Bang!"
Ouch!
Zoro followed the sound and found three young men in navy uniforms who looked to be about his age.
One of the young men, with blond hair and holding a water pipe, was sitting on a rock, watching the other two fight with a smile on his face.
It was supposed to be a fight, but it was really just one-sided abuse; the one whose body could stretch and contract freely was being brutally beaten by the other.
The three of them are naturally Luffy and his two brothers.
Luffy, already bruised and battered from Ace's beating, gasped for breath as he swung his arm, searching for an opening to strike.
Ace had far fewer injuries than Luffy. He assumed a boxing stance and said...
"Luffy, how's my boxing technique that I learned from my grandfather?"
Luffy grunted and muttered something.
"What's so great about it! I'm not afraid anymore!"
Ace's lips curled up as he said,
"Oh? Then try this one, the Fist Bone..."
Luffy stared wide-eyed at Ace's fist, but Ace suddenly launched a flying kick, shouting...
"Love-Love Mosh!"
A bright red shoe print appeared on Luffy's face. He covered his face with his hands and rolled around on the ground frantically. Sabo, sitting on the rock, helplessly rubbed his forehead.
Ace made a face Luffy and mocked him.
"Idiot! You can't even dodge that? Luffy, your Observation Haki isn't up to par yet!"
Luffy got up from the ground, looked at Ace with a resentful expression, and muttered,
"It's clearly you who lacks martial ethics! Just kick me if you want, don't talk about Fist Bone!"
"Tch, you always say 'Gomu Gomu' before you make a move, I'm used to it, can't I?"
The brothers' fight escalated into a verbal battle, at which point Sabo suddenly raised his hand and called for a stop.
"Alright! Let's stop for a moment! Someone's coming!"
The three turned their heads and saw Zoro watching the battle with his arms crossed.
Sabo's gaze swept over the three swords at Zoro's waist, and he asked very politely,
Hello, who are you looking for?