At Marine Headquarters, Marineford, inside the Fleet Admiral's residence.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku pressed both hands against his desk and calmly looked at the three men before him.
In front of him, Garp sat on the sofa, holding a bag of senbei and crunching away without pause.
Beside Garp, Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Shichibukai, and Marine Admiral Kizaru sat with their legs crossed, chatting nonstop.
Kizaru pursed his lips and said lazily.
"Anyway, that's what happened, Boss Sengoku.
Kuma and I did indeed meet the main figure behind the Mary Geoise Incident.
My my~~, he was quite a handsome young man. A Celestial Dragon named Gawain."
"Indeed!"
Tyrant Kuma confirmed Kizaru's account, but after that, he fell silent again.
Garp swallowed his senbei, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Ahahahahaha, what a surprise.
A Celestial Dragon actually has such an outstanding descendant!
Sengoku, that was Conqueror's Haki capable of shattering the sky all on his own. It truly startled me.
We never encountered such overbearing Conqueror's Haki when we were young!"
"That's enough, Garp. I don't need you emphasizing it!"
Sengoku frowned and lightly slapped the desk.
"I roughly understand what happened. Gawain, a Celestial Dragon, clashed with other Celestial Dragons, and then awakened Conqueror's Haki.
His Conqueror's Haki destroyed every building within a certain range, knocked out nearly everyone in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, and even shattered clouds across an enormous area!
Even Red-Haired Shanks could only exert slight influence on reality with his Conqueror's Haki, such as cracking wooden boards or bricks.
Yet Gawain could reduce every object around him to pieces!
That kind of Conqueror's Haki can already be called the strongest in the world!
Garp, what do you think?"
"What can I think? Hahaha, I can't be bothered with Celestial Dragons.
Sengoku, I've finished all your senbei. Hurry up and bring out more senbei!!!"
"Garp!!!"
Bang!
Even after helplessly slapping the desk, Sengoku still could not stop Garp from stealing his senbei. As the crunching resumed, Sengoku rubbed his chin.
"Borsalino!"
Sengoku asked.
"You only treated him. You never came into contact with a conscious Gawain, correct?
What kind of ambition could someone who awakened such Conqueror's Haki possibly carry in his heart?
I'll find an opportunity to visit Mary Geoise and try to meet that imposing Saint Gawain!
As for you and Kuma, return first—"
Pururururu~~~.
Before Sengoku could finish, the Den Den Mushi on his desk rang. Sengoku paused for a moment, then picked up the receiver.
"Moshi moshi~."
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is Vice Admiral Doberman stationed at Sabaody. I have an urgent matter to report!"
"Oh?"
Sengoku froze, then his brows tightened.
"Doberman, has something unusual happened at Sabaody? Do you require an admiral's support? Explain everything clearly!"
The instant his words fell, the crunching abruptly stopped. Garp stopped chewing his senbei and instead listened intently to the Den Den Mushi.
After all, this was Sabaody, the place Celestial Dragons most enjoyed staying besides Mary Geoise.
Even if Garp disliked Celestial Dragons, he did not want another God Valley Incident, where the Celestial Dragons' fury spread to even more innocent civilians!
Kizaru, on the other hand, remained utterly unchanged. He still wore that lecherous grin and continued to stay silent without a care.
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Doberman instinctively shook his head.
"Of course not. Ever since Red-Haired Shanks became the Fourth Emperor, both the Grand Line and the New World have been much quieter than before. Sabaody has not encountered any danger.
It's just that a strange Celestial Dragon came aboard my warship and demanded that I take him to Marineford!"
As he spoke, Doberman wiped away cold sweat with lingering fear.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I don't know why, but this Celestial Dragon gives me a very... terrifying feeling!
Not the kind of terror that comes from evil. Rather, I felt tremendous pressure from him. Setting that pressure aside, he actually seemed rather... kind?
In any case, his name is Gawain. He came to Sabaody together with Saint Donquixote Mjosgard. I—"
"Wait!"
Sengoku cut Doberman off.
"What did you say his name was?"
"Gawain, Fleet Admiral."
"Gawain!"
Sengoku's expression sharpened, and he immediately gave Doberman his orders.
"I understand. Continue sailing normally. Headquarters will make the necessary arrangements to receive him.
Gawain, huh? How interesting."
"Oh?"
Hearing the teasing tone from the Den Den Mushi, Doberman asked in confusion.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, does Saint Gawain possess some special quality? Do I need to make any special preparations?"
"No need." Sengoku smiled. "Don't worry. The reason you felt pressure from him is probably because this Celestial Dragon is suspected to possess the strongest Conqueror's Haki in the world.
In short, if his Conqueror's Haki is not an illusion, then he will not cause you trouble.
Bring him to Marineford without concern. I happen to want to meet him. See you soon!"
With that, Sengoku hung up and looked up at Garp, whose face was full of solemnity.
Garp set down the senbei in his hand with an incomparably serious expression, then suddenly stood up.
As he patted his coat, Garp turned away and spoke gravely.
"Sengoku, I suddenly remembered that I haven't had dinner yet!
The food at that sea restaurant back in my hometown is simply too delicious. I need to hurry back and fill my stomach!
You all carry on. I'll be setting out now. Don't worry, I'll take down every pirate I encounter along the way! Hahahaha!"
Still laughing, Garp started toward the door, and a black vein immediately appeared on Sengoku's forehead.
Bang!
After slamming the desk hard, Fleet Admiral Sengoku roared.
"Garp, even if you're making an excuse because you don't want to meet a Celestial Dragon, you should find a better one! What the hell is this about eating dinner!!!"
"Then should I say breakfast instead? I'm leaving!"
After shouting one last line at Sengoku, Garp crashed through the office door and vanished without a trace.
Once Garp's back had completely disappeared, Sengoku looked at Kizaru with a bitter smile and said.
"Since Garp has left, you stay behind for now, Borsalino.
After all, the other party is a Celestial Dragon, one of the World Nobles.
Although Celestial Dragons only come here once every few decades, according to the old rules, whenever Marine Headquarters receives a Celestial Dragon, the Fleet Admiral, the admiral responsible for guarding headquarters, and every vice admiral currently stationed here must be present.
The admiral responsible for guarding headquarters is Sakazuki, but he set sail yesterday to inspect Impel Down. Take his place and uphold this rule."
"My my~, no problem, Boss Sengoku."
Kizaru showed an even more lecherous smile and continued.
"But over at Vegapunk's place, shouldn't we at least let Kuma return first?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Sengoku waved his hand, and Tyrant Kuma immediately stood without expression and left the room.
After Kuma left, Sengoku let out a weary sigh.
"Sigh, next I need to notify every vice admiral of this news.
Borsalino, notify them for me. I need to go to the dockyard!
We can't exactly have only the two of us welcoming a Celestial Dragon, can we?"
"Of course. Even without a bonus, I'll help you notify them. Hehehe~."
Borsalino smiled meaningfully.
More than ten minutes later.
"Oh my, isn't that Vice Admiral Onigumo? Are you preparing to..."
"Hahaha, Vice Admiral Onigumo, is that you? I just received intelligence that pirates are causing trouble in Water 7. It's outrageous!"
"Same here, except my intelligence came from Alabasta!"
"My heavens, Alabasta? Do you really need to go that far?"
"Well, we all have duties to fulfill. Hurry, hurry, Vice Admiral Garp already set off!"
"What the hell is ahead of me? Onigumo, Onigumo, move your ships out of the way! Don't block mine!"
"Oh, isn't that Vice Admiral Tokikake? You too..."
"Stop with the small talk, there's no time! Don't tell me you want to see those people's ugly faces!"
"Hahaha, Vice Admiral Tokikake, that's going too far. We aren't hiding from anyone. We're all fighting for justice!"
"I'm fighting for justice too!"
Thus, over the next several dozen minutes, more than a dozen vice admirals who were supposedly in a frantic rush to set sail and uphold justice
stood behind Sengoku and Kizaru with dejected expressions, helplessly watching Doberman's ship gradually approach the dockyard...
Before you continue