"Hahaha, I never thought the day would come when I defected from the Navy!"
A burly old man with short gray-white hair sat at the bow, holding a doughnut in his hand. He took huge bites while laughing heartily. "Sengoku has gotten bolder and bolder ever since he stopped being Fleet Admiral! He actually told me to defect? Interesting, hahahaha~"
"Vice Admiral Garp, Fleet Admiral Sengoku only asked us to act as spies. He didn't ask us to actually defect!" Bogard, his aide, sat beside him in a beige suit and hat, the brim shading his eyes. He spoke with a helpless expression. "He hopes we can rendezvous with Admiral Kuzan and Instructor Zephyr as soon as possible, then lie low together in the Land of Grass!"
"Huh? Is that so?"
"..."
"Hahaha, don't be such a killjoy~. Of course I know that!" Seeing his aide fall silent, Garp laughed again and slapped him on the shoulder. "I was just joking!"
"..."
The way you were acting, you definitely didn't look like you were joking!
Of course—
As Vice Admiral Garp's aide, Bogard knew perfectly well what sort of temperament his superior had. This was a ruthless man who dared curse out even Celestial Dragons right to their faces.
He was straightforward, but he was a good superior.
Bogard, seated to the side, pulled his hat lower, folded his arms around his long sword, and shook his head helplessly.
So, it was perfectly normal for him to do something astonishing!
However—
He had only just thought that.
Then, at that moment—
"Anyway, that damn place, Navy Headquarters, is a complete mess right now. There's nothing good about it!"
Garp held a half-eaten doughnut in his left hand while picking his large nostril with the pinky of his right. With a