Garp's Intense Desire

After letting go and allowing the Empress to jump down from his arms, Zhu Mang calmly adjusted his clothes—though the tight-fitting combat suit was actually soft armor, so there was nothing to straighten out.

He had already roughly figured out what had happened.

It was probably because, during his brief clash with the Empress just now, the Conqueror's Haki she released had knocked out at least a thousand nearby Marines.

Although the Shichibukai were not positioned in the central area, and everyone's attention was currently focused on Fleet Admiral Sengoku speaking above and the three Admirals below.

A thousand people collapsing at once, along with the ripples of Conqueror's Haki, was especially conspicuous under these circumstances.

At such a critical moment, they had been "flirting" and knocked out more than a thousand Marine soldiers.

Given Akainu's explosive temper, if the Empress alone had done this, he would not have cared whether she was some pirate Empress. He would have definitely hurled a Great Eruption at her and turned her into a dead pirate Empress.

Not just Akainu—even Aokiji and Kizaru were extremely furious about it.

But Zhu Mang, an exceptionally dangerous figure, happened to be the other protagonist in this incident.

That made things awkward.

Zhu Mang's danger had already been unanimously confirmed by the three Admirals, as well as Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru.

Especially at a time like this.

The Whitebeard Pirates could appear at any moment!

There was no way they could make a move against him.

The three clenched their teeth, their hands trembling slightly as they forcibly restrained the fury in their hearts, yet they did not dare let it erupt.

Sengoku was equally confused and troubled.

What puzzled him was when Gebinz had gotten involved with the Empress.

Although the Empress was a Shichibukai, the Shichibukai were, first, established by the World Government and theoretically had nothing to do with the Marines. Even this time, when they were asked to assist in the war, the summons had been issued through the World Government. Second, the Shichibukai were pirates legally permitted to plunder. In truth, Sengoku had never approved of this arrangement and had even regarded it as a fatal hidden danger.

Because the Shichibukai knew more than other pirates, they were even more dangerous.

Yet this chaotic era happened to require their strength, while also giving other pirates something to hope for—a chance to be "recruited."

But no matter what, pirates were pirates.

If Gebinz had truly been seduced away by her, then she would have the confidence to challenge the Marines. She might even... abandon her status as a Shichibukai, become completely independent, and return to being a pirate!

That was a powerhouse beyond the Admiral level.

Zhu Mang and the Empress's disturbance had completely thrown off Sengoku's train of thought for putting on a show...

His mind was a mess, so he hastily ended the prewar mobilization and decided to get straight to the point.

At his signal, two Marine executioners standing behind the Execution Platform ran into the passageway behind them.

Sengoku then stepped down from the Execution Platform and came to Tsuru's side.

Tsuru was speaking with Garp.

Garp had only returned to Marine Headquarters late last night with Ace and the escort team, so he had only heard a little about Zhu Mang's presence.

And his mood was extremely low.

Although Ace was not his biological grandson, he had always treated him as one.

Yet now, he had personally escorted him to this execution ground...

The torment in his heart was unbearable.

While escorting Ace back, he had even entertained the thought several times of deliberately "accidentally" sinking the ship so Ace could escape.

But the crushing weight of responsibility made him abandon the idea every time.

Tsuru, who had seen through this, was comforting her old companion.

Until their attention was drawn by the scene just now.

Watching what had happened, Garp asked in confusion, "Tsuru, who exactly is that brat? Sengoku seems awfully wary of him."

"What brat? That is the Monkey-Tailed Man Gebinz we mentioned, the one whose combat power is far above an Admiral's. The moment he landed on Marineford, he instantly killed Gecko Moria over a minor verbal dispute. With sheer pressure alone, he nearly stripped Kuzan of his ability to fight, and he even shook all of Marineford. The effect was almost comparable to Newgate's Tremor-Tremor Fruit."

To prevent thickheaded Garp from provoking Zhu Mang, Tsuru painstakingly laid out all of Zhu Mang's danger in one breath.

Only then did Garp begin to realize the severity of the situation.

A powerful third party had stepped in!

Even if he did nothing, he had already brought enormous unknown risks to this war the Marines valued so highly!

"Do the people up there know about this? Haven't they said anything?" Garp's expression turned grave.

Tsuru naturally knew who he meant.

The World Government!

The Five Elders!

And... the Holy Knights!

Normally, the existence of the Holy Knights was classified information to anyone below the rank of Admiral.

But Garp and Tsuru were different.

During the battle of God Valley, Garp had witnessed the terror of the Holy Knights.

And Tsuru, as the pinnacle of the Marines' civilian officials and someone who had served in the Marines for decades, was also unquestionably one of their core figures.

At that, she shook her head. "Sengoku didn't report this matter to them."

"Why not?"

"You know how they operate. If they learned that someone among the common people possessed power capable of shaking their authority, what do you think they would do?" Tsuru's voice turned cold, the unconscious tone she took whenever she thought of unpleasant things.

Garp fell silent as well.

At God Valley, he had seen such scenes!

The powerful Holy Knights—nearly every member possessed an exceptionally rare Mythical Type Devil Fruit, and had developed it to an incredibly profound degree.

In Sengoku's analysis: if they decided the Marine higher-ups had no value, they had the ability to purge every single Marine leader and replace them with a new batch of obedient dogs!

Therefore, if they wanted to achieve the "justice" in their hearts, they could only do so while enduring certain things.

"No... perhaps this is an opportunity for us?" Looking at the Execution Platform behind him, a sharp glint flashed through Garp's aged eyes.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Hero of the Marines... what a laughable title! It was merely forced onto me by those bastards to conceal their existence! Every time it is mentioned, it feels like a merciless mockery!"

"In the past, we had no power to pry that boulder loose, so we could only endure it. But now, the lever to move that boulder has appeared!"

Garp's body trembled slightly.

"Don't do anything foolish!" Tsuru shouted softly, gently placing a hand on Garp's back, like a sensible younger sister comforting an older brother on the verge of losing his mind.

A faint glow appeared in her hand.

Under the cleansing effect of the [Wash-Wash Fruit], the anger in Garp's heart gradually subsided.

"Whatever it is, we'll discuss it with Sengoku first," Tsuru said seriously as she looked into Garp's eyes.

"Mm!" Garp replied in a muffled voice.