Marine Headquarters Colonel Gion

Marine Headquarters, Marineford

"Knock, knock-knock, knock-knock-knock!"

A series of knocks came from the Fleet Admiral's Office. Sengoku, seated at his desk, passed the document in his hand to the goat beside him, then gestured for the visitor to enter.

"Sorry to bother you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Here's my mission report. On the way back, I happened to come across a pirate crew, so I took the opportunity to wipe them out.

That's also why I returned a day later than expected.

Diverting course to pursue the pirates was entirely my own decision, so if you intend to punish anyone, please punish me alone. Don't involve the others aboard the ship."

The person who entered the Fleet Admiral's Office was a dashing female Marine officer. She had beautiful black hair and wore a long sword at her waist. She was not only stunningly buxom, but also had a pair of long legs that few men could ignore.

If Wood had been there, he would have recognized the woman standing before Sengoku as Gion, whom he hadn't seen in half a year.

Gion now wore a white Marine officer's uniform, with a cloak emblazoned with "Justice" draped over her shoulders.

When Gion had graduated, her rank had been only "Sergeant." A sergeant wasn't entitled to wear a Marine cloak, let alone meet directly with the Fleet Admiral.

Clearly, over the past six months, unlike Wood, who had been assigned to watch ponds on the frontier, Gion had steadily risen through the ranks at Marine Headquarters.

Sengoku glanced over the mission report Gion had submitted, nodding from time to time. When he saw that the pirate crew she had taken down along the way was a group of pirates with bounties exceeding a hundred million berries—ones that had recently caused the Marines considerable trouble—a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"You've worked hard on this mission, Colonel Gion. I've also received a letter of thanks from the kingdom regarding your assignment. They're very pleased with how you handled it.

"As for returning a day late, there were extenuating circumstances. Taking down a vicious pirate crew was also part of upholding the Marines' justice, so I won't punish you further this time.

"But if something similar happens again, you should contact Marine Headquarters with a Den Den Mushi and report it. Don't act like certain old bastards who treat Marine discipline as if it doesn't exist!"

Given Sengoku's relationship with Vice Admiral Tsuru, there was no way he wouldn't know Gion. And ever since Gion graduated from the Marine Academy, Sengoku had been quite pleased with her performance.

Compared with most Marines, Gion was more meticulous in her approach as a woman, and she knew to think things through before acting. She had inherited all of Vice Admiral Tsuru's best qualities as a Marine Staff Officer.

When one of the World Government's allied kingdoms had suffered internal unrest, Gion had handled it exceptionally well. She had not only put an end to the turmoil and won the Marines a great deal of goodwill, but had also dealt with the aftermath flawlessly, leaving no hidden problems behind.

Suppressing an uprising wasn't difficult. With Marine Headquarters' strength, any Marine of admiral rank could have done it. But Gion was the only one who could handle the aftermath so perfectly.

As for the old bastard Sengoku had mentioned, Gion didn't need him to spell it out. She knew he meant the Marines' hero, Vice Admiral Garp.

From what Gion had heard from Tsuru, whenever Vice Admiral Garp went out to take down pirates, he acted as if he were on vacation.

Even when dealing with weak pirates, he could spend half a day wandering around before returning to Marine Headquarters. Coming back a day or two late was business as usual for him.

There was even one time when Garp stayed away from Marine Headquarters for months. In the end, it took an urgent order from Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who had finally run out of patience, to get him to return—reluctantly.

As a Marine hero, Garp was the idol and role model of every Marine. That was why Sengoku was so often angered by Garp's overly carefree behavior.

He also believed that Garp's laziness would affect the entire Marines' culture.

Leaving others aside, Sengoku had noticed that some of the promising young Marines he'd had his eye on had already been led astray by Garp's example.

Admiral Kizaru, Borsalino: a Marine Vice Admiral and a Logia user with the Glint-Glint Fruit. He was skilled in Kenbunshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki, and his Devil Fruit was among the most powerful Logias.

There was, however, one thing that gave Sengoku a serious headache: the man hated trouble. He did only as much work as he was paid for.

He spent every day clocking in for work and leaving the moment his shift ended. He had little sense of belonging to the Marines and little belief in his own sense of justice.

Besides Kizaru, another promising young Marine Sengoku had his eye on had similar issues. In fact, Sengoku believed Garp was unquestionably responsible for the way this recruit, whom he had placed such high hopes in, had turned out!

Unlike "Kizaru," who had gone astray on his own, Aokiji had spent some time with Garp after graduating.

Compared with Kizaru, Aokiji did feel a strong sense of belonging to the Marines, and he had his own justice to uphold.

But after spending some time with Garp, this promising young man now spent all day thinking about how to take it easy. He even had the nerve to call it "Lazy Justice."

After that, Sengoku decided that he would never again let promising young Marines train under Garp.

The old man refused to become a Marine Admiral because he wanted the freedom to leave Marine Headquarters whenever he pleased.

Once, he could claim it was to make it easier to pursue Roger. But Roger had been dead for years now, and Garp still refused to become an Admiral. He was simply trying to make it easier to slack off!

"You did an excellent job on this mission, and you and your people worked hard suppressing the uprising in the kingdom. I'll approve a few days of leave for you. Get some good rest."

Looking at the dashing Gion before him, Sengoku felt more and more pleased. If the Marines had more elite officers like her—capable and tactful—then his job as Fleet Admiral would be much easier.

Back when Kong was Fleet Admiral, he and Tsuru handled the Marine affairs. Now that Sengoku was Fleet Admiral, he was still the one handling all this...

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, suppressing the uprising was actually a fairly easy mission. We also happened to run into that pirate crew along the way, and defeating them didn't take much effort. So I don't need leave...

"Well, at least I don't need leave myself. If you have any missions that only require a small team, you can assign them to me."

Gion had been about to say that she didn't need any rest, but then she realized she couldn't speak for everyone. Her subordinates had been traveling with her for so many days; they really did need a break. So she changed her answer at the last moment and clarified that only she didn't need to rest.