News of Golden Lion's Arrival

Mu Chen hadn't expected even Rayleigh to want him to stay for a few days and avoid trouble if he could. Since when did pirates care about the Marines? And now there were actually two of them.

Come on, no matter what, I'm still a Marine. If something major happens, I can't just hide with my head tucked in.

Besides, Uncle Rayleigh, I sleep in your lounge chair every day, and you still let me stay. How can you be so carefree?

If it were me, I'd have kicked someone flying long ago.

Mu Chen joked as he slowly rose to his feet and headed for the door.

"You brat, do you believe I'll kick you right now?"

Rayleigh laughed. He had gained a higher opinion of Mu Chen. He had thought that, given Mu Chen's personality, he might hide when Golden Lion arrived, but clearly, he had overthought it.

Normally, Mu Chen was lazy beyond belief. The moment he arrived, he would lie down.

And through his conversations with Mu Chen, Rayleigh had found him to be an obvious refined egoist. Whether it was the Marines or pirates, Mu Chen didn't care. All he pursued was slacking off, being lazy, and living comfortably.

If he had been an egoist who loved money or something else, Rayleigh honestly wouldn't have found it so strange. He had truly never seen someone take self-interest as far as Mu Chen did, solely for the sake of slacking off and being lazy. But now, it seemed that wasn't quite the case.

Shakuyaku leaned against the table, her gaze following Mu Chen's retreating figure. "After these past few days, what do you think of that kid Mu Chen?"

"What else is there to think? The brat came here and immediately lay in my lounge chair. I'm Dark King Rayleigh, yet he isn't afraid of me at all."

Rayleigh sounded furious, but Shakuyaku could tell that he wasn't angry at all.

"Alright, stop pretending. What I mean is, don't you want to take him as your apprentice? I think that kid is pretty good."

As soon as Shakuyaku finished speaking, Rayleigh's gaze sharpened as he looked at Mu Chen, now a tiny dot in the distance. "Forget it. He's a Marine, and I'm a pirate. What pirate becomes a Marine's teacher? Besides, his teacher is Zephyr. If he found out I existed as his teacher, I wouldn't have a moment's peace."

At Marineford, Mu Chen arrived at Zephyr's office.

"Teacher Zephyr, oh, Mu Chen, you're back from slacking off? You're early today. It's only four in the afternoon."

Everyone knew that Mu Chen spent every afternoon slacking off, since he would go to the Sabaody Archipelago. Zephyr didn't interfere, since he and Mu Chen had made an agreement long ago. Still, it was indeed unusual for Mu Chen to return at this hour.

Mu Chen didn't want to explain too much and went straight to the point.

"Teacher Zephyr, according to reliable information, Golden Lion Shiki should arrive at Marineford within the next couple of days."

"What?" Zephyr was stunned when he heard Mu Chen's news. Kong had previously informed him that Golden Lion Shiki was expected to arrive in seven days, yet Mu Chen's information said he would be here within the next couple of days. Although they had prepared in advance, they weren't fully ready yet.

"Mu Chen, is your information reliable?"

Zephyr still wanted to confirm the accuracy of the information. After all, it differed from the Marines' intelligence by several days.

Naturally, Mu Chen couldn't say he had heard it from Shakuyaku. Her intelligence was sometimes even more accurate than the Marines'.

"Teacher Zephyr, I overheard it from pirates at the Sabaody Archipelago. Whether it's true or false, I thought I should tell you. What if it's true?"

Mu Chen couldn't make his words too absolute or sound too certain. He didn't want to be questioned endlessly.

"You're right. Whether this information is accurate or not, it seems we should prepare earlier."

With that, Zephyr rose to head for the Fleet Admiral's office.

In the Fleet Admiral's office, Kong and Sengoku had just heard Zephyr's report, and both frowned deeply.

"Zephyr, is your information accurate?"

Kong was still confirming the reliability of the news.

As Zephyr said this, they understood that preparing early was better. Whether it was true or not, now that they had received this information, they needed to speed up their preparations. If it was true, things would be difficult to handle when the time came.

"No matter what, I think Zephyr is right. We can't gamble."

Sengoku agreed with Zephyr. This was not something they could gamble on, or they might lose everything.

The Fleet Admiral's office fell silent.

A moment later, as if he had made a decision, Kong picked up the Den Den Mushi. "Hello, Borsalino? The situation has changed. Return early."

"Oh my, how troublesome. I'll do my best."

Without saying anything else, Kong dialed another number.

"Zephyr, return as quickly as possible."

"What happened?"

"Didn't you tell me to return in three days?"

"The situation has changed. We have received news that Golden Lion Shiki may arrive in the next few days."

The other end of the Den Den Mushi at Marineford fell silent for several seconds.

"Alright, I understand. Fleet Admiral Kong, and Garp? Ask when he can return. We need to make every possible preparation."

Sengoku slowly said, "The last time I spoke with Garp, he had just found Dragon. I don't know whether he can make it back in time, but I'll call and ask."

Kong sighed. He also wanted Garp to return as soon as possible, but he knew that Dragon's affairs were very important to Garp.

Meanwhile, on a small island, Garp wore his cloak of justice. Across from him stood a man with lumps all over his head, who had clearly been beaten up.

Garp's Den Den Mushi rang.

"Why is someone calling at a time like this?"

Garp looked helpless, but when he saw that it was Kong calling, he couldn't ignore it.

"Hello, Garp. How are things over there? Hurry back."

"We've received news that Golden Lion may return to Marineford within the next few days."

Garp looked puzzled when he heard Kong's words. Hadn't they said just a few days ago that Golden Lion might arrive at Marineford seven or eight days later?

Why had it been moved up by so much?

But he had finally found Dragon, and he had even beaten him up. It did seem like he needed to hurry back. He knew Golden Lion's strength all too well.