At that moment, Garp's adjutant walked to his side and slowly said, "It's because you're also afraid that if we let Dragon go like this, Marshal Kong will have trouble explaining it, right?"
"What trouble? I'm injured. I can't fight that brat head-on. Besides, didn't you hear that Golden Lion Shiki is about to arrive at Marineford?"
"I'm preserving my strength."
Faced with Garp's words, the adjutant knew he could say nothing more. Injured? There was not a single wound on Garp's body. He was blatantly lying through his teeth.
But he could not refute him. He knew Garp was doing it deliberately. After all, Golden Lion was heading to Marineford, and that truly was important.
"Return to Marine Headquarters. Move out."
Time passed quickly. A day went by, and all the Marines at Marineford had been mobilized. Every cannon at the harbor was being loaded with ammunition, while the civilians farther inland had received the news and stayed hidden inside their homes.
The usually bustling streets were terrifyingly silent. Only a few Marines passed by on patrol. Mu Chen, Tokikake, and Smoker had been assigned to the same group and were patrolling the streets as well. Tokikake's face was filled with terror.
"Hey, Mu Chen, they say Golden Lion Shiki is coming to Marineford to avenge Roger. Is that true?"
"You have to know, Golden Lion Shiki was one of the big names from the same era as Pirate King Roger. Tokikake really couldn't understand why someone like that would come to Marineford."
"Mu Chen, say something. I really can't figure it out. Wasn't Golden Lion Shiki Roger's rival?"
"Why would he come to Marineford to avenge Roger?"
Tokikake, who did not know the inside story, was deeply confused. He simply could not understand that point.
Mu Chen began explaining calmly. "Before Roger became the Pirate King, Golden Lion and Roger had already become rivals, competing for the position of Pirate King. Golden Lion even wanted to join forces with Roger back then. Roger refused, which led to the Edd War. Though they were rivals and mortal enemies, Golden Lion also considered Roger a close friend. At their level, it was difficult to find an evenly matched opponent. Even if one had to die, one could only die by the other's hand. That is the pride of all strong people."
"But wasn't there Whitebeard?"
"I remember Edward Newgate had a good relationship with Roger too, and they were evenly matched, right?"
At this point, Tokikake understood even less. He knew a little about Whitebeard Newgate, but only vaguely. The three of them should have been the ones competing for the title of Pirate King.
"As for Whitebeard Newgate, he initially wanted to compete with Roger and Golden Lion too. But in the end, he found his ideal. It was not the so-called One Piece, but family. So he withdrew from the competition early on."
"I see. No wonder Whitebeard Newgate has sons all over the world. So he likes being other people's father."
Only then did Tokikake slowly come to understand. Liking to be someone's father was quite the hobby.
At that point, Tokikake grew even more curious. Those three were all equally famous, and every one of them was terrifyingly strong. If Golden Lion Shiki was coming, wouldn't Whitebeard Newgate come too?
Tokikake became terribly worried. If Whitebeard Newgate came as well, could they really hold the place?
Seeing Tokikake like this, Mu Chen found it rather amusing.
Qi Yuan could not stand watching any longer. She looked at Mu Chen, then at Tokikake. Compared to Tokikake, Mu Chen was calm as still water, not worried about any of this in the slightest.
Yet before the powerful enemy had even arrived, Tokikake had already been scared half to death.
Qi Yuan wore a disdainful expression. Qi Yuan slowly said, "Relax. Whitebeard won't come."
"Zhiyuan, how do you know Whitebeard won't come?"
"They're pirates. Golden Lion is already coming to attack Marineford, so why wouldn't Whitebeard take part?"
Tokikake did not believe pirates would pass up such an opportunity to attack Marine Headquarters.
Qi Yuan no longer wanted to talk to Tokikake.
Explain? She did not want to explain anymore. Tokikake was an idiot.
Seeing this, Mu Chen smiled. "Don't worry, Tokikake. Whitebeard is living well with his sons right now. He values family above all else. Attacking Marine Headquarters is too dangerous. He would never let his sons take such a risk."
After hearing Mu Chen's explanation, Tokikake finally understood. "So that's how it is."
In the marshal's office, Kong held the documents in his hand, his brow tightly furrowed. "What is wrong with our intelligence department? They still can't find Golden Lion's whereabouts?"
Kong was furious about this. Without knowing Golden Lion's whereabouts, they would remain in a passive position. Everyone was on high alert now, but they could not keep defending passively forever.
Yet they had no idea when Golden Lion would attack.
"Marshal Kong, there's nothing we can do. We simply can't track Golden Lion. That man has the powers of the Float-Float Fruit. Our people have no way to find him."
Sengoku was equally helpless. The Float-Float Fruit was indeed troublesome, and Golden Lion had his own Flying Fleet. They had no way to deal with it at all.
"Fine, fine. This is all we can do for now. We'll see what happens in a few days."
Kong waved his hand and sent Sengoku away.
Over the past few days, Mu Chen had spent much less time slacking off. With Golden Lion coming, he had to patrol the streets every day.
Another day passed. Golden Lion did not appear, but many officers who had been out on missions returned instead.
While Mu Chen, Tokikake, and Gion were patrolling the streets, they ran into two people. Both were young men, one tall and thin, the other broad and powerfully built.
The tall, thin man wore a yellow-striped suit, while the burly man wore a red-patterned shirt.
Borsalino and Sakazuki. Mu Chen had not expected that after being here for so long, he would finally meet these two future Admirals.
"My, my, my. Is this that new Marine recruit?"
Mu Chen heard Borsalino's somewhat irritating voice drift over. Before he could react, Borsalino transformed into a beam of light and instantly appeared before Mu Chen, blocking his path.
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