Zephyr shot Sengoku a speechless glance and raised his chin slightly. "Isn't that obvious? If there was nothing they wanted on the island, why would they come? To cheer for the Celestial Dragons?"
Sengoku glanced back out of the corner of his eye, raising the tip of one eyebrow. "You're picking a fight, Zephyr."
"Hahaha!"
Zephyr laughed and shrugged casually. "Hardly. I'm just telling the truth."
At that moment, Garp, who had been silent until then, spoke up. "More pirates have come than we expected. What a bunch of idiots. They knew the information had leaked and the World Government would definitely send high-ranking Marines to protect the place, but they still risked coming for the treasure, hoping they'd get lucky."
Sengoku chuckled softly. The fact that far more pirates had come than expected did little to stir him.
"That's not stupidity. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, they're gambling on a chance."
Zephyr nodded slightly, quite agreeing with Sengoku's view.
"That's why... I say most pirates only took this path because they had no other choice. Perhaps if we let them live, they might turn over a new leaf someday."
Sengoku glanced at Zephyr again. Naturally, he disagreed with that idea. Pirates were synonymous with evil. How could simply sparing their lives make them turn over a new leaf?
Still... Sengoku neither voiced his agreement nor argued.
"I heard you took on a student, Zephyr?" Garp suddenly asked, still observing the battle at sea through his binoculars.
"Hahaha, you heard too? I'm telling you, he's a very promising youngster," Zephyr said rather proudly. Good prospects were hard to find.
"Yeah, I can see that. He's certainly promising. But... his views don't seem quite the same as yours. From what I can see, he doesn't hold