Marines

In the Loguetown Marine building, Buddha Sengoku, Garp, Kizaru, and Aokiji sat together.

Everyone wore a different expression.

Although the World Government claimed that Roger was captured by the Marines, only those present knew the real truth, which was that Roger had surrendered.

Regarding the reason for Roger's surrender, although various pieces of evidence indicated it was indeed because Roger suffered from a terminal illness and had not much time left, a faint unease lingered in everyone's hearts, feeling as though something was amiss with Roger.

Yet neither the World Government nor the Marines could figure out what Roger was planning.

Regardless, Roger's capture was a huge blow to pirates across the Grand Line and a tremendous boost to the prestige of the World Government and the Marines.

At that moment, Buddha Sengoku looked out the window at the chaotic world of Loguetown, his expression somewhat troubled as he instructed Kizaru and Aokiji before him.

"Over the next half month, the two of you must be fully focused and cannot afford a single oversight. Especially the place where Roger is imprisoned—prevent anyone from potentially attempting a jailbreak."

At that time, Aokiji and Kizaru were not yet admirals, so the two could still be made to obey Sengoku's words.

"Everything is arranged."

The laid-back Aokiji had no choice but to take the Pirate King's execution seriously.

On the other hand, Kizaru still spoke in his usual unserious tone.

"A lot of scary monsters have appeared in Loguetown these past few days. Should we go ahead and capture them early?"

Sengoku shook his head.

"Everything from now on takes Roger's public execution as the priority. We'll deal with those pirates after Roger's execution is over."

"I understand."

Right then, Sengoku looked at Garp, who was spacing out, a hint of worry in his expression.

Ever since Roger surrendered half a month ago and Garp met with him once, Garp had turned out like this.

Sengoku did not think too much of it, figuring it was perhaps just a mutual appreciation between rivals, so he did not say much more.

Yet at that very moment, the sound of a Den Den Mushi rang out in the quiet building.

Sengoku's expression changed, because the sound of this Den Den Mushi was not an ordinary one, but the exclusive contact method of Marine Fleet Admiral Kong.

A sudden, faint unease rose in Sengoku's heart. Why would Fleet Admiral Kong suddenly contact him at this critical juncture?

The few people present also knew of this Den Den Mushi's existence, so they all cast their gazes over. Even Garp's expression suddenly turned grave.

Sengoku answered the call, and then, under the watchful gaze of everyone, the usually composed, steady, and brilliant Buddha Sengoku suddenly revealed a look of extreme panic and unease, seeming frozen in place.

"What's wrong? Admiral Sengoku? What happened..."

Aokiji asked with some confusion.

Then, Sengoku's answer caused the expressions of everyone present to change drastically in an instant.

"A Celestial Dragon has been killed..."

"!!!"

"Gasp..."

Realizing what this represented, everyone instantly drew a sharp breath. Before they could even ask what had happened, they heard Sengoku speaking rapidly.

"Kizaru, take the Den Den Mushi and head to the Grand Line right now. Remember to bring those two pirates back no matter what..."

"Got it."

Regarding the matter of a Celestial Dragon being killed, even the unserious Kizaru had to turn serious now. After taking the Golden Den Den Mushi, he transformed into a beam of light and vanished on the spot.

"Then we..."

Seeing Kizaru leave, Aokiji could not help asking.

Sengoku's reply was decisive.

"The Five Elders have spoken. No matter what happens, nothing can affect the execution of the Pirate King Roger... The World Government will find a way to suppress this news..."

Aokiji said nothing more. After arranging everything, Sengoku clutched his head with a headache and slumped onto the sofa all at once.

"Good grief, what is wrong with this world... One thing after another..."

Garp, however, had completely relaxed by then and laughed without any disguise.

"What on earth is going on? Where did some madman come from to actually dare kill a Celestial Dragon? Since Rocks, there have rarely been madmen like this..."

Sengoku shot his old friend a blank look. Unlike the others, he knew that this friend of his had never placed Celestial Dragons in his eyes; the Celestial Dragons, and even the Five Elders, did not dare do anything to him, so he spoke without hiding anything.

"The current details are not well understood, and we've lost contact with the warships. The dead Celestial Dragon is Saint Donquixote Mjosgard, and the ones who killed him are two rookie pirates called the Sky Pirate Crew."

"The Sky Pirate Crew, you say? That actually reminds me of that fellow Shiki. Wonder how he's doing in Impel Down right now..."

Garp laughed, getting completely off topic.

As his old rival, Garp certainly remembered the name of Shiki's pirate crew: the Flying Pirate Crew.

Instead, Aokiji thought of something and asked.

"I remember he had four CP9 guys protecting him. Those fellows aren't weak in strength, plus Gasparde was there. Even though he's only a major general, his Gummy Fruit ability is extremely useful. Even with all that, they still couldn't protect the Celestial Dragon..."

Aokiji's words startled Sengoku, but he reacted soon after, his expression suddenly turning ugly, yet it eased slightly a moment later.

"Kizaru should be fine."

After all, Kizaru's current strength had reached the level of admiral candidate, and dealing with two pirates...

Sengoku thought this, but for some reason, he always had an uneasy feeling in his heart.

However, he could no longer spare the forces to deal with it.

Even the death of a Celestial Dragon became insignificant in the face of the execution of the Pirate King Roger...

"What a troubled autumn..."

Kizaru's departure did not hide his figure, so many people noticed it, but their channels for obtaining intelligence were limited, so many people still did not know what had happened.

But some people were different.

In a certain inn, Stussy, queen of the Pleasure District known as one of the emperors of the Underworld, and Morgans, president of the World Economy News Paper, were confronting each other at this moment.

They had both obtained the intelligence at the same time; while deeply shocked, the two of them held completely different stances.

As a member of CP0 and a spy for the World Government, Stussy the queen of the Pleasure District received orders from the Five Elders to suppress this news at all costs—at least until Roger's execution was over, it could not be known to everyone.

But Morgans, president of the World Economy News Paper, thought from the very first moment about how to publicize this big news to the world.

After all, the more chaotic the world was, the more he liked it.

The confrontation between the two ultimately ended with Stussy's victory, because even as the president of the world's number one newspaper, he still could not escape the control of the World Government.

But soon, three hours later, everything turned upside down.

In the originally clear sky, a gust of wind suddenly blew past, and countless pieces of paper drifted down.

The content on the paper was also very simple.

Aside from three photographs, there were only three names and a signature.

Yet no one dared to ignore this piece of paper.

Because among the photographs on it, one was of a Celestial Dragon with his head blown off, while the other two photographs were respectively: Ye Mu, captain of the Sky Pirate Crew, and Enel, vice captain of the Sky Pirate Crew.

As for the final signature, it was an unfamiliar title: Revolutionary Army.

In an instant, the entire Loguetown was shaken...

Yet the mastermind behind it all, Ye Mu, was not very happy, because he discovered that he had made a wasted trip.

"In other words, the ship is empty right now..."