Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and the Navy in Shock

The Five Elders were completely stunned. They were so shocked they couldn't even speak.

A kid who was only seventeen had awakened the Three Types of Haki, and all three had reached an advanced level!

He had the strength to kill a CP0 agent at Vice Admiral level with one punch!

Even if a thirty- or forty-year-old Pirate had this kind of strength, they would at least be a famous warlord ruling over one part of the sea!

But now a seventeen-year-old kid had such terrifying strength!

How frightening was his talent? How terrifying was his potential? How high could he rise in the future? These questions... were enough to leave the Five Elders deep in thought for a long time!

Could it be that another Rocks had appeared?

No, what made the Five Elders even more fearful was that even Rocks at seventeen probably hadn't been as terrifyingly strong as Rono was at seventeen!

Just who was this guy?!

More importantly, why had this guy targeted the Heavenly Tribute? Was he simply trying to make a name for himself, or was he after the Celestial Dragons? They had to get to the bottom of it.

"Have you figured out the reason behind this attack?" one of the elders hurriedly asked.

"According to the survivors at the scene, Rono also pressed CP0 for the Celestial Dragons' whereabouts. We don't know the exact reason, but it's very likely he was after the Celestial Dragons!" CP0's voice grew more emphatic.

In the eyes of these brainwashed people, anyone who targeted the Celestial Dragons had committed an unforgivable, heinous crime!

"After the Celestial Dragons? He sounds a lot like Rocks."

After hearing this, the Five Elders' expressions grew even graver.

Rocks often hijacked the Heavenly Tribute, and he would even slaughter Celestial Dragons.

If those two men crossed paths... the consequences would be unimaginable!

"This boy cannot be allowed to live!"

The Five Elders quickly exchanged glances. Their long years of cooperation had made them highly attuned to one another, and the five old men soon understood what the others meant.

Rono had to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible!

If they let him grow unchecked, he would surely cause a catastrophe in the future!

Of course, an even graver possibility was that Rocks might recruit Rono. If those two joined forces, it would be the last thing the Five Elders wanted to see.

"Notify the Navy at once and issue a Bounty Poster. He's so young, yet he has such terrifying potential. We must eliminate him as soon as possible!"

The Five Elders quickly issued their order.

"Oh, and besides Rono, he has another accomplice named Roger."

"His strength is about equal to Rono's, and he's around thirty."

Only then did CP0 remember that besides Rono, there had been another man at the scene, who was probably his accomplice.

Rono had shocked them so much that they had nearly forgotten Roger.

"Anyone who's part of Rono's crew must be eliminated too!" the Five Elders said in unison.

The Navy at Marine Headquarters soon received the news.

Inside the Navy office, Kong, the Marine Admiral at the time, summoned Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, Tsuru, and many other Core Members.

Not only that, the Navy Recruit Dragon was also in the meeting room.

The Navy had learned that Dragon had awakened Conqueror's Haki during this incident and took it very seriously, deciding to give him special attention and nurture him.

After hearing about the Heavenly Tribute incident, everyone in the Navy looked incredulous.

After all, this was the first time they had heard of a seventeen-year-old boy possessing such strength.

"What do you think? Speak up," Kong said to everyone.

Nearly everyone present was a future pillar of the Navy. Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr in particular were all Admiral Candidates.

In terms of strength, the three were already not far behind an Admiral.

Kong had called them here partly to train them.

"This Rono has terrifying strength despite his young age. We should indeed eliminate him as soon as possible, or at least capture him and lock him up in Impel Down," Zephyr said.

Zephyr already had the makings of the Unkillable Admiral.

"That's right. The impact of hijacking the Heavenly Tribute is extremely bad. It will damage the reputation of our Navy's Justice. We must act as soon as possible," Sengoku said, agreeing with the proposal.

Just then, Garp suddenly stood up and said, "This guy did hijack the Heavenly Tribute, but he was after the Celestial Dragons. You all know what those scum are like. There may be more to this than meets the eye."

Garp had always despised the Celestial Dragons, so he wasn't exactly angry about Rono's crimes, and certainly didn't think Rono should be hunted down to the last man.

Hearing this, Kong, the Marine Admiral, immediately cut him off. "Garp, watch what you say!"

On the surface, it sounded like a rebuke, but he was actually protecting Garp. If the Celestial Dragons heard those words, even Kong wouldn't be able to protect him.

After all, the Battle of God Valley hadn't happened yet, and Garp didn't have the protection of the Navy Hero title.

"Admiral Kong, you know what those Celestial Dragons are like too. Before the background investigation is complete, we'd better not act rashly," Garp said, not caring whether the Celestial Dragons heard him.

"Reporting to Admiral Kong, we've finished investigating Rono's background!"

Just then, a Navy officer rushed into the meeting room and handed Kong a file.

"Good." Kong took the file and immediately began reading it.

But the moment he finished, Kong's expression changed, turning somewhat awkward.

Seeing this, Sengoku hurriedly asked, "Admiral Kong, what happened?"

Kong tossed the file onto the table. "See for yourselves."

The others quickly read the file, and their expressions all changed.

It was simple: the file recorded Rono's origins and hometown. After all, Rono had spent over ten years as an ordinary person, so investigating his background was easy.

The file stated that a week before the Heavenly Tribute incident, a Celestial Dragon had gone to Rono's hometown and shot many civilians, including Rono's parents!

Rono had witnessed the entire thing with his own eyes!

"No wonder this guy hijacked the Heavenly Tribute and went looking for the Celestial Dragons. Now it all makes sense!"

Garp slapped the file down on the table with a loud smack, his face full of anger.

Those useless Celestial Dragons had brought this on themselves, and now they'd caused another huge mess.

Garp even wanted to say, "Good! They deserved it!"

Sengoku and Zephyr, who had just been clamoring to eliminate Rono as soon as possible, also looked somewhat awkward.

They had thought Rono was some great evildoer, but it turned out there was more to the story.

Watching his parents get killed by the Celestial Dragons right in front of him—if it had been them, they probably would have done the same.

"So that's what happened..." Dragon, who had been listening nearby, was also stunned by the reason!

He understood now why Rono had insisted on asking CP0 about the Celestial Dragons' whereabouts.

If something like this had happened to him, he would definitely have done the same thing as Rono.