Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

"All right. As Marines, our first duty is to fight evil.

Whatever it takes, we must show evil no mercy!"

Akainu nodded. After that brief word of advice, he said nothing more.

Atlas had served under him once, after all, and she had yet to establish herself.

As her former superior, he would not begrudge her the support she needed.

... Time passed, minute by minute.

At 7:45, Sengoku, Kong, Garp, Zephyr, and the others finally arrived.

Kong was now Commander-in-Chief, more than qualified to confer the rank of Fleet Admiral on Sengoku, both by position and seniority.

As for Zephyr, he had stepped back from active duty. With the Admiral positions filled, he had retired completely and had no official reason to attend the ceremony.

But he had taught so many of the Marine leadership that it would have been strange for him not to appear.

"Hahaha! Kid, you've finally got a bit of the old man's flair. An Admiral at your age!"

Garp dug his little finger into his nose as he strode toward Atlas, laughing.

"Hey, Garp, stop giving yourself so much credit. At Atlas's age, you were probably still struggling with some small-time pirate."

Sengoku shot him a contemptuous look.

"Hahaha! Close enough! We're both outstanding talents from East Blue. And my grandsons will be every bit as good as this kid someday!"

Garp didn't care. He pressed his thumb against his little finger and flicked—

A dark, unidentified lump shot toward Sengoku!

Ever since Atlas had brought Ace and Luffy to Marine Headquarters, Garp had been grinning from ear to ear almost every day.

No matter what the conversation was about, he found a way to bring up Luffy and Ace.

It was as though he feared someone might not know he had two grandsons.