Marine Headquarters, Marineford, the Fleet Admiral's Office.
A heavy atmosphere still hung over the room. Sengoku braced both hands on his desk, his brow furrowed tightly enough to crush a fly.
Across from him, Garp was, for once, not noisily munching on senbei. He merely held a piece, a rare look of worry on his face.
"So... you really aren't going to try asking Zephyr?" Garp asked gruffly, his voice lacking its usual boisterousness.
"No matter how much of a bastard that brat is, surely he'd listen to a few words from his teacher?"
Sengoku let out a deep sigh, a trace of helplessness and anger crossing his face. "I did! Of course I did! He was the first person I contacted!"
He rubbed his aching temples, his tone resentful. "And that old bastard! He actually told me he was sick! Seriously sick!
"He needed peace and quiet to recover! He even said... Tesoro's wife and daughter, along with his own wife, needed him to look after them. Then he shut himself away!
"Playing that game with me at a time like this!"
The more Sengoku spoke, the angrier he became. He slapped the desk. "He clearly guessed I wanted him to talk the boy around, and he's deliberately avoiding me!
"If his own teacher won't do anything, who else can talk that lunatic down?!"
Watching his old friend's fury, Garp silently stuffed the senbei into his mouth and chewed a few times, but it seemed tasteless.
Then he sighed, his voice dropping. "Ah... that brat Gern definitely won't let this go. And those idiots in the World Government..."
How could Sengoku not know? He lowered his eyes, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the desk, and remained silent for a long time.
Only then, as though he had finally reached