"They actually pulled it off..."
Sengoku, who had left the Marines early because of Garp, put down the latest issue of the World Economy News Paper and sighed wistfully. "I once thought about recruiting that brat Xie Wen into the Marines. Now he and Dragon have gone and overthrown the World Government itself. Life really is... unpredictable."
Beside him, Granny Tsuru, who had also retired long ago, raised a cup of hot tea, blew on it twice, then took a gentle sip. Smiling, she said, "With Xie Wen's personality, and those little kitties of his, even if they had joined the Marines, they would have left sooner or later. Besides, isn't this a good outcome? Someone finally dragged those damned Celestial Dragons down from their lofty perch on the Red Line, and the world hasn't fallen into endless chaos. Dragon had the right idea all along."
"Hmph!"
Sengoku gave a disgruntled snort.
Naturally, Sengoku felt no particular loyalty toward the Celestial Dragons. He had stayed in the Marines because he believed that if people like them all left, the World Government would only go further. Put simply, he was a reformist who valued stability and sought gradual change from within, putting him ideologically at odds with a radical revolutionary like Dragon.
But Sengoku was not about to admit so easily that his ideas were inferior to Dragon's.
"If it weren't for Xie Wen and his Palico Research Commission, how could Dragon and that Revolutionary Army of his, hounded wherever they went, possibly have succeeded?!"
"But..." Granny Tsuru took another sip of hot tea and continued with a smile, "the fact that Dragon won Xie Wen's help proves that Xie Wen approved of his ideas. When you invited Xie Wen to join the Marines, he turned you down without a moment's