Inside the Room of Authority of Mary Geoise, the Five Elders each held a newspaper and read it.
"We control the newspaper; we can say whatever we want. We'll solidify their charges, and then we'll bring Vic and his gang to justice. That way, the Dabo Haisita affair will be covered up!"
Saturn, holding the newspaper and looking at Vic's photo, said that the test had been a complete disaster, even a major blunder. Apart from retrieving the twenty-odd sailors abandoned by Vic, the navy that went to Dabo Haisita only found a few agent corpses.
Renka's body was there, but the other agents and civilians were nowhere to be found. Not a single civilian's body was visible, but the sheer amount of blood-stained land and objects couldn't be faked; many people had definitely died.
The plan to massacre the island must have already begun, but it was ultimately stopped by Vic's overwhelming power. However, those people have now become a hidden danger, and they may expose the inhumane crimes committed by their World Government in the massacre. They are all somewhat uneasy about it.
So they immediately pinned the blame on Vic and his group, and sent people to investigate the truth. The twenty-odd so-called abandoned marines have been placed under strict guard, and people have been questioning them about what happened.
"Is there a Devil Fruit that can access the memories of animals? There are still some living animals on that island; they should be able to see what happened back then."
"This ability is too rare, and animal memories are often disjointed and short-lived. I think we should contact Vic directly, offer him some benefits, and get him to hand over those people!"
Since Vic took those people away not only out of a sense of justice, but also with the intention of threatening us, we can definitely talk to him. There's nothing that can't be discussed, unless the offer isn't big enough.
"Talking now is definitely not an option; the Donquixote Family would be in a bad position. Let's focus on the pursuit first. As long as we catch him, everything else is negotiable."
"The Navy needs to urge Kizaru to set off as soon as possible. Vic is so strong at such a young age; the longer it drags on, the worse it will be for us!"
In the Marine Headquarters Fleet Admiral's Office at Naval Headquarters, Kong and Sengoku, both holding newspapers, looked regretful. The news they had sent out was firsthand.
Although the Marines didn't know that Vic killed the Celestial Dragons, the two of them, combining the information they had, had already pieced together a fairly complete picture of what had happened, even knowing that those people were eventually taken away by the Revolutionary Army.
They kept this news from the Five Elders in order to increase Vic's chances of survival. They felt sorry for Garp and Vic, Vic they had indirectly contributed to the departure of several outstanding juniors from the Navy.
Vic killed agents and Celestial Dragons, but didn't harm a single Marine! Vic could have chosen to silence them, which would have kept the World Government and the Navy completely unaware, but he didn't. This shows that the flame of justice in Vic's heart is still burning!
"Alas! What a tragedy! One insisted on making him Marine Admiral, while the other obstructed him by setting up layer upon layer of tests. The final test was far too cruel!"
How many sailors with a strong sense of justice can overcome their inner conflict? These kids are suffering; they'll face endless pursuit from now on! Garp himself didn't want to be a Marine Admiral, so why force a child to become one?!
Sengoku looked distressed. He regretted it. If he could do it all over again, he would definitely persuade Garp and Vic to stay away from that position. But now the die was cast, and what Vic had done meant he could no longer become a special undercover agent for the Navy.
"Didn't the Five Elders assign Borsalino to hunt down Vic and his group? They picked a good target. Give Borsalino a call and tell him not to take this so seriously, to turn a blind eye. His sense of justice is perfect for this kind of thing! Sigh!"
Kong sighed deeply. Vic was a promising talent he had high hopes for, a future candidate to lead the entire navy as Fleet Admiral. Now he had lost him like this, and he was heartbroken.
"Alright! But even if Borsalino gets serious, he might not be able to beat Vic. Vic has gotten stronger again; it seems he's Awakening his Conqueror's Haki, and it's incredibly powerful!"
On the high seas of the first half of the Grand Line, the Dog-Head Warship was sailing. On the foredeck, Garp was reading today's newspaper, holding the newspaper in his left hand and Vic's bounty poster in his right.
"Excellent tactic! Excellent charge! Full speed ahead!"
Garp's face was grim. Seeing the news in the newspaper made him want to quit the Navy. It was too disheartening!
Vic has accomplished so much, yet he has to bear such a serious crime just for killing a Celestial Dragons committed evil deeds. Anyone who sees this would say that such an organization is not worth devoting oneself to. But he can't, because he has a group of people protecting him!
However, Garp was not worried about Vic's safety. He had witnessed Vic's speed; if he wanted to run, few could catch him. Even Kizaru only had an advantage in short distances.
With his current strength and talent, Vic will only get stronger. Without the Navy to keep him in check, the free Vic's strength will surely increase by leaps and bounds!
On the shore of an island in North Blue where it was snowing, there were several small houses with smoke rising from their roofs. Not far away, a warship was anchored in the sea; it belonged to Vice Admiral Tsuru.
Apart from a few female soldiers guarding the ship, everyone else on the warship was warming themselves and avoiding the snow in the cabins. In one of the cabins, Vice Admiral Tsuru was reading a newspaper. On the table in front of him was a cup of steaming tea. Beside him, a pink-haired female marine was flipping through the wanted posters tucked inside the newspaper. The posters featured familiar faces and shockingly high bounty amounts.
"Girl! I've long seen that Vic is no ordinary person. I know you wouldn't be happy to follow me, but it still pains me to see you all reduced to pirates. I hope you can stay true to yourselves and live a good life!"
He stroked Rebecca's photo in the newspaper and sighed. She had let Rebecca board her warship a long time ago, but Rebecca only had eyes for that brat, and she couldn't force her to make a choice for her.
That brat is a very stubborn person, his mind is already set and hard to change. Such a person can be very powerful, but he might also give up things that aren't so important because of his obsessions, like his current position Marine Vice Admiral. Will he give up that silly girl next time because of other obsessions?
"They're all your friends, but just look at them and don't take them seriously. The next time you see them, they'll be your enemies! I'm going to get some sleep!"