Kenji stood at the bow of the warship, unmoved by the rocking and shock of the waves.
On the deck, the Marines were busy, occasionally turning to look at the figure at the bow, their eyes filled with heartfelt respect and reverence.
After the battle at Sabaody Archipelago not long ago, Kenji had become comparable to seasoned Admirals and even the 'Marine Hero' in the hearts of the Marines.
When they returned, if they heard their colleagues at Marineford discussing topics like 'Weakest Admiral' or 'Undeserving of the Title' while drinking and chatting, they would definitely stand up and refute them with raised arms.
"Brothers, Shirojishi Admiral is truly no worse than Admiral Sengoku!"
"Shirojishi Admiral has been deeply misunderstood. You should apologize!"
"Everyone shut up, I'll say something fair, Shirojishi Admiral…"
Some Marine soldiers' lips moved, occasionally emitting soft whispers, already practicing their refutations in their minds.
Most of these refutations were learned from certain tabloid content.
If Kenji knew their thoughts at this moment, he would probably spit blood.
Wouldn't these refutations make it even harder to explain? Where did these tabloid reporters come from, misleading people!
However, in reality, Kenji had no time to observe the situation of the crowd. His attention was entirely focused on the system reward prompt in his field of vision.
[The Sabaody Archipelago riot has ended. After the mission was issued, you challenged one Supernova pirate—Kaido, with a bounty of 1,070,000,000 Berries. You successfully defeated and captured him. Your name has begun to spread widely throughout Marineford!]
[Mission (Side): Challenge a Supernova pirate and successfully survive until the end of the Sabaody Archipelago riot! —Over-completed!]
[System reward increased!]
[Side Mission reward changed to: Upgrade the lowest rarity trait you possess 5 times!]
[Reward issued…]
[Conqueror's Haki (White) has been upgraded to Conqueror's Haki (Dark Blue)!]
Kenji could clearly perceive the changes in his Conqueror's Haki ability.
Without even attempting to release his Conqueror's Haki, he knew that he could now control it freely, and even precisely target a single individual for intimidation.
"Awakening Conqueror's Haki in my sixties… I didn't expect it to reach this intensity." Previously, Kenji had no plans to train Conqueror's Haki.
After all, he was already over sixty when his Conqueror's Haki awakened, and there was no telling how much longer he would live.
After working for forty or fifty years, he should at least enjoy his retirement.
Even with the increased strength of the Conqueror's Haki trait, Kenji still had no intention of training it.
After checking the current status of his traits, only one thought remained in his mind.
"If we speed up, maybe I can make it for the pre-dinner snack."
"The food at the Marineford Base cafeteria isn't great, but the small snacks are indeed delicious…"
...
More than twenty days later, at the Admiral's office in Marineford Base.
Kenji had just finished handling recent affairs yesterday and was in 'vacation mode,' leisurely propping up his legs and slowly sipping tea in the afternoon sun.
The person opposite him was not so relaxed. Instead, he showed a rare sign of impatience.
"This isn't like you, Garp." Kenji gently sipped his tea, comfortably narrowing his eyes.
"Normally, every time I see you, you're laughing foolishly. What's wrong today?"
Garp opposite him stared wide-eyed at Kenji, his gaze seemingly spitting fire. "It's all because of the intel you gave me last time!"
"Where exactly did you get that intel from?"
More than twenty days ago, Kenji informed Garp about the Roger Pirates' appearance. Garp decisively gave up his vacation and went to intercept Roger.
However, when Garp arrived at the intel's location with his team, he learned that the Roger Pirates had already left a week ago.
The intel Kenji provided was a full week out of date!
This absurd situation made even the usually cheerful Garp unable to smile, leaving him grinding his teeth in frustration.
"The intel on the Roger Pirates can't be that precise, they are one of the strongest pirate crew after all." Kenji tried to explain.
Garp said, "Even if there's a discrepancy in the intel, it shouldn't be off by a whole week, right?!"
Kenji said, "Haha, don't worry about it. Next time I have intel on Roger, I'll still tell you."
Garp complained, "Ah, thank you so much… for nothing! Next time, get me more precise intel!"
Kenji said, "Got it, got it. If you don't trust me, don't you trust little Anna? Come, have some senbei with your tea."
"Crunch… Hmm, this senbei is good. Oh, and this tea is also very good…"
After some back and forth, Kenji finally succeeded in appeasing Garp's agitated mood with senbei and afternoon tea.
Creak~
Anna, dressed in professional attire, pushed the door open and entered the room with a file in her arms.
Seeing Kenji and Garp leisurely enjoying their afternoon tea, she raised a hand to push up her golden-rimmed glasses and stood quietly behind Kenji.
Garp, while eating senbei and drinking tea, began to talk to Kenji about his previous experience of leading a team on a wild goose chase.
"That sea trip was very unlucky all the way, it was infuriating," Garp scratched his head, looking very annoyed.
"On the way to chase Roger, we encountered a BIG MOM Pirates ship, which delayed us quite a bit."
"Later, I didn't catch Roger, and then on the way back, I ran into an annoying guy!"
"…Guess who that annoying guy was?"
Kenji rolled his eyes upon hearing this, pouting with an expression that said, 'Say it or don't say it, I don't care.'
Garp stood by with crossed arms, squinting at him for a long time.
When he realized Kenji wasn't going to take the bait, he awkwardly said, "You old geezer, still so boring."
"I'll tell you, the guy who popped up on the way was named Chinjao… You probably don't know this guy."
Hearing this, Kenji didn't respond. He tilted his head to glance at Ann, who was standing straight behind him.
Anna immediately understood. She reached into her arms, pulled out a file, and read the information aloud from it like a broadcaster, enunciating clearly.
"Chinjao, alias 'Chinjao the Drill,' 46 years old, born in the Kano Country, 12th generation head of the Happo Navy, bounty 530,000,000 Berries."
After introducing the information, Anna put away the file and returned to her quiet state, though her gaze was slightly lowered.
Garp was quite embarrassed. "You two really are… equally boring."
Beside him, Kenji took a sip of tea and suddenly smiled. "A bounty of 530,000,000 Berries isn't worth you, a 'Marine Hero,' specifically mentioning, is it?"
"Hmm, let me guess… you probably lost to him?"
"Nonsense! How could I possibly lose to a guy like that…" Garp reflexively retorted, but his voice became softer and softer as he spoke.
"Oh? So that means you defeated him?"
"Well, you can't quite say that either…"
"You drew with him? That's rare! To draw with you, Garp, it seems I should suggest to Fleet Admiral Kong to increase that pirate Chinjao's bounty by several times."
"It's not that exaggerated. I just… didn't win a bet, that's all."
In the sunlight, Anna watched the two men playfully tease each other, and a slight smile unconsciously curved her rosy, thin lips.