The next morning, Shun woke peacefully in his room.
On top of him lay the naked figure of Nojiko.
Her blue hair and faintly tan skin were gorgeous in the soft light.
'She looked beautiful in that dress, but this is a far better look for her,' Shun thought.
He observed her silently.
Just as he was contemplating this important matter, an annoying sound cut through the quiet.
Bere! Bere! Bere! Bere!
It came from the private Den Den Mushi he had given Sengoku.
'I guess I'm getting fired?' Shun thought with amusement.
He carefully moved to take the call.
The slight movement woke Nojiko.
"Is it morning?" she asked in a weak voice.
Then she saw Shun and realized it wasn't a dream.
'This crazy, perverted bastard… He still talked about that debt and turned it into a play,' Nojiko thought with a faint grudge.
Yet, a quieter part of her added, 'I'm glad I took Nami's place…'
Her feelings about the decision were a tangled mix of positive and negative.
Shun picked up the receiver.
"YOU IDIOT!!"
'As expected,' Shun mused.
An old man's furious voice erupted from the snail.
A Little Earlier – Sengoku's POV
Sengoku was sleeping soundly in his house.
With the war finally over, he could finally get a full night's rest.
He was having a beautiful dream.
"Grandpa!" A little boy with blonde hair called to him with a righteous smile.
Sengoku patted his head with gentle affection.
"Yes… this is my real grandson. Not that crazy brat," Sengoku smiled peacefully.
But in the next moment, the blonde-haired kid grew up… only to be killed.
The scenes in his dream shifted.
"Grandpa!" A different voice called out.
"Rosinante!" Sengoku looked over in surprise.
But it wasn't who he hoped to see.
It was a white-haired kid with white eyebrows.
Those unique features instantly identified him.
Though this brat used his name for convenience, he never called him 'grandpa.'
Sengoku was flooded with complicated feelings.
"Shu—"
Just as he was beginning to come to terms with those feelings, a dreadful sound pierced the dream.
Bere! Bere! Bere! Bere!
Sengoku's eyes snapped open.
A hollow feeling settled in his chest.
He let out a heavy sigh and answered the Den Den Mushi.
To his dread, it was from the five annoying bastards of the World Government.
"Yes," he answered, his voice flat.
"SENGOKU! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" a furious voice shouted from the other side.
Sengoku's own anger flared instantly, but he held it in.
Despite his hatred for those men, the entire Marine organization was funded by the World Government.
Masking his rage perfectly, he asked, "What is this about? I have no clue."
"You have no clue?! Your grandson attacked and killed Celestial Dragons in public!" The Five Elders dropped the bomb.
Then continued, "Are the Marines trying to rebel?!"
"..."
Normally, Sengoku could instantly concoct an excuse for any situation.
But this?!
"It must be a misunderstanding. My grandson wouldn't…" he started to refute, but the thought died.
That lunatic would absolutely dare to do it.
"The Marines don't have such ambitions," he finished, his tone desperate.
After an extended period of scolding, Sengoku ended the call with a promise.
"I'll talk with my grandson and resolve this publicly."
"Sigh…" As soon as the call ended, he exhaled wearily.
He immediately thought of the private Den Den Mushi he'd gotten from Shun.
It was in his office drawer.
He rushed there immediately.
Back to Shun's POV
"..." "They attacked me first," Shun offered, trying to salvage his name. "You think that's an excuse?!" Sengoku roared.
He was unleashing the rage he'd absorbed from the Elders' scolding.
After another minute of venting, he decided, "Come to my office right now and fix the mess you made!"
To his surprise, Shun agreed easily.
"Alright. I'll be there soon."
Nojiko, who had been listening from the bed, was startled.
"You're heading out?"
"Yeah. We're heading out somewhere. Get dressed," Shun said.
"Huh? Why me?" Why would she follow him just to get scolded, too?
"We caused the problem together, after all!" As always, Shun's reasoning was flawless.
Hearing it, Nojiko felt it was kind of right.
Those lunatics had caused problems because of her, after all.
'But would I even be here if this bastard hadn't brought me here suddenly?' She felt it was unreasonable.
But she got up and dressed anyway.
Half an hour later, Shun and Nojiko appeared in the sky above Marine Headquarters.
While Nojiko was excited by her first time flying, now wasn't the time for it.
During the journey, Shun explained exactly who the people they'd killed yesterday were.
Nojiko initially didn't believe it.
Were there really such unreasonable people, calling themselves descendants of gods?
But then, worry set in.
They had killed them!
"Will we be okay?" Nojiko asked.
She now fully accepted shared responsibility and used "we."
"Don't worry. I have a flawless plan!" Shun insisted.
They entered the headquarters building.
The patrolling Marines were instantly on alert—the news was already worldwide.
"Sir Admiral… the Fleet Admiral is waiting for you in his office," one brave Marine informed Shun.
"Mm," Shun nodded and headed there.
When Shun entered Sengoku's office, he let out a low whistle.
"Ohh? What a lineup," he said with his usual smile.
He took in Sengoku, Tsuru, Garp, and the three Admirals.
"You brat. You really did it this time," Sengoku began.
"I thought my grandson was crazy for punching a Celestial Dragon… but yours actually killed them! BWAHAHAHA!" Only Garp could laugh in a situation like this.
"I mean it was obviously a self-defense," Shun said, sticking to his excuse.
"Call the five old guys. I have a plan!" Shun announced, to everyone's surprise.
Nojiko, meanwhile, felt incredibly small.
Even she could sense the immense strength radiating from everyone in the room.
Still fuming, Sengoku called the Five Elders and handed Shun the Den Den Mushi.
The powerful lineup had been assembled with the unspoken purpose of throwing Shun in prison if he tried anything else.
Bere! Bere! Bere! Bere!
While the ringing felt endless to everyone else, Shun skimmed the newspaper on Sengoku's desk.
"Pfft—'Marine Rebellion? Three Celestial Dragons Killed by Sengoku's Grandson!'" Shun read the headline.
He couldn't hold back his laughter.
Sengoku's anger boiled.
But Garp just joined in laughing harder…
Just as Sengoku was about to explode—
Gotcha.
The call connected.
"Sengoku… you had better have a solution," a deep, despotic voice resounded from the other side.
"Hello. This is the Marine's Honorary Admiral," Shun introduced himself humbly.
For a moment, everyone in the room couldn't believe their ears.
'This shameless bastard,' was the shared thought on the Marine side.
"What is your excuse?!" the deep voice demanded furiously.
"Excuse? What do you mean? I should be getting praised, but everyone seems angry," Shun asked.
He spoke as if he'd been wrongfully accused.
"You bastard!"
Crash!
The sound of splintering wood came from the other side.
"I checked on my way here," Shun continued, unperturbed.
"There are currently four Celestial Dragons on Sabaody Archipelago, attending an auction."
"!!"
"You brat, are you threatening us?" The situation suddenly turned severe.
Sengoku and the others, who had held a sliver of hope for Shun's "plan," were speechless.
"You call this a plan?!" Sengoku shouted.
"Well, listen. Who I killed yesterday were actually a bunch of scammers pretending to be Celestial Dragons. I, the newly promoted Honorary Admiral, saw through their facade, took action, and executed them on the spot!" Shun finished explaining his "perfect" plan.
"You think we're idiots who can't recognize our own people?" the Elder barked.
"Well, you would know. But everyone else wouldn't, right? Just tell them that story. My reputation as the Marines' new hero will be saved. It's a win-win," Shun said with confidence.
"As compensation, I'll even spare the lives of those four possibly fake Celestial Dragons on Sabaody."
His smile now seemed sinister to everyone present.
"..." "Is that all you have to say? Sengoku! Arrest that bastard immediately, and we will clear the Marines' name," the Elder ordered.
He had heard Sengoku shouting earlier.
"..."
Sengoku hesitated.
Was another one of his grandsons going to die?
Unknowingly, he had begun to accept this troublesome role as a grandfather…
But Shun's next words stopped his thoughts cold.
"Before I copied Whitebeard's fruit," Shun paused.
He let the weight of his words sink in.
"I visited Impel Down's Level Six!"
"!!"
"What?!" Now everyone was shocked.
Some could already see where this was going.
"There was a Devil Fruit user there with crazy abilities," Shun continued into the tense silence.
"It was called the More-More Fruit. A fruit that can literally multiply things. Size, speed… or power."
By the time he finished, everyone understood the terrifying implication of his threat.
One of Whitebeard's punches could cause earthquakes and tsunamis.
What would it do if multiplied a hundredfold?
The furious Five Elders on the line fell silent.
They were nervous at the implication.
They stayed quiet for what felt like forever but in reality it was just about a minute.
"We'll call back."
Gotcha.
"…"
To the astonishment of everyone in the office, the call was cut.
The crazy old men were… conceding?
"Alright, problem fixed!!" Shun said exaggeratedly and wiped the nonexistent sweat on his forehead.
Everyone was silent.
This was the first time for all of them to see the Five Elders conceding.
And the incident this time was way crazier than anything before.
"Am I still dreaming?" Sengoku muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, Shun took a seat on the guest sofa with Nojiko.
Shun read the details of the newspaper with Nojiko.
"Hmm, this picture. Nami's gonna see us…" Shun said to Nojiko.
"!!" "You're right… she's gonna worry that I've been abducted by a devil." Nojiko genuinely started to worry.
'Nami, just leave this devil to me and continue your dream!' Nojiko prayed naively, still believing Shun's words fully.
The next moment, Shun took out a grape.
He placed his head on Nojiko's lap as she started feeding him.
"…"
Everyone had to wait until the Five Elders' call, witnessing this?!
"Ah, gramps, this is Nojiko. She is your daughter-in-law. Nojiko, he is the Sengoku from my infamous nickname in the newspapers." Shun introduced the two.
The two awkwardly looked at each other.
"Hello." Nojiko said.
What she thought was a scolding or punishment meeting had become a parental meeting…
"Mm." Sengoku nodded to her with a small smile.
His mood became visibly better as he relished the thought of those five bastards being speechless.
Seeing the two acquainted, Shun started talking.
"When we were going to our room, those crazy bastards appeared out of nowhere and said they were gonna enslave Nojiko." Shun began his side of the story.
"When I refused rightfully… they shot at me. Like twenty bullets. I took them all and told them to leave, and I would spare them. But this time they started attacking me with knives and swords! I had to defend myself in the end." Shun let out a big sigh.
"…"
The three Admirals were speechless. What were they being told?
"You did the right thing!" Garp said, backing Shun.
"But next time, check if there are any witnesses. Hahaha!" Garp advised. He had a great opinion of Shun. Not only had he saved two of his grandsons, but he also killed some scum and made those five bastards speechless. This was great.
"You're right." Shun agreed, as if he hadn't noticed the camera snails before.
While it seemed like a pointless heroic story from Shun, Sengoku and Tsuru came to a realization—a way to control this unpredictable brat!
They realized that last time, when this guy first showed himself, it was at two of his wives' request. This time, he killed Celestial Dragons to save his wife from slavery.
'So, a way like that existed, huh?' Sengoku was almost smiling. The day had started in the worst way, but things were finally going his way!
Bere! Bere! Bere! Bere!
"!!"
Finally, the call they had been waiting for!
Gotcha.
Shun answered the call.
A deep voice came from the other side.
"We talked amongst ourselves. We came to a decision. 'The Celestial Dragons named 'Giorno' never existed! They were frauds' will be the headline of the next newspaper." The voice paused a bit, then it continued.
"However!! There won't be a next time!"
Gotcha!
The call ended without waiting for Shun to speak.
"…"
Everyone here had witnessed a miracle! Had there ever been a time when the Five Elders backed off?
"Hahaha, as expected of my grandson!" Sengoku, to everyone's surprise, was ecstatic. If he had been told an hour earlier that he would be laughing with joy today, he would never have believed it. But here he was.
The three Admirals sighed in disbelief, then left.
——
The next morning, Tesoro sat in his office. His crew stood around him. They looked at the newspaper in disbelief. The previous day, they had read a headline: "Celestial Dragons Killed by Sengoku's Grandson. Marine's Rebellion."
However, today's headline was…
Baccarat read the headline in fear. "Marine's New Hero. Honorary Admiral Shun. Saw Through Fake Celestial Dragons' Mask and Executed Them on the Spot!"
"!!"
They knew the Celestial Dragons were genuine ones, as they were regular customers in Gran Tesoro.
"How did he do it?" Tesoro muttered. "It seems I've underestimated him."
He wasn't laughing this time.