Inside the Admiral's office, the faint scratching of a pen against paper filled the room.
Vice Admiral Sengoku was buried in a mountain of reports, processing complex intelligence from every corner of the world.
Suddenly, a steady knock echoed.
The office door opened, and Vice Admiral Tsuru walked in with her usual measured pace.
Without looking up, Sengoku casually asked, "What is it, Tsuru?"
She approached the desk and gently placed two bounty notices atop the neatly stacked files.
"Sengoku, take a look. A new bounty has appeared in the East Blue."
Sengoku's pen froze mid-stroke. Slowly, he lifted his gaze, a trace of confusion flickering in his eyes.
"Wasn't the East Blue already thoroughly pacified by that Hawk kid, with iron and blood?"
"To ensure absolute stability, I even had Sakazuki send two of his top-ranking colonels from headquarters to oversee the region," Tsuru replied evenly.
"Yet a pirate managed to escape their encirclement?"
The rules of the Marines were strict.
A rookie pirate captured at their first encounter with the Navy would never earn a bounty.
Since these notices were now on the desk, there was only one explanation.
This newcomer had indeed escaped the Marines' grasp.
"See for yourself…"
Tsuru's expression remained unreadable, neither pleased nor displeased.
Sengoku picked up the first bounty notice. His eyes fell on the photograph of a man with a clown's painted face and a massive red nose.
Clown Buggy
Bounty: 15,000,000 Berries
The name instantly triggered a memory buried deep in Sengoku's mind.
An apprentice from Gol D. Roger's crew?
He remembered that after Roger's execution, this guy had seemingly vanished from the world… and now, after so many years, he had reappeared.
A bounty of just fifteen million didn't warrant too much concern for the Fleet Admiral.
He tossed Buggy's notice aside and picked up the second one.
The photograph showed a young boy wearing a straw hat, his face lit with a radiant, carefree smile, as if the world held no fear for him.
Straw Hat Kid Monkey D. Luffy
Crimes: Evading Marine pursuit and escaping with Clown Buggy
Bounty: 5,000,000 Berries
When Sengoku read the surname "Monkey," his pupils constricted sharply.
"Monkey…!"
He looked up in disbelief at Tsuru.
"That's right," she said, nodding slowly. "He is the son of Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army."
"And… the grandson of Garp."
"Crrrk !"
Sengoku sprang to his feet.
"Garp, that fool! How did he raise his grandson?!"
"A descendant of a Marine hero… choosing to become a pirate?!"
His blood pressure skyrocketed at the thought.
This was the biggest embarrassment in Marine history.
The family of a Marine hero first the father a notorious criminal, and now the grandson flying the pirate flag.
Where was the Marine's dignity supposed to go?!
"Tsuru, what do you think?"
Sengoku forced down his anger and turned to the calm Tsuru.
"That Hawk kid is leading his G-3 fleet toward Ennies Lobby…"
Tsuru's voice was calm, measured.
"Sakazuki is stationed in the New World, confronting the Four Emperors, unable to spare the time."
"Now… there is still a chance."
Sengoku immediately understood her meaning.
The Straw Hat Kid was still a rookie, a five-million-bounty newbie, and had committed no major crimes.
But if he escaped the Marines and entered the Grand Line, his actions would be unchecked.
Whether he collided with Sakazuki's "absolute justice" or Hawk's "ruthless justice," the outcome would be inevitable death.
A Marine hero's grandson, executed publicly…
The sight would be humiliating for the Marines.
It had to be stopped now, while the seeds of sin were still small.
"I understand."
Sengoku drew in a deep breath, his anger solidifying into determination.
"Call Garp here immediately!"
The office door burst open with a loud bang.
"Hey, Sengoku, what's up?"
Garp walked in carelessly, a rice cracker stuffed in his mouth, crunching loudly with each chew.
"So urgent, huh?"
Sengoku, expressionless, grabbed the bounty notices and slapped them onto Garp's face.
"See for yourself!"
Garp caught them casually, his eyes falling on the image of his grinning grandson.
"Oh, oh!"
"So Luffy, that little brat, has really done it he's set sail to become a pirate!"
He casually flicked his pinky at his nose.
"Still, only a five-million bounty? Pathetic! Brings shame to old Garp!"
"GARP!!!"
Sengoku could no longer contain his fury, pointing a finger at Garp.
"Only five million?!"
"I'm raising it to 500 million immediately!"
"Then call Hawk, tell him to forget Ennies Lobby and sweep the East Blue again properly!"
The moment Garp heard the name "Hawk," his playful, careless expression vanished.
Alarm bells rang in his mind.
He realized the Marines were no longer the hesitant, indecisive force of the past.
They were becoming stronger, faster, ruthless, and precise, the embodiment of justice.
If Luffy, that mischievous brat, collided with Hawk…
The one praised even by Sakazuki as a Marine who executes justice to its utmost limit…
Luffy would die.
Thinking of this, Garp immediately shed all pretense of playfulness.
He looked at Sengoku, then at Tsuru, who gave him an encouraging glance.
He nodded and strode out decisively.
Soon, a Marine warship, its figurehead shaped like a dog's head, sped out of the Marineford harbor.
"Hold on tight!"
Garp stood at the bow, roaring to his subordinates and soldiers behind him.
"We're in a hurry!"
Before anyone could react, he leapt backward, right fist clenched, muscles bulging, and swung it with all his might at the air behind the ship.
Then, with a fluid spin, he landed steadily on the bow.
"Boom!"
An invisible shockwave, like the hand of a god, lifted the ten-thousand-ton dog-head warship off the water.
The hull tore through the waves as the ship soared toward the sky.
It transformed into a projectile, slicing through the air toward the East Blue.
Garp clenched his fist tightly, wind raging against his face, eyes burning with resolve.
"Luffy, you brat!"
"Let Grandpa shatter your pirate dream with a single punch!"