"What?! Why was the grand parade moved up?!" Sengoku's eyes widened.
This was no trivial matter.
This was the debut of their new world order.
Moving the date meant dozens of intricate, interlocking plans had to be adjusted on the fly.
"All preparations for the parade itself are complete, sir," the young, energized soldier reported, his back ramrod straight.
"Issho-san and Mihawk-san are already on their way back with their target. The other adjustments won't affect the outcome." He paused, and his voice dropped to a low, almost awed whisper.
"Most importantly… Mike-san is angry."
"..."
Sengoku rubbed his throbbing temples, a massive headache already blooming behind his eyes.
'This is really… asking for trouble.'
That kid Mike was supposed to be the lazy one, the slacker, the hands-off financier determined to be nothing more than a laid-back pretty boy.
Who in their right mind was stupid enough to piss him off?
Didn't they know who held the most sway on these seas now?
Didn't they know who was really calling the shots?
But then again, Sengoku couldn't help but feel a surge of profound admiration.
It had only been one week since Mike's impassioned speech.
One week.
And in that time, the entire lumbering, bureaucratic behemoth of the old Marine had been transformed, reborn.
It was now a single, unified, well-oiled machine, its every part moving in perfect synchronicity.
This kind of efficiency… in the old days, he wouldn't have even dared to dream of it.
'Ah, fuck it'. Sengoku thought, a grim smile touching his lips.
'That kid Mike knows exactly what he's doing. If the parade's moved up, so be it. The New Marine is strong, formidable, and ready. We're not afraid of anyone.'
"If it's moved up, then it's moved up!" Garp bellowed from the side, utterly unconcerned.
For him, a parade was just a boring prelude to the main event: throwing punches.
"Go tell that kid Mike that everything at Impel Down was my doing! All my credit!"
Whoever came, he'd smash them.
Right now, he only cared about one thing: racking up enough achievements and influence to snatch Ace back from that old bastard Whitebeard and give him a proper "education."
'That's my grandson! Why the hell should Whitebeard be the one raising him?! My Fist of Love is ten thousand times better than that so-called 'father-son bond'!'
"..."
Zephyr and Tsuru exchanged a knowing, amused glance, both shaking their heads.
It had been a long, long time since they'd seen Garp this fired up and full of life.
The four of them headed toward the headquarters building, while Hannyabal and Magellan, their new Warden and Vice Warden, escorted the legendary, heavily-chained prisoners of Level 6 to their temporary, high-security holding cells.
...
Soon, the four elders arrived at the top-floor office.
The atmosphere was… wrong.
Akainu, Kizaru, and Kuzan sat rigidly in their chairs, a far cry from their usual lazy or fiery demeanors.
They were silent.
Deathly silent.
The air in the room was so oppressive, so heavy with a barely-contained pressure, that it was hard to breathe.
"Mike…" Sengoku had barely opened his mouth when that invisible pressure slammed into him, forcing the words back down his throat.
"..."
Mike stood with his back to them, his hands in the pockets of his yukata, gazing out the massive floor-to-ceiling window.
His tall, upright figure, usually the picture of relaxation, now exuded an aura that sent a cold chill down their spines.
It was like standing next to a volcano on the absolute verge of a cataclysmic eruption, a feeling of boundless, terrifying fury being suppressed by the thinnest of crusts.
"..."
Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr, and Tsuru exchanged a look, each seeing the same profound shock in the others' eyes.
'Is this… is this still the Mike we know? This pressure… is even stronger than we were in our prime!'
"We've already heard about the military parade being moved up," Sengoku finally said, clearing his throat, his voice carefully neutral as he broke the tense silence.
"Mhm."
Mike slowly turned around.
The suffocating pressure vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed.
A faint easy smile played on his lips.
"You've all worked hard. Welcome back."
Kuro appeared at that exact moment, as if summoned by an unspoken command.
He held an exquisite wooden box.
He walked up to the four of them and opened it.
Inside, nestled on a bed of dark velvet, were four plump, vibrant, purple-green beans.
"These are Senzu Beans," Mike explained. "Meant to—"
"!"
Their eyes lit up.
"This is…" Sengoku picked one up.
The moment it touched his palm, a surge of rich, pure vitality washed over him, invigorating his spirit.
His Observation Haki instantly sensed its properties—it didn't just heal old injuries and chronic illnesses… it restored the user's physical condition to what it was ten years prior.
A treasure like this… it was beyond rare.
It was a miracle.
"Damn good stuff!" Garp, with zero ceremony, unceremoniously grabbed one of the beans and popped it into his mouth, crunching it loudly like a common rice cracker.
"Mmm… tastes great! Got any more?"
"Ahem!" Sengoku shot Garp a sharp glare.
'This old bastard…'
"The Senzu Beans are compensation for your contributions in Impel Down," Mike explained slowly, his smile widening.
"..." The room fell silent.
Sengoku, Zephyr, and Tsuru, faced with the prospect of restoring their bodies to their prime, instantly and completely forgot any and all promises they'd made to Garp about "credit."
They wordlessly, almost simultaneously, took their beans and swallowed them.
"..."
"???"
"!!!"
"Wha—?!" Garp's eyes widened in disbelief, his gaze dropping to the now-empty box, practically burning a hole through the velvet.
'Heal injuries? Restore their bodies?'
He wasn't in a hurry for that! His priority was getting Ace back!
He turned to his old comrades, who were already undergoing a visible, staggering transformation.
Sengoku's face was glowing with a new, youthful vigor.
Zephyr looked revitalized, his shoulders straighter.
Even Tsuru's skin seemed smoother, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes fading away.
Garp felt like someone had just hit him with a Haki-infused fist, right in the chest.
His heart ached.
'Damn it! What happened to decades of camaraderie?! What happened to letting ME have all the credit?! Gone! All of it! Tch! Whatever! My fists are still plenty strong!'
"Mike, you brat!" Garp's voice boomed like thunder, his frustration instantly replaced by a new, blazing fighting spirit.
"Save one of those Five Elders for ME!"
A surge of red-and-black Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body, his aura now stronger than it had been in years.
"My Justice right now—is terrifyingly strong!"
Sengoku, Zephyr, and Tsuru flexed their limbs, reveling in the surging, long-lost power.
The feeling was intoxicating.
"Mike, kid," Sengoku, the first to adjust, spoke up. "When exactly is the parade being moved to?"
"All preparations are complete," Mike said, walking back to the window.
"The 'news' about Whitebeard attacking Marineford has already been 'leaked' to the world."
He slowly turned around with a cold, sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"When the Beasts Pirates, lured in by the chaos, arrive at Marineford… that's when the grand military parade officially begins."
"After we deal with the Beasts, we march straight onto the Red Line."
He enunciated each of the following words slowly, deliberately, his voice quiet yet brimming with an overwhelming, absolute killing intent that made the newly-restored admirals shiver.
"And when that time comes…"
"…Leave none alive."
.....
Later that day.
"Rustle—"
The latest newspapers from the World Economic Journal flew like snowflakes across the world.
"EXTRA! EXTRA! THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES PERSONALLY DEBUNK RUMORS!"
"PREVIOUS SURRENDER CLAIMS WERE COMPLETELY FABRICATED!"
"THE ENTIRE WHITEBEARD PIRATE FLEET HAS ASSEMBLED—THEIR TARGET: MARINEFORD, THE MARINE HEADQUARTERS!"
The cries of the news-delivering seagulls, mixed with the bold, world-stopping headlines, spread across the Four Seas and the Grand Line.
In an instant, the entire world, which had just been processing the "surrender," erupted again.
"What?! Whitebeard is attacking Marine Headquarters for real?!"
"I knew it! These news outlets are so unreliable! One story after another!"
"Who cares! This is it! This is the show we've been waiting for! Whitebeard versus the entire Marine force! This is the battle of the century!"
"I wonder who'll win…"
"My money's on Whitebeard! He's the 'World's Strongest Man,' after all!"
"But the Marines aren't pushovers! Their three Admirals are no joke!"
"Don't forget Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru… Now that's a lineup, tsk tsk…"
---------
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