Marine Headquarters — Marineford.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it could drip from the air.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha sat rigidly behind his massive desk, draped in the white coat that symbolized supreme authority over the Marines.
Yet the expression on his face at this very moment was in no way befitting the title of "Great Strategist."
Veins throbbed visibly on his forehead. The corners of his mouth twitched. In his hands, he was gripping a document that had just been rushed over from G-10 Base with the highest priority.
The look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't reading a report at all—but staring into some unspeakable, sanity-corroding horror.
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Sengoku finally snapped, grinding the words out through clenched teeth, utterly unbecoming of his station."Can someone tell me why?!Why the hell would that lone-wolf, high-and-mighty man who doesn't even give the Government face—the World's Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk—have anything to do with that troublemaking, faction-building bastard Gern Reginald Sigmar?!"
BANG!
He slammed the document onto the desk, the deafening sound making the goat dozing beside the tea table jolt awake in fright.
"And what the hell is this goddamn 'reason' written in the report?!" Sengoku roared, snatching the paper up again and hurling it with pinpoint accuracy straight at the face of a certain man who had been sneaking a hand toward the senbei bag on his desk.
Smack.
The document plastered itself squarely across Monkey D. Garp's grinning face.
Garp leisurely peeled it off, adjusted his focus, and read.
At the signature line was a flamboyant, wildly scrawled "Gern."And in the justification column, there was a single line of text—so arrogant it bordered on provocation:
[Apologies. Due to my overwhelming personal charisma, the World's Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, has been deeply attracted to me and can no longer extricate himself. He has therefore chosen to join my command. Please be informed. No need to worry.]
Below that—
There was even a photo attached.
Gern, holding his index and middle fingers together at his lips, blowing a flying kiss toward the camera.
And in the background…
Mihawk's back.
Garp stared at the words and the photo for two seconds.
Then—
"PUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"He erupted into earth-shaking laughter."Personal charisma?!Deeply attracted?!Can't extricate himself?!WAHAHAHAHA! Sengoku, look at this kid—he's still this damn funny!"
He slapped his knee, laughing so hard tears nearly came out."Sure, it's exaggerated, but you know—Gern's personal charm really is ki—"
His laughter died instantly.
Because he saw Sengoku's face.
A face so black it looked like the bottom of a burnt pot.Eyes so furious they seemed on the verge of spewing magma.
"…Uh."Garp immediately shut up.
Very sensibly, he placed the document back on the desk, then—with lightning speed—grabbed a handful of senbei and stuffed them into his mouth.
He chewed noisily, adopting the posture of a completely innocent old man who was definitely just here to snack, eyes drifting toward the ceiling as he made indistinct crunch crunch sounds.
After all… his son Dragon, and the Revolutionary Army formally established after the Ohara Incident, had been causing enough trouble lately—even if they had brought him an adorable little grandson.
Seeing this old bastard finally behave himself for once, Sengoku took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to flip his entire desk.
Then, slowly, he shifted his murderous gaze toward the corner of the office—
Where another figure was doing his utmost to reduce his sense of presence.
Admiral Borsalino — Kizaru.
Leg crossed over leg, utterly relaxed, he was calmly filing his nails with a small file, as if everything happening in front of him had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Sengoku squeezed out an extraordinarily "kind" smile.His voice, however, sounded like it had been hauled straight out of an ice cellar.
"Bo. Ru. Sa. Li. No."
Kizaru paused mid-motion, slowly lifting his head with his trademark oh dear me expression.
"Ooooh~ how scary~ Fleet Admiral~? What can I do for you~?"
"Normally," Sengoku said with a smile, enunciating every word,"I see you running to G-10 every few days under the excuse of 'inspection' or 'assisting defense,' when in reality you're just lazing around at Gern's place, drinking tea and soaking up the sun."
"I turn a blind eye to it. Fine."
His smile grew brighter.The veins on his forehead pulsed harder.
"And this is what you 'inspect' for me?!The WORLD'S STRONGEST SWORDSMAN?!Something this big, this outrageous—and you didn't hear a thing beforehand?!Didn't notice anything unusual?!"
Kizaru put the nail file away and spread his hands, looking deeply wronged and helpless.
"Aiyaa~ Fleet Admiral, that's a bit hurtful to say~"
He tilted his head lazily."You know as well as I do—men on Mihawk's level, and people who think like Gern-kun…"
"What happens between them isn't something I can interfere with or predict, you see~"
Dragging out his words in that bizarre drawl of his, he concluded:"Some things are simply… unavoidable~ no helping it~"
"NO HELPING IT MY ASS!!!"
Sengoku's roar finally shattered the last remnants of restraint, rattling the office windows until they buzzed.
"You slippery old fox who's always playing both sides and eating all the benefits!You definitely knew something!Did you take something from Gern again and help cover for him?! Speak!"
Kizaru immediately raised both hands, looking even more innocent.
"Ehh~ what a frightening accusation~ Fleet Admiral~I'm perfectly clean~"
Yet his flickering eyes and faintly upturned smile made him look punchable beyond words.
"I mean, do I really look like the kind of man who'd be bought off for a fixed twenty million Beli a month and a few conveniently 'adjusted' performance credits?"
"..."
"Get out."
Sengoku grabbed a file folder and very nearly threw it at him—managing to stop himself at the last moment.
He collapsed back into his chair instead, clutching his forehead as he felt his blood pressure spike to dangerous levels.
Staring at that damned report on the desk, it looked less like paperwork and more like the fuse to countless future disasters.
"Gern's G-10 Base… was already a 'Calamity Faction' operating outside the Main HQ's standard system," Sengoku muttered."Overwhelming strength, plenty of merits—but an even greater talent for causing trouble."
"And now…" His voice gradually shifted from rage into a profound, exhausted helplessness."Now you add the World's Strongest Swordsman on top of that…"
He let out a hollow laugh."The best part is… I still have to stamp my approval on it.HAHAHAHA…"
The laughter rang out bleak and absurd.
Sengoku's entire figure seemed to drain of color, turning ashen as he slumped into the Fleet Admiral's throne, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
"It's over… the balance is completely broken…The Five Elders are definitely going to interrogate me again…The power structure of this sea…"
"Hahahaha…"
"I can already see tomorrow's headlines…"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku—
On this day—
Felt, from the bottom of his heart, that the entire world had gone wrong.