You have to understand that on the high seas, those journalists and news agencies are like jackals and hungry sharks; they see a trace of blood, deem it news, and immediately rush over.
Moreover, this incident is no small matter. If these people publish it in newspapers, especially that bird-man, the Marine's reputation will be completely ruined. Besides, it's estimated that by tomorrow morning, the bounties for these girls will have spread across the entire sea.
He didn't underestimate this group of girls, so the bounties were set quite high—to exaggerate a bit, unprecedented—and they are all such young, beautiful girls.
Many people on the high seas will become curious and investigate them, and the more they understand, the sooner the scandal of the Marine's defeat at the hands of these girls will spread across the sea, making the Marine a laughingstock for many, especially those pirates.
This is not what he wants to see; the Marine's dignity and justice absolutely cannot be trampled upon.
Action must be taken, and immediately.
Whether it's to test Luna's Void Ability, to see if it's real and can nullify all attacks, or to suppress her crew members.
"I will have Momousagi and Tokikake take some Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals to try to deal with Luna using swordsmanship to see if it can be nullified, and then have others test the strength of the other girls."
After some thought, Sengoku quickly came up with a countermeasure.
"That would be best. Do I not need to return?" Garp felt there was no problem, so he agreed, but he was still a little uneasy, so he suggested that he also participate in this operation against the Pink Hat Pirates.
"Don't worry, it's just a test. Didn't you say before not to push them too hard? If we really push them too hard and they escalate their attacks on more Marine patrol ships and Marine branches, we won't be able to complain. You should come back first. I will emphasize it repeatedly to Momousagi and the others." Sengoku, however, rejected his idea. After all, this was truly just a test. If Luna were angered, it would be truly bad, at least until the Marine thoroughly understood Luna's Void Ability to ignore attacks, they shouldn't do anything too excessive.
"Alright then, but according to the reports from the surviving Marine Soldiers in Gravata Town, Luna went there to invite a companion, also a girl, who not only succeeded but also seems to be extraordinary. Sengoku, the Phoenix Fruit seems to have appeared. As for the details, you must have received them by now, right?"
Recalling the previous reports from the Marine Soldiers, Garp clearly knew that Luna had successfully invited another companion, and most importantly, according to the descriptions of those Marine Soldiers, the Phoenix Fruit had indeed appeared.
As for the last question, it was naturally because he had already sent the information from this side to the headquarters via a Marine Soldier.
"Received it. Haha, your small East Blue is truly full of hidden talents. Now that they've been exposed, they are truly formidable. A talented Bounty Hunter and swordsman girl, a Scientist girl whose research capabilities are unclear but whose strength is extraordinary, a girl from a family that sells ships with a bit of money, who is frail and sickly, is actually a Six-Winged Angel Fruit user. A fruit farmer girl who sells tangerines is actually an Ice Sky Snow Woman Fruit user, a superb sniper girl with the Mythical Zoan ability of a mysterious lightning humanoid creature. And now, a very famous chef girl from your East Blue is actually a Phoenix Fruit user."
"Moreover, according to some additional intelligence I received, Garp, many of these girls have some connection to the crew members on your grandson's ship."
Sengoku had actually already received a lot of intelligence from the Marine Soldier who suddenly rushed in. After reading it, he couldn't help but sigh that the East Blue truly had hidden dragons and crouching tigers. And now that such a group of girls had been exposed, the most important thing was that according to some detailed intelligence collected by the Marine, this group of girls could even be linked to the Pirate Crew formed by Garp's grandson.
"Are there?" Garp, who didn't know much, immediately became puzzled and asked.
"Haha, why wouldn't there be? You listen..." Sengoku immediately listed some of the related people from both the Straw Hat Pirates and the Pink Hat Pirates. For example, Zoro and Kuina were senior and junior apprentices from the same sword dojo.
Usopp and Kaya had a relationship similar to childhood sweethearts. Sengoku even suspected that Yasopp had found a child bride for his son.
Next, there was a pair that Sengoku found very regrettable: Nami and Nojiko. These two were clearly influenced by one of their own female Marine Soldiers—although she was formerly a Marine Soldier, he didn't expect such a thing to happen.
The Marine actually colluded with pirates, mutually conspiring. Now, both sisters have become pirates.
As for Nami, Sengoku couldn't see any advantages or abilities from the intelligence; she seemed like an unremarkable female Navigator. But Nojiko is now an Ice Sky Snow Woman Fruit user, and he was very envious of such a powerful Devil Fruit user.
As for Sanji and Carmen, both were young chefs from the East Blue who had some contests, so they were also considered to have a connection.
"Hahaha, but all in all, the Phoenix Fruit user must be taken seriously, after all, this is a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit that is no less inferior to Kaido's Azure Dragon Fruit."
Garp chuckled awkwardly after hearing this, because he believed it was his momentary oversight that allowed so many talented young individuals to flow into piracy instead of the Marine.
However, he quickly expressed his Pay attention to of Carmen, after all, she was a Phoenix Fruit user.
It was not difficult to infer from this that both Garp and Sengoku believed that these powerful Devil Fruits were acquired by these girls themselves; they simply did not consider that Luna had given them the Devil Fruits.
After all, Luna did not possess the kind of scale they imagined, like the Marine or the World Government. At most, she was just a young girl who had formed a small Pirate Crew. How could she produce so many powerful Devil Fruits?
"I will immediately draft a bounty for her."
Sengoku understood what he meant and immediately said that a bounty should indeed be set for Carmen, who already possessed the Phoenix Fruit.
"Sengoku, actually, I have something else." Garp was silent for a moment, then decided to speak.
"Just say what you want to say. When did you become so indecisive?" Sengoku said impatiently.
"Sengoku, Luna does not attack civilians. To be precise, her destructive targets while sailing the high seas do not include weak civilians who bring her no benefit."
"Others, like Bounty Hunters, Marine, and pirates, are all indiscriminately attacked, eliminated, and robbed of their wealth."
"And sometimes she even leaves behind their Pirate Crew's small flag, as if to tell people on the high seas that they did it. Don't you think such behavior and style are very similar to that person from back then?"
Garp immediately expressed his thoughts.
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Sengoku immediately fell into deep thought. Very similar to someone from the past. Combining Luna's behavior and style, the 'Tactician' suddenly widened his eyes. Yes, it truly is similar, very much like that man from back then.
That sea overlord from back then, Rocks D. Gibeck, whose name struck fear into the entire sea.
"You're not trying to say..." When Sengoku said this, even he himself trembled slightly, a fear stemming from that man from back then.
"That's exactly what I want to say. Luna seems to be the inheritor of Rocks' will." Garp said after taking a deep breath.
At the same time, he also immediately mentioned how Luna's silhouette returning to the pirate ship during the day was very similar to Rocks' silhouette returning.
"...You come back first, then we'll talk. Let's proceed with this test first." Sengoku said after a moment of silence. He still couldn't believe that such a young girl would behave so similarly to Rocks.
Most importantly, Luna, who possessed such an unsolvable Void Ability, having thoughts and a style of behavior very similar to Rocks, was truly terrifying.
If Luna had such thoughts and abilities, who knows how much impact and shadow it would cast on the high seas.
He now hoped Garp's guess was wrong, because this sea truly could not withstand a second Rocks, and one that would be even more terrifying and unsolvable.
"Let's leave it at that for now. I only hope my thoughts are wrong." Garp sighed on the other end, shaking his head.
Deciding to leave it at that, the conversation between the two Marine elders ended here.
Sengoku immediately issued a decent bounty for Carmen. After it was late, the two Marine elders also went to sleep one after another. As for whether they could sleep well, that's unknown... Time quickly came to a new day. The rising sun and the cries of seabirds outside, plus a tiny bit of the sound of waves crashing, immediately woke Luna from her night's slumber.
"Hmm, a new day has begun."
Luna got out of bed, revealing a sweet smile. After a slight disguise and washing up, she walked out of her bedroom.
She quickly smelled the aroma of food. The scent of delicious food filled the entire ship. Since she was already very familiar with this pirate ship, she quickly arrived at the dining room.
Then she saw Carmen, the chef, still busy in the kitchen, and on the dining table were today's breakfast, already cooked and very plentiful, looking nutritious.
Luna smiled slightly in her heart. Indeed, recruiting Carmen to the ship was the right decision. Her cooking skills were actually not much worse than Sanji's. What she lacked compared to Sanji was only that passion for cooking, which was still a little bit missing.
"Captain, you're here. Eat first. I've prepared breakfast for every companion. I still have a few dishes here."
Carmen's strength had improved, and with the Vermilion Bird Fruit, her senses had also increased considerably.
So she had heard Luna's footsteps long ago. Now, turning to see Luna, she immediately said with a smile.
Note:
Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!
I wish you all a year filled with blessings, success, good fortune, and happiness!
Important Announcement:
I will be on Lunar New Year holiday starting February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I will focus on resting and spending time with my family.
During my break, I will prepare some new chapters, which I will post regularly after the holiday ends. Please stay tuned — the following parts are very interesting!
Thank you so much for your incredible support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
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