"Bwahaha! Kong, I just got back and haven't even been home yet—and already you've called me in! What's the emergency?"
At Marine Headquarters, Marineford, inside the Fleet Admiral's office, the door hadn't even opened yet when Garp's thunderous laughter echoed.
A loud slam followed as the office door was shoved open with a single powerful palm. Garp strolled in, gripping a bag of senbei rice crackers, and dropped himself unceremoniously onto the couch.
"Yo, Sengoku—you're here too?" Garp grinned at his old friend seated across from him. "Shouldn't you be buried in paperwork right about now?"
But then he noticed something was off—Sengoku's expression was unusually grim. He also spotted Kong behind the desk, staring at him with a completely unreadable face.
Garp paused, hand halfway to grabbing a cracker, and asked in confusion, "What's going on? That brat Bullet's already been dealt with—I just shipped him off to Impel Down!"
"Garp! Your son, Monkey D. Dragon, is planning to defect from the Navy! The sheer audacity is beyond belief!"
Kong slammed a report onto the desk in fury, his voice thunderous. "See for yourself! This came from CP0 just ten minutes ago!"
"What!!?"
Garp was stunned—his eyes went wide as saucers. He sprang to his feet like his seat had caught fire and, in a flash too fast for the average person to follow, snatched the report from the desk and began reading every word with narrowed eyes.
The report briefly stated that CP0 had intercepted Rear Admiral Dragon just as he was discarding his Justice cloak and preparing to leave G-3 Branch. They had detained him and were now en route to Marineford.
"This... this is..."
Garp stood there, mouth agape, unable to form words. As serious as the situation was, his thoughts were overwhelmed—there were simply too many absurdities to even begin complaining.
First off, why had Dragon suddenly decided to leave the Navy?
Second, how did the World Government know in advance? And how had they managed to organize a preemptive strike? More importantly, they'd dispatched CP0 of all things!
And Garp knew exactly what CP0 was.
Why would such an elite force be deployed to deal with his son?
And most shockingly—they weren't imprisoning him. No, they were bringing him to Marineford! What in the world was going on?
By standard procedure, shouldn't he have been taken straight to Enies Lobby for trial, then sent to Impel Down?
Garp seriously doubted that CP0 would show any regard for his status as a Hero of the Marines—so this had to be a direct order from the Five Elders!
"Could it be... that person I once saved is helping behind the scenes?"
Regardless of the reasons, if CP0 was willing to bring Dragon here instead of locking him away, that was a blessing in disguise. In Marineford, Garp's influence and rank might still be enough to sway the situation.
"We wait. Even taking the route through Mary Geoise, it'll be several hours before they arrive. When he gets here, I'll ask that brat myself what the hell he's thinking."
Sengoku looked furious. He had watched Dragon grow up and had high hopes for him. When the young man first joined the Navy, he showed immense promise—saying he wanted to become a hero greater than his father.
But in recent years, he'd grown more withdrawn and listless. The fire in his eyes had gone out, and the enthusiastic smile he once wore had vanished.
His approach to missions became increasingly passive, and as a result, he'd remained a Rear Admiral for years. Of course, being Garp's son, no one in the Navy dared say anything aloud.
In Sengoku's eyes, Dragon had the strength to lead a G-series branch as a base commander—even if he couldn't make it to Admiral. The only reason Sengoku thought he might never become an Admiral was because there were already three top-tier Logia users lined up as candidates. A fourth Admiral simply wasn't in the cards.
Roughly five hours later, Fleet Admiral Kong received a call from the warship stationed near the headquarters port. After hanging up the receiver from the Den-Den Mushi, he found Garp silently watching him, waiting.
As for Sengoku, he had already returned to his own office earlier—he was indeed quite busy. He couldn't afford to just sit around wasting time on the couch.
"CP0's ship has arrived," Kong said. "But they've requested that we don't go out to receive them. They want to avoid drawing too much attention and will bring him in themselves."
After saying this, Kong ignored Garp and picked up the Den-Den Mushi again to call Sengoku, summoning him to join them.
It wasn't long before Sengoku entered the office once more—his own office was on the same floor, after all.
[Knock, knock, knock.]
Sengoku had barely been seated for two minutes when a gentle knock came at the door.
"Come in," Kong called out.
The door opened slowly. Dragon stepped in first, hands clasped behind his back, expression blank. He wore a green suit beneath his Justice cloak.
Following close behind him was a tall figure in full white—white suit, white cloak over the shoulders, white boots, and a white mask concealing the face.
With a soft thud, the masked man shut the door behind them.
"You little bastard!"
Garp snapped the moment he saw his son. "What the hell is going through that head of yours!?"
But Dragon kept his head lowered and said nothing. He clearly had no intention of speaking with his father.
"Garp, calm down."
Sengoku stood up with a stern expression—but then something caught his eye. Dragon's hands, clasped behind his back, were cuffed.
That was strange. Regular cuffs wouldn't do anything to someone like Dragon—his body had been honed since childhood through intense physical training.
At that moment, the CP0 agent spoke up. His voice was raspy, grating, and utterly devoid of emotion.
"This man, Rear Admiral Dragon, is now a Devil Fruit user. Based on the abilities he displayed during the engagement, we've determined he has consumed a Logia-class fruit—specifically, the Wind-Wind Fruit. Therefore, we were forced to restrain him with seastone handcuffs."
"A Devil Fruit user?!"
All three naval titans were taken aback, their gazes locking onto Dragon. Kong and Sengoku especially stared at him as though he were a priceless artifact.
"No wonder they had to send CP0," Kong muttered in realization. "If they'd used CP9 instead, even they wouldn't have stood a chance—not against this brat's martial arts, Haki, and now the Wind-Wind Fruit."
Still, the same question lingered in both Kong and Sengoku's minds: How did the World Government find out?
In truth, Dragon himself was wondering the exact same thing. He was completely in the dark.
He had never told anyone when—or even that—he intended to leave G-3. There had been no plan. And as for the Wind-Wind Fruit, no one else had any idea he'd eaten it.
Yet the moment he shed his Justice cloak and turned into wind to flee the base, barely two kilometers out, he'd been intercepted by three CP0 agents wearing white masks.
He had tried to escape, of course. And while he was stronger than the average vice admiral, he was no match for three CP0 members—especially when his mastery over the Wind-Wind Fruit was still so new.
"Dragon," Kong asked at last, "what were you thinking? Why did you decide to leave the Navy?"
Kong's sharp question silenced the entire office. The CP0 agent who had escorted Dragon remained rooted in place, even though his task was technically complete. No one paid him any mind now, though—all attention was focused squarely on Dragon.
At that moment, Dragon, who had kept his head bowed in silence, slowly looked up. He stared into the eyes of the elderly Fleet Admiral of the Navy, his gaze firm.
"I used to believe the Navy was a force of justice—dedicated to upholding order across the seas and protecting the safety of civilians. But over the years, what I've seen and heard has shown me otherwise. Aside from fighting pirates, nothing about our actions aligns with the word 'justice.' The greatest evil of all is the Celestial Dragons—the ones the Navy protects. And the thoroughly corrupt World Government behind them!"
Through his years in the Navy, Dragon had witnessed slave ships—packed with civilians from every corner of the world—sailing openly past Marine warships. The cries for help and anguished wails carried on the sea breeze, scalding his heart like boiling oil.
He had once confronted his captain about it. "Why are we letting them go? The World Government banned slave trading long ago!"
But the captain's reply was cold and dismissive: "There's no pirate flag on that ship. No wanted criminals aboard. It's not our jurisdiction. The Government has special units to deal with such matters. Don't meddle."
That attitude doused Dragon's burning blood with ice water.
Later, he saw countless small nations invaded by massive Army forces simply because they failed to pay the Heavenly Tribute on time. The Navy's role? Escorting the captives to the Tequila Wolf in the East Blue.
Dragon couldn't help but ask himself—what had these people done wrong?
Wasn't the real crime the extortionate tribute demanded by the World Government? Even he knew that different countries had vastly different economies.
How could they possibly pay the same flat fee? Didn't the World Government understand that?
And if they did… why didn't they care?
These questions burned within him, feeding his growing fury toward the World Government. Even the way he looked at his own father began to change—colder, more distant.
A hero of the Navy?
What kind of hero serves a government like this? What does it even mean to be a hero in a Navy that protects such a system?
The moment that broke him completely came two years ago. Dragon had been assigned to guard a Celestial Dragon during a routine operation. That day, he saw a child—forced to kneel by his father—mutter a single complaint.
For that, the Celestial Dragon shot him dead on the spot. "Disrespect," he claimed. Then continued on his way to the slave auction, unfazed.
Dragon's fingers had gone white from clenching his fists.
That was when he lost all hope.
Hope in the Navy. Hope in the World Government. And above all, hope in the Celestial Dragons.
This is not the world I want to live in.
Fate, it seemed, still had a role to play. By chance, he came into possession of the Logia-type Wind-Wind Fruit. With its power, he finally had a real chance to escape the Navy—and the Government's grasp.
But fate also had its cruel side. The moment he made his move, CP0 blocked his path.