Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"One, two! One, two! One, two…"
Squads of Marine soldiers chanted in rhythm as they continuously transported stone materials to their destination.
They weren't training, but repairing the battle-scarred Marineford.
It had been just over a month since the last war, and many traces of the battle still remained here.
The most obvious were the massive ravines carved out by the slashes of Swordsmasters and the ground torn apart by an Emperor using their Devil Fruit ability.
Fortunately, the Marine had Fujitora, the Zushi Zushi no Mi user.
Before he left for his post in the New World, he used gravity to 're-compact' the island's ground, filling those fissures, thus sparing the Marine the fate of having to relocate its base.
Of course, even with Fujitora's help, the restoration was only rough in shape. Truly restoring Marineford to its former appearance would require much more repair work.
For example, the pair of sailors in front needed to re-cut the stone materials and lay them flat to form new ground.
Marineford's area was astonishingly large, comparable to some medium-sized nations, so this was bound to be a major project.
Clack! Clack!
Marine Petty Officer Koby, with his pink hair, and his partner Helmeppo were cutting stone slabs.
Given his embarrassing lack of achievement in the Marineford War, Koby's rank hadn't changed at all.
Not only that, but Vice Admiral Garp had ordered him to polish the stone slabs entirely by hand, to further temper his physique.
Koby had no complaints about this.
—Or rather, he had no right to complain.
After all, he had received meticulous training from the legendary Marine, Vice Admiral Garp, yet in the last war, he did nothing and was defeated by a child younger than himself.
This had shattered Koby's conviction, making him think that no matter how many hundred times harder he worked, a guy like him could never truly become strong.
Of course, after being disciplined with Garp's iron fist a few times, he settled down.
You couldn't expect comfort from Garp.
Shing!
Helmeppo sheathed his kukri and wiped his sweat.
He had been cutting for seven hours straight, having worked since before dawn, only stopping for one meal, not even a bathroom break.
This would have been unthinkable in his days as a military brat.
But now, he didn't find it particularly hard.
He even thought that Koby, who was doing the same thing as him… no, who was doing even harder work, wasn't struggling too much either.
Even though Koby was cutting the slabs with his bare hands.
Because not far from them, that white-haired Vice Admiral was still calmly carrying a mountain of stone materials, treating it like a post-meal stroll, heading towards the more severely damaged main building of Marine Headquarters.
Compared to Garp, their work was way too easy.
Without a word, Helmeppo walked over to get two cups of water, gulped down most of one himself, and placed the other cup in front of Koby.
Koby didn't speak either, just silently downed it and continued working.
He was too tired to say another word.
Just then, a pitch-black circular portal was 'torn' open in the air.
This scene caught the attention of everyone present.
Koby and Helmeppo immediately dropped the stone, not even bothering to put on their shirts, and assumed fighting stances.
But from the pitch-black portal, instead of some fierce monster, a hand emerged, holding a folded piece of cardstock.
The hand gently placed the cardstock on the ground and then withdrew. The black portal vanished like an illusion before everyone's eyes.
The group of sailors looked at each other, none daring to act rashly.
Eventually, Vice Admiral T-Bone, who was passing by, noticed a crowd gathered around and came over to see what was happening.
After hearing their description, he wrapped his hand in Haki before picking up the cardstock.
This was to avoid unnecessary trouble, as there were too many bizarre Devil Fruit users on the sea.
But upon reading the contents of the cardstock, the usually grinning T-Bone showed a strange expression.
"Vice Admiral T-Bone, are you alright?"
Koby inquired.
T-Bone just shook his head and ordered the men, "Continue your work. I'll take care of this."
With that, ignoring the others, he quickly walked towards the main building.
…
"HAHAHAHA!! That's… that's just like that kid!"
Garp laughed loudly, slapping his thigh, earning another eye roll from Sengoku not far away.
"Damn it, Garp! What's there to be happy about! That guy can deliver something here without alerting anyone, which means he could just as easily drop a bomb on Marine Headquarters."
Sengoku waved the invitation in his hand, scolding angrily.
But this time, his words didn't draw the usual agreement.
Even the usually most cautious Vice Admiral Tsuru didn't agree with him.
"Sengoku, aren't you overreacting a bit? It's just a wedding invitation."
Before Sengoku could respond, Garp eagerly chimed in, "Exactly, exactly! It's just an invitation. Look at you, all scared."
He then stuck a finger in his nose to pick it and looked at Sengoku sideways.
"Besides, I know Naruto too well. If that kid really wanted to do something, why would he resort to such sneaky means?"
"You guys! Don't forget that Uzumaki Naruto is still a wanted criminal!"
Sengoku held his head, feeling his blood pressure rise.
"Strictly speaking, his bounty was issued by the former World Government. Our Marine didn't actually initiate a bounty for Uzumaki Naruto."
Kuzan, who had returned at some point, quietly added.
"Kuzan, you'd better go say that to Sakazuki, who's still recovering!"
Despite his words, Sengoku didn't actually forbid them from attending.
"Anyway, I'm not going. And Kuzan, you're not allowed to go either!"
Yes, that invitation had not only been sent to Garp but also to Sengoku, Kuzan, Borsalino, and other high-ranking Marine officials familiar with Naruto.
"As for Garp…"
When mentioning Garp, Sengoku hesitated a bit but ultimately didn't continue.
Because he knew that even if he forbade it, this old bastard would still do the opposite.
"I can't be bothered with you!"
With that, he slammed the invitation on the table and left the meeting room on his own.
Tsuru pondered for a moment, then turned to Garp.
"Garp, you can go, but keep a low profile. Don't make it public."
"I know, I'll do it for Sengoku-kun's sake."
"No… that's not the only thing I meant."
Tsuru shook her head and glanced at Kuzan.
Kuzan was momentarily stunned, then seemed to understand, smiled, and also walked out, closing the door behind him.
Once only Tsuru and Garp remained in the room, Tsuru spoke the second half of her sentence.
"I won't be going either. Additionally, I want you to keep this matter confidential for now, especially from Gion."
Hearing this, Garp was first stunned, then shocked.
"Ah? You mean… I thought it was just a rumor…"
A similar conversation also took place in Baltigo.