"Speaking of the other three soldier-source nations, why don't you try guessing?"
"Quit playing games! If I could guess, would I be asking you?"
"...You sure know how to argue shamelessly!"
Michael looked at the old rascal spinning his nonsense again and realized he was indeed being a bit of a tease.
If it had been someone like Tsuru—someone cultured and strategic—she would've sat through the full explanation.
But Garp? Forget it.
"Anyway, we currently don't have any real opportunity to touch them. Even with Wano, it's only in the early stages of setting things up..."
"So you've been talking all this time just to paint me some huge pie in the sky?"
The moment Michael heard that, his face twisted with displeasure.
He slammed the table with indignation.
"How is this 'painting a pie'? This is called ambition! This is called vision!"
Before Michael could finish bragging, the Den Den Mushi on Garp's table rang.
"Blu~ blu~ blu~ blu~, blu~ blu~ blu~ blu~..."
Garp's previously laid-back face turned serious in an instant.
This Den Den Mushi was specifically for contacting Sengoku.
If it wasn't something big, Sengoku wouldn't be using this line.
"Hello, Sengoku. What's going on?"
"You're still not back at Marine Headquarters? You went back to Foosha Village again?"
Sengoku's stern expression came through perfectly via the Den Den Mushi.
Just as serious.
"No, I'm currently with Michael in the Calm Belt. I was planning to take your white-haired brat back to pick up the girl, then take them to train out at sea."
Garp glanced at Michael, then replied.
"When did you and Michael agree on that...? Whatever. Since Michael's with you, then you two need to head to Baterilla Island in the South Blue immediately."
"South Blue? What for?" Garp asked carelessly as he picked his nose.
Then he noticed Michael giving him a look.
Puzzled, he followed Michael's gaze...
To the blade hanging at Michael's waist.
"Ace."
Garp paused, remembering what Roger had said to him during a recent chat...
"If the child is born, no matter if it's a boy or a girl, I'll name them Ace."
Same name as the sword.
Then Garp understood what Michael was hinting at...
Of course! Baterilla Island in the South Blue! That's where Roger's widow is!
A bad feeling suddenly welled up in his chest.
"Sengoku... you're sending us to Baterilla Island in the South Blue because..."
"The World Government has received intel. The Pirate King's widow is there," Sengoku's voice turned low and firm.
"The Marines and CP organization have already gone ahead to the South Blue. I need you to go and lead the search operation."
"Understood."
Garp gave a straightforward reply and then hung up the Den Den Mushi.
His expression darkened.
So did Michael's.
"Damn it. How did news about Roger's widow reach the World Government so fast?" Garp gritted his teeth. "If it were just Marines, that'd be one thing. But CP too..."
In Garp's eyes, CP's spies operated no differently from criminals.
Having them involved in the search for Roger's widow could only mean trouble.
At the very least...
Trying to hide a pregnant woman under the CP organization's nose would be a massive challenge for both Garp and Michael.
Garp was thinking of fulfilling a friend's final request.
Michael had also considered that point.
But... that was only part of it.
What truly annoyed him was that the old man's blind loyalty to the World Government had led to this massive hunt across the South Blue.
The result? The Marines' reputation hit rock bottom.
In the original story, there were two major events that utterly destroyed the Marine's credibility.
They were the main reasons for the Marines' generational talent gap and recruitment difficulties.
One was the Ohara Buster Call incident.
The other was the Great South Blue Hunt.
These two disasters tanked the Marines' reputation—barely better than pirates.
Even the promotions of Kizaru, Aokiji, and Akainu to Admirals were delayed by at least ten years due to the public backlash from these events.
Since Michael viewed the Marines as the foundation of his plan to flip the world order, he absolutely couldn't let these reputation-destroying events happen.
The simplest way to resolve this matter would be to hand over Roger's widow—Rouge—and the unborn Ace.
But that was impossible.
First of all, Michael was a man of his word, and he was also born in the South Blue. Even if his childhood was rough, there was still some sentiment for his homeland.
Secondly...
Ace was also part of his future plans. How could he possibly hand him over to the World Government?
Michael's lip twitched.
Looks like he and old man Garp would have to step in.
"Let's go. Since the old man's sending us to the South Blue, we might as well go."
"But once we get there, you'll have to follow my lead."
Garp's eyes nearly popped out!
"White-haired brat! Follow your lead?"
"What, you got a better plan for sneaking a pregnant woman past CP's nose?" Michael rolled his eyes.
"And as a South Blue native, you think you know the local situation better than me?"
"Uh, well..."
Garp scratched the beard on his chin with his palm-sized hand.
He could just wipe out the CP agents traveling with them...
But that wouldn't do.
After thinking it over, he could only sigh in resignation.
"Fine, we'll do it your way."
"Since we're doing it my way, let me make one thing clear..." Michael leapt onto the table and leaned in to whisper in Garp's ear, "You'll have to make a little sacrifice."
...
South Blue, Baterilla Island.
"Everyone, gather up!"
At the port, Marines were forming ranks.
Half were from Marine Headquarters, the other half from the South Blue branch.
Leading them was Marine Vice Admiral Onigumo.
His vicious-looking face and spider-leg-like hair made the soldiers tremble as they lowered their heads and lined up quickly.
"Move your asses, all of you!"
"This is a top-level directive from the World Government!"
In contrast, the CP agents were much more relaxed.
Over a hundred elite agents had been drawn from CP1 to CP9 to conduct this mission of capturing the Pirate King's widow.
While the mission was important, it wasn't significant enough to warrant dispatching CP0.
At the head was CP9's Laskey.
The name might not be familiar, but his two daughters were—
Kalifa and Alpha.
Both were, without a doubt, stunning.
At this moment, Laskey's face was full of irritation.
This mission was supposed to be led by Spandine, but that superior was too busy kissing up to the Celestial Dragons to personally carry it out.
So Laskey, as the most senior among them, was temporarily put in charge.
Thinking about it made Laskey grit his teeth.
Damn that Spandine—his bootlicking skills had reached the peak of perfection.
"Hey! You guys in the black suits—why aren't you in formation!?"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from midair.
Laskey instinctively looked up.
A Marine officer with pristine white wings was circling down from above.
---
(For each review +1 additional chapter)
read +100 chapters on Patreon tambeerg