Mortal enemies—these two words have practically run through the entire history of the One Piece world.
And ranking first among such rivalries was, of course, the "Pirate King" and the "Marine Hero"—Gol D. Roger and Monkey D. Garp.
One escaped, the other chased, and no matter what, neither could get away.
From starting out as pure enemies, their relationship gradually evolved into something between friend and foe, even to the point of entrusting wives and children to each other—a bizarre connection indeed.
They were absolutely the only pair in history to have developed their rivalry to such a level.
As for Sengoku, another pinnacle figure within the Marines, his mortal enemy was Whitebeard.
From their youth, Sengoku would often clash fiercely with Whitebeard across the seas.
Ironically, after Whitebeard left the Rocks Pirates and formed the Whitebeard Pirates, Sengoku was promoted to Admiral, and they hardly ever crossed paths anymore.
Especially Sengoku—by then, his battles had already become rare events.
And unlike Roger and Garp's tangled mess of a relationship, Sengoku and Whitebeard's dynamic was simple: a predator-prey relationship, where the only thing they did upon meeting was fight.
That was why, when Michael had said he wanted the Marines to cooperate with the Whitebeard Pirates, Sengoku's reaction had been so extreme.
His "good son" was still determined to take the path of driving his old man crazy!
"Bru-brubrubru… bru-brubrubru…"
Sure enough, within a few seconds, the Den Den Mushi in Michael's hand began ringing.
Leisurely picking it up, Michael didn't speak, waiting for Sengoku to open the conversation.
"...Michael, you're not seriously joking with me, are you?" Sengoku's voice trembled slightly. Who knew how much mental preparation he had done in those few seconds?
"Why would I joke with you, old man? Tell me, from childhood till now, have I ever joked about something serious like this?"
Michael's words made Sengoku finally realize the truth.
The brat was seriously planning to work with the Whitebeard Pirates!
Although he had already discussed it with Tsuru and decided to let Michael do whatever he wanted—even if it meant breaking all the rules—
This… this wasn't just breaking the rules.
This was pure, outright rebellion!
"You brat… sigh… working with the Whitebeard Pirates, what exactly are you trying to gain from it? Even if they have great power, they're still pirates. What help can they possibly give us?"
"Strictly speaking, this is a three-way cooperation. Old man, don't go leaving Fish-Man Island out of it," Michael said with a smile. "In short, the Marines won't lose a thing—in fact, you'll be the biggest beneficiaries… all you need to do is give me full authority."
Michael's words were vague, almost deliberately cryptic, as if he were speaking in riddles to Sengoku.
But after thinking for a while, Sengoku ultimately decided to firmly believe in Michael.
If he couldn't even trust Michael, then who could he trust?
"...Fine. What authority do you need?" Sengoku asked, then immediately shook his head.
"Forget it—Rear Admiral Michael, hear my order: from now on, you are temporarily authorized to act with the full powers of a Marine Admiral and Acting Fleet Admiral… Don't let me down, Michael."
"You'll see for yourself."
Michael hung up immediately after speaking, giving Sengoku no chance to nag further.
With authority in hand, there was no time to waste…
Once Sengoku read Michael's full report later, the old man would probably be so happy he'd jump for joy.
Next, it was time to sweet-talk—
No, wait.
It was time to help the Ryugu Kingdom and the Whitebeard Pirates see reality.
...
"Nee—pu—toon! Hahahahaha!" Neptune, holding a massive goblet, clinked it against Whitebeard's giant sake dish. "Whitebeard, it's been far too long since we've seen each other!"
The Sea God Neptune might have been a good king and a good father, but his personality was still far too eccentric.
Seriously—what was with that habit of dragging out his own name?
"Kuralala! Neptune, you've actually gotten even bigger than when you were young!"
Whitebeard had already tossed the recent battle to the back of his mind, laughing heartily alongside Neptune.
"I've never seen a scene like this before!"
Garp, watching Neptune and Whitebeard, couldn't help but laugh as well.
Those who'd crossed into the One Piece world knew: whenever those heroic figures gathered in a relaxed setting—be it the Straw Hat crew, the Red-Haired Pirates, Roger's crew, Whitebeard's crew—
There was an extremely high chance that something would happen…
A certain someone named Luffy—or someone just as reckless—would suddenly shout…
"Let's have a banquet!"
And right now, that was exactly what was happening—a banquet hosted by the Ryugu Kingdom, held inside Ryugu Castle.
Whether Marines, Whitebeard Pirates, or the merfolk and fish-men of Ryugu Castle, the guests had gone from being clearly separated at first to completely drinking together as one.
Michael's lips twitched.
At the moment, he was seated between Neptune and Whitebeard, looking ridiculously small in comparison…
Seriously—one was a 12-meter coelacanth fish-man, and the other was a more-than-6-meter-tall mutated human!
Did they have nothing better to do than grow this tall?
What, was gigantism some kind of blessing?
Michael rolled his eyes in silence, once again evaporating the wine droplets falling from the collision of those two enormous drinking vessels above his head.
Damn it!
"Oh? Little angel brat, why aren't you drinking with us?" Whitebeard burped, turning to look at Michael.
"Even Garp's had plenty to drink… and you haven't touched a drop?"
"Go ahead and drink yourself to death, old man—then I won't even have to bother working with you!" Michael shot a fierce glare at the world's strongest man. "Idiot—if I get drunk too, then who's going to smooth-talk… who's going to negotiate with you?"
"That's your reason for not drinking? So the game starts from the moment the drinking begins?"
Whitebeard looked genuinely surprised.
"Of course. When everyone else is drunk and I'm not—that's the best state for doing business."
His words caught the attention of Garp, Neptune, and Queen Otohime as well.
"Rear Admiral Michael, this cooperation you mentioned… what exactly do you mean?" Queen Otohime asked in surprise. "Could it be cooperation between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Working with pirates isn't exactly unheard of," Michael replied with a smile, glancing at both Whitebeard and Garp.
"Kuralala! So you even know the truth about back then… Was it Sengoku who told you, or Garp?" Whitebeard laughed indifferently. "Alright then—tell me, how do you want to cooperate?"
"For the first time in history—a three-way cooperation between the Marines, pirates, and a non–World Government member nation."
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