With a cheerful grin, he asked: "Need me to help you look after—"
Before he could finish, a flash of light appeared.
With a click, the sound of the door closing echoed. In the next moment, he found himself standing outside the door, holding not one but two infants, one big and one small.
Zephyr: "..."
He stared at the two babies in his arms, then burst into helpless laughter. "Your father really is terrible, isn't he? Hahaha. Come on, let grandpa take you out to play!"
As Zephyr's laughter fell…
"Uwaaa! Uwaaa!"
Suddenly, the cry of babies rang out, as if expressing their dissatisfaction with their father.
…
At the Marine Headquarters, at this moment, some time has already passed since the West Blue incident.
Although the Marine Headquarters had been overwhelmingly busy afterward, the overall structure of the sea ultimately did not undergo any major changes.
As for the new round of Emperor-of-the-Sea challenger battles that began in the New World because of that incident, the Marine Headquarters did not care.
Everyone understood that not everyone was like that guy from the West Blue. As time went on, those Emperors of the Seas would still continue to prove their strength to the entire sea, and those so-called challengers would eventually be swallowed by the ocean.
It was even possible that after their deaths, not a single person would remember what those insignificant losers had done.
After all, this sea has never lacked so-called challengers.
Therefore, for the Marines, all they needed to do was maintain the existing order of the New World and keep the chaos caused by pirates under control.
That was also the only thing the Marines could do at present.
As long as the overall structure remained intact and the World Government remained the World Government, everything else was trivial to the Marines.
Likewise, for Sengoku, the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, it was the same.
The Marines' duty was to uphold the World Government's justice, protect the World Government's ruling authority, and only then, perhaps, preserve a tiny measure of justice in their own hearts.
Although speaking this way was cruel, this was the essence of Marine justice.
Even if that tiny justice was insignificant to the entire sea, there were still Marines who continued to put it into practice.
Maintaining the current situation was the most important thing for the Marines.
After all, even the smallest change could bring huge consequences for ordinary people, but those consequences meant nothing to the World Government.
This was also why, even though he knew many Marine personnel acted on selfish impulses and pulled small tricks behind the scenes, he still turned a blind eye.
Sengoku closed the documents he needed to handle today, poured himself a cup of already-cooled black tea, took a small sip, and then set it down.
Then, he sneakily glanced toward the door.
Seeing that the door was still tightly shut, he finally let out a long breath of relief, opened a drawer, pulled out the half-remaining pack of rice crackers inside, and began eating with a cheerful grin.
While eating, he casually looked through the West Blue's intel placed on his desk.
Grado's little schemes had stopped. As expected, although Zephyr was stubborn, he wasn't stupid.
But as Sengoku quietly enjoyed his snack, he felt something was slightly off.
Speaking of which, ever since he stopped that bastard, Garp's snacks last time, why hadn't that old fool come to raise hell recently?
But after thinking for just a moment, Sengoku stopped bothering with that bastard.
He really was pathetic. Why was he thinking about that moron for no reason?
He continued leisurely savoring the tea and rice crackers. This rare moment of peaceful life made his whole body feel a little lazy.
But as he poured more tea, his eyes subconsciously landed on a wanted poster lying on his desk, and he fell into silence.
Only after a long moment did he sigh deeply with clear regret.
After that sigh, he no longer paid attention to the wanted poster.
Lifting the black tea, he took a gentle sip, then gazed at the sunset outside the window. His eyes flickered slightly as he murmured: "When the drums of liberation resound, he will appear, bringing smiles and freedom to the lives of the slaves!"
What a pity…
...
Time passed like the flicker of sunlight, quick as an arrow. The arrow of time quietly slipped by.
Ever since the West Blue incident ended, this sea seemed to have entered a rare period of calm, with no major events occurring afterward.
The sea remained the same as always; every day, new pirates were born.
Countless young people, after hearing old stories, set sail with dreams and expectations to seek freedom and the legendary treasure, to create new adventures.
The great pirate age continued as always.
However, during this period, a new pirate in the first half of the Grand Line gained enormous attention, known as the Cavendish of the White Horse.
With his handsome appearance, elegant demeanor, and noble temperament... Soon after setting sail, he quickly gained a massive number of female fans and a smaller group of male fans.
In a short time, he had taken the world by storm. For a moment, it seemed like this era belonged entirely to him.
Although he became extremely famous, his influence on the sea itself was not great.
Even with many fans, to the forces standing at the pinnacle of the sea, no, to those major forces, none of them would bother paying attention to some pirate who gained fans the moment he set sail.
Even the Marine Headquarters was the same. They issued a bounty and then stopped paying attention.
Still, it didn't change the fact that Cavendish of the White Horse was the most spotlighted Supernova pirate of this era.
As for the West Blue, since that incident, it had entered a new structure as well.
The Four Major Families were now history, and Grado had become the largest family in the West Blue.
Although after the fall of the Four Major Families, an intense mafia power struggle was witnessed for a period of time, it was unclear whether none of the mafia families could match the former Five Four Major Families, or whether the Marines intentionally allowed it.
But ever since then, though mafia families continued to appear in the West Blue, none were ever able to reach the level of the previous Five Major Families of the West Blue.
Sorry for being away for a few days, I've been busy with real-life matters over the past few weeks. Here are the missing chapters. You can expect regular updates again; I'll be doing a scheduled post starting today.