Garp's voice was very soft, and amidst the surrounding noise, only the maid near the sofa and Lin Guang heard him.
Clang–– The sound of a wine bottle shattering echoed.
The maid quickly pulled out a towel and bent down to clean, her voice trembling: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
After hastily tidying up, she left directly, scanned the hall, then hurried upstairs to the third floor.
Lin Guang, however, acted as if he had heard nothing, still slowly drinking his plain water.
Lin Xia's eyes widened––what did Garp just say? An Admiral died?
Fleet Admiral Sengoku? No, he and Sengoku had such a good relationship; if he had died, Garp would never react this way.
That is to say, the Admiral who had never been met and always stayed in Holy Land Mary Geoise––had died.
Who would dare to kill a Marine Admiral in Holy Land Mary Geoise?
Celestial Dragons? Or the Gorosei?
No, if it was their doing, Garp wouldn't specifically run all the way to the West Blue to find him.
He is a top-tier Marine combatant, usually in the Grand Line, constantly chasing troublesome pirate crews.
Now he appeared in the West Blue... Could it be that the guy who killed the Admiral––had come to the West Blue!?
No way? With my small physique, if I encountered a ruthless person who could kill an Admiral in the Holy Land and escape unscathed, wouldn't I be instantly killed?
Wait, I need to confirm the situation first.
Seeing Lin Xia's stunned expression, Garp slowly changed to another wine glass, a slight curve on his lips.
When they first heard this news at Marineford, their reaction was much more exaggerated than this kid's.
"Ahem––" Lin Xia covered his forehead with his right hand, his body falling back onto the sofa with a thump, and shouted hoarsely: "Lin Guang, I've been working too hard recently, I think I'm a little deaf."
"What did Vice Admiral Garp just say? I didn't hear anything at all."
"Take me to the hot spring inn nearby. I need at least half a month of rest this time; the rest of the matters are up to you."
After saying that, he closed his eyes, tilted his head, and lay motionless.
Lin Guang immediately responded: "Understood." He then walked to Lin Xia's sofa and squatted down, actually preparing to carry him to the hot spring hotel.
"Oh?" Garp grinned, slowly saying: "A hot spring inn, huh? Then I'll go too, it'll be perfect for us to chat slowly."
"And I'm quite good at massage; I can help you loosen up your muscles and bones tonight."
"Huh? I don't know why, but I suddenly feel much better, and I can hear people talking again!"
Lin Xia suddenly sat upright, patted Lin Guang's shoulder, and told him to sit back down.
No escape... It seems there's really no way out of this.
However, Garp probably doesn't know much.
Lin Xia rested his right hand on his chin, picked up his wine glass with his left hand, took a sip, and asked:
"Why aren't you going to the funeral? What are you doing here at my place?"
"Hmph," Garp snorted, "I'm not familiar with that Admiral, the kind who doesn't even greet each other when we meet."
Lin Xia's eyes flickered. Garp acts thoughtlessly, but he gets along well with his colleagues.
He couldn't recall anyone Garp openly disliked, unless they were fundamentally incompatible with Garp.
Could it be... Lin Xia smiled faintly and probed:
"That Admiral was very close to the people above, wasn't he?"
Garp turned his head and said grumpily: "You're as devious as Sengoku. You're right, that's why I came straight here."
Lin Xia raised his wine glass to his lips.
That Admiral was most likely a Celestial Dragon, which is why he could stay in Holy Land Mary Geoise for so long.
The Marines are indeed a military organization established by the World Government, aimed at protecting allied nations from pirate incursions.
However, the World Government also restricts the Marines' development in various aspects.
After all, the Marines recruit ambitious individuals worldwide in the name of "Justice."
But the World Government knows better than anyone that their interpretation of "Justice" is completely different from what the Marines understand as "Justice."
Therefore, arranging a Celestial Dragon to serve as an Admiral serves both as supervision and to take away a large portion of the Marines' power.
An Admiral has the authority to directly command Marine actions, although this Celestial Dragon Admiral had not exercised his power much.
But having it and not having it are completely different concepts; the power it can exert at critical moments would not be small.
Currently, there is no Fleet Admiral, only Fleet Admiral Sengoku and this "Holy" Admiral.
Wait... Does that mean all the Marines' power is now concentrated in Sengoku's hands alone?
That's not right either. If this Admiral really was a Celestial Dragon, judging from Garp's reaction, there's a ninety percent chance it's true.
Then why would the God's Knights and the Gorosei of Mary Geoise allow the killer to escape?
Is the World Government preparing to target the Marine system?
Countless possibilities flashed through Lin Xia's mind, but the questions only grew.
He glanced at Garp, who was leisurely drinking beside him––if Sengoku had come, it would have been better; he would have saved some brain cells.
He leaned back on the sofa and asked: "Then what's the 'big trouble'?"
He hadn't forgotten that an Admiral dying was just a "small matter"; he absolutely couldn't take on work proactively, as there was a bigger trouble waiting.
"Oh, a rather troublesome big matter," Garp put down his wine glass, turned around, and his expression was very serious.
Lin Xia's heart suddenly skipped a beat––no way? There's actually trouble that makes even Garp serious?
Did the killer not only kill the Admiral but also wipe out the Gorosei and the God's Knights in passing?
Is there really such a strong person in the world?
Garp spoke slowly, his tone solemn:
"My son, Dragon, is already 11 years old this year."
"I want him to serve as an errand boy under you."
"Consider it me owing you a favor."
After saying that, he stared directly at Lin Xia, his eyes unblinking.
A moment later, Lin Xia tilted his head: "The big trouble you mentioned... is just this?"
Garp nodded affirmatively: "Of course." He scratched the back of his head, "I'm not afraid of you laughing, but I'm actually not very good at raising offspring."
"I originally planned to take him directly to Marineford, to stay by my side."
"But there have been a lot of troubles recently, so I wanted to ask for your help."
He looked at Lin Guang beside him, then scanned all the Marines who had mostly finished eating and were leisurely drinking.
"I believe you can educate Dragon to become a 'Justice' Marine."
Lin Xia took a long while to come to his senses, then reached out and heartily slapped Garp's shoulder, laughing:
"We're buddies, you send your nephew to me, I'll definitely educate him well!"
"I'll take on this 'big trouble'; we've eaten enough, I'm going to the hot spring hotel to rest now."
After saying that, he stood up, making to slip out the door.
But before he could take a step, his wrist was grabbed, squeezing painfully.
Garp said with a smile: "Then thank you in advance, but for the 'small trouble,' I'll still need help from you, the 'Governor' of the West Blue."
Lin Xia's expression changed, and he disgustedly shook off Garp's hand: "Go away, go away, what 'Governor'? I'm just the Marine Branch 69 of the West Blue..."
He extended his right hand, his index finger and thumb slightly apart, forming a narrow slit:
"Just a base commander, smaller than small, I can't help with such a big matter."
"Mainly, I don't have the ability, you understand?"
Garp also stood up, his gaze sweeping over Lin Guang beside him, and said with a smile:
"Is that so? In other words, facing such great evil, you're preparing to run away, huh?"
"Hmph! It's precisely because of such great evil that it shouldn't be handled by a small base commander like me..."
Lin Xia continued along with the conversation, but the corner of his eye caught Lin Guang pulling out a notebook from his embrace.
A bad premonition made him instantly shut up.
Lin Guang quickly flipped through the notebook, then closed it and tucked it back into his chest, standing rigidly at attention, and declared loudly:
"Heroes must stand up to face evil."
"If heroes don't stand up, then who will protect the people?"
"––Excerpt from twelve years ago..."
"Stop, stop, stop!!!" Lin Xia glared at Lin Guang with a dark gaze––this kid definitely hates me, right?
He deliberately rejected a position at Marineford to come work under me, just to annoy me, right?
With a 'kind' smile on his face, he gritted his teeth and asked: "Lin Guang, is there anything special happening in the West Blue recently?"
Lin Guang immediately responded: "Five days ago, the Kuja Pirates clashed with the Roger Pirates, and it seemed to be a draw."
"These past few days, many pirates have also entered the West Blue from various places."
"So I suggest that leave should be adjusted, and the leave should be made up once the West Blue stabilizes."
"Suggest your head off, suggest!" Lin Xia directly punched Lin Guang, roaring in anger:
"How did you come up with something as terrifying as compensatory leave?"
"Are you worthy of all our brothers!?"
Seeing that Lin Guang, even after being hit, still stood ramrod straight, he became even more furious and turned to wave at Garp:
"I'll send someone to investigate, let's leave it at that for today."
"All your food and drinks here today are on my tab."
"Now I really have a headache, I'm going to rest first."
Garp sat down again and said leisurely:
"The killer is Rocks."
Lin Xia's body paused slightly, then he took a step and raised his hand to wave…
...
A/N: The journey continues! If you're eager to read far ahead and support this story, consider joining the Eternal Phoenix community. You can find me on Patreon by searching for "Eternal_Phoenix".
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