Taro's mockery left Monet fuming; even after she left, she still felt a sense of righteous indignation.
"The Young Lord wouldn't... right, he definitely wouldn't!"
She adjusted her glasses, whispering to encourage herself.
At the same time, she was annoyed with herself. Clearly, that Marine had only taken her to experience flight once, yet she was actually influenced by his words, feeling some wavering doubt about the Young Lord.
Monet was overcome with shame. Thinking of Taro, she snorted angrily, "Hmph, what does a Marine like you know?"
Not until Monet disappeared around the corner did Taro slowly walk towards the Marine base, sighing in his heart.
Meeting Donquixote Doflamingo was Monet's greatest luck, and also her greatest misfortune.
For the past eleven years, from her personal perspective, she must have felt like she was basking in the sun within the Donquixote Family.
"Vice Admiral, you're back?"
George came forward to meet him, but his gaze went past Taro, looking behind him.
Taro hummed in response, then frowned. "Are you looking for someone?"
George's expression tightened, and he hesitated for a long while. "Vice Admiral, as your subordinate, I don't know if I should say this..."
"Then don't say it!" Taro looked at George's constipated expression; how could he not know what this old fellow was thinking? He gave him a resentful glare.
"Cough!" George choked and coughed before giving a military salute. "Yes!"
Taro's lips twitched. "I'm a soldier; would I do something like kidnapping a commoner woman? Put away your filthy thoughts!"
"Yes!" George lowered his head in shame.
"Is there any new message from the G4 Base?" Taro asked after a thought.
George immediately replied, "Only Commodore Hina called to ask if you were in the Sabaody Archipelago."
Taro nodded, feeling a bit disappointed. The intelligence on Edward Weevil was already several days old. With this delay, it wouldn't be easy to find him in the vast ocean!
After thinking, Taro ordered, "Find the recent intelligence on all the Captains under the Whitebeard Pirates for me to see, all of them!"
As he spoke, he lowered his voice. "Also, don't let Vice Admiral Garp know about this, understand?"
George was startled and looked at Taro in surprise, but seeing Taro's serious face, he quickly nodded. "Understood!"
Grove 66.
Garp leaned lazily on the sofa eating senbei, seemingly having no intention of visiting Ace.
Taro found this strange, wondering what excuse he should use to slip away to the New World.
"You brat, I heard you kidnapped a woman?" Garp asked casually, crunching on his senbei.
Taro was instantly furious. "That ungrateful George is spreading rumors again. I must..."
"I saw it too!" Garp gave Taro a disdainful glance.
"Uh, it's not what you think. I was just being helpful!" Taro's Aura immediately weakened. "She had never flown before, so I just took her to experience the feeling of flight!"
Garp didn't believe Taro's nonsense. "I haven't flown either, yet I didn't see you take me for a flight! You just think she's pretty, don't you?"
"Am I that wretched in your heart, old man?" Taro was speechless.
"Yes!" Garp affirmed decisively.
Taro: "..."
But the old man seemed to be in a good mood?
After a thought, Taro spoke tentatively, "Old man, I want to go out for a few days..."
Garp gave a faint "Oh."
Taro was stunned. "You don't object?"
"Your legs are on you; you can go wherever you want. Why would I object?" Garp glanced at Taro and opened a new bag of senbei.
Something's wrong. Old man, something's wrong with you!
Taro looked Garp up and down suspiciously. Is this really him? How could his attitude change so much after just one day?
Garp barked, "You brat, what's with that expression? Since you don't believe me, then stay in Sabaody Archipelago..."
"Wait, no, don't!" Taro quickly waved his hands, then whispered, "Then I'll leave tomorrow morning?"
Garp waved his hand with an impatient look, gesturing for Taro to get lost.
After Taro left in a daze, Garp pulled out a den den mushi.
"Tsuru, just as you expected, that kid just told me he wants to go out for a few days!"
The den den mushi mimicked Vice Admiral Tsuru's calm voice, "That shameless brat. For his sake, Hina actually tried to hide it even from me!"
"Well, you ended up finding out anyway!" Garp said nonchalantly.
Vice Admiral Tsuru didn't dwell on Hina deceiving her and changed the subject. "Edward Weevil is quite powerful. Seven years ago, Zephyr..."
Garp chewed his senbei and interrupted Vice Admiral Tsuru with a couple of "Hey, hey" sounds. "What's there to fear? Taro won't lose to him! Besides, it's about time to settle the matter of that guy cutting off Zephyr's arm."
As he spoke, he felt a bit strange. "Speaking of which, the fact that you actually agreed to let Taro go really surprised me!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed. "Gion told me that the World Government intends to invite that guy to take over a position in the Warlord of the Sea."
"After all, we joined the Marine in the same period as Zephyr, and Zephyr was even a former Marine Admiral. Even if our ideologies differ now... the World Government shouldn't..."
Garp nodded with a serious expression. "Don't those bastards know how much of an impact inviting this person to join the Warlord of the Sea will have on Marine morale?"
After a pause, he asked again, "Does Sakazuki know about this?"
"No, he doesn't know yet!" Vice Admiral Tsuru replied softly.
Garp chuckled. "I think we should tell him. I'd really like to see his face when he hears this news!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru's eyes flickered. "You're just a retired old man who eats senbei; don't go ordering me, the Navy Grand Staff Officer!"
After a while, she sighed again. "You should understand that from his standpoint, taking action against Ace is beyond reproach!"
Garp suddenly burst into laughter. "Haha, I naturally understand that!"
"Click."
The den den mushi hung up. Garp laughed for a good while longer, until tears came to his eyes, before stopping... "Vice Admiral, the intelligence you requested!" George handed over several sheets of paper.
Taro flipped through them quickly, frowning. "Just this much?"
George nodded. "Yes, Vice Admiral! Since the Paramount War, they have kept a low profile and acted very covertly!"
He hesitated, then continued, "Should we contact the G4 Base? That's a fortress branch, and its intelligence level is higher than the Sabaody Archipelago's. It might be more comprehensive."
Taro rubbed his forehead in frustration, finally waving his hand. "Forget it, it's too late today. No need to trouble Hina!"
Then, he picked up a pen and circled several place names on the intelligence report,
"George, I'll be leaving Sabaody tomorrow morning. Prepare the Eternal Poses for these few islands for me."
"Also, if Hina sends any new intelligence, forward it to me immediately!"
George took the intelligence and gave a proper military salute. "Understood, Vice Admiral!"
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