The sea breeze, carrying a salty dampness, swept across Marineford's massive crescent-shaped harbor.
As the Marine Headquarters, this place usually only saw the orderly march of soldiers and the sharp blasts of warship horns.
But today, the atmosphere sat tense and heavy.
"Sensei, is that rumor really credible?"
The speaker was Ain, a young female Marine trainee tugging uncomfortably at her stiff collar.
Even though autumn had arrived, the midday sun beating down on the exposed concrete still made her sweat.
She looked at the massive, purple-haired man standing in front of her.
"Sixteen years old, possessing Haoshoku Haki, and even able to overpower a Logia user like Smoker with just swordsmanship... That sounds exactly like something Vice Admiral Garp would spout after drinking too much."
"Whether it's nonsense or not, Headquarters has already confirmed enough of it to take it seriously." Zephyr didn't turn around.
His gaze, hidden behind dark sunglasses, remained fixed on the distant horizon. "The real question now isn't whether that kid exists. It's whether Garp can still be trusted to handle him without turning the whole East Blue upside down."
As a former Marine Admiral and the current head instructor of the recruit training camp, he had seen countless geniuses over the decades.
But this was the first time he'd encountered a "promising seedling" that made that old bastard Garp call back specifically to brag about, then trigger a full Headquarters meeting because of the chaos surrounding him.
Standing on the other side, Fleet Admiral Sengoku frantically shoved rice crackers into his mouth, his cheeks bulging.
It seemed only the crisp, heavy sound of chewing could soothe the throbbing veins on his forehead.
"That damn Garp..." Sengoku swallowed his last bite, muttering indistinctly. "He vanishes to the East Blue without saying a word, recommends a monster and throws the whole Headquarters into an uproar! If he comes back still acting like this is some kind of joke, I swear I'll dock his doughnut quota for the entire year!"
Just then, a black dot broke the horizon.
Immediately after, the massive warship with the dog-head figurehead cut through the waves, its speed astonishingly fast.
"He's here," Zephyr said solemnly.
Before the warship even fully docked, a boisterous, roaring laugh echoed across the entire harbor.
"Bwahahahaha! Sengoku! Zephyr! I'm back!"
Garp didn't even bother waiting for the gangplank to drop.
He leaped directly from the deck, landing on the stone pier with a heavy thud that cracked the concrete beneath his boots.
He still held the half-eaten bag of rice crackers in his hand, his face beaming with a smug look that made anyone who saw it want to punch him.
"Garp!" Sengoku roared, rolling the thick documents in his hand into a tight tube.
"Do you have any respect for military discipline?!"
"Huh? That stuff doesn't really matter, does it?" Garp replied carelessly, digging his pinky into his ear before turning to Zephyr with a proud grin.
"Hey, Zephyr, that brat will definitely surprise you."
Zephyr ignored his old friend's antics.
His gaze shifted past Garp toward the gangplank where the crew was finally disembarking.
Vice Admiral Bogard came down first.
A few soldiers carrying supplies followed closely behind. Even the ship's cook stepped out to get some fresh air.
But there was absolutely no sign of the legendary young man.
"Where is he?" Ain couldn't help but stand on her tiptoes to look toward the ship.
Aside from a few deckhands scrubbing the wood, the deck was empty.
Garp paused for a moment, then slapped his forehead and burst into laughter again.
"Ah! Right, that kid never came back with me in the first place."
The dock fell silent for half a beat.
Zephyr's face darkened instantly. "What did you say?"
"That brat slipped away on his own back in the East Blue," Garp explained, shamelessly snatching a cracker from the bag in Sengoku's hand.
"Said sailing on a warship was too boring, listening to old men nag all day was annoying, and if Headquarters wanted him, they could wait until he felt like showing up. Pretty gutsy, right?"
"This is what you call handling the situation?!" Zephyr's roar was loud enough to shatter the harbor's glass windows. "You let a sixteen-year-old monster who hasn't even reported to Headquarters yet run loose across the East Blue after everything we've already learned about him?! What if he causes more trouble? What if he dies on the way?!"
"Relax, that kid's sharp," Garp waved a hand dismissively, spraying cracker crumbs all over Sengoku's face.
"Besides, what danger could there possibly be in a peaceful place like the East Blue? At most, he'll run into a few clueless, small-time pirates who aren't even worth being his punching bags."
Hearing this, Zephyr's stern expression softened just a fraction.
It was true.
The East Blue was widely known as the weakest sea.
With the rumored strength of that young man, as long as he didn't accidentally provoke monsters like the Shichibukai, he could practically walk the sea unscathed.
"Since he has the courage to move alone, it shows he has a good temperament." Zephyr nodded, feeling a spark of anticipation for this transfer student he had never met.
"I hope he's not a reckless fool like you."
Just as the atmosphere eased and everyone prepared to disperse, a rapid Buru Buru Buru sound rang out.
It wasn't a casual personal call, but the harsh, urgent tone of a branch emergency relay.
A communications officer on the dock nearly stumbled as he rushed over with the Den Den Mushi in both hands, face pale.
"Fleet Admiral! Vice Admiral Garp! Highest-priority emergency relay from the Loguetown branch!"
The sharp cry instantly froze the mood on the dock.
Sengoku snatched the receiver first, but before he could even speak, a girl's trembling voice burst out from the snail, mixed with violent wind, collapsing stone, and the roaring of beasts in the background.
"Loguetown emergency report! This is Lieutenant Isuka! Golden Lion—it's Shiki the Golden Lion! He attacked Loguetown! Captain Smoker is heavily injured, and Zaraki has already been drawn into the sky with Shiki's floating island!"
Dead silence.
At that exact moment, even the sound of the crashing sea breeze vanished.
The rolled-up document in Sengoku's hand fell to the concrete with a sharp clatter.
Behind his dark sunglasses, Zephyr's pupils contracted.
Trainees like Ain and Binz stood frozen with their mouths agape, doubting their own hearing.
Shiki the Golden Lion?!
That legendary pirate who cut off his own legs to escape Impel Down twenty years ago and nearly destroyed half of Marineford?!
Appearing in the East Blue?!
"You said... who?" Garp's voice dropped terrifyingly low, a suppressed, rumbling fury building in his throat.
Before Isuka could answer again, a Marine Rear Admiral in charge of intelligence and communications stumbled over from a distance.
He waved an urgent telegram in his hand, his face deathly pale.
"R-Report, Fleet Admiral! The Loguetown branch in the East Blue sent a highest-level distress signal!"
The Rear Admiral ran so frantically he nearly tripped in front of Sengoku. Gasping for breath, his voice shook with pure terror.
"Garrison Captain Smoker reports... the Flying Pirate Shiki the Golden Lion launched an aerial assault on Loguetown! The entire town is covered by an unidentified floating island! Captain Smoker is seriously injured! Confirmed... confirmed sighting of a black-haired youth confronting the Golden Lion, who then left along with the Golden Lion's floating island!"
The intelligence was confirmed.
The absolute worst-case scenario had occurred.
"Damn it!"
A furious roar exploded!
The concrete dock beneath Garp's boots shattered instantly, deep cracks spreading out dozens of meters in all directions!
The terrifying shockwave sent Ain and the other trainees stumbling back several steps.
The old man's eyes turned totally bloodshot, his "Justice" coat billowing and flapping loudly without any wind.
He was no longer the goofy old man who cheerfully ate crackers.
He was the Marine Hero who once chased Pirate King Roger across the world!
"Sengoku! Get me a warship! The fastest one you have!" Garp crushed the Den Den Mushi receiver in his fist, thick veins bulging at his temples.
"I'm heading back to the East Blue right now! If that kid loses even a single hair of his, I'll chop off Shiki's remaining two hands!"
"Calm down, Garp! It'll take you at least several days to get back there now!"
Though equally shocked, Sengoku was still the Fleet Admiral.
He forcibly suppressed the horror in his heart, his strategic mind racing fast.
"If Zaraki was already taken, he's definitely not in Loguetown anymore! Golden Lion's Fuwa Fuwa no Mi power allows him to move freely at high altitudes. Who knows where he might be headed!"
"So you want me to just wait here?!" Garp grabbed Sengoku by the collar, spittle flying from his lips.
"That's Zaraki! The brat from Foosha Village! The one Luffy and Ace grew up with!"
"Yo~ Such terrifying killing intent."
Just as the tension reached a breaking point, a lazy, sly voice slowly interjected.
A golden flash of light coalesced on a tall lamppost by the dock, forming into a slender figure dressed in a yellow-and-white striped suit.
Borsalino—Kizaru—tilted his head with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, wearing an expression that clearly relished the drama.
"Golden Lion, huh. That's a pirate even I find troublesome. But Vice Admiral Garp, isn't it a bit too much to make such a massive fuss over some kid from the East Blue?"
Before Kizaru could even finish his sentence, a sharp chill ran down his spine.
Garp slowly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes locking right onto Kizaru perched on the lamppost.
He used no Haoshoku Haki—just pure, unadulterated killing intent—yet the heavy glare proved more than enough to freeze the mocking smile right off the Marine Admiral's face.
"Borsalino."
Garp's voice cut icy and piercing.
"Since you find him troublesome, you go."
"Eh?" Kizaru's orange sunglasses tilted slightly.
"Sengoku, give the order." Garp released Sengoku's collar and pointed a thick finger straight at Kizaru, his heavy tone leaving zero room for argument.
"Make this monkey use his power right now, immediately, at full speed, to search him in the East Blue! If he doesn't find him, he shouldn't be bother coming back!"
The air grew heavy in that exact instant, becoming difficult to breathe.
Everyone standing on the dock felt the invisible, terrifying pressure swirling among these three top-tier forces of the Marines.
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