Countless questions overwhelmed Sengoku.
He turned his head, meeting Tsuru's shocked gaze.
This is going to get ugly.
The thought struck both Marine strategists at the exact same moment.
Crack…
A faint splintering sound echoed from the corner of the office, making Sengoku's tense nerves jump.
He glanced toward the noise.
Garp still sat on the sofa, caught in the motion of eating rice crackers.
But his usual foolish grin had vanished, leaving his face completely blank.
Sunlight cut through the blinds, casting shadows across eyes that were now bottomless and brewing with terrifying emotion.
The cracker in his hand had been crushed to dust, slipping through his fingers.
"G-Garp…" Sengoku's throat went dry.
An intense sense of danger chilled his spine.
But... it was too late.
Boom!
An aura fit to reign over the world erupted from Garp.
Conqueror's Haki mixed with raw rage, the force poured out without restraint.
The air in the office thickened.
Walls, ceiling, and floor groaned under the pressure as spiderweb cracks spread.
An invisible force pressed the documents flat against the desk, yet they still trembled.
"What… did you… just say?" Garp stood.
He squeezed each word through clenched teeth, his hoarse voice carrying terrifying weight.
His gaze pierced the room, locking onto the CP0 agent adjusting his white suit.
The agent stiffened.
Though shaken by the Haki, CP0 pride forced him to raise his head and meet Garp's eyes.
"Marine Hero, Vice Admiral Garp, I am merely reporting the facts—"
Garp moved before he could finish.
His burly body vanished, leaving only an afterimage. In the next breath, he materialized directly in front of the agent.
A fist wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki swung for the man's head, carrying the force to destroy everything in its path.
Years of life-and-death training and mastery of the Six Powers became meaningless.
Facing that punch, the agent's mind went blank. He couldn't even raise a hand to block.
"Garp! Stop!" Sengoku's roar shook the building.
He stomped the ground, combining Moonwalk and Shave. Turning into a golden flash, he forced himself between Garp and the CP0 agent.
With no time to intercept the fist, Sengoku launched a whip kick from an impossible angle, striking the agent in the waist.
Bones shifted with a muffled crunch as the kick sent the agent flying. He smashed through the office's side wall, vanishing into a cloud of dust.
A hairsbreadth away, Garp's iron fist grazed past Sengoku's nose.
Boom!
A deafening crash shook all of Marineford as Garp's fist slammed into the outer wall. The building symbolizing the Marines' highest authority tore like paper.
A massive hole ten meters wide burst open.
The resulting air blast formed a visible white shockwave that swept the room, crushing everything inside to pieces.
Sengoku and Tsuru coated themselves in Armament Haki just to remain standing.
Blinding sunlight and salty sea wind poured through the breach.
Outside, towering waves churned, raised by the sheer force of Garp's punch.
Silence descended.
The entire Marine Headquarters building fell deathly still.
Garp withdrew his fist, wisps of black smoke curling from his knuckles. He remained silent, but his posture alone chilled the hearts of everyone present.
"Cough… cough…"
Amid the rubble, the CP0 agent struggled to his feet.
Covered in blood, his white suit hung in rags. Half of his mask had shattered, revealing a livid, bruised face beneath.
He glared at Garp, his voice trembling with accusation.
"Monkey D. Garp! What do you think you're doing? Attacking an official of the World Government—are you challenging the authority of the Government itself?!"
"Shut up!" Sengoku's dignified roar exploded through the ruined office.
His usually composed face was livid, his braided beard trembling with rage.
He stepped forward, placing his tall frame between Garp and the agent.
The Fleet Admiral's golden cloak billowed despite the lack of wind.
"This is Marine Headquarters, Marineford! Not a place for your Cipher Pol to run wild!" Sengoku's sharp eyes locked onto the agent.
"The Marines will investigate the truth of this incident. You barge into my office with an incomplete distress signal, throw suspicion on one of my people, and expect me to obey blindly? Stand down!"
Forceful and unquestionable.
This was the true bearing of Sengoku the Buddha.
Suppressed by that aura, the agent glared with venomous eyes, knowing the man before him was far more than a mere strategist.
But remembering his mission and his recent humiliation, he forced his spine straight.
At that tense moment, three distinct, overwhelming auras descended.
Whoosh!
A flash of golden light streaked in, materializing into a tall man in a yellow striped suit.
Hands in his pockets, his face wore its signature lazy smile, but beneath his tinted sunglasses, his eyes were grave.
"Oh my… how frightening, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Looks like something terrifying took a huge bite out of your office." Admiral Kizaru, Borsalino.
A wave of scorching heat followed, evaporating the moisture in the air.
A sturdy man bearing a cherry blossom tattoo strode in. Akainu expression was cold, his lips pressed tight.
His sharp eyes swept the room before settling on Garp in grim questioning.
Last came a bone-chilling cold, his expression remained as lazy as ever, but the chill radiating from his body dropped the room's temperature, Admiral Aokiji, Kuzan.
The highest combat powers of Marine Headquarters—the Three Admirals—had arrived.
Drawn by Garp's unleashed Conqueror's Haki and the thunderous crash, they took in the ruined office and the standoff.
Even the Admirals felt a chill at the sight.
"What happened here?" Aokiji broke the silence, his tone carrying a rare seriousness.
Finding an opening, the CP0 agent wiped the blood from his mouth.
He swept a cold gaze across the Admirals and enunciated every word.
"A riot has broken out in Impel Down. The prisoners on Level Six were maliciously released. According to the distress signal, this incident is connected to Provisional Combat Trainee Zaraki. Chief Warden Magellan was critically injured. His status is unknown."
The air froze.
The impact of the news was too massive, even the Admirals needed a moment to process it.
But those words reignited the powder keg.
"You still dare to say that?!" Garp roared.
From the body Sengoku was holding back, a more violent surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted.
Buzz!
The Haki manifested as visible black lightning, arcing and exploding around him.
The floor cracked. Invisible force crushed broken stone into powder, and the entire building groaned beneath his will.
He was going to kill the CP0 agent right now!
"Garp! Calm down!" Sengoku clamped both hands onto Garp's shoulders.
Pushing his Armament Haki to the limit, he desperately tried to suppress his rampaging friend.
"Let me go, Sengoku! No one is stopping me today!" Garp's eyes were blood-red.
The sheer brute force surging from him made Sengoku's arms go numb, even at full strength.
"Are you insane?! If you kill him, you'll start a war with the World Government!" Sengoku roared, veins bulging on his forehead.
"We don't know the full situation at Impel Down! We don't know if Zaraki is safe, if Magellan can command, or if the prisoners are contained. If you act now, you push that brat straight into opposition against the entire world before we even know where the fire started!"
That reasoning suppressed Garp's rage, but the killing intent in his eyes didn't fade.
Sengoku's voice turned decisive. "Half an hour. Give me half an hour to send people to Impel Down and verify the situation. Until then, you stay here and behave."
Garp's violent aura began to recede.
He glared at Sengoku, his chest heaving like a caged beast.
"Fine… half an hour." He forced the words through clenched teeth. His gaze slipped past Sengoku, locking onto the agent.
"After half an hour, if he lied, I'll break him."
The CP0 agent's face darkened.
He adjusted his broken mask. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you are shielding a criminal. Understand this: I represent the will of the Five Elders. The World Government will never let this rest."
Sengoku didn't even look at him. He turned toward the three Admirals.
"Sakazuki! Borsalino!"
"Here!" Akainu and Kizaru answered in unison.
"Lead a rapid-response force to Impel Down immediately. I want every single detail of what happened. Secure Zaraki, Magellan, Crocodile, Shiryu, and every Level Six prisoner involved. Suppress anyone who attempts to obstruct the investigation, regardless of their identity."
Sengoku's command left no room for doubt.
"Yes," Akainu answered.
"What a troublesome mission…" Kizaru sighed, his body breaking into specks of golden light.
"Wait." A cold smile crept across the CP0 agent's exposed face. "The Five Elders are paying close attention to this matter. Therefore, I will accompany you."
He drew a pure-white Den Den Mushi from his coat and pressed a finger against the button.
Sengoku's heart sank as he recognized the snail.
It was CP0's highest-level emergency communicator, operating on an encrypted, unique frequency.
Sengoku knew exactly where the other end connected—to the absolute pinnacle of the world's power.
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
In the end to prevent any troublesome matter coming up, he and Garp decide to join in on the mission.
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