The group was busy until evening before finally returning to Driftwood Village.
By then, everyone else had already come back, and Anya had dinner ready, waiting for them to eat.
Everyone gathered around the long table. As the sun set, the meal had a bit of a romantic feel to it—but Ryuen wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.
"I'm digging in!" Seeing all the delicious food, Ryuen's appetite kicked in.
Just as he was about to start eating, Sugar spoke up. "Ryuen, did you forget your transponder snail today?"
"Huh?" Ryuen paused and patted his pockets. The snail wasn't there—it must've been left on the ship. "Did you pick it up?"
"Yeah~"
"And Garp Vice Admiral called you today. But I told him you weren't around, so he didn't say much and just hung up." Sugar handed the transponder snail to Ryuen.
Ryuen took it, thinking—Garp called me today?
"Ryuen, could it be about the orphanage? After all, we don't have any official status with the World Government anymore," Nojiko guessed.
The others also started thinking.
Because of the orphanage, Garp often returned to East Blue. Sometimes, he used it as an excuse to check on his grandson, but every time he visited, it also served as a warning to those who had their eyes on the orphanage.
But Ryuen didn't think that was the reason. Remembering the strange feeling he had earlier, he figured Garp's call wasn't about the orphanage.
"It's not about the orphanage. Right now, the whole sea is watching over it, and Garp frequently visits East Blue. No one would dare make a move on it—at least not for now," Ryuen said calmly.
"Then it must be about the Marines. Whatever, let's eat," Nojiko said casually.
Everyone agreed with Ryuen and Nojiko.
At this point, they didn't have any goodwill toward either the Marines or the World Government. If it weren't for the occasional convenience of having a Marine title, they wouldn't bother dealing with them at all.
No one thought about Garp's call anymore. Instead, they focused on enjoying their meal.
~~~~~~
But of course, when you don't want something to happen, that's exactly when it does.
Before they could even finish eating, Ryuen's transponder snail started ringing again.
"Nami," Ryuen frowned and called out.
Nami glanced his way and casually opened a space door with Teuchi. Without hesitation, Ryuen tossed the transponder snail into it.
"Alright, that's settled. Let's continue..." Ryuen said indifferently.
~~~~~~
East Blue, Foosha Village.
After receiving orders from Marine Headquarters, Garp returned to East Blue.
Vice Admiral Tsuru had originally told him to go straight to Krakder Island to find Ryuen, but Garp ignored that and went to East Blue instead.
"Uh..."
"Vice Admiral Garp, Rear Admiral Ryuen isn't answering the transponder snail. Should we keep calling?" Bogard asked, looking at Garp, who was dressed in his usual floral shorts.
"That brat... He's dodging me on purpose."
"Forget it. Tomorrow, we'll head to the Oikot Kingdom. There's definitely someone there who can deal with him," Garp said casually.
Bogard glanced at Garp without showing any emotion, but he thought to himself: Following Vice Admiral Garp really is a great learning experience...
————
The next day, at noon.
On Krakder Island, the sea chart was almost complete. The only thing left was for Nami to map out the climate of the area.
So today, only Nami and Ryuen were working on that. The others had gone off to explore the island.
At this rate, it wouldn't take much longer to finish charting the first half of the Grand Line.
Once the map was released, anyone from the North, South, East, or West Blue who wanted to enter the Grand Line would need to buy a copy.
"Brrr… Brrr… Brrr…"
Ryuen's transponder snail started ringing again.
He had ignored Garp for a whole day—guess it was time to answer.
"Vice Admiral Garp..."
"It's me, Bellemere!"
As soon as Ryuen mentioned Garp's name, Bellemere's voice came through.
Hearing Bellemere's voice, Nami, who was standing nearby, got curious and paused to look at the Den Den Mushi in Ryuen's hand.
"I thought it was that old guy Garp. Bellemere, is something wrong at the orphanage?" Ryuen asked, a bit puzzled.
"You brat! Show some respect to Vice Admiral Garp!" Bellemere scolded him.
After all, Garp was right next to her, and he heard everything loud and clear.
"Uh… (￣ェ￣;)"
"Alright, so what do you need, Bellemere?" Ryuen suddenly had a bad feeling.
"It's nothing major, but Vice Admiral Garp is here too, and Ryuen, you *have* to help the Marines with this!" Bellemere said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
"The orphanage has gotten a lot of help from the Marines. They've done so much for us. Without them transporting supplies, I wouldn't be able to keep the orphanage running by myself.
And you know how much of a big deal this orphanage is. The World Government has been trying, both openly and secretly, to get their people involved.
Luckily, Vice Admiral Garp comes by often to check on things. With his presence, those people don't dare make any direct moves," Bellemere said seriously.
"Hmph…"
"So those guys still won't give up, huh? Makes me want to just burn Mary Geoise to the ground…" Ryuen's tone was calm, but his words were filled with killing intent.
"You brat! Don't ever say things like that again!" Bellemere warned him immediately.
Even though they were using an anti-eavesdropping Den Den Mushi, there was no guarantee it was completely secure.
If the intelligence division overheard that, not even having the Celestial Dragons as backing would be enough to protect Ryuen and the others.
"Alright, I get it," Ryuen said.
"In that case, Bellemere, tell Garp that I'll help with this situation…
But just this once." Ryuen's voice was firm, making it clear that this message was meant for Garp as well.
"Got it~"
"Vice Admiral Garp says he understands. Now go handle things. I've got stuff to do, so I'm hanging up!" Bellemere quickly ended the call as soon as the matter was settled.
"I didn't expect the Marines to actually stand with Bellemere…" Nami said, a bit surprised.
"It's not the Marines—it's Garp. He's the only one in the Marines who really understands us," Ryuen said as he started contacting Morgans.
Because the World Government acted first and pinned all the blame on the Marines, the Marines were now in a tough spot with no way to explain themselves.
Ryuen had already expected this. In the end, Sengoku would still ask him for help because, when it came to public influence, Morgans had the biggest advantage.
Since the World Government was blaming the Marines for the Celestial Dragons' mistakes, Ryuen had no choice but to expose the real problem.
He would reveal how the Celestial Dragons controlled the Marines and how corrupt officers worked for their benefit.
Once the truth was out, the Marines' crisis would resolve itself.
---
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