In the world of pirates, the Marines are undoubtedly the fastest and most unrestrained presence on the seas.
The Calm Belt, which pirates avoid like the plague, is nothing more than the Navy's backyard.
They wander through it whenever they feel like it.
Since joining the Marines, Michael had rarely returned to Marineford.
Usually, he only came back when it was time for a promotion.
But each time, the sight of Marine Headquarters still left him in awe.
Fleets lined up like forests, towering buildings,
and at the very top, the Marine seagull flag fluttering proudly!
Stella stood beside Michael, her emerald green eyes sparkling with excitement and amazement.
Once ashore, she craned her slender neck and looked around in all directions.
"Michael, is this the legendary Marine Headquarters?"
"What else? Have you ever seen this many warships anywhere else?"
It had been three days since the slave rescue operation.
Stella had also started to grow more familiar with Michael.
Her way of speaking had become much more relaxed.
"So, where are we going next?"
"I'm going to report to the old man… Admiral Sengoku."
"Then… should I wait for you on the ship?"
"No need. You can come along and see the world a bit."
Michael shrugged.
The recruitment period had ended.
If he wanted to bring Stella into Marine Headquarters, he'd need the old man's approval.
...
Marineford — Sengoku's office.
In the year 1500 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Sengoku hadn't yet become Fleet Admiral, but in reality, he'd been handling the responsibilities for years.
At the moment, Sengoku was reading a report about the current condition of Gol D. Roger's body.
A soldier entered the room and reported:
"Reporting, Admiral—Commander Michael has returned."
"Is that so? Let him in."
"Yes, sir!"
Moments later, Michael entered the office with Stella.
He casually sat down on the couch without interrupting Sengoku.
He waited until Sengoku put down the report and looked up.
Only then did Sengoku notice the beautiful girl sitting next to Michael.
The girl sat calmly. Despite being in the office of a Marine Admiral, she showed no signs of nervousness.
Her eyes, the color of emeralds, were staring at him curiously.
"Michael, Momousagi already told me everything about what happened," Sengoku looked at the relaxed Michael.
"Why not drop the act this time?"
"...Slacking off gets old eventually."
Michael smirked. The old man really had the time to tease him, huh?
So what if he slacked off a little too much?
"I'm fully in support of you killing those slave traffickers," Sengoku said as he looked at Michael and then sighed.
"The Celestial Dragons really did demand punishment for you… but I and Fleet Admiral Kong blocked it."
"Alright, that's enough about the slave ship." Sengoku nodded toward Stella, who was sitting quietly. "And this is…?"
"Stella. One of the rescued. She's a wandering singer, no fixed home." Michael stood and walked up to Sengoku's desk.
"I think she has potential. Could she be specially recruited into the Marines?"
"Special recruitment? No problem." Sengoku shrugged. "But you'll have to train her yourself. It's not the recruitment season—there's no boot camp right now."
"That's fine."
Michael chuckled.
He already had plans for Stella.
"One more thing. I want to borrow the Marine's Devil Fruit Encyclopedia."
All the loot seized from the smuggling ship had been confiscated.
But when it came to Devil Fruits, Marine regulations allowed the person who seized it to choose first. The rest were turned in and converted into bonus pay.
Even though Michael was a transmigrator, there was no way he could recognize every Devil Fruit by sight.
"Sure."
Sengoku picked up a form from the side, stamped it with his seal, and handed it to Michael.
With this paper, he could borrow the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia from the archive.
"Alright, nothing else, right? If not, I'm heading out."
"Hold on." Seeing Michael about to slip away, Sengoku raised a hand to stop him.
"Stay in Marineford with Stella for now."
Michael frowned slightly.
He had been specially recruited into the Marines five years ago. To be precise, he'd been picked up by Sengoku.
As an orphan drifting at sea, he had once mistakenly wandered into the Calm Belt and faced many hardships before Sengoku brought him back to Marine Headquarters.
In this world, Sengoku was the one who gave Michael the warmth of a home.
That's why he had the confidence to call the de facto top power of the Navy "old man."
It's just that after he became Momousagi's adjutant, he never came back to live at home.
"Something happen?"
"The execution date has been set. It's in ten days."
Sengoku didn't name names, but Michael knew exactly who he meant.
Gol D. Roger.
Michael was momentarily dazed.
So soon… it's really happening?
The so-called "Great Pirate Era."
"Alright, then I'll stay here for the next few days." Michael nodded. "I haven't seen Rosinante in a long time anyway."
He waved at Stella and walked out of Sengoku's office without waiting for a response.
"Goodbye, Admiral Sengoku!" Stella clumsily saluted like a Marine and quickly ran after Michael.
Shortly after they left, a tall and burly figure entered Sengoku's office without even knocking.
He went straight to Sengoku's desk and grabbed some senbei to eat.
"...Garp, could you not eat my senbei next time?"
Monkey D. Garp — Hero of the Marines, future father of the Revolutionary Army leader, and future grandfather of the Pirate King. Also the most shameless and difficult man in the entire Navy.
"You shouldn't be so stingy, Sengoku!"
Garp didn't just scarf down the senbei in two bites; he also wiped his hands on Sengoku's cape for good measure.
"Roger's body… it's deteriorated this badly?" Sengoku looked over the detailed analysis in the report, his tone tinged with emotion.
"Otherwise, why do you think he surrendered?" Garp sat on Sengoku's desk. "It's nothing more than buying time for his family and his crew to disappear quietly."
"...What's the chance of finding them?"
"Sengoku, them choosing to go into hiding isn't a bad thing." Garp spoke directly to the heart of the issue.
"Rayleigh, Gaban… if we forcefully try to take down people that strong right now, how many Marines will die? Have you thought about that?"
Garp might be reckless, but he was never stupid.
"Rayleigh and Gaban aren't the type to stir up trouble. But that Bullet… yeah, he's the one to watch closely."
"There are still ten days until the scheduled execution. Start spreading the word. If anyone from the Roger Pirates shows up to rescue him… we'll catch them all in one sweep."
"...Alright."
After that casual discussion about the Pirate King's execution, the office fell into silence.
And with it, an era quietly came to an end.