With Tsuru's report done, the room's mood was mixed—
Some looked down on Jin. Some sneered.
Some were curious. Some were amused.
Some openly hated it. Others just looked… tired.
Sengoku signaled for the aide to continue.
"In the latter half of the battle, Lieutenant Commander Jin's sword was broken by Red-Haired Shanks."
A chorus of irritated tch's came from the swordsmen present.
"In the final stage, Lieutenant Commander Jin fought on using hand-to-hand combat."
The third photograph appeared.
A perfectly timed shot.
One man wielding a blade, the other striking with clawed hands.
Their Haki collided mid-air, black sparks crackling around them, and the clouds overhead split in two.
Sengoku narrowed his eyes.
"That red-haired brat has already reached this level, has he…"
Garp laughed loud enough to shake the room.
"And that brat Jin has grown that much too! Hahahaha!"
No one refuted it.
In this world, the strong commanded respect.
"Finally," the aide read, "Lieutenant Commander Jin drove Red-Haired Shanks back—at the cost of suffering grave injuries."
The last photo showed Shanks flying backward toward his ship, and the Marine standing alone on the dock, covered in blood.
"Jin is currently heavily injured and in surgery," the aide finished. "This full report was submitted by Loguetown Base Commander, Colonel Mao."
He saluted and left the room.
"Let's hear it," Sengoku said. "Thoughts?"
"Both of them are monsters in close combat," Zephyr said first. "They both have Conqueror's Haki."
"After this battle, Red-Haired Shanks may be close to reaching 'Great Swordsman' level. He'll be even more troublesome."
"As for that Marine brat, he can be cultivated. His physical prowess is flawless."
"Hmph." Akainu's hand on the table began to smoke.
"Even if he's strong, someone like that can't be allowed into the Headquarters' core. A man without justice doesn't deserve such a place."
Kizaru waved his hand lazily.
"Now, now, Sakazuki. No need to be so harsh. He hasn't done anything too awful, ne~.
In fact, I kind of envy him. Living so free and easy, hmm…"
Aokiji just went quiet.
After Ohara, his sense of justice had landed squarely opposite Akainu's.
"Hahahaha! That kid is a troublemaker for sure," Garp said proudly. "But I can definitely turn him into the strongest Marine soldier!"
He cracked his knuckles till they popped.
"This guy is so strong and handsome," Gion said, eyes glued to the photo.
"Damn it all…" Tokikake gritted his teeth.
Sengoku held his head.
"This brat had a slot in the intensive training camp, you know. And he refused."
"Hm?" Everyone blinked.
"He said… 'Garp isn't stationed in East Blue much. He only comes back on leave. So if East Blue wants to keep its reputation as the most peaceful sea, I've got to stay there a few more years to help.'"
There was no rebutting that.
"Hahaha! Sengoku, I'm taking leave! I'm going back to train that kid—and visit my grandson!" Garp declared.
"Shut up. You're out of leave for this year," Sengoku snapped. "You used it all last year in advance."
"What?! Don't lie, Sengoku. I barely took any leave last year!" Garp squinted at him suspiciously.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Sengoku pointed at him.
"The G-3 base in the New World still needs you to sit on it!"
"Che." Garp picked at his nose, sulking.
Tsuru interjected, "Since he doesn't want to leave East Blue, let him be the Loguetown base commander. Promote him to full colonel."
Most of the room nodded in agreement.
Only Garp looked put out, and Aokiji—wearing his sleep mask—looked like he didn't care either way.
"好了,接下来讨论一下红发香克斯的悬赏金吧..."
Sengoku switched back to business.
"Next, we need to decide Red-Haired Shanks' bounty.
He's been wandering the Four Seas these past years and hasn't done much publicly, so his bounty isn't high yet."
"Put it at 670 million," Tsuru suggested. "With Haki and swordsmanship like that, he's far beyond an ordinary rookie."
"Agreed."
"Seconded."
Sengoku gave the final summary.
"Then it's decided.
Garp, you'll sit at New World G-3.
Sakazuki, you'll guard G-4.
Kuzan, you stay at Headquarters.
Borsalino, you're to capture that fish-man target and complete the World Government's mission. Your promotion to Admiral is pending that success."
Kizaru spread his hands.
"So troublesome, yo~. Those fish-men jump into the sea the second anything goes wrong. Can't even catch them."
Sengoku's face went dark.
"Tsuru will assist you this time. Get it done quickly. We can't delay any longer. The World Government has pressed us several times already."
The room went quiet.
Even with the Government hiding most of the truth, no one here was stupid.
They all knew there was something… wrong about that mission.
Most simply didn't want to be the one to carry it out.
It clashed with the justice they believed in.
"Dismissed."
The next day—
News Coo birds circled through the skies, dropping newspapers all across the seas.
"Extra, extra! Read all about it! Red-Haired Shanks, former member of the Roger Pirates, lands in Loguetown and gets driven back by a Marine lieutenant commander!"
Most of the text was praising Marine strength, with a smaller section explaining who the Red-Haired Pirates were.
On the front page was a photo of a young Marine standing alone at the harbor, eyes on a receding pirate ship—next to a portrait of Red-Haired Shanks himself.
"What?! That damned Roger Pirates crew was disbanded—why are they still causing trouble? Gimme a paper!" someone shouted.
"Thanks for your business—forty beli a copy!" the newsboy called happily.
All across the East Blue, people read the report and cursed.
Whatever else he'd been, Roger had thrown the whole world into chaos. Most ordinary people hadn't forgiven him.
In the New World, a man with just a tuft of blond hair on his head bought a paper and stared at it.
"Oi, Oyaji, look at this,"Marco said. "It's one of Roger's old brats."
"Gurararara. What's got you so worked up, Marco?"
Onboard the whale-shaped ship Moby Dick sat the man called the Strongest Man in the World after Roger's death—
Edward Newgate, Whitebeard.
Bounty: 4.3 billion beli.
"Hmmm… That little brat finally set sail, huh? But this Marine kid is interesting."
Whitebeard took a swig from his sake jug.
"He'll come to the New World one day.
When he does, sons… make sure to give that interesting Marine brat a proper welcome. Gurararara!"
"Yo-hoo!" his 'sons' roared.
They shouted about how they'd "teach him a lesson," hyping themselves up.
Whitebeard looked at them all and laughed even harder.
"Gurararara! Party time, boys! Let's celebrate the Marines getting pushed back out of the New World!"
"Yo-hooo! Long live Pops! Party!!"
Totto Land, Cake Island.
The world's strongest woman, Charlotte Linlin—BIG MOM, bounty: 3.8 billion, gnawed on a massive cake while staring holes through the newspaper.
"That damn thief from Roger's crew… ma-ma-ma-ma."
"Spread the word. The moment we see his ship in Totto Land waters, we sink it."
"Ma-ma-ma-ma. Thieving bastard Roger—if you hadn't stolen my Road Poneglyph, I'd have been Pirate King!"
Her Conqueror's Haki burst out, raging across the room.
Her children cowered in the corners, shaking.
On Onigashima in Wano—
The Beasts Pirates' Governor-General Kaido, bounty 3.5 billion, drank straight from the barrel.
"Which one of you can kill me?!"
He staggered outside, turned into a dragon, and flew off into the sky.
The crew barely reacted.
Only a small child was running around frantically trying to stay out of the way.
Somewhere in the New World, an unmarked sea.
On a tiny boat drifted a man in a coat, a massive black blade resting beside him.
Dracule Mihawk, "Hawk-Eye," glanced at the paper.
"Great Swordsman… interesting.
When you reach the New World, I'll come find you."
Elsewhere, men like slick-haired Crocodile and shadowy Gecko Moria read the same headline.
"Roger Pirates…" Crocodile sneered. "Heh."
On the Sabaody Archipelago, in a quiet bar—
an older man with gray hair and glasses held up the paper and sighed.
"So you've set sail too, Shanks."
Beside him, a woman leaned over.
"Ara ara, isn't that the red-haired brat who used to be on your ship?"Shakky smiled.
"Yeah." Silvers Rayleigh took a drink. "In the blink of an eye, he's grown this much."
"That Marine kid's not bad either," Shakky added. "The info I got says it was basically a double knockout. Shanks was one step away from losing. Both of them ended up gravely injured and unconscious."
Rayleigh snorted.
"Heh. Morgans definitely got paid to write it this way."
"True enough," Shakky nodded.
In the North Blue—
"Fuffuffuffuffu…"
Donquixote Doflamingo sat with one leg crossed over the other, eyes on the front page.
"The Pirate King's crew, huh? Looks like it's time we headed to the New World. No point hiding in the North Blue forever."
"Hey, Doffy, have you really decided? Shouldn't we wait for Corazon? He still hasn't come back with Law from treatment…" a long-nosed man with snot dripping from his nose asked.
At that, Doflamingo's expression turned stormy.
In the East Blue—
A red-nosed clown stared at the paper.
"What?! 670 million?! And he still got beaten back by that thug Marine in Loguetown?!"
He shuddered.
"The outside world's way too scary. It's safer to treasure hunt in the East Blue. Men! We're steering clear of Loguetown! We'll find loot somewhere else!"
As the story spread, anxiety spread with it.
People fretted—
Would more of the Roger Pirates resurface and stir up chaos?
Others, though, found comfort in the idea—
Even the Pirate King's crew could be pushed back by the Marines.
In Paradise, somewhere on the Grand Line—
A group of fish-men were in the middle of raiding a slave ship.
Leading the charge was a red-skinned fish-man, with a blue, round-bodied one and a long-nosed shark fish-man charging behind him.
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