The day went by like a flash. Marineford continued to function like the well oiled machine it was.
At the highest floor of the Marineford Building, lied the Fleet Admiral's office. Normally, the office would only have Sengoku, the fleet admiral, his favorite goat and his assistant. But today, Admiral Sakazuki was sitting at the left sofa of Sengoku's office, with a cigar in his mouth and a serious expression on his face.
Opposite of him, Garp sat with that signature sh*t-eating grin he carried as always. Vice Admiral Gion sat besides him as former attendant of the Chief of Staff, since Soren had just taken in the role.
Bogard was also present in the room as Garp's attendant but he chose the wall on the right to lean into and kept his silence.
Directly in front of Sengoku stood Vice admiral Tsuru who quietly listened to Soren as he explained the shipbuilding facility and it's work process.
"A feasibility study needs to be conducted to further determine the cost and benefits of this project but I think it would be better to leave it to the professionals than me."
Soren concluded his report with professionalism and let the room digest the information.
Admiral Sakazuki listened to the details provided by Soren and looked at the report in his hands. He was a hawkish style elder that preferred action over administrative works but even he could see the benefits and potential of the project. But he didn't say anything.
"Sino."
Sengoku called his assistant directly.
"Take this report to Commodore Theo and ask the engineering division to conduct a feasibility report on the project. Any further discussions and query can be taken to Rear Admiral Soren directly. Report to me after the study is done."
"Yes." Rear Admiral Sino replied sternly and took the task in hand.
Just as Sengoku handed the report to his attendant, a leather book stuck out of the desk. Garp, Tsuru, Sakazuki and Soren didn't show any reactions but Gion and Bogard let their emotions spike for a second.
Every one in the room was a seasoned marine with Haki so they noticed the reactions quickly but only Sengoku saw the root of the reactions.
It was the diary!
A few days after he got the diary, Sengoku had already tested different things about the diary and he had come to a conclusion:
The diary could not be destroyed. Even if he threw the diary away, it would appear in his desk on it's own.
Others could not see the diary at all.
He could not mention the diary to anyone else.
After realizing these 'rules', Sengoku had just left the diary in his desk so that he know if the diary updated. But now seeing the diary, Gion and Bogard unexpectedly gave a reaction!
"Soren, Sino. Leave us for a bit." Sengoku did not hesitate at all.
The two were confused but didn't delay at all.
Sengoku looked at Gion and Bogard and said with utter seriousness.
"Do you see this?" he said as he pointed to the diary.
Sakazuki, Garp and Tsuru were confused.
"Have you gone senile, Sengoku. That's just your desk." Garp wanted to say some mocking words but seeing the serious expression on Sengoku's face and seeing Gion and Bogard both nod, he realized it wasn't the time for jokes.
"Reporting to the Fleet Admiral, I received it a little over two months ago but due to the 'rules' established by it, I could not report about the matter." Gion's voice was sharp and she didn't hesitate to reveal the information without mentioning specific details.
"It was the same for me. I received the diary when we were patrolling Sema Archipelago."
Bogard also saw no reason to hide anything and said directly.
Sengoku felt a much needed sense of relief with two of his trusted personnel having the same diary, but he was left with even more questions.
"What is going on, Sengoku? Why are you speaking in riddles?" Garp finally couldn't take it anymore and asked directly.
Sengoku cleared his thoughts and looked at the questioning gazes on Sakazuki and Tsuru's face as well.
"This matter is somewhat complicated. All three of us apparently received some kind of artifact. We can not name it or talk about it to anyone else. The moment the thought of saying the name comes to my mind, my body feels like it is attached to 1000 tons of lead and sunk underwater. From this 'artifact', I have been receiving some information but whether the information is true or not is yet to be verified."
Sengoku tried his best to explain the matter to the upper echelons of the marines but the explaination was too vague to understand completely.
"Is it the same for you two as well?" Tsuru asked to Gion and Bogard directly.
They both nodded while looking at Sengoku's diary.
"Can I take a look, Fleet Admiral?" Gion asked. She wanted to know if the diary was the same as the one she had.
"Go ahead."
Gion took the diary in Sengoku's desk and started flicking the pages. Bogard also stepped in closer to confirm the information.
But for Tsuru, Garp and Sakazuki, there was nothing in Gion's hands!
She was simply holding air and flipping non-existing pages.
At this point their expressions turned serious as well. Something extraordinary was clearly going on here.