The fast Marine cutter tore across the water while Zaraki sat near the bow, one hand resting loosely around the small Vivre Card enclosed with the emergency summons.
It pointed toward an abandoned island several nautical miles off the normal route between Sabaody and Red Port.
The whole arrangement was suspicious.
The Five Elders had accelerated the Reverie, mobilized the Warlords, dragged him through one final Government assignment on Fish-Man Island, and were now waiting in Mary Geoise while Headquarters secretly diverted him somewhere else.
Whatever came next had very little to do with Moria.
'So the old men really are getting impatient.'
Zaraki smiled faintly.
The cutter rounded a barren reef and slowed beside an island made almost entirely of wind-scoured rock.
Two figures were waiting near the highest formation.
Garp sat cross-legged with a battered bag of rice crackers in one hand.
Sengoku stood beside him, looking as though the last several weeks had personally added another decade to his life.
Zaraki stepped ashore.
"You came quickly," Sengoku said.
"You sent a priority summons and a Vivre Card."
Zaraki stole a rice cracker from Garp's bag.
"What did you expect?"
Garp glared.
"Buy your own."
Zaraki ignored him and looked toward Sengoku.
"So?"
His tone became more serious.
"What exactly are those five old corpses planning?"
"Watch your mouth."
Sengoku's automatic rebuke carried almost no force.
He rubbed his forehead.
"Zaraki, this time really is different."
His eyes hardened.
"They've read every intelligence report. Sabaody. Kaido. Totto Land. Fish-Man Island. Every time someone thinks they understand the upper limit of what you can do, you produce another result that breaks the estimate."
Sengoku paused.
"To them, that means one of two things."
"Potential."
"Or a threat."
He faced Zaraki fully.
"The summons to Mary Geoise is not a reward."
His voice lowered.
"It's about putting a collar on you."
Zaraki's expression barely changed.
"They intend to make their move in the Holy Land," Sengoku continued. "That is their territory. Garp and I may hold senior positions inside the Marines, but inside Mary Geoise our authority is severely restricted."
"If you enter the Chamber of Authority alone, assume they have prepared several ways to make sure you never leave on your own terms."
Zaraki swallowed the rest of the cracker.
"A dead end?"
A grin appeared.
"Perfect."
His fingers brushed Shusui briefly before settling instead on Nozarashi.
"If they reach for me, I'll cut off the hands."
"You bastard!"
Sengoku's beard practically bristled.
"They are the highest authority of the World Government!"
"Enough, Sengoku."
Garp finally rose.
The old Vice Admiral's expression had lost all humor.
"You know what the brat is like."
He looked toward Zaraki.
"I vouched for him because I thought the Marines could give a monster like this somewhere useful to point that sword."
Garp snorted.
"That doesn't mean he suddenly became a Celestial Dragon's watchdog."
Sengoku fell silent.
Garp turned toward the far side of the island.
A patch of shadow lay between several jagged rocks.
"If he insists on walking into that den, the least we can do is make sure there's another road open if things go bad."
Zaraki's eyebrow rose.
"Another road?"
Garp raised his voice.
"Come out already."
The wind shifted across the barren island.
It might have been coincidence.
It might not.
A tall figure emerged from the shadows beneath a deep green cloak, red geometric markings covering one side of his face.
Monkey D. Dragon.
Zaraki studied him.
"Didn't expect this."
"Neither did I."
Dragon's voice was calm.
"Your old man arranged the contact."
Garp scowled.
"Don't make it sound like I invited you for tea."
Dragon ignored him.
His gaze returned to Zaraki.
"I've read about you for some time. Your actions do not fit comfortably inside the structure you currently serve."
A faint trace of amusement touched his expression.
"That Marine coat seems increasingly narrow."
Dragon stopped several paces away.
"If the World Government decides it can no longer tolerate you, you do not need to die simply because the Marines are ordered to abandon you."
He extended one hand.
"Come with us."
"The Revolutionary Army can give you sanctuary, resources, and a place to fight without pretending the Celestial Dragons own your sword."
Zaraki looked at the offered hand.
Dragon continued.
"I'm not asking you to become a politician."
"That would clearly be a waste of everyone's time."
Garp barked out a laugh.
Even Zaraki's mouth twitched.
"But if the day comes when you are declared an enemy of the World Government," Dragon said, "we can give you somewhere to stand."
"DRAGON!"
Sengoku stepped forward.
"You dare recruit one of my Marines directly in front of me?"
Dragon looked toward him.
"One of your Marines?"
His tone remained calm.
"If the Marines could truly guarantee his safety, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the four of us would not be meeting on an abandoned island away from Government surveillance."
Sengoku stiffened.
Dragon did not press the point.
Zaraki answered first.
"No."
He never reached for Dragon's hand.
"The Revolutionary Army sounds exhausting."
Dragon's eyebrow moved faintly.
"And you people never seem to have any money."
Garp laughed again.
Sengoku looked as though another headache had just begun.
Zaraki continued.
"I'm not interested in saving the world, and I definitely don't have the patience for ideological liberation."
His golden eyes remained perfectly clear.
"I'm going to Mary Geoise for one reason."
His thumb brushed Nozarashi's guard.
"I want to know whether those old men can actually back up all the authority they throw around."
Dragon studied him for several seconds before lowering his hand.
"About what I expected."
He turned slightly toward Sengoku.
"I was offering him another path."
"In this world, sometimes one more road is the difference between life and death."
Sengoku slowly exhaled.
If Zaraki truly fought his way through Mary Geoise, he would become an outright enemy of the World Government.
At that point, Headquarters might be ordered to hunt him down itself.
The Fleet Admiral stared at Zaraki for a long time.
Then he looked toward Dragon.
When he spoke again, his voice had become hoarse.
"Dragon."
The Revolutionary leader waited.
"If something irreversible happens in Mary Geoise..."
Sengoku's hands tightened at his sides.
"If the Marines are eventually ordered to turn their blades on him..."
He paused.
"Then consider me in your debt."
The island went quiet.
The Fleet Admiral of the Marines had just asked the World Government's most wanted man to keep a path open for one of his own officers if the coming crisis crossed a line that could never be repaired.
Dragon said nothing for several moments.
Then his gaze shifted toward Zaraki.
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