Marine Headquarters.
Mariejois.
Fleet Admiral's Office.
Crunch~ crunch~ crunch~
The justice-emblazoned Marine cloak was casually tossed onto a nearby sofa. Grandpa Garp, lounging lazily on another sofa, was leisurely holding a senbei bag, his right hand occasionally picking out a senbei from the bag and eating it slowly.
Sengoku, who was looking at documents at the desk in the middle, heard the constant crunching sound in his ears, and his brow twitched.
After enduring it for a while, he couldn't stand it any longer. He angrily stood up, pushed his chair away, and walked towards Garp.
As if sensing what was about to happen, Garp glanced at Sengoku and raised the bag, intending to eat all the senbei in one go.
But Sengoku, who had just been behind the desk, had, as if teleporting, instantly appeared before Garp. His tall figure instantly cast a shadow over Garp.
He quickly reached out and snatched the senbei bag from Garp's hand.
He tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and poured the senbei in, all in one smooth motion.
It was as if this set of actions had been practiced many times.
"My... my senbei."
Garp tilted his head back, looked at Sengoku, and shouted loudly with his hand outstretched.
His voice was full of despair and helplessness.
It was as if Sengoku wasn't just stealing senbei, but his life.
Crunch crunch crunch.
Sengoku closed his mouth, his cheeks bulging, and he chewed and swallowed the senbei in his mouth a few times.
Only then did he lower his head and throw the empty bag back to Garp.
"Is this your senbei?"
"This is my senbei."
Looking at Sengoku, whose face was flushed with excitement, Garp slowly took the bag, retracted his hand, and threw it into the trash can nearby.
Only then did he mutter quietly, "What's yours and mine? Your senbei is still mine."
"Honestly, decades have passed, and we're still distinguishing between yours and mine."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Garp waved his hand, relaxed his whole body, and then leaned back on the sofa, raising his right hand and sticking out his little finger to pick his nose, smiling at Sengoku.
"I've been in the New World recently. I heard that that kid with silver hair took down Crocodile. His bounty only increased a long time after that, so it wasn't about Crocodile. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Sengoku glanced at Garp, and the anger he had feigned disappeared. He shook his head helplessly at Garp, turned around, and walked back to the desk.
Sitting on the chair behind the desk, he pondered for a moment and then said, "Silver Hair killed Carthes. Blue Hair, that is, that little girl Guina, ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and fought Kuzan to a standstill."
"Uh..."
Garp stopped what he was doing and turned his head, looking at Sengoku with a shocked expression. "Carthes?"
"That old man in the Holy Land Mariejois who hasn't come out for decades?"
"Sengoku, did I hear that right?"
As a Marine hero and a representative of the Marines, although he was only a Vice Admiral, no one, whether among the Marines, the World Government, or the pirates, treated him as a mere Vice Admiral.
The main reason he didn't want to be promoted to Admiral was simple: he didn't want to be restrained.
Because once promoted to Admiral, with his strength and reputation within the Marines, the World Government would definitely send him to guard the Holy Land Mariejois, and they wouldn't change people.
And with his personality, how could he possibly guard the Holy Land and the Celestial Dragons!
Therefore, for the sake of free movement and to continue fighting pirates on the sea, he had refused promotion to Admiral several times.
Hence, he was one of the few people in the Marines who knew of Carthes' existence.
Since he knew Carthes, he naturally understood how powerful this individual was, a powerful being distinct from other Celestial Dragons.
That was why he was so shocked that Kong Tai, that kid, had killed Carthes.
Even he would find it difficult to defeat Carthes, let alone kill him.
After all, battles between top powerhouses were not something that could be decided in a short period, and if one side wanted to leave, the other could not stop them...
"Eh!"
As if thinking of something, his face showed understanding.
Others couldn't stop him, but with the mastery that Kong Tai that kid had displayed in teleportation, no one could escape from him.
Especially with the Devil Fruit ability, he couldn't even escape by jumping into the sea.
"But that's not right either!"
Garp thought for a moment, his face showing confusion again. He looked at Sengoku and asked, "With Carthes' strength, even if he couldn't escape, no matter how powerful that silver-haired kid was, he couldn't possibly finish the fight in a short time, let alone kill him!"
"As long as there's time, the Marines and the World Government can definitely provide support!"
Sengoku looked at Garp, who was full of confusion, and frowned, saying gravely, "It's not that we didn't want to provide support, but we didn't have time."
"No time?"
"Yes!"
Sengoku nodded. "I learned the details of the battle from Kuzan. Anyway, Silver Hair used an attack that he completely didn't understand to instantly kill Carthes, which is why we didn't provide support."
"Instantly kill?"
Garp suddenly stood up, looking at Sengoku with disbelief. "Don't joke with me, Sengoku. You know Carthes' strength, right!"
"Who in this world can instantly kill him?"
Instant kill wasn't about defeating and then killing.
Instant kill could only occur between two people with a vast difference in strength.
If that silver-haired kid could instantly kill Carthes, then he might be able to instantly kill Garp, instantly kill Sengoku, and instantly kill the current three Admirals.
Then who else in this world would be his opponent?
Such strength was indeed astonishing to Garp.
As for Guina eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and fighting Kuzan to a draw, compared to Kong Tai killing Carthes, it was not a big deal.
Sengoku looked at Garp, as if seeing his reaction when he first received the news.
Just as Garp said, he knew Carthes' strength extremely well and was naturally shocked, even horrified, by Kong Tai's strength.
Even after so long, he still felt a lingering fear when he remembered his feelings when he first received the news.
Fortunately, the personality Kong Tai had shown so far was at least leaning towards justice.
If that kid Kong Tai were like a true pirate, full of ambition and leaning towards evil, then he would have a real headache.
Creak~
Just then, a Marine soldier pushed open the door and walked in quickly.
"Hello, Mr. Garp."
He first greeted Garp, then turned to Sengoku and respectfully said, "Mr. Sengoku, according to news from the Sabaody Archipelago Marine base, Silver Hair's group wiped out the Sea Wolf Pirates, with a bounty of 79.5 million Beli, outside the Sabaody Archipelago, and have now landed on the island."
Sengoku and Garp exchanged glances.
Was this a case of speaking of Silver Hair and him arriving?
Sengoku withdrew his gaze, looked at the Marine soldier standing rigidly at attention, and said calmly, "Okay, I understand. You may leave now!"
"Yes, Mr. Sengoku."
This Marine soldier saluted Sengoku, then turned around, quickly left the room, and closed the door behind him.
The room was silent for a moment, and it was Garp who spoke first.
"I never expected it! My old neighbor from the East Blue could be so powerful."
Although he was confused, he didn't doubt the authenticity of the news, because his old friend Sengoku had told him, and it was experienced by his junior, Kuzan.
"He's truly formidable!"