After resting in No Night City for a few days and inspecting its situation, Rosinante once again boarded his cruise ship and set sail for Marine Headquarters.
At Marineford, where Marine Headquarters was located, solemn military bugles echoed continuously throughout the day. Distinguished figures from all walks of life arrived one after another. Among them were many World Government officials, nobles and military political figures from allied nations, as well as influential figures from various fields, such as Morgans, the president of the World Economy News.
As noon approached, most of the invited guests had already arrived. Yet the Marines were clearly still waiting for something, as the Admiral promotion and decoration ceremony had not been announced to begin.
"Hm? Is there still an important guest who hasn't arrived yet?" Morgans asked curiously, turning to a high-ranking World Government official beside him. "Could it be that some major figure from the World Government is coming today? Don't tell me it's one of the Five Elders?"
"The Five Elders naturally won't come to Marineford for this kind of promotion ceremony," the official replied with a smile. "If they were to attend, the ceremony would probably be held in Mary Geoise instead."
"Then what is it?" Morgans asked with a puzzled grin. "Aside from the Five Elders, who else in the world would warrant Marine Headquarters waiting so ceremoniously?"
"Just wait and see," the official said with a knowing smile. "A very important figure will appear today. This will be big news."
"A big shot?" Morgans raised an eyebrow. "Could it be a Celestial Dragon? But Celestial Dragons usually don't attend these kinds of ceremonies."
"Just wait and watch. It'll definitely be beyond your expectations," the World Government official said, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
"Oh? Is that so?" Morgans' eyes spun as he smiled. "Then I think I know who it is. I never expected the Navy to invite that person, and even less expected that he would dare to come to Marine Headquarters."
"Oh? You've guessed it already?" The official looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't guess. I saw him," Morgans said, turning his gaze toward the horizon where a massive cruise ship was slowly coming into view. "Who would've thought that the World Government's greatest competitor, the captain of the Gray Kingdom, the man known as the Dragon King, would dare to come alone to Marine Headquarters, a place like a dragon's den and tiger's lair? This is truly enormous news."
Following Morgans' line of sight, the World Government official also spotted the gigantic cruise ship and immediately understood that the final guest of the ceremony had arrived.
Cries of surprise erupted all around.
Many people instantly recognized the owner of that cruise ship, because it had become far too famous recently.
This ship had been appearing frequently in newspapers, rampaging arrogantly across the Grand Line. Whether Marines, pirates, or ordinary passenger vessels, anyone who came near it would be knocked unconscious by an overwhelming aura. With such a domineering presence, it was impossible not to notice.
After confirmation, it was revealed that this ship was the personal vessel of the Gray Kingdom's captain, Dragon King Rosinante. Suddenly, everything made sense.
A man known as one of the Yonko.
Although he had not appeared for three years, many people still clearly remembered what he had done in the past.
Attacking Marine Headquarters.
Wounding Yonko Kaido of the Beasts.
Causing Yonko Charlotte Linlin's Cake Castle to collapse.
And finally, killing Golden Lion Shiki, the overlord of the previous era.
Especially since Rosinante had once attacked Marine Headquarters, his relationship with the Marines could only be described as extremely hostile. Over the past few years, the World Government had also regarded the Gray Kingdom as a thorn in its side.
Now, with the promotion ceremony of the three Admirals taking place at Marine Headquarters, Rosinante dared to show up.
This made everyone wonder.
Had Rosinante come to stir up trouble again?
"He's finally here," Borsalino said with his usual lewd grin as he sat waiting for the ceremony, looking at the approaching cruise ship.
"Rosinante… I want to see how much you've improved in these three years," Sakazuki said coldly.
"Well, what's meant to come will come," Kuzan said calmly.
"Rosinante," Sengoku's expression also turned heavy at this moment.
"That brat is getting better and better at putting on airs," Garp said irritably. "Showing up at the very last moment and making the entire Marine Headquarters wait just for him."
"As long as he shows up, it's fine," Tsuru, the Navy's chief strategist, said lightly. "If we can't find an opportunity to test his abilities before the plan begins, not only will the Navy suffer massive losses, but we might even give him a chance to turn the tables. Today's probe is very important."
"If necessary, let me make a move and test him myself," Garp said firmly. "I want to see just how far he's grown in these three years."
The reason Tsuru and the others were so wary of Rosinante's growth over the past three years was because his rate of improvement had always been terrifying.
Five years ago, Rosinante's strength was at most Vice Admiral level.
But just two years later, he had already reached Admiral level.
And at that time, Rosinante had only been in his teens.
Initially, Tsuru and the others had analyzed that Rosinante must have used some kind of drug to overdraw his body's potential, which was why he could reach the Admiral realm at such a young age.
But shortly after, within an incredibly short period of time, Rosinante consecutively displayed the power to fight Sengoku, Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin, and ultimately even killed Golden Lion Shiki.
In that brief span, his strength kept skyrocketing. After probes by the Five Elders, they concluded that Rosinante had already possessed preliminary peak-Admiral-level combat power.
Such rapid growth in such a short time completely overturned their earlier theory that he had been burning his potential.
Now that Rosinante had gone into seclusion for three full years, who could possibly predict how far his strength had grown during that time?
Regardless of how powerful Rosinante had become, that plan had to be carried out.
But in order to minimize casualties for both the Navy and the World Government, it was necessary to test Rosinante's approximate strength before the plan was put into motion.