It wasn't until a full day after the Silver Pirates had departed that a warship finally arrived at the island. All the Marines aboard saw was an island covered in graves and corpses strewn everywhere.
"Report to the Vice Admiral—no trace of the Celestial Dragon has been found."
The Marine Vice Admiral standing on the warship heard his subordinate's report. By now, he was all but certain that the Celestial Dragon had met with misfortune.
"Return to Marine Headquarters."
The Vice Admiral replied. Matters involving Celestial Dragons were no longer something a Vice Admiral like him could handle—at minimum, it would require an Admiral.
"Yes, Vice Admiral."
Since this Celestial Dragon's operation had been conducted in secret, the Marines had received the news rather late, and had no idea who exactly they had encountered on that island.
But it had to be someone utterly vicious with considerable strength, because ordinary people and ordinary pirates would never dare to lay a hand on a Celestial Dragon.
And no one made any connection to the Silver Pirates, because no one imagined the Silver Pirates would make their comeback at a time like this.
Though they had long known that the Silver Pirates' captain, Shirakawa, was not dead, after five years of observation, every person Shirakawa had moved against was some kind of vicious, evil pirate.
In a sense, he had actually helped the Marines relieve quite a bit of pressure.
At this moment, the Silver Pirates were still three days' journey from the Sabaody Archipelago. Although quite a few pirates had encountered them over those three days, not a single one recognized them.
After five years of silence, the Silver Pirates had long since been forgotten on the stage of this vast sea.
And every year brought waves of newcomers—most of whom set sail on nothing but the hot blood in their hearts—so they weren't very familiar with the older, established pirate crews.
Besides, the Silver Pirates' wanted posters hadn't been updated in five years, so it was only natural that no one recognized them.
"This feels kind of irritating."
Riddle said helplessly as he leaned against the railing. Back in the day, every pirate crew had to take a detour when they saw them coming.
But now? Not only did other crews sail right past them in broad daylight, some even had the nerve to come over and provoke them.
That was something they simply couldn't tolerate. For any pirate crew that provoked them, the Silver Pirates would most certainly give them a rich return on their trouble.
"Alright, just bear with it for two more days. Soon enough, we Silver Pirates will return to the center of the stage."
Ulystin walked over and patted Riddle on the shoulder. Their bounties from back then were nothing to scoff at.
Once the world remembered them again, their lives would return to the way they used to be—perhaps their voyages would even go smoother than they had five years ago.
Just then, a newspaper suddenly landed right on Jora's face. He was lying on the deck, basking in the sunlight, enjoying the sea breeze while resting—if the news didn't land on his face, whose face would it land on?
Because the news bird figured other people's faces weren't quite so easy to land on.
After glancing at the day's main headline, Jora held up the newspaper and called out to Shirakawa.
"Captain, the Celestial Dragon incident has been reported."
"Is that so?"
Shirakawa directly controlled the newspaper, making it fly into his own hands.
It had indeed been reported, though there wasn't a single word about Celestial Dragons written on it. It merely described the massacre that had taken place on the island and the disappearance of an ordinary noble.
Any witnesses or those with information could contact the Marines, who would offer a generous reward.
"Looks like we can rest easy for a while."
Since the Marines didn't know it was them, their voyage over this period should be quite peaceful.
Meanwhile, at Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku wore a deeply troubled expression. He had just been thoroughly scolded by the Five Elders and certain nobles from above.
They had ordered him to capture the culprit in the shortest time possible, yet he didn't have a single lead.
"This is really giving me a headache." Sengoku sighed, furrowing his brow, his tone filled with helplessness.
Just then, a "crunch crunch" sound suddenly appeared by his ear. He opened his eyes slightly and saw that Garp had, at some unknown point, seated himself on the sofa across from him, holding a bag of donuts and eating them without a care in the world.
At that moment, he found himself a little envious of Garp. Although Garp's rank wasn't as high as his, it was more than enough within the Marines.
And out on the sea, Garp had no small reputation. Whether common folk or fellow Marines, everyone held him in great respect, and even some nobles could do nothing about him.
"Garp, stop bothering me, alright? I've got a headache right now."
"Is it about that worthless noble?"
Garp had never had any good feelings toward the Celestial Dragons, and even when speaking, he showed no mercy with his words.
"Garp, watch your language."
Even though it was just the two of them here with no outsiders, he still couldn't say things like that right in front of the Fleet Admiral.
"Fine, fine."
After saying those two words, Garp went back to eating his donuts.
He thought to himself—since you won't let me talk, then I won't say anything at all. I'll just eat my food.
And so, Sengoku's gaze fixed squarely on Garp, while Garp simply ate his food, lost in his own world.
Sometimes he'd even fall asleep mid-chew, and after waking up he'd continue eating. Truly, one man was stronger than six.
"Garp."
"Hm?" Garp opened his eyes groggily, only to see a blinding golden light flashing before him.
Then he felt an enormous force send him flying, smashing a huge hole straight through the wall of the Fleet Admiral's office.
Yet the Marines at headquarters felt no tension or surprise whatsoever—this sort of thing, they had long grown accustomed to.
"Vice Admiral Garp angered the Fleet Admiral again?"
Aokiji, sitting in his office, suddenly felt a tremor, followed by chunks of plaster and brick falling from above.
"Looks like I need to switch offices."
That's right—Aokiji's office was directly below the Fleet Admiral's office. Every time the upstairs office needed repairs, his office suffered too.
And the costs came out of his own budget. After all this time, he felt like his entire budget had gone into fixing his office. His resources were truly stretched thin.
"That Garp."
Vice Admiral Tsuru could only sigh helplessly. She had more or less guessed what had made the Fleet Admiral so angry.
"Garp, what brings you here?"
At the Marine Academy, Zephyr said in surprise as he watched Garp suddenly land in the middle of the training grounds.
Although the two of them met a few times every month, this seemed to be the first time Garp had ever come to the Academy looking for him.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just passing by. It's been a while, so I figured I'd drop in and see you."
Garp scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not daring to meet Zephyr's eyes as he spoke.
But in his heart, he added another mark against Sengoku. When the chance came, he'd definitely settle this score.
"In that case, why don't you give these little ones some pointers? I was actually planning to come find you anyway. Since you're here, I can take a break too."
"No problem."
Having worked with Garp for so long, how could Zephyr not see through his lie? He simply chose not to expose it. A free laborer had arrived—might as well put him to use.
/-\
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