At that moment, around ten nautical miles away from the Moby Dick, a fleet of Marine warships had gathered.
The ocean was vast, so even though the fleet looked impressive, it still seemed tiny compared to the endless sea.
Many of the Marines' highest-ranking officers stood aboard the leading ship: Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Hero of the Marines Monkey D. Garp, Chief Strategist Vice Admiral Tsuru, Admirals Aokiji and Kizaru, along with many vice admirals from Marine Headquarters.
Most of them were injured in some way.
Several were covered in bandages, but every face remained serious and alert.
Sengoku stood near the bow with a pair of binoculars raised to his eyes, watching the Moby Dick in the distance.
Through the lenses, he could see pirates drinking and celebrating without restraint.
However, the lively scene did not affect him at all.
His expression remained cold as he slowly searched the ship.
The moment he noticed Yuto chatting happily with Whitebeard on the rear deck, surprise and doubt appeared on his face.
Sengoku continued watching in silence.
He saw Red-Haired Shanks drinking with Yuto, the beautiful girls laughing and arguing among themselves, and Whitebeard bursting into laughter because of something one of them had said.
The more he saw, the more confused he became.
Who were those people?
Why had he never seen any of them before?
The Marines watched the Four Emperors more closely than almost anyone else.
Sengoku knew every major officer in their crews and nearly every important person connected to them.
Whitebeard received even more attention than the others.
That was not only because of the recent Summit War, but also because of the terrifying influence he had always held over the sea.
Among the Four Emperors, Whitebeard was without doubt the strongest and most frightening.
He was known as the strongest man in the world, and that title was not an empty one.
The recent war at Marineford had proven it.
Whitebeard had destroyed most of Marine Headquarters by himself.
He had badly injured Admiral Akainu while fighting against all three Admirals and had easily killed Blackbeard along with the dangerous criminals following him.
The Marines did not even dare to publish the full details.
Now, a large group of complete strangers had suddenly appeared beside Whitebeard.
How could Sengoku possibly remain calm?
He clenched his teeth and searched his memories, trying to find even the smallest clue about them.
It was useless.
He had no memory of Yuto or any of the others, they seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
That thought suddenly reminded Sengoku of something.
During the Summit War, Whitebeard had come close to death. Then he had taken out a strange potion and drunk it.
His wounds disappeared almost immediately, and his dying appearance vanished as though it had never existed.
For several nights afterward, Sengoku had dreamed about that moment.
Again and again, he had thought that if Whitebeard had not possessed that potion, the Marines might have won.
After the war, Sengoku had used every method available to investigate the mysterious medicine.
He used both the Marines' intelligence network and the World Government's resources.
Even then, he found nothing.
The potion remained hidden behind a wall of mystery.
Now, the people beside Whitebeard gave him the same feeling.
A mysterious group appearing without warning.
The potion and these strangers had to be connected somehow.
What exactly had Whitebeard experienced?
A feeling of helplessness rose inside Sengoku.
Whitebeard had already been difficult enough to handle before. Now, the man had somehow gained access to things the Marines knew nothing about.
If this continued, did they still have any chance of defeating him?
"What do you see, Sengoku?"
A gentle voice came from beside him.
The speaker was Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Marines' Chief Strategist.
Her silver hair was neatly arranged.
Although age had left marks on her face, her eyes were still bright and sharp.
Sengoku lowered the binoculars and sighed.
"It's only an ordinary banquet."
His voice remained firm, but Tsuru could hear the tiredness hidden underneath.
She had known Sengoku for decades and understood him well.
Tsuru pressed her lips together slightly but kept her expression calm.
"If it's only an ordinary banquet, then there doesn't seem to be any reason to keep watching."
Aokiji spoke in his usual lazy tone.
He pulled over a chair, sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and rested his head against his hand.
Sengoku's mouth twitched in irritation.
He knew Aokiji had always been lazy, but it still annoyed him.
"No. The Red-Haired Pirates are aboard Whitebeard's ship now. We must remain careful whenever two Emperors meet."
Sengoku firmly rejected the idea of leaving.
Aokiji did not argue. He simply looked toward Whitebeard's fleet with his usual unfocused eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Ooh, two Emperors. How terrifying~"
Kizaru shrugged and made an exaggerated face that almost looked comical.
Sengoku ignored him completely and turned toward Garp.
At that moment, Garp was standing with his head tilted back, fast asleep.
A huge snot bubble expanded and shrank from his nose with every breath.
Veins appeared across Sengoku's forehead.
His teeth shook from how hard he clenched them.
Then he marched over and punched Garp directly in the face.
Boom!
Garp flew backward and crashed into the ship's railing.
The impact finally woke him, though his expression remained confused.
"Sengoku, why did you hit me?"
"Garp! How can you possibly be sleeping at a time like this?!"
Sengoku's roar did not make Garp feel guilty at all.
He brushed himself off, stood up, and laughed carelessly.
"Ahahaha! Sorry, sorry. You were quiet for so long that I accidentally fell asleep."
Garp scratched the back of his head.
The surrounding vice admirals watched in silence.
They might hold the same rank as Garp, but none of them would dare fall asleep openly in front of Sengoku.
Not all vice admirals were equal.
Aokiji glanced over with a faint smile, clearly amused by the scene.
Kizaru's expression did not change.
Tsuru covered her forehead and sighed helplessly. As an old friend of both men, she had nothing left to say.
Sengoku stared at Garp while grinding his teeth, but in the end, he only snorted and turned away.
It was not that he did not want to scold him.
He simply knew Garp would laugh off anything he said.
Sengoku had been trying to discipline the man for decades, and the bastard had never improved at all.
There was no point wasting his breath.
"Tsuru, look at the people beside Whitebeard. Do you recognize any of them?"
Sengoku handed her the binoculars.
Tsuru accepted them with a slight frown and looked toward the distant ship.
Her expression quickly became tense.
She lowered the binoculars and looked at Sengoku, surprise and confusion clear in her eyes.
That reaction told him everything he needed to know.
His mood became even heavier.
The situation had already gone far beyond his control.
"Let me see what managed to leave both of you speechless."
Garp took the binoculars and looked into the distance.
Instead of searching for Whitebeard first, he began looking for his grandson.
When he saw the shirtless young man and the boy with a straw hat tied to his back, joy immediately appeared on his face.
Then it changed into anger.
"Ah! Luffy really is aboard Whitebeard's ship! Damn it, that stupid brat is asking for another Fist of Love!"
Sengoku glanced at Garp.
A trace of guilt appeared in his eyes, but he said nothing.
Garp continued watching.
His gaze moved from Luffy to Ace beside him.
A smile appeared on his lips before he could stop it.
He tried to hide it, but failed.
The joy rising from deep inside him was impossible to control.
'Thank goodness... They're both safe.'
The corners of Garp's eyes began to sting.
He remembered the war that had happened not long ago.
His position and the principles he had followed his entire life had forced him to stand against his own family.
No one knew how much pain he had felt while sitting there in silence.
He had kept his head lowered, unable even to look at Ace beside him.
He had been afraid he would lose control.
Justice needed heroes.
But Ace was still the grandson he had personally watched grow up.
Sometimes, there was no clear answer when choosing between family and duty.
The Marines needed justice.
The world needed justice.
Garp knew Sengoku's decision had been correct.
But he was still Ace's grandfather.
On the execution platform, Garp had blamed himself countless times.
If he had raised Ace properly from the beginning, none of this might have happened.
It was his fault.
All that talk about an evil bloodline meant nothing to him.
The person he blamed was himself, the useless old man who had failed to guide his grandson.
The pain had almost torn him apart.
Eventually, Garp made a decision that hurt just as much.
He chose to hold back.
When forced to choose between justice and family, Garp leaned slightly toward his family.
So when Luffy charged toward him, Garp closed his eyes.
He accepted the punch and allowed himself to be knocked from the ramp.
From beginning to end, he kept his eyes shut.
'Just let it happen.'
'Only this once, let me rest.'
In the end, Ace was rescued.
Garp would never admit that tears had appeared in his eyes when he saw Ace escape the flames.
He was the Hero of the Marines.
He could not cry because a pirate had been saved.
But he could admit that he had felt overwhelming joy!
Because he was Ace's grandfather, and of course he would be happy that his family had survived.
Now he could see the two brothers drinking happily together.
At last, Garp could no longer hold back his laughter.
"Ahahahahaha!"
At that moment, he was not the Hero of the Marines.
He was simply their grandfather.
Everyone around him remained silent.
Sengoku and Tsuru both wore complicated expressions.
In the end, they could only sigh.
What could they possibly say?
During that war, both of them knew they had hurt Garp.
Garp moved the binoculars and finally looked toward Whitebeard.
The smile on his face disappeared instantly, replaced by a serious expression.
He lowered the binoculars and turned toward Sengoku and Tsuru.
"What the hell is going on over there?"
Both of them shook their heads.
Garp took a deep breath and looked into the distance again.
After thinking silently for a long time, he faced them with unusual seriousness.
"Perhaps we should make the first move."
The mood around them immediately became tense.
After a long pause, Sengoku released a heavy sigh.
The situation was becoming more complicated by the moment.