Meanwhile, ten specially crafted warships were heading toward the island of Baterilla in the South Blue.
Naval Flagship.
"Pururu pururu, pururu pururu..."
"Ugh, Fleet Admiral Kong is about to lecture me again," thought Sengoku with a sigh as he picked up the Den Den Mushi.
"This is Sengoku."
The Den Den Mushi immediately roared, as if it wanted to swallow him whole.
"SENGOKU!! What the hell are you doing?! How long has it been, and you still haven't reached Baterilla?! Did the intel not tell you Roger is there?!"
"Fleet Admiral, well... Garp said there's no hurry, so we slowed the ships down a bit."
"Did you get your head slammed in a door?! Since when do you take orders from that idiot Garp?! Put Garp on the line!"
"Yes, sir."
Sengoku approached Garp, who was lounging on a deck chair, basking in the sun. Shaking his head, he handed the Den Den Mushi to Garp.
"Yo, this is Garp."
Garp answered the call while picking his nose.
The Den Den Mushi roared again, spraying spit everywhere.
"GARP! Don't think I don't know what you're up to! No matter how decent Roger might be, he's still a pirate—our enemy!"
"Ahahaha! Relax, Fleet Admiral. Since I'm here, Roger isn't getting away."
Garp dug at his nose with his pinky.
"Stop boasting! This mission concerns the Navy's reputation and authority. The Five Elders have been on my back about it. You'd better take this seriously. Understood?!"
"Fleet Admiral Kong, I know, I know. Besides, I'm just a vice admiral. You're expecting too much from me."
The moment Garp said this, everyone around him shot him looks of utter disdain.
"Hmph! If you don't bring Roger back this time, Garp, you'll have hell to pay when you return!"
Click.
The call ended, and the Den Den Mushi in Garp's hand immediately closed its eyes and went limp.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, always full of hot air," Sengoku muttered inwardly. If Garp were so easy to control, he wouldn't be able to eat and laze around at Marine HQ without consequence.
Tossing the Den Den Mushi back to Sengoku, Garp lit a cigarette.
"That guy loves ordering people around. Why doesn't he come out here himself?"
Garp grumbled, causing everyone nearby to gape in shock.
In unison, they exclaimed, "Vice Admiral Garp! That's Fleet Admiral Kong you're talking about!"
"Ahahahaha!"
Garp laughed heartily while picking his nose, completely unfazed by the reaction.
Sengoku approached him with a stern expression.
"Garp, this operation has mobilized a massive force, and even we've been deployed. Do you really think Fleet Admiral Kong will let you mess around?"
"Mess around? Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll handle it."
"This Buster Call will inevitably cause civilian casualties. If you want to minimize the damage, try to stall Roger. Then, the rest of us will join in and capture him."
"Got it. Relax."
Zephyr walked over and chuckled. "Haha, Garp, if you don't step up, none of us stand a chance against Roger."
"Zephyr! Is that something a Navy admiral should say?!"
Sengoku felt like he was about to faint. Why were none of the people around him normal?
"Ahahaha! Roger, huh? It's been a while since I last fought him. Good chance to stretch my bones."
Garp exhaled a puff of smoke, reminiscing about his past battles with Roger.
Behind Zephyr stood three vice admirals—his students, known as the "Black Arm" Zephyr's disciples:
Sakazuki, codename: Akainu ("Red Dog").
Kuzan, codename: Aokiji ("Blue Pheasant").
Borsalino, codename: Kizaru ("Yellow Monkey").
Kizaru leaned against the ship's railing, gazing at the sea with a smirk.
"My, my~ The ocean's so blue~ This should be fun~ Gol D. Roger, hehe~ Seems interesting."
"Hmph! At best, he's just a slightly famous pirate. Under Absolute Justice, he'll be reduced to ashes!"
Akainu clenched his fist, flames flickering around it.
Aokiji, however, remained silent. He pulled out a deck chair from who-knows-where, set it down beside Garp, and lay down, pulling his sleeping mask over his eyes.
"Sun's pretty strong today," he remarked.
"Kuzan, want one?"
Garp offered him a cigarette.
"Sure."
"Hey! You two! How can you be so relaxed at a time like this?!"
Sengoku was fuming, but there was nothing he could do. Garp was just being Garp, and while Kuzan was Zephyr's student, all three of them were incredibly powerful—no weaker than Sengoku himself.
Garp waved a hand dismissively. "Sengoku, take a seat. Standing around all the time is exhausting."
"I'm not talking to you. Anyway, once we land, we can use the Buster Call as leverage to force Roger to surrender. If he refuses, we'll have no choice but to attack indiscriminately. Garp, this isn't a joke. Get serious!"
"Ahahaha! You know Roger better than that. That guy would never surrender."
Garp exhaled another cloud of smoke, grinning.
He grinned and said,
"Not necessarily. Didn't he surrender voluntarily before?"
Sengoku retorted. As a Marine, his sense of justice was unshakable.
Zephyr, standing nearby, also voiced his confusion.
"It really is strange. If Roger had already surrendered, why would he escape? What's the point? Did he just want to spend some time in Impel Down and experience the thrill of facing execution?"
Even as he said it, Zephyr found the idea absurd—and downright insane.
"Teacher, there's no need to dwell on a pirate's thoughts. We just need to capture him and throw him into Impel Down."
Akainu crossed his arms, his face dark with menace.
"Hah, straightforward as always. Ahahaha!"
"Obviously, Roger has some kind of goal in mind. That guy isn't some brainless brute like Bullet."
Sengoku walked to the ship's railing, gazing at the vast blue sea with a solemn expression.
"Even though Roger isn't dead, the Great Pirate Era has already begun. Sigh... Now the seas will be in chaos again. Even the Red Line won't be spared from the storm."
Though Garp appeared relaxed in his deck chair, his mind was swirling with questions.
"What the hell is that brat Roger planning?"