Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
A big eting was happening. They needed to fill the last spot among the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a group of powerful pirates working for the governnt.
"Three days ago," Sengoku announced, his voice echoing in the room, "the World Governnt made a deal with Bartholow Kuma, the Tyrant. If he agrees to let Dr. Vegapunk turn him into a "Pacifista", a kind of robot soldier, he'll beco one of the Seven Warlords."
Sengoku looked around the room. "Any objections, gentlen?"
Silence.
The admirals, the highest-ranking officers in the Marines, didn't say a word.
They had a lot of say in who beca a Warlord. But if the World Governnt made a decision, there wasn't much they could do, as long as the person wasn't too terrible.
This eting was mostly to let them know what was happening.
The eting ended quickly, and the vice admirals left together.
"Vice Admiral Momonga," one of them said, "weren't you in charge of inviting Fire Fist Ace to beco a Warlord?"
"That's right," Momonga replied, nodding.
"But Fire Fist hasn't said yes yet."
"No wonder," the others murmured, understanding.
A month ago, the Marines had talked about asking Fire Fist Ace to join them. But since he hadn't answered, they figured he wasn't interested.
That's why they were having this eting now.
"Fire Fist Ace..." Momonga muttered, feeling uneasy.
Sothing's not right. He rembered that he had asked Roya to invite Fire Fist. He hadn't thought about it since then. But now that Fire Fist was brought up again, he felt like sothing was off.
Where's Roya?
That kid was always causing trouble, but he had been quiet lately. It feels like the calm before a storm.
A bad feeling crept into his heart.
"Hopefully, it's just my imagination," Momonga whispered.
----
Marshal's Office.
Only Sengoku and Garp were in the room.
Sengoku looked worried.
"Garp, I called you here to talk about your grandson, Fire Fist Ace."
"Pwahahaha!" Garp laughed, not worried at all. He pulled out a bag of rice crackers and Sengoku's favorite tea leaves from the drawer.
"Tea!"
"He's been causing quite a stir," Sengoku sighed. "But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Ace's connection to Roger."
Garp stopped laughing.
Sengoku looked at him, his expression serious. "Garp, Ace is Roger's son, isn't he?"
"I, I don't know," Garp said, tilting his head and twisting his mouth.
Terrible acting! Sengoku thought, a headache building.
Sengoku remained calm. He had only recently figured out who Ace really was, and this conversation with Garp was a test.
It's true!
Garp's grandson, a "D," and growing stronger at an alarming rate.
I should have realized it sooner!
Sengoku picked up his teacup and sighed. "Garp, I haven't told anyone else about Ace's true identity."
"Sengoku..." Garp looked at Sengoku, knowing he couldn't hide the truth any longer. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing," Sengoku said, shaking his head.
Roger had been dead for almost 20 years, a legend from the past. Now, the Four Emperors ruled the seas. Fire Fist Ace was hiding his last na, so it wasn't worth sending the Marines after him.
If they caught him, great. If they failed, it would only make Fire Fist more famous, causing even more trouble.
But there was a catch:
They couldn't let the Four Emperors get their hands on Ace. If they did, he would beco a big problem for the Marines in the future.
That was what worried him the most.
"Fire Fist Ace caused trouble on Kaido's territory," Sengoku said gravely, "and now he's heading to Honeycomb Island, probably to fight Whitebeard!"
"Garp, we fought Roger countless tis, and so did Whitebeard. You know what I an, don't you?"
"Yeah, I understand!" Garp nodded slowly.
If Sengoku could sense who Ace really was, then Whitebeard might know it too, and might even want Ace for himself.
His original plan was to train Ace to beco the strongest Marine. Things hadn't worked out that way, and Ace had beco a pirate. But it wasn't too late to change things. Inviting him to beco a Warlord was Ace's chance to start over.
Even if Ace was Roger's son, Sengoku would still consider the benefits of having him on their side.
After all, killing Roger's son wouldn't help the world. It would be better to have a strong ally who could rival an Admiral.
In the future, even if Ace's true identity ca out, the World Governnt would have a hard ti getting rid of him. Plus, having Roger's son work for the governnt would be a great way to discourage pirates.
But if Ace joined Whitebeard, there would be no going back. Unfortunately, things were heading in that direction.
Garp rubbed his forehead, his eyes dark with worry.
I don't know what to do.
Sengoku said calmly, "So far, only three people in the Marines know about this, including you and ."
"Three people? Who else?" Garp asked, surprised.
Sengoku held up Roya's photo.
"Roya!" Garp exclaid, shocked.
Sengoku looked serious. He had been stunned when he received the ssage from the 11th Division and spoke with Roya himself.
"Rear Admiral Roya is chasing after Fire Fist in the New World. He has earned Fire Fist's trust and is confident he can convince him to beco a Warlord!"
"But the Seven Warlords!" Garp covered his head. The last spot had already been filled.
"That's right, Roya was too late," Sengoku said, shaking his head. "I haven't told Roya yet, but Fire Fist becoming a Warlord would be good for us. The problem now is how to stop Whitebeard from getting Ace!"
"Should we send an Admiral?"
"Yes, if it cos to that!"
----
New World, on an island.
The Sun Pirates were stationed there.
"Hey, Jinbe, are we really going to stop Fire Fist Ace?"
"That guy is dangerous. I won't let him see Pops," Jinbe said. "Even though I'm not one of Pops' n, I'm doing this out of friendship. I'll take care of him!"
Jinbe held up Ace's wanted poster, determined to stop Fire Fist from fighting Whitebeard.
Besides...
"There's soone else I need to et!" Jinbe pulled out an old newspaper with Roya's photo on it.
As Fire Fist caused chaos in the New World, the Black Hair Rear Admiral chasing after him had caught the attention of many underground groups.
Jinbe clenched the newspaper.
A year ago, Black Hair had destroyed Arlong's pirate crew. Almost a hundred fish-n died, none survived.
Arlong was considered his underling, but he didn't feel sad about Arlong's death. He deserved it.
But so many fish-man comrades had been killed, including so who used to be mbers of the Sun Pirates, his forr friends.
Hachi, Obi, Bubble...
Not everyone deserved to die!
He had never been able to accept it.
If he hadn't t Black Hair, he would have buried this matter in his heart. After all, Arlong and his crew had caused a lot of trouble.
But now that Black Hair was in the New World, he might run into him while trying to stop Ace.
I want an explanation!
*
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[T/N:
Final Total Power Stone Collection : 436 PS
Goal : Reach 50 Total PS = 2 Bonus Chapters next day! 🚀
Want to support my work and get early access to Chapters? Check out my Patreon! 👇
➡️ /Boundless_Beacon
]
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