Loud laughter echoed throughout the conference hall.
Spandine glared at the utterly unapologetic Garp, barely suppressing the urge to cough up blood, before desperately turning toward Sengoku.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!" he roared.
"You must uphold justice for us! Otherwise, we’ll report this matter directly to the Five Elders!"
Before he could finish, Sengoku’s face twitched violently as he exploded in anger.
"Lucas!"
"Next time, before you start beating people up, could you at least make sure who they are first?!"
He immediately turned toward Tsuru.
"Tsuru, prepare identification documents for Spandine and the others."
"No..."
"Send out an official notice instead."
"From this day forward, Admiral Lucas suffers from congenital face blindness."
"Anyone reporting to him or coordinating missions with him must first obtain identification from Marine Headquarters."
"Otherwise, if he accidentally beats up the wrong person again..."
"I’d feel terrible about it."
Pfft!
Spandine finally spat out the mouthful of blood he had been holding back.
His eyes rolled upward as he collapsed flat onto the stretcher.
Throughout the seas, CP0 had always considered themselves shameless enough.
Who would have imagined...
The Fleet Admiral of the Marines could be even more shameless.
Sengoku had practically washed Marine Headquarters clean of all responsibility.
After saying so much...
His meaning was painfully simple.
Approaching Lucas came with risks.
If you sought him out without proper identification and got beaten up...
That was your own fault.
Thud!
Spandine fell back onto the stretcher as fresh blood splattered across the floor.
The Marine officers exchanged bewildered glances.
To them, Sengoku had always embodied impartial justice.
None of them had expected him to brush things aside so naturally.
Had he...
Been influenced by Lucas?
"Old man Sengoku, I didn’t expect you could talk someone into coughing blood."
Lucas adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with a smile after taking another sip of strong liquor.
"But I really didn’t know who CP0 were."
Sengoku’s earlier response had already made one thing clear.
The incident involving CP0 had effectively been settled.
Even if the Five Elders pursued the matter later, the consequences would probably amount to nothing more than a token reprimand.
"You brat, shut up!"
"If you hadn’t brought CP9 back, I’d have thrown you out of Marineford already!"
"You’d be banned from entering the Gates of Justice just like Garp!"
Sengoku finally couldn’t hold back any longer and erupted.
Garp casually dug a finger into his ear.
"Lucas, Sengoku’s right."
"If you get into trouble again, don’t use the front gate."
"Go through the back entrance instead."
"I know people there."
"Just tell them Garp sent you."
"Oh, right."
"Didn’t you say Koby was bringing me some rice crackers?"
"Did he bring them?"
Sengoku trembled with rage.
He had only intended to use Garp as an example to warn Lucas.
Instead...
Garp had shamelessly taken advantage of the opportunity.
If Sengoku weren’t certain he couldn’t win against Garp and Lucas together...
He would have beaten both of them senseless on the spot.
Sensing the increasingly awkward atmosphere, Tsuru shot Garp a sharp glare before speaking.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"Admiral Lucas has already made up for his mistakes."
"CP0 exceeded their authority this time."
"And since Lucas is new, it’s understandable that he didn’t recognize them."
She changed the subject.
"Wasn’t there still that troublesome mission?"
"Why don’t we assign it to Lucas?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
His gaze instinctively shifted toward the document lying on the table.
Perfect timing.
He had only just upgraded his Golden Treasure Chest, and was already wondering how to earn some extra money.
Now another mission had practically delivered itself to him.
However...
The moment he finished reading the document, his expression froze.
"Isn’t this mission a little too cruel to old man Zephyr?"
"If he finds out..."
"I’m afraid the consequences will be serious."
Silence filled the room.
Nearly eighty percent of the officers present had once been students personally trained by Zephyr at the Marine Recruit Academy.
Even the current three Admirals were no exception.
Now they were being ordered to recruit the pirate who had massacred Marine recruits...
And severed one of Zephyr’s arms...
As the newest Seven Warlord of the Sea.
It wasn’t merely excessive.
It was enough to drive Zephyr insane.
Everyone knew that tragedy had become the deepest scar in his heart.
Sengoku also remained silent.
As Zephyr’s longtime comrade, he understood better than anyone how devastating that incident had been.
As Fleet Admiral, he should have rejected such an order outright.
Unfortunately...
Before the authority of the Five Elders, even the Fleet Admiral’s position carried little weight.
Tsuru sighed quietly.
As the Marines’ Chief Staff Officer, she understood all too well how much damage this decision would inflict upon Marine Headquarters.
But orders had already been issued.
As senior Marines...
They had no choice but to obey.
"Admiral Lucas."
"I believe you understand what happened to Zephyr."
"This meeting was convened to choose someone to recruit the pirate calling himself Edward Weevil, the self-proclaimed ’Whitebeard Jr.,’ as the new Seven Warlord of the Sea."
"He is to replace the vacancy left by Sir Crocodile."
"However..."
"Most of the officers here were personally trained by Zephyr."
"Because of him, no one has been willing to accept the assignment."
"Originally, Admiral Sakazuki intended to go himself."
"But you’ve only recently become an Admiral and have no prior ties."
"Meanwhile, Sakazuki is one of Zephyr’s students."
"So..."
"So you think I’m the most suitable choice because I have the least personal history with old man Zephyr?"
Lucas slowly swept his gaze across the room before taking another sip of strong liquor.
"But..."
"Old man Zephyr recommended me for this position."
"I owe him a favor."
"There is some friendship between us."
"I’m afraid this mission..."
Tsuru fell silent.
The other officers looked at Lucas in surprise.
In their eyes, Lucas had always been someone who never played by the rules.
Someone almost obsessively devoted to collecting bounty rewards and performance bonuses.
They had assumed he would accept the mission without a second thought.
Unexpectedly...
He was capable of valuing personal relationships as well.
Even Sengoku looked slightly surprised.
"You have a point."
"Zephyr did recognize your talent."
"If you truly wish to avoid this mission..."
"I’ll have Sakazuki handle it instead."
As soon as Sengoku finished speaking, Akainu—who had remained silent all this time—rose from his seat, preparing to leave.
Then Lucas’s next sentence stopped him in his tracks.
"No, Fleet Admiral."
"You misunderstood."
"What I meant was..."
"The deeper the friendship..."
"...the higher the price."
The conference hall fell deathly silent.
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