One day later, in the Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford.
"Why is that guy Shiki going after Roger? When did they get involved with each other?"
Garp slammed the table forcefully. No other table had ever endured such treatment, so it cracked.
Seeing the table suffering under Garp's abuse and splitting apart, Kong felt a slight pang in his heart.
After all, he had gone through great trouble to acquire this high-quality wood.
There weren't many office desks like this in the world, as most of this material was used for shipbuilding.
"Garp, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't touch my things again."
"Otherwise, I'll show you why my nickname is 'Steel Bone'!"
After hearing Kong's words, Garp obediently sat down on the sofa.
Knock knock—
"Come in."
Raleigh, dressed in a neat Marine uniform and draped in the Marine "Justice" cloak, appeared in everyone's sight.
"Fleet Admiral Kong, I heard you were looking for me?"
Raleigh, who had just entered the Fleet Admiral's office, greeted Kong proactively.
But upon closer inspection, it wasn't just Fleet Admiral Kong in the office.
Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Zephyr, and Staff Officer Tsuru were all present.
If nothing was amiss, Raleigh guessed that there must be some abnormal situation somewhere in the world.
"Raleigh, I'm sorry, but your vacation is canceled. There's an urgent mission now."
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Fleet Admiral Kong didn't keep them in suspense any longer.
Instead, he straightforwardly explained the current problem.
"The target of this mission is one person. Our task is to capture him and deliver him to Impel Down."
"I'll immediately distribute his information to all of you."
As soon as Fleet Admiral Kong finished speaking, the secretary from the adjacent office brought in several copies of the target's information.
Raleigh flipped through the intelligence, glanced at the contents, and couldn't help but exclaim.
"So it's the Golden Lion Shiki."
Sengoku adjusted his glasses, then pointed to a specific location on the intelligence and nautical chart and said, "This is the Edd sea area, where our forces are relatively weak. Therefore, we need to personally investigate this area."
"However, I might not be able to participate in this mission, so Garp will have to lead the team and take you there."
Initially, Raleigh hadn't made any particular connections, but upon hearing the name "Edd," his mind suddenly froze.
If he remembered correctly, the Roger Pirates had engaged in a massive battle with the Golden Lion in the Edd sea area.
It was because of this incident that the Golden Lion Pirates were severely crippled, and the Golden Lion himself suffered the agony of having a ship's rudder stuck in his head.
In contrast, after defeating the Golden Lion, Roger and his crew advanced triumphantly throughout their subsequent journey.
That's why Raleigh was so shocked when he saw the Edd sea area.
Tsuru glanced at the intelligence, thought for a moment, and said, "Fleet Admiral Kong, if I recall correctly, the Roger Pirates are also in this Edd sea area."
"Could it be that the Roger Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates have arranged something, meeting up in the Edd sea?"
After hearing Tsuru's words, Garp shook his head and said, "No one in this world understands Roger better than I do. He would never make any deal with Golden Lion."
"Because he is an extremely proud and domineering man, and his dream isn't to rule the world. Otherwise, back at God Valley, he wouldn't have helped us."
Garp's words made all the Marine officers present nod in agreement.
The Roger Pirates left a very positive impression in their minds, not only because they rarely targeted civilians.
But also because, years ago during the God Valley incident, the Roger Pirates joined and sided with the Marines, allowing them to easily defeat Rocks.
It was after this event that the World Government appointed Garp as the "Hero of the Marines."
Since then, whether it was Garp or any other Marine personnel who experienced that battle, they all held a favorable view of the Roger Pirates.
Raleigh understood this perfectly well—he knew Roger and Golden Lion would never reach an agreement and were instead headed for an unprecedented battle in the Edd sea.
However, since headquarters had issued orders, participating in such an event was actually a good opportunity.
There seemed to be little risk, and the potential gains were high.
If, after Roger and Golden Lion's fierce battle, they could luckily capture one of them, the mission would be accomplished.
"In that case, let's pack up and prepare to depart. For this mission, Vice Admiral Garp will be the commanding officer, and Vice Admiral Raleigh will serve as deputy. All actions will follow Vice Admiral Garp's command."
Once the personnel were decided, the Marines' preparations moved swiftly.
In just over two hours, all necessary supplies were loaded onto the ships.
"Set sail for the Edd Sea!"
...
Time flew by, and three days passed.
Somewhere on the waters of the Edd, a large gold-and-red ship was sailing, its pirate flag bearing a prominent mustache.
This was the Roger Pirates' ship, the Oro Jackson.
"Damn it, what is Shiki trying to do?"
A few days earlier, Shiki had contacted the Roger Pirates again, proposing an alliance.
As expected, the Roger Pirates rejected Shiki once more.
After that, Shiki ceased all communication with the Roger Pirates, having moved his Floating Island into the Grand Line.
Roger and his crew received this intel—after all, as top-tier pirates, each had their own information networks.
They never imagined Golden Lion's obsession with the Roger Pirates would run so deep.
After being rejected over the Den Den Mushi, he had personally come for them.
If it were for any other purpose, Roger might have agreed.
But Shiki was a madman, his insanity no less than that of Rocks.
Roger had no desire to nurture another Rocks with his own hands, and he believed uncovering the meaning of the "Will of D" was far more important.
That's why the Roger Pirates were sailing so swiftly—to evade the Golden Lion Pirates' pursuit.
"Captain, a large fleet spotted ahead!"
"Captain, another large fleet sighted off our starboard stern!"
"Captain, there are several ships on our port side as well."
Instantly, a series of reports came flooding toward Roger.
Rather than panicking at this information, Roger drew the supreme grade sword Ace from his waist and pointed its blade directly at the largest pirate ship ahead while shouting.
"That's Golden Lion's flagship! When the fighting really starts, we must sink his ship immediately!"
Roger's rallying cry proved highly effective among his crew.
Whether it was Dark King Rayleigh, the battle maniac Douglas Bullet, or even apprentices like Shanks and Buggy—upon hearing Roger's words, they all drew their swords with fervent expressions.
If there was anyone normal here, the only one might be the trembling Buggy.
"Shanks, are you trying to get us killed? Don't you know Golden Lion's Flying Pirates is a massive fleet with a hundred thousand members? Charging into battle with them would be suicide!"
Buggy couldn't understand his best friend's actions. Shanks turned to him and said, "It's fine, Buggy. When the fighting starts, just attack from the sidelines."
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