"Don't worry. I was prepared for this. The Husband of the Devil Child, huh?"
Ian said with a smile. "Marine Headquarters sure knows how to pick a title."
Hearing Ian's words, Robin, who had been momentarily flustered, regained her composure.
A gentle smile appeared on her face as she blinked and said, "I think the Devil Child title is rather unpleasant, but it seems the World Government already knows I married you. No wonder the village didn't send me a newspaper yesterday, I thought the World Economy News didn't publish one that day."
"Ian, Robin, you two..."
Seeing this scene, Village Chief Martin was stunned. Then, realizing something, he said, "So you already knew! No wonder you both have been acting strange lately. Why didn't you say so earlier? You almost scared me to death."
As he spoke, he looked apologetically at Robin. "Sorry, Robin. I didn't mean to keep it from you; I was just worried about this kid. Don't worry..."
He patted his chest with determination. "None of us believes you're some heinous criminal."
"Thank you."
Robin didn't get angry at his words. Of course, she understood what he was worried about. The fact that he dared to come find Ian after learning who she was showed how much everyone trusted Ian.
Then, with a tone of apology, she said: "I'm sorry for troubling everyone."
"It's fine, it's fine. Things are already like this. You and Ian have a child together. What's the point of worrying about that now?"
Then, Village Chief Martin said with a casual wave of his hand. "When the marines come, we'll just pretend we don't know you."
Hearing that, Robin hesitated for a moment while looking at Village Chief Martin, seemingly wanting to say something.
But before she could speak, she felt a squeeze on her hand. Startled for a second, she then seemed to understand something and smiled faintly while returning the squeeze.
Ian turned toward the cheerful Village Chief Martin, who clearly didn't realize the gravity of the situation, and said after a brief pause: "Village Chief Martin, later, have everyone gather in the plaza..."
But before he could finish, a voice called out from behind Village Chief Martin.
"Ian! Ian!"
It was Ain's voice, and she sounded extremely panicked, causing everyone to stop and look toward her as she ran toward them in distress.
When she reached Ian, Ain was gasping for breath, looking lost and unsure of how to speak.
"Ian, instructor Zephyr, he..."
"Calm down, Ain."
Ian quickly soothed her. "Don't worry, I'm right here. What happened with instructor Zephyr? Don't tell me he saw yesterday's newspaper and is throwing a fit?"
"Yesterday?"
Ain, slightly calmed by his tone, blinked in confusion, then hurriedly said: "Instructor Zephyr didn't lose his temper. He… he's gone."
"Gone? You mean he left the Sibia River Archipelago? Did he get so angry after seeing his own bounty that he stormed off to confront Sengoku? But still, he should've at least said goodbye."
Ian looked at her, surprised. "When did he leave?"
"This morning."
Ain lowered her head and said with some sadness, "He only took Binz with him. He didn't call me, and even his Den Den Mushi can't be reached."
"He only took Binz? What about Enel?"
"He didn't take him either."
"He didn't?"
Ian frowned, clearly confused about why Zephyr would act this way. After a brief pause, he asked: "Did anything happen this morning?"
"This morning?"
Ain thought for a moment and shook her head. "No. I asked the villager who delivered the newspaper. Oh, right, after seeing the newspaper, instructor Zephyr suddenly got really angry and smashed the table."
"The newspaper?"
Ian froze, as if something clicked in his mind. He looked toward Village Chief Martin. "Village Chief Martin, where's today's newspaper?"
"I brought it too, it's under yesterday's."
Village Chief Martin replied quickly: "Ian, what happened to brother Zephyr?"
But Ian didn't answer immediately. He picked up the newspaper and flipped to the back. When he saw the content of the news today, his eyes narrowed, and he muttered to himself: "So that's how it is..."
The World Government really didn't give Zephyr, the Chief Instructor of Marine Headquarters, even a shred of respect.
..
On the other side, at Marineford, inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
As events unfolded, the atmosphere in the office at this moment felt particularly heavy.
Sengoku sat with his hands clasped before him, resting on the desk beneath his chin, his expression dark as he stared at the two people in front of him.
When his gaze fell upon Garp, who looked completely unconcerned and was happily munching on snacks, and Kuzan, who had his feet propped up on the desk and was lazily dozing off, Sengoku's eyebrow twitched.
Did these two fools have any idea how serious the situation was?!
But remembering that he still had questions to ask, he took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said in a low, grim tone: "Don't you two think you owe me an explanation?"
"Explanation? What explanation?"
Garp was the first to respond, stuffing more snacks into his mouth as he grinned and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going. We've had meetings nonstop these past few days, I'm dead tired."
"You damned old bastard!"
Sengoku slammed his hand hard on the desk with a loud bang while glaring furiously at Garp. "Don't tell me you don't know that the Devil Child is in the Sibia River Archipelago? And you, Kuzan, weren't you the one in charge of her pursuit? She's married and even has a child now, no, wait!"
As if realizing something, Sengoku's eyes locked sharply onto Kuzan. "You bastard, you knew she had gotten married and had a child, didn't you? Don't you think the two of you owe me an explanation? And straighten up, both of you!"
Facing Sengoku's fury, both men immediately sat up properly, showing at least a slightly more serious demeanor.
Even Garp put away his snacks.
They could tell... Sengoku was truly angry this time.
However…
"Uhhh…?"
Garp scratched his head with a confused look, wearing a foolish grin. "Sengoku, what are you talking about? What Devil Child? I don't know anyone like that!"
"Same here! I've never been to the Sibia River Archipelago!"
As if they would ever admit to such a thing.
"You two bastards!"
Sengoku's eyes bulged as he roared at them. "You dare play dumb in front of me? Garp!"
His gaze fixed on Garp's face, still feigning innocence with that self-righteous expression of, I don't know anything.
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