Having heard Sengoku's description, Garp chimed in with a look of displeasure on his face:
"Hmph! It's all because of those brainless idiots! To think they actually wanted to send a monster like that to the Celestial Dragons as a slave! They didn't even stop to consider if they had the weight to pull it off, or if they could even stomach it!"
Speaking of this, Garp couldn't help but complain to Sengoku again:
"Look at you, Sengoku! A prime seed who clearly could have been guided to join the Marine was forced into becoming a pirate by you and those fools."
"And now, look what happened—she's become an asset to Rocks! What a waste... truly a waste..."
Sengoku looked guilty, but he still spoke firmly:
"That was an unavoidable sacrifice to maintain justice! Her very existence was an 'unstable factor' at the time, and the World Government's decisions are not to be questioned! Our duty is to execute them!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru rubbed her temples helplessly:
"Enough, Garp, stop with the sarcastic remarks. You know exactly what the situation was back then; besides Sengoku, CP0 was also escorting the tenryubito tribute."
"How could Sengoku possibly let the Celestial Dragons' property escape under the watchful eyes of those guys? Unless, of course, Sengoku didn't want to be a Marine anymore."
"The question now is what to do? Charlotte Linlin is at Sabaody Archipelago, and she killed a Navy Vice Admiral right under our noses. Given the panic and impact caused, we must respond."
"Otherwise, how will those civilians view us Marines? How can they believe in the Marine's justice?"
Garp spread his hands and leaned back in his chair:
"Handle it however it needs to be handled. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me; my fists are only responsible for punching pirates away."
Aether concluded: "In that case, increase the bounty—increase it to one billion! This woman now has the ability to threaten the Marine's rule!"
"Afterward, go search Sabaody. If Charlotte Linlin is still in the Sabaody Archipelago, make sure to take her down!"
At this moment, Zephyr suddenly stood up, clutching the report tightly in his hand, and spoke with unbelievable anger:
"Wait! Fleet Admiral Aether!"
Aether looked up at this rising star of the Marine whom he thought very highly of. Zephyr not only possessed extremely high Talents, but more importantly, he had a spirit of hard work and a powerful sense of justice.
With his current strength, he was already comparable to a Headquarters Vice Admiral. Aether believed that in time, Zephyr would surely become a new pillar of the Marine, a future Admiral with great prospects.
"What is it, Zephyr?" Aether asked in a deep voice.
Zephyr handed the report forward, pointing at the absurd conclusion on it, his tone agitated:
"Is the content of this report real? 'Killed a Navy Vice Admiral in a rage because the food was not to her taste'?"
"This is simply preposterous! Moreover, from Garp-aniki's description just now, this Charlotte Linlin... she seemingly became a pirate only after being forced by the World Government and nearly becoming a slave to the Celestial Dragons? How could she kill someone just because the food didn't suit her appetite?"
Possessing the justice of 'non-killing,' he could not understand the situation in the report. He believed Garp, and he believed that the Damselette Garp spoke of was not a person who would kill the innocent indiscriminately.
"Killing over a meal?"
Garp, who was dealing with his senbei, was stunned upon hearing this. He turned his head in surprise to look at the report in Zephyr's hand.
"Wasn't it the Rocks Pirates who attacked the base and killed a Vice Admiral? How did it get involved with eating?"
He had clearly only read the beginning and hadn't looked at the contents of the report in detail at all.
Beside him, Vice Admiral Tsuru helplessly put her hand to her forehead and sighed:
"This idiot... as expected, he didn't read the report carefully again."
Reminded by Zephyr, Fleet Admiral Aether glanced across the desk and realized that in a moment of anger, he had actually given Zephyr the'simplified' report intended for lower-level departments later.
"I took the wrong one."
Fleet Admiral Aether's face looked a bit strained. He reached out to take that report back from Zephyr, tossed it aside, and then handed him the report that truly recorded the events in detail.
"This is the report of the actual situation. Look at this one."
Zephyr asked in confusion: "Then what was that report about?"
Aether said somewhat awkwardly: "That report is to be released to the outside world. To 'maintain the Marine's face' and avoid certain deep-seated conflicts, we had to simplify the cause of the incident."
"Tch~"
Hearing this explanation, which was exactly the same as the perfunctory ones he used to get, Garp let out a disdainful click of his tongue.
"Fine then."
Zephyr, who could only accept this explanation, took the report Aether gave him again.
His eyes quickly scanned the words on the paper. The more he read, the more ashen his face became, and the veins on his forehead gradually bulged.
The report clearly recorded how Vice Admiral Fernando's mother set up a black-market shop trap, coveting Charlotte Linlin's saber and even her person, the collusion between the Naval Base and the black-market shop, and the entire process of Charlotte Linlin's counterattack after being provoked.
"Fleet Admiral Aether!"
Zephyr looked up abruptly, a fire of anger Burning in his eyes, his voice deepening due to extreme disappointment.
"What's written here... is it all true? Why, right under the feet of our Marine Headquarters, right at the doorstep of this headquarters that symbolizes justice, would there be such scum!"
"Condoning relatives in extortion and blackmail, even becoming a protective umbrella for evil forces themselves! What is the difference between such a Marine and the pirates we hunt down?!"
Garp, who had leaned over to finish reading the real report, also put away his joking manner. Rarely not eating senbei, he crossed his arms and snorted coldly:
"Hmph! Well done! I think Charlotte Linlin handled this matter perfectly! Scum like that are better off dead! If she hadn't been forced away back then, maybe she really could have become a Marine who hates evil as much as I do!"
Fleet Admiral Aether looked at the reactions of his two beloved subordinates, a trace of complexity and fatigue appearing on his face. He remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, his voice carrying a heavy sense of helplessness:
"Zephyr, you must understand that the Marine's scale is so immense, spread across every corner of the world. Where there is light, there will inevitably be shadows."
"There will always be some vermin, some corruption breeding that I cannot always keep an eye on. This is a chronic disease that any massive organization cannot completely avoid."
Zephyr took an agitated step forward, almost questioning: "But this happened in Sabaody! Right next to Marineford! It's right before our eyes!"
"Can we not even control that?! Does our justice not even illuminate our own doorstep?!"
Fleet Admiral Aether's gaze became extremely deep. He stared intently at Zephyr, his tone exceptionally heavy as he spoke word by word:
"Yes. There are some things that, even if they are right before our eyes, we Marines... might not necessarily be able to fully control. Do you understand what 'cannot control' means here?"
Zephyr met Fleet Admiral Aether's meaningful and even slightly warning gaze, and his full chest of rage felt as if it had been doused by a bucket of ice water.
He instantly thought of Fernando's mother's fearless attitude, the "Marine-supervised" canteen, and certain tacit approvals from the high-level World Government... a suffocating answer surfaced in his heart.
(Is that it... are those people involved behind the scenes? So even the Fleet Admiral...)
He spoke no more, only pursing his lips tightly, his fists clenched until they creaked, a sense of powerless anger spreading in his heart.
Aether seemed unwilling to continue dwelling on this question that was destined to have no answer. He tapped the table hard, pulling everyone's attention back:
"Enough! I called you here for more than just the matter of Charlotte Linlin!"
His expression turned solemn, and his voice became even more grave:
"According to the latest intelligence from CP and various Marine units, the New World has been very restless lately. Many Great Pirates have left the New World for some unknown reason and returned to the first half of the Grand Line; they are currently very likely lingering in the waters around Sabaody Archipelago."
"Their purpose remains unknown, but it is certainly nothing good. I have summoned you here to discuss how to deal with this group of ferocious pirates flooding back from the New World and to prevent them from causing uncontrollable destruction in the Grand Line!"
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