In another stretch of the sea, aboard the gibeck.
"Hey! Shakky, what are you looking at? What's so interesting about the sky? Haven't you gotten tired of looking at it after all these years?"
Gloriosa walked over to the side of the ship where Shakky was leaning. She followed her gaze, but saw only the blue of the sea and sky merging into one.
Shakky didn't turn around. She simply took a drag from the lady's cigarette in her hand, the swirling smoke carrying a faint trace of sorrow.
"Also, no smoking!" Gloriosa snatched the cigarette away and tossed it directly into the sea. "Linlin doesn't like the smell of smoke on the ship!"
"You..." Shakky looked at the vibrant and energetic Gloriosa, offering a helpless smile, her eyes filled with unconcealable envy.
On the deck nearby, Charlotte Linlin looked down at the still-unconscious Rocks and asked the grim-faced Ship Doctor: "What exactly is his condition?"
The Ship Doctor sighed and shook his head. "Lady Linlin, Captain Rocks's body... is very strange. The wounds on his body have recovered thanks to your ability. However..."
He paused, organizing his words: "Inside his body, there is a pervasive feeling of... 'twilight.' It's not an injury or illness; it's more like... permanent damage left behind after the source of his vitality was excessively overdrawn.
Based on my experience, even if he wakes up and receives careful treatment, I'm afraid... he only has a few years of life left. Furthermore, he must absolutely not engage in combat. Every time he exerts his full power, it could significantly shorten the little time he has remaining."
Charlotte Linlin stroked her chin, lost in thought: "That strange form of control... not only manipulates the mind but also overdraws the life force of the controlled? What a vicious method."
"Um, Lady Linlin..." The helmsman, who had been waiting to the side, carefully stepped forward to ask once the Ship Doctor finished speaking, "Are we... heading back to Hachinosu Island next?"
He and the other remaining members of the former Rocks Pirates on board knew, after learning of Rocks's true condition, that the legendary Pirate Crew that once dominated the seas had become a thing of the past.
Now, the only person they could rely on and follow was the immensely powerful Charlotte Linlin, who had saved their former Captain at the final moment.
Charlotte Linlin swept her gaze over the core Crew members who were listening with their ears pricked up, and said: "We are not going to Hachinosu Island. We are going to Inazuma."
"As for matters regarding Hachinosu Island, we will wait for Rocks to wake up and let him decide what to do. For now, we are going to my territory."
The helmsman immediately straightened his back and responded loudly: "Understood! Lady Linlin! No—" He glanced at the unconscious Rocks, then at the even more imposing Charlotte Linlin, and corrected himself, "Captain Linlin!!"
Charlotte Linlin didn't commit one way or the other. She simply turned her gaze back to the unconscious Rocks, then looked through the porthole toward the distant horizon, lamenting in her heart the tragic state of Rocks, a fallen giant whom everyone was eager to kick.
On the sea, news travels sometimes faster than the currents.
The news that the Rocks Pirates had been "defeated by the Marine hero Garp in alliance with the pirate Roger" at God Valley, and that their leader, Rocks D. Xebec, was "confirmed dead," was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake. Through flapping news-delivering Seagulls and encrypted radio waves, it quickly spread to every corner of the world, stirring up monstrous waves.
Of course, the reports the world saw were versions carefully "polished" and "set in tone" by the World Government's intelligence department.
"Shocking! Hero Garp Defeats the Strongest Pirate Crew at God Valley! Rocks Beheaded!"
"Victory for justice! Marine Hero Garp Subjugates the Overlord of the Seas!"
"The Rocks Pirates Annihilated, a New Era Begins! Hero Garp Deserves the Most Credit!"
The front-page headlines were almost entirely occupied by the same person, with photos often featuring Garp's imposing bust. As for the ending of Rocks, it was glossed over with phrases like "confirmed to have fallen in the fierce battle" and "evil has finally been sanctioned by justice."
As for the movements of other Great Pirates like Charlotte Linlin, Whitebeard Newgate, and Golden Lion Shiki? The God's Knights? The anomaly of the island collapsing? Imu? The davy clan?... All these sensitive or unspeakable parts were not mentioned at all.
East Blue, a tavern in a small town.
"Hey! Look at the newspaper! The Rocks Pirates... have been defeated?!"
"For real?! That legendary strongest Pirate Crew that gathered countless monsters and gave even the Marines a headache?!"
"As expected! The strongest is still our Marine Vice Admiral Garp!"
The tavern instantly erupted in excitement. People scrambled to pass around the newspaper, their faces beaming with a sense of pride.
West Blue, a bustling port city.
"Hero Garp! It's him again!"
"Too amazing! This time he defeated Rocks!"
"Garp! Garp! He is the true Marine hero!"
In the streets and alleys, people were discussing it fervently. Garp's name was repeated over and over, as if he had become the symbol of justice and safety.
Marineford, Marine headquarters, senior officer ward.
"Bastards—!!! What kind of crap is this written here?!!!"
A roar of fury nearly blew the roof off the ward.
Garp, wrapped in bandages from head to toe like a human mummy but having recovered quite a bit of his energy, was furiously waving the newspaper in his hand.
"That bird man Morgans!!! Drag him here to me!!! I want to ask him personally, did those bird eyes of his grow on his ass?! Or is his brain clogged with news bird shit?!!!"
"Calm down, Garp." A steady voice came from the doorway. Sengoku, wearing his Admiral coat and round-rimmed glasses, pushed the door open and entered.
He glanced at the torn paper scraps all over the floor and his enraged best friend, then sighed helplessly.
"Give it up. This kind of press release is obviously authorized by the government. It's even possible that CP agents wrote it directly and shoved it into the World Economic Journal."
Sengoku walked to the bedside, placed the senbei on the nightstand, and crossed his arms.
"Morgans? He's at most a mouthpiece who takes money to do the job or is forced to 'cooperate.' The World Government definitely paid a high price, or rather, gave him 'terms' he couldn't refuse to ensure the 'correctness' of the report."
Garp slammed the tattered newspaper onto the floor, his chest heaving with anger: "Correctness?! This is fucking distorting the facts! That guy Roger... and Rocks, in the end..."
Thinking of what happened at God Valley, his fists clenched with a cracking sound.
Sengoku walked to the window, looking at the busy harbor and training grounds of Marineford outside, and said in a low, calm voice:
"Garp, the World Government and the Marines are both immensely massive organizations. Counting all the soldiers provided by the Affiliated Nations, the total number of 'official' armed personnel worldwide is in the tens of millions. It is impossible to completely master and monitor the thoughts and actions of every single one of them."
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