Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
Pangaea Castle, Room of Authority.
Not long ago, the Five Elders had just finished discussing the matters that needed to be handled during this period.
Before Saint Mars could brew a cup of hot tea and let everyone chat about trivial things, Saint Saturn suddenly stood from the sofa.
"You all continue. I will leave first."
"In such a hurry? Where are you going?" Saint Warcury asked in surprise and curiosity.
"Do you even need to ask? It must have something to do with his precious little Robin," Saint Ju Peter teased.
Saint Saturn did not hide it and said very openly, "Kano Country in the West Blue presented an excellent jade. I plan to have someone polish it into a necklace and give it to Robin."
"How many necks does she have to wear all those? If I remember correctly, this is already the twenty-third necklace you have given her, right?" Saint Nusjuro said, somewhat speechless.
"What do you know?" Saint Saturn glanced at Saint Nusjuro. "There are 365 days in a year. A girl should have 365 different necklaces. And not only necklaces—hair ornaments, brooches, bracelets…"
"Enough, enough. I do not want to hear it. Hurry up and go," Saint Warcury quickly waved his hand.
Ever since Valthior had somehow gotten a daughter, and ever since that daughter had been brought to Mary Geoise by this old man, Saint Saturn's entire aura had changed.
Back then, Valthior had been so outstanding, yet Saint Saturn had never favored him this much.
Now, he truly spoiled this little girl to the bone.
At present, who in Mary Geoise did not know that Princess Robin of the Jaygarcia family could not be provoked?
She was the apple of Five Elder Saint Saturn's eye.
It was said that Saint Rosward's youngest son—whatever his name was, no one remembered—was around the same age as Princess Robin. After the two met in the God's Residence, that boy wanted to play with Princess Robin. After being rejected, he became angry and said a few unpleasant words to her.
Before this matter even reached Saint Saturn's ears, Figarland Garling used his authority as commander of Holy Knights to arrest that boy directly and beat him severely.
It was said that Saint Rosward begged outside Holy Knights' base, Shangara Temple, for three days before he was finally able to bring his half-dead son home.
Afterward, although Saint Saturn did not personally punish the boy, he rewarded Garling heavily, making Garling happy for several days.
Later, Sommers said that Garling had acted so quickly because he was worried that if someone bullied Valthior's daughter in Mary Geoise, Valthior would punish his son back on Frost Island.
That was why Garling had chosen to protect Princess Robin immediately.
From this, it could be seen that Robin did not only have Saint Saturn supporting her in Mary Geoise.
She also had Holy Knights as her backing.
Garling now truly regarded Valthior as his good brother. Whenever he met people, he bragged that his good son Shanks had awakened Conqueror's Haki and would follow Valthior to make a name for himself across the sea.
He even said that Shanks was so filial and respectful that, because he could not bear to part from his real father, the emotional shock caused him to awaken Conqueror's Haki.
And all of this was surely because his good brother, Valthior, had earnestly taught Shanks every day.
Whether they knew the truth or not, everyone now thought Valthior really was Garling's close friend.
Just as Saint Saturn was preparing to leave the Room of Authority, a hurried knock suddenly came from outside the door.
The Five Elders all frowned.
Usually, when something like this happened, it meant an important accident had occurred.
"Come in," Saint Saturn said calmly, sitting down again.
Soon, CP's chief, Night Owl, respectfully walked in from outside.
"What happened?" Saint Warcury asked with a very serious expression.
When there were no outsiders, the five of them would smile, tease one another, and chat casually.
But when outsiders were present, all five were always extremely solemn and never lowered their dignified image in the slightest.
"Forgive me for disturbing you, my lords. This subordinate has a very important piece of intelligence that must be reported to you immediately," Night Owl said first.
Then he quickly got to the point.
"One week ago, a rebellion broke out in the Malik Kingdom of the South Blue. In less than three days, the royal family of Malik Kingdom was overthrown, and its king was hanged from the city wall… According to our investigation, this was carried out by an armed organization calling itself the Revolutionary Army. Furthermore, this Revolutionary Army publicly declared that it intends to overthrow the tyranny of our World Government!"
"Malik Kingdom…" Saint Nusjuro stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "It was a fairly respectful kingdom. Over the years, it never missed the Heavenly Tribute, and it sent offerings every year."
"This small matter needed to be reported to us?" Saint Ju Peter said unhappily. "Just follow the usual procedure. Arrange for CP to search for surviving royal blood, help them suppress the rebellion, and restore the monarchy."
An anti-World Government armed force, a Revolutionary Army, a rebellion in the Malik Kingdom—in the eyes of the Five Elders, such things were nothing more than minor troubles.
The World Government had stood over the sea for more than eight hundred years. During those eight hundred years, had there been so few organizations like this Revolutionary Army?
They had appeared endlessly.
The World Government had extremely rich experience dealing with them and had already suppressed countless similar anti-government armed forces.
Especially in the South Blue.
That place had always been filled with these kinds of ideas. It was a hotbed of revolution. Over the past several hundred years, uprisings had broken out across the South Blue countless times.
Precisely because they had seen this too many times, the World Government had more than enough mature methods to handle it.
So the Five Elders did not take it seriously at all.
Just follow the process and help the kingdom's royal family return to power.
If the royal family was completely dead, then find a suitable noble to take the throne.
If all the nobles were dead too, that was even better. There were still plenty of empty-titled nobles in Mary Geoise who wanted a real territory. They could simply choose someone pleasing to the eye, appoint him king of that nation, then have CP gather people and escort him there to take power.
"This time is different!" Night Owl swallowed, forcing himself to speak under the pressure. "According to our investigation, before this Revolutionary Army issued its armed declaration against the World Government, it was a civilian armed force rooted in many areas of the South Blue. Its former name was the Freedom Figthers. Its leader is named Monkey D. Dragon!"
The moment these words came out, all five Elders fell silent.
What the hell did he say his name was?
"What did you say the leader's name was?" Saint Saturn asked, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Monkey D. Dragon!" Night Owl said solemnly.
"Which Monkey? Which D?" Saint Warcury questioned in a heavy voice.
"Uh…" Night Owl hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "The same Monkey… and D… as Marine Hero Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp."
"Hmph!" Saint Nusjuro snorted coldly. His gloomy gaze fixed on Night Owl. "Framing a heroic Marine Vice Admiral is a grave crime. Have you thought this through?"
"This subordinate would not dare speak carelessly. At first, I was also very shocked. But after our strict investigation, we can fully confirm that the leader of this organization, Monkey D. Dragon, is the biological son of Vice Admiral Garp—the one who left the Marines in the year 1484."
After this was said, the Five Elders fell silent again.
After a long while, Saint Saturn asked, "Does Vice Admiral Garp know about this? Has he participated in it? Where is he now?"
"According to our investigation, Vice Admiral Garp does not know about this matter and has never participated in these affairs. In fact, over the years, he has barely had any contact with Dragon. We also investigated Dragon's departure from the Marines in 1484. It seems he had a dispute with Vice Admiral Garp at the time. The two may have developed major differences in ideology, which ultimately led Dragon to leave the Marines," Night Owl reported truthfully.
He did not dare exaggerate or twist anything here.
He was very clear about Garp's influence over the Marines and his importance in the eyes of the Five Elders.
As long as Garp had not participated in this matter, even if Dragon was his biological son, the Five Elders would never punish Garp.
If Night Owl tried to drag Garp into it, the matter would become impossible to clean up.
"As for Vice Admiral Garp's current location… he is in the South Blue," Night Owl added.
After hearing that Garp had not participated in this matter, the Five Elders immediately relaxed.
Garp's son alone was not much to worry about.
But if Garp—who had an extremely strong influence over the Marines—suddenly became a core figure of an anti-World Government force, it would definitely greatly affect Marine morale. It might even cause major chaos within the Marines, perhaps even a degree of division.
"What is he doing in the South Blue? Is he going to deal with that rebellious son of his?" Saint Saturn asked.
"No. It is said he went to look for Pirate King Roger…" Night Owl quickly reported.
The Five Elders froze.
What era does he think this is? He is still looking for Roger? Is he sick?
Roger had already retired. For the past two years, he had kept a low profile and lived quietly. It would be best to let him fade away and die of old age without ever appearing again.
Why insist on looking for him?
And what would they do after finding him?
Arrest him?
Who would they send?
Could Garp handle him alone?
If they failed to catch him and instead forced him back onto the sea, would that not be causing disaster?
"Why would he suddenly go looking for Roger!?" Saint Warcury could not help asking.
"It seems Roger wrote some… indecent stories in the newspaper and mocked him. Vice Admiral Garp was furious and went to settle accounts with him," Night Owl said.
Saint Nusjuro froze.
Ah? It seems there was something like that…
Clearly, the other four Elders, including Saint Saturn, did not know about it. They looked at one another in surprise, then turned their eyes back to Night Owl.
"What did he write?"
"He wrote… spicy novels," Night Owl said helplessly.
You are the Pirate King, damn it. After retiring, you started writing spicy novels to provoke the Marine higher-ups? Do you have nothing better to do?
"Absurd!" Saint Saturn slammed the table, then scolded, "Have Kong immediately recall Garp to Headquarters. Do not let him remain in the South Blue. At the same time, CP is to investigate this Revolutionary Army with full force. Find out exactly what this organization is, what its situation is, and who is supporting it from behind. Then destroy this organization as quickly as possible. Capture Dragon and bring him back to Marine Headquarters for detention. Hand him over to Vice Admiral Garp to deal with personally!"
"Yes!" Night Owl immediately replied.
A rebellion in Malik Kingdom was too small a matter to appear in the World Economy News Paper.
But the news still appeared in the regional newspapers of the South Blue.
At this moment, on Baterilla Island, Roger also saw the news.
Then he immediately began selling off his property.
"Rouge, let's take the kid and go to the New World. How does Elbaf sound? I have a good friend living there…" Roger called out.
Rouge held the newborn Ace and asked curiously, "Everything was fine. Why are we suddenly moving?"
"If we do not move now, our house is going to get raided. We cannot stay in this damned South Blue anymore!" Roger cursed under his breath.
He knew very clearly that once Dragon raised the banner against the World Government, as Garp's son, the World Government would definitely investigate him to the end.
If Roger's role as the financial backer supporting the Revolutionary Army was exposed, the World Government would turn the entire South Blue upside down to find him and shoot him a hundred times.
So before the matter was exposed, running away quickly was the correct answer.
Of course, although he was grumbling nonstop, Roger actually felt extremely thrilled inside.
It was exciting.