Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Sengoku and Spandine had gone to Mary Geoise.
That left Garp with nothing to do, especially since he was still injured and had not fully recovered. There was even less work for him.
Wearing his dog-head hat and holding a bag of rice crackers, he wandered around Marineford.
Every time he saw someone, Garp felt the urge to go over and say a few words about Valthior's child. But since Sengoku had given a gag order, he could not gossip. It made Garp feel very uncomfortable.
After walking around for a while, Garp also began to feel confused.
Many people looked strange when they saw him today. They all had that kind of look like they wanted to say something but did not dare.
This left Garp completely puzzled. He even went to the washroom and looked in the mirror, but found nothing wrong with his appearance.
"Huh? Garp-san, you came to the toilet yourself?" Kuzan walked out of a stall and greeted Garp with a smile when he saw him looking in the mirror.
"Ah, Kuzan." Garp glanced at Kuzan, then turned around in front of the mirror and checked his back. He asked in confusion, "There is nothing strange about me, right? No one stuck a paper note on my back?"
"No. You look the same as always. Bringing rice crackers into the toilet to eat just makes you look like a man of great taste," Kuzan said, giving him a thumbs-up while mocking him.
"Hahaha, you brat. Want some?" Garp laughed loudly.
"No thanks. I have not washed my hands," Kuzan refused without hesitation.
He was not going to share rice crackers with Garp in the toilet.
That would be strange, all right?
If someone saw them, weird rumors would definitely spread.
After all, Marineford had recently been full of gossip, especially about the Marine higher-ups. Things about Admiral Sengoku, Zephyr-sensei, and so on. In the end, it was all because of those two shocking novels.
But honestly, Kuzan felt those two books had artistic value.
Late at night, when he was alone in his dorm, he had secretly read them quite a few times.
He heard that the World Economy News Paper would soon release deluxe and collector's editions, and he was planning to buy two copies for his collection when they came out.
As for Marineford's ban, which said Marine members were not allowed to watch, read, or buy those books, Kuzan did not take it seriously at all.
How did that saying go?
The more something was banned, the more people wanted to see it.
Besides, he was only appreciating them as art. He was reading them with a critical eye.
When Kuzan thought of the latest chapter in this morning's newspaper, the way he looked at Garp suddenly became strange.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Garp sharply noticed it and pointed at Kuzan. "That look! That is the look! I have walked all over the place, and lots of people have been looking at me like that. I even thought something was wrong with my outfit, like I had put my undershirt on backward. You brat, explain yourself. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Ah, well…" Kuzan's expression instantly became awkward. He touched his nose and said, "Garp-san, have you read the newspaper today?"
"The newspaper? Not yet. I was in Sengoku's office earlier watching the excitement. What happened? Did something big happen on the sea? Is someone saying I lost to that bastard Valthior again?" Garp cursed.
These past few days, the battle between him and Valthior had clearly been a hot topic in the newspapers. Everyone was following the trend and analyzing it in all kinds of ways. What annoyed Garp the most was that some people said he had lost to Valthior.
Was that not a joke?
"Not that. Ahem… A novel biography about you has been published in the newspaper," Kuzan said after a brief pause. "It is said to have been written by the Pirate King, Roger. The style is very similar to those previous two books. Now everyone is saying those two were also written by Roger. Only this time, he stopped hiding. Before, he used another pen name. Now he has revealed himself openly…"
"What two books…" Garp did not react at first.
But after noticing Kuzan's meaningful look, he froze and said in shock, "Those two books that slandered Sengoku and Zephyr!?"
"Yes. This one is called Young Garp…" Kuzan said, barely holding back his laughter.
"That bastard Roger!" Garp cursed at once.
But then he felt something was wrong and could not help saying, "No, that should not be right. Roger is a bastard, but using such a dirty way to slander us Marines does not really seem like his style…"
"I happen to have the newspaper with me. Take a look…" Kuzan said, pulling out the newspaper he had been reading in the stall and handing it to Garp.
"Gimme that…" Garp took the newspaper and began reading.
"Do not worry. Everyone knows this is slander against you. After all, the opening says your middle school grades were not very good. What a joke. Everyone in Marineford knows you never went to school at all. You only started learning to read after joining the Marines, and you could only read newspapers by yourself after becoming a Rear Admiral. How could you have gone to middle school?" Kuzan patted Garp on the shoulder and said.
Garp's face darkened when he heard that.
Was this something to brag about?
Did Kuzan really need to keep bringing it up?
But this line about his "grades not being very good" felt strangely familiar.
He read a few lines, and his memory instantly jumped back to half a month ago, when that bastard Valthior had handed him the wrong notebook.
Thinking about it again, Valthior had said that notebook was a biography manuscript Roger had sent him.
Garp's face instantly turned red with rage.
"It really was that bastard Roger!" Garp clenched the newspaper. "Have we still not found where Roger is? Not even a little information? I am going to kill that bastard!"
Looking at the story in the newspaper about him and some landlady, Garp gritted his teeth with hatred.
If Roger were standing in front of him right now, Garp would risk his life to kill that bastard.
At this moment, he finally understood the shame and rage Sengoku and Zephyr had felt when they saw their own names appear in that kind of writing.
"There was intelligence that Roger once appeared in the South Blue, but there have been no sightings for a long time since then. There has been no progress," Kuzan said after thinking for a moment.
The information about Roger appearing in the South Blue was already old. It was from not long after the Roger Pirates disbanded.
After that, Roger disappeared.
At the same time, Marine Headquarters also felt that since the Roger Pirates had scattered, finding information on them was extremely difficult. On top of that, they had retired from piracy. So after some time passed with no progress, the Intelligence Division stopped pursuing the matter closely.
Just like in the original story, when Roger caused no trouble and lived quietly with Rouge in the South Blue, Marine Headquarters could not find him no matter what.
But once Roger turned himself in, the World Government and the Marines immediately rushed to the South Blue and searched the entire sea.
Why? Because once Roger was captured, his family lost their protection.
They started targeting the widow and orphan without hesitation.
Take Rayleigh and Gaban, for example. No one knew whether they had married or had children, but did the World Government and the Marines search like that?
No.
Because Rayleigh and Gaban were still alive.
Retired pirates at that level were terrifying. When they had no family, they could act without limits. If they had families, they might actually become more restrained. But if you ran over and destroyed their homes, would that not force them to make huge trouble for you?
If any one of those monsters waited until the Reverie and then charged into Mary Geoise to kill people, the World Government would have a serious problem.
So after the Roger Pirates disbanded, with Roger in perfect health and no intention of turning himself in, his deterrent power remained terrifying. As long as he didn't cause trouble himself, both the Marines and the World Government were perfectly happy to leave him alone.
Originally, Garp had planned to go to the West Blue to watch the excitement, but now he was no longer in the mood. He cursed and said, "If the Intelligence Division has no interest in finding Roger, I will go myself. I have nothing to do anyway, and I am on leave soon… Kuzan, pass the order. Prepare a ship for me. I am going to the South Blue for a vacation!"
Kuzan froze for a moment, then said, "Garp-san, the situation on the sea is very tense right now. Something happens every few days. It may not be suitable for you to go to the South Blue at a time like this. Admiral Sengoku may not…"
"He will definitely agree. Just tell him I have confirmed who wrote those stories about him. It was Roger! I am going to help him vent his anger!" Garp said with full confidence.
At the same time, in the South Blue, on Baterilla Island.
Roger sat inside his luxurious manor, looking at the newspaper he had just bought with a very confused expression.
At first, when he saw Young Garp, he had laughed so hard his mouth could not close.
But when he reached the end and saw the signature, "Lord Roger," he was stunned.
"Who? Who the hell is setting me up!?" Roger slapped the table in fury.
Yes, he really had bought the whole of Baterilla Island. He had even turned the villagers into his tenant farmers, making them work the fields for him. He had become the great landlord of the island, and when people met him outside, they had to call him "Lord."
But he really had not used that name to write books.
Just then, Rouge's voice came from inside the house. She sounded unhappy.
"Do not suddenly yell here. What if you scare the child in my belly?"
As she spoke, Rouge, supported by several beautiful maids, walked out with a large belly.
Without a doubt, this bastard Roger truly had Valthior to thank.
He had started living the good life of a wealthy landlord.
When Ace was born in the future, he would also become the foolish young master of a rich household.
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