"So the brat was the one who Destroyed the Marines’ livelihood ?"
"That little rascal!"
"The moment he sets sail, he destroys two warships!"
"Does he think my retirement fund is endless? Or that I’ve got the words ’walking treasury’ written across my forehead?"
"Why should I be the one paying for his damages?!"
Sengoku roared in exasperation.
He had been ready to march off and fight the Four Emperors.
Instead, he was told the one who had smashed the Marines’ "rice bowl" was one of their own.
It was the ultimate emotional whiplash.
The frustration was unbearable.
"Garp!"
"Hurry up and see how those two warships were destroyed!"
"Didn’t that brat always say, ’You only work as hard as you’re paid’?"
"If he can’t give me a reasonable explanation..."
"I’m docking every last Berry of his salary!"
Even Zephyr was stunned.
This made no sense whatsoever.
He immediately leaned over to read the fax in Garp’s hands.
"One of the ships belonged to Enies Lobby, and the other was an Admiral’s standard warship."
Garp read aloud from the report.
"It says Smoker and Hina encountered CP9, who attempted to take over the prisoner escort mission."
"After Lucas arrived, he sank their warship."
"As for the second one..."
"It says Lucas accidentally destroyed his own warship while helping Ain and the others awaken Haki."
"Hahaha!"
"That’s my boy."
"He really knows how to look after his comrades!"
"Look after them?"
Sengoku snatched the report away.
"Ain trained under Zephyr for years."
"Even Zephyr couldn’t guarantee she would awaken Haki."
"And now you’re telling me that brat destroyed his own warship just to help people awaken Haki?"
"How is that anything but reckless?"
He turned toward Zephyr.
"You’re the Chief Instructor of the Marine Recruit Academy."
"Didn’t you tell him that not everyone is as much of a monster as he is?"
"Or does he think being a monster is contagious?"
"You tell me!"
Zephyr hadn’t expected the destroyed warship to have anything to do with Ain.
But before he could answer...
His eyes suddenly locked onto the back of the report.
His pupils contracted sharply.
"Sengoku!"
"Garp!"
"Look at the back!"
"What does it say?!"
Sengoku swallowed the words he was about to say.
A look of utter disbelief spread across his face.
"Five..."
"Five people?"
"It says Lucas helped Ain and four others awaken Armament Haki in less than three minutes."
"The warship was accidentally destroyed during the process."
"It also says..."
"Ain and the others volunteered to have their salaries deducted to cover the damages."
Zephyr unconsciously tightened his grip on the report as he read it aloud.
As the Marine Recruit Academy’s Chief Instructor...
No one understood better than he did how difficult it was to awaken Haki.
Especially Ain.
For years, he had personally tried countless methods to help her awaken it.
Every attempt had ended in disappointment.
Yet now...
Lucas had accomplished it in under three minutes.
If Ain herself hadn’t reported it...
Zephyr would never have believed such a thing.
The years he had spent trying...
Couldn’t compare to Lucas’s few short minutes.
The contrast was simply overwhelming.
Most importantly...
Zephyr still had no idea how Lucas had done it.
"He awakened Haki in five people..."
"In less than three minutes..."
"And only accidentally destroyed the warship..."
Sengoku stood there stiffly before abruptly turning around and striding away.
"Garp quickly called after him."
"Sengoku!"
"Where are you going?"
"It’s only one warship!"
"If Lucas really helped five Marines awaken Haki..."
"That’s an extraordinary achievement!"
Zephyr nodded repeatedly.
Compared to awakening Haki...
A warship was insignificant.
It might require tremendous resources to build...
But it wasn’t even in the same league.
"Where am I going?"
Sengoku didn’t even slow down.
"That brat is unbelievable!"
"If he knew a method like this..."
"He should’ve reported it sooner!"
"I’m going to the naval dockyard to see how many spare warships we still have!"
"If he needs to smash them to awaken more Marines’ Haki..."
"Then so be it!"
"A hundred..."
"Even a hundred and eighty warships..."
"I can still afford them!"
His voice rang with astonishing confidence.
Garp and Zephyr stood there completely dumbfounded.
Only moments ago...
Sengoku had been ready to demand compensation.
Now he sounded eager to supply Lucas with an entire fleet.
When it came to changing attitudes...
Leadership really was on another level.
Before either of them could recover...
The Den Den Mushi spat out yet another fax.
The three of them stared at it.
Their eyes widened simultaneously.
It contained only a single sentence.
Both warships were shattered solely by Admiral Lucas’s Conqueror’s Haki.
Silence.
The simple statement echoed in their minds like thunder.
None of them could process what they were reading.
After exchanging stunned glances...
Sengoku hurried back and snatched the report.
After reading it over several times, he muttered,
"That brat..."
"Was he hiding his true strength when he first demonstrated his Conqueror’s Haki?"
"Or has it grown even stronger since then?"
"He shattered two warships with nothing but Conqueror’s Haki..."
"If this is true..."
"Then his Haki may even surpass Red-Haired Shanks’."
"No..."
Sengoku slowly shook his head.
"There’s only one person this reminds me of."
"Rocks."
"You’re saying..."
Zephyr inhaled sharply.
"Lucas’s Conqueror’s Haki is comparable to Rocks D. Xebec’s?"
Sengoku nodded solemnly.
"That’s right."
"To wield Conqueror’s Haki on this level..."
"As far as I know..."
"Only Rocks ever reached this realm."
"It seems..."
"Marine Headquarters has truly found a treasure."
"No."
"I need to visit the dockyard immediately."
"We have to send Lucas a new warship as soon as possible."
"This time..."
"I’m assigning him several more subordinates."
"If awakening Haki is the reward..."
"What does it matter if he destroys ten or even eight warships?"
He suddenly turned toward Zephyr.
"Quick."
"Where are they now?"
Still dazed by Sengoku’s dramatic change in attitude, Zephyr hurriedly checked the report again.
"According to Ain..."
"They’re approaching the Gate of Justice beneath the Red Line."
"Once they pass through it..."
"They’ll ride the sea current straight toward Impel Down."
"As soon as the prisoner handover is completed..."
"The escort mission will be finished."
"The Red Line..."
"The Gate of Justice..."
Sengoku’s expression suddenly froze.
Then his face turned deathly pale.
"Damn it!"
"How could I forget about that?"
"So that’s why my eyelids have been twitching these past few days."
"With the way that brat never does anything by the book..."
"I just hope he doesn’t run into those troublesome people."
"Otherwise..."
"Cleaning up after him is going to be a nightmare."