On the deck of the Marine warship, the sea breeze whistled by, stirring up gusts of salty air.
Sengoku stood with his hands behind his back, watching the xuanjin ark fade into a black shadow and disappear completely at the horizon where the sea met the sky.
A trace of exhaustion appeared on his wrinkled face, and he couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
He said to Garp, who was beside him:
“Ever since Roger shouted those words, the Great Pirate Era has completely spiraled out of control.
The pirates on the sea are getting stronger and stronger, and their forces are growing larger.
Monsters like Dar who appear out of nowhere are popping up one after another…”
Garp, however, remained as nonchalant as ever.
He pulled a bag of senbei from who knows where, crunching on them with relish, and spoke indistinctly:
“Not all pirates are bad people.
From what I saw, that kid, although he hit a bit hard, doesn’t seem like a bad guy…”
Sengoku was instantly so infuriated that the veins on his forehead bulged, and he slammed a palm onto Garp’s back.
The senbei in Garp’s mouth nearly flew out, and he choked, his eyes bulging.
“Garp!
You idiot, there is no distinction between good and bad pirates; they are all sinners who disrupt the balance of the world.”
“And—that’s my senbei!
Don’t steal it!”
Startled by Sengoku’s sudden outburst of rage, Garp clutched his bag of senbei and vanished in a flash.
Sengoku looked at the empty corridor and sighed again.
This mission could be considered a total failure.
Bullet was rescued from under the Marines’ noses in public, and the Buster Call became a massive joke.
Once this news spreads, it will undoubtedly be a devastating blow to the Marine’s authority.
Those pirates who were originally suppressed by the Marines and dared not act rashly will surely use this incident to stir up trouble on the sea again; the chaotic world will only become more chaotic.
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached, so Sengoku simply stopped dwelling on it.
He is only an Admiral right now; this kind of mess should be left for Fleet Admiral Kong to worry about.
Turning around to return to the cabin, the warship slowly changed direction and headed toward the Marine headquarters, Marineford.
On the other side.
On the xuanjin ark, Dar had just flown back into the cabin while grabbing the unconscious Bullet when his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air.
In that battle just now, he had long been at the end of his rope, relying solely on an unyielding will to force himself to hold on until now.
This lesson made him clearly realize—he had underestimated the world’s top powerhouses too much.
Figures like Garp and Sengoku, who stood at the pinnacle of the world, were still a bit out of his league with his current strength, not to mention both of them together.
He absolutely couldn’t be so reckless in the future; he had to keep a low profile and develop.
“I’m only seventeen, the golden age for a surge in strength.
It won’t be too late to go out and be reckless once my body is fully grown.”
A small and cute beast-eared girl projection slowly materialized beside him; it was Angela, the ark’s intelligent assistant.
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a hint of worry: “Master, scans show multiple injuries on your body.
Do you need to enter the medical pod for treatment immediately?”
“Talk about that later.”
Lying on the floor, Dar pulled a large piece of roasted meat he had prepared in advance from his system space and began to devour it ravenously.
In the battle just now, his Armament Haki had broken through and improved again.
Coupled with his severe injuries, the greatest discomfort he felt at this moment was—hunger, extreme hunger.
Half an hour later, Dar let out a satisfied burp.
Beside him, a small mountain of bones had piled up.
The unlucky Bullet was buried directly underneath the bones, with only half his body exposed.
Dar slowly stood up and casually stretched his limbs.
It had to be said, the physiques of people in the One Piece world were truly terrifying.
Although Dar didn’t have the monstrous constitution of Luffy, who could recover to full health just by doing sit-ups on the spot.
But after a full meal, most of his injuries had improved, and he had regained quite a bit of strength.
He reached out to push aside the pile of bones, dragged the battered Bullet out, carried him all the way into the medical pod, and placed him on a huge flat treatment instrument.
“Angela, scan him.”
“Understood, Master.”
The instrument started immediately.
Two mechanical arms slowly extended, emitting a faint red light, scanning back and forth over Bullet.
On the giant screen beside them, a 3D high-definition holographic image of Bullet’s entire body was instantly projected, with bones, internal organs, and blood vessels clearly visible.
Although Dar didn’t know medicine, he could still feel his scalp tingle just looking at it—
All over Bullet’s body, there was almost not a single bone left intact.
They were densely covered in cracks, and in many places, they were even completely shattered.
A cold mechanical voice sounded, clearly reporting the injuries:
“Report: The patient has multiple comminuted fractures throughout the body.
The skull, rib cage, spine, and limbs have extensive bone fractures; there are severe lacerations to multiple internal organs, blood and fluid accumulation in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, and vital signs are extremely weak.”
Dar couldn’t help but wince as he listened.
With these injuries, any ordinary person would have been dead long ago.
The battle was too chaotic at the time, so he hadn’t noticed, but thinking about it now, the aftermath of Garp’s final punch must have definitely affected this unlucky guy.
“Perform the highest priority treatment immediately.
You must heal him!” Dar ordered without hesitation.
Are you kidding?
Bullet was a combat force he had risked his life to snatch back from two top powerhouses, Garp and Sengoku.
If he just died like this, or if he sustained permanent damage that affected his strength, it would be a huge loss.
Dar was still counting on him to become the first official crew member on his ship.
“Received, Master.”
As soon as Angela finished speaking, the two mechanical arms that had been scanning quickly retracted.
The next second, eight mechanical arms popped out simultaneously!
Some held sharp scalpels, some held suture needles and thread, some held pliers to fix bone fractures, and the most ridiculous part was, one of the arms was actually carrying a shiny hammer.
Dar’s eye twitched as he watched, and he couldn’t help but ask weakly:
“Angela…
is this treatment method of yours really reliable?”
The beast-eared girl projection bowed gently and revealed a sweet smile: “Rest assured, Master, we are professionals.”
Dar shuddered inexplicably and didn’t dare to look anymore.
“Fine, as long as you can heal him, I’m going to sleep first.”
He turned and walked into the bedroom, collapsed onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
The exhaustion brought on by the intense battle overwhelmed him completely, like a tidal wave.