Chapter 105: Visiting Garp
Marine Headquarters, Marineford
Rodney, carrying a longsword and a large bag, was led by a Marine to the office of the Fleet Admiral.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Come in."
The voice of Fleet Admiral Sengoku came from inside.
"Yes."
The Marine brought Rodney in, and as soon as they entered, Rodney saw Admiral Kizaru dozing off on the couch, and Admiral Sengoku busy at his desk.
Busy as a bee, relaxed as a sloth.
"Reporting, Fleet Admiral, the Shichibukai Rodney is here."
"Hmm."
The Marine left, and Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked up, sizing up the young man in front of him. He appeared to be in his twenties, standing less than two meters tall, with a well-built physique. Every muscle in his body exuded explosive power, evenly distributed throughout, quite pleasing to the eye.
Good-looking, but a bit carefree.
"Please have a seat." Seeing the entire couch occupied by Garp, Sengoku's face darkened, and he shouted, "Garp!"
Garp's snot bubble burst, "Haha, sleeping again, huh, hahaha!"
"Oh, Vice Admiral Garp, how have you been?" Rodney greeted familiarly.
"Oh, Rodney, my boy, I've been fine. What have you got there?" Garp's gaze fell on Rodney's bag, bypassing Observation Haki, and he asked.
Sengoku looked puzzled. He had used Observation Haki the moment he saw it. It wasn't anything dangerous; instead, it was something they liked. What was this kid here for?
Rodney put down the package on his back and immediately unpacked it, revealing a pile of donuts, some cream puffs, and high-quality tea leaves he had bought in Sabaody Archipelago.
He said, "I came here today just to see you. These donuts are from whom you bought them, the cream puffs are for Fleet Admiral Sengoku, as a thank you for the advice last time. Oh, and this tea is for Vice Admiral Tsuru. I didn't know what she liked, so I bought this."
His demeanor was clearly that of comforting an elder.
Sengoku thought this way, but Garp just laughed, "As expected, I taught you well! I'll take these." Without much ado, he picked up a box of donuts and started eating, saying, "Sengoku, you should eat too. This is a young man's goodwill."
"Hmph! If he could stay out of trouble a bit, that would be good. Last time, he almost got into a fight with the Celestial Dragons. If it weren't for this kid knowing when to stop, it could have caused trouble for Kizaru," Sengoku said. Although he spoke this way, he brewed a pot of tea with the tea leaves Rodney had brought and offered Rodney a seat. The two old men and the young man sat together like this.
"Hmm, it's pretty good tea." Tasting the tea, Sengoku nodded slightly, his expression always stern but somewhat relaxed.
Despite his appearance, once he had shed the responsibilities of the Fleet Admiral, he had completely let loose. Not only had he turned completely gray in just two years, but his attire had also become as casual as Rayleigh's: a floral shirt, beach pants, and flip-flops. His character had transformed from seriousness to a quirky sense of humor.
Or perhaps this was his true self. His true self, the good friend of Garp, was very likely a bit of a goofball.
Birds of a feather flock together and people who enjoy goofing around together are bound to be goofballs.
In reality, Sengoku was just an amiable old man, well, sometimes he turned into a goofball.
"Hahaha, these donuts are really good!" Garp said while eating his favorite donuts. Rodney had chosen well to match his tastes. In fact, this old man was not picky at all.
Sengoku, because there was an outsider present, savored the treats slowly and said, "Rodney, you've been causing quite a bit of trouble lately, haven't you?"
He looked up and saw Rodney eyeing the goats he kept with great interest.
"Oh? Interested in goats, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?" Rodney laughed.
"I've wanted to eat them for a long time. Sengoku, do you want one, old man?"
Sengoku slapped his face at Garp's remarks, "Enough, Garp! Rodney! You two listen to me!"
"Oh, sorry, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, it's a habit," Rodney said, somewhat embarrassed.
Garp, on the other hand, chuckled, "Don't be like this, Sengoku. I've been craving goat's meat for a long time."
"Shut up, Garp!" Sengoku's spittle landed on Garp's face. Garp casually wiped it off, "Don't say it like that. This kid is no trouble; those Celestial Dragons were asking for it."
In Garp's eyes, Celestial Dragons were garbage.
"Yeah, I think so too. I didn't want to kill them, just teach them a lesson," Rodney said.
"You've only been at sea for how long? Plus, with your time in the East Blue, it's only been a year. You've managed to stir up so much trouble in a year. Are you here specifically to cause trouble?" Sengoku counted the time Rodney had spent on his journey and eliminated some unnecessary time. That meant Rodney had been causing trouble the entire way.
What exactly did he want?
"It's not like that; I just wanted to get rid of them."
Was this kid always so arrogant?
"Haha, it's good for young people to be full of spirit!" Garp patted Rodney's back with a hand as big as a fan.
Thanks to years of training, he didn't cough up blood this time, but it still felt uncomfortable. The old man's heavy-handedness was either a habit or intentional.
He seemed to hear the echo of his own internal organs...
Garp's eyes lit up. Rodney's physical fitness was much better now than when he first met him. "You know, young man, instead of being a Shichibukai, why don't you join the Marines? If you nod right now, Sengoku will agree to let you in! With your abilities, becoming an Admiral is not impossible."
The old man had his old habit again, bringing up the past and wanting him to join the Marines.
"Shut up, Garp! Becoming an Admiral isn't so easy!"
For someone like Rodney, who was an outsider, becoming a Vice Admiral was already pushing the limit. It was almost impossible for him to become an Admiral unless there were no young candidates to succeed the current Admirals. Otherwise, promoting an outsider to Admiral was almost impossible.
Internal promotions were always better than outsiders.
"Hmm, tempting offer, but I'm not interested. Thank you for your kind offer, Admiral Kizaru." Rodney shook his head. He didn't want to be part of the Marines; there were too many rules, and he didn't want to inadvertently violate them.
"That's too bad."
"How are you handling Judge? He's already sent a request to the Marines to send troops to deal with you." Sengoku didn't want to meddle in Rodney and Judge's affairs. Your troubles shouldn't interfere with my work.
Rodney's actions hadn't violated any World Government laws. The Shichibukai had certain extra privileges. Using a prince of a kingdom to threaten the king was originally not allowed, but considering the special circumstances of the Germa Kingdom and that they had initiated the attack, and the victim, Rodney, demanded compensation, it all made sense. Rodney didn't want to fight over this.
"Oh? He hasn't given up yet?"
He hadn't expected that Judge hadn't reached a dead end yet. Fortunately, he was in the right, but it seemed that he needed to add fuel to the fire and make that guy pay up.
Judge, you've been in my calculations from the beginning.