"Hello? Hello? Is Sengoku there? Can you hear me? This is weird… no sound at all..."
On the deck of the warship, Kizaru held the den-den mushi, looking puzzled.
A Marine approached him, ready to report on the still-unconscious Celestial Dragon. When he noticed the den-den mushi Kizaru was holding, he awkwardly said, "Admiral Kizaru, you've got the wrong one..."
Kizaru glanced at the black little den-den mushi in his hand, sighed, and put it back into his coat. He then pulled out the correct one and dialed again.
"Hello?" he said, and this time, Sengoku's voice came through, tense.
"What's the situation over there?" Sengoku asked.
"On the way back," Kizaru replied.
"Huh? You're already returning?"
"Yeah..." Kizaru scratched his head, sounding lazy as ever. "There was a little... incident."
Sengoku frowned, growing more concerned. "An incident? Did something happen to the Celestial Dragon?"
Sengoku's biggest fear was that something had happened to the Celestial Dragon who had insisted on going to Amazon Lily. If anything really went wrong, the World Government wouldn't let it slide, especially not for Kizaru.
Kizaru, ever casual, responded, "He's not dead. He's just missing... something."
"Missing something?" Sengoku was confused. "What exactly is missing?"
"Well, let's just say he won't be having any descendants."
Sengoku's face turned pale as he processed Kizaru's words. "What happened? Who did this? Boa Hancock or... was it Takumi's crew?"
"It was Takumi's crew."
"And where are they now? Since you're on your way back, does that mean you took them out?"
"No."
Sengoku could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You let them go?"
Kizaru, looking to shift the blame, said, "I was planning to kill them, but the Celestial Dragon insisted I take them as slaves. Then, well, they captured him."
Sengoku's expression darkened. "Did you not stop them?"
Kizaru shrugged. "I wanted to, but the Celestial Dragon ordered me to catch Takumi's crew. I went after them, and while I was doing that, Takumi's crew pulled a fast one and grabbed him. And I was all alone, getting bullied by three terrifying guys. It was tragic."
Sengoku could barely contain his disbelief. I almost bought that...
No one knew his Admirals better than Sengoku, and he wasn't about to fall for Kizaru's excuses.
"Enough of that nonsense," Sengoku sighed. "Just get the Celestial Dragon back safely. Though this is going to be a pain… you need to figure out a way to make sure he keeps everything that happened on Amazon Lily to himself. I'll handle the rest."
"Aw, come on. He outranks me by a lot," Kizaru complained. "I can't just make him keep quiet, especially since I can't use force. How am I supposed to do that?"
"I don't care how you do it—threaten him, bribe him, whatever it takes. If you don't want to get demoted, find a way to shut him up."
"Fine, fine, I get it," Kizaru sighed again. "So much trouble... everyone's just out to make my life difficult."
Sengoku, not in the mood for more of Kizaru's whining, cut the conversation short. "Just hurry back to Marineford."
"Got it," Kizaru replied before Sengoku hung up.
Just then, Garp strolled into the office, holding two bags of senbei crackers, grinning ear to ear.
"Sengoku, want some senbei?" Garp said, tossing one of the bags over to Sengoku.
Catching it, Sengoku raised an eyebrow. "You're being awfully generous today. You're not about to ask for leave again, are you?"
Garp scoffed, dropping into a chair and tearing into his own bag of senbei. Munching on a handful, he said, "No way. I just got a call from Windmill Village. Apparently, Luffy took down a massive crocodile all by himself! Hahaha! That's my grandson for you—only twelve, and already handling things that grown men can't! One day, he'll be a top-notch Marine, just you wait!"
Sengoku chuckled, shaking his head. "You've told me about your grandson a million times, Garp. My ears are going numb. If you're that keen on making him a Marine, why not just send him to the academy already?"
"No way!" Garp protested. "The academy's too rigid. There's no better training than what I can give him! I know him best, and he's destined for greatness, I tell you—he'll be a man known across the entire world one day!"
"Yeah, yeah, your grandson's amazing, I get it," Sengoku sighed, exasperated. "I've got a real headache right now. Since you're here, how about helping me figure this mess out?"
Still munching on senbei, Garp asked, "What's the problem this time? Pirates or Takumi?"
"Neither," Sengoku replied, massaging his temples. "It's about the Celestial Dragons..."
Garp frowned. "The Celestial Dragons? Don't tell me one of them got killed again?"
"No, not quite," Sengoku said with a weary smile. "Kizaru went to Amazon Lily to catch Takumi, as ordered by the Five Elders. But a Celestial Dragon insisted on tagging along, and ended up getting captured by Takumi's crew. According to Kizaru, he was ordered to capture Takumi's group alive, but while trying to do that, they managed to ambush him."
Garp paused, halfway through grabbing another handful of senbei. "So, what happened to the Celestial Dragon? Is he missing an arm, or is he still a hostage?"
"Takumi let him go… but, well, they castrated him. That's what Kizaru said, at least."
As soon as Sengoku finished, Garp burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Serves him right! Hahaha!"
"Garp!" Sengoku scolded, his face grim. "This is no time for jokes. This situation is already bad enough. If the Five Elders find out, there'll be hell to pay. A lot of people could end up getting punished."
"Calm down, don't panic," Garp grinned, unfazed. "This whole mess is that Celestial Dragon's fault for tagging along. As long as he doesn't talk, no one has to know."
Sengoku wasn't convinced. "You know how they are. Do you really think he'll just let it go?"
"Why not?" Garp said, flashing a toothy smile. "With the right approach, there's no problem that can't be solved. Call Kizaru back—I'll tell him what to do."
Back on the warship...
After listening to Garp's suggestion, Kizaru stroked his chin thoughtfully.
A few moments later, a Marine reported that the Celestial Dragon had woken up and was throwing a tantrum, smashing everything in sight.
Since no one dared approach the Celestial Dragon, they had come to Kizaru for help.
Kizaru waved the Marine off, making his way to the Celestial Dragon's quarters.
As soon as the Celestial Dragon saw Kizaru, he hurled a teacup at him in a fit of rage.
Kizaru easily dodged it, the cup shattering against the wall behind him.
"You bastards! I'm going to make sure every single one of you pays for this!" the Celestial Dragon screamed.
Kizaru, feigning humility, said, "That's going to be tough, you know. If we pay, you'll be paying with us, and that won't look good for you, now will it?"