Chapter 177

Author's note: I am once again asking for your questions!

I got several questions yesterday but it's not enough! Come on people put some spirit into it!

Here are two examples of questions you can ask:

Hey Law, how do you feel to be a member of the silver hand pirates, along with Bepo?

Hey Johnny. What do you hope to achieve with your new life in the one-piece universe long-term?

You can ask questions like these or go crazy with them! It's your choice!

And yes someone already asked those two questions already, and they will be answered in the first character interviews chapter!

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Inside the marine ford, the fleet admiral's office.

Fleet admiral Sengoku The Buddha buried his head into his desk, going over reports sent by the various marine branches leaders from all over the world.

He sighed as he looked up, pausing his work for a second, only to bury his head back into paperwork, trying to ignore the existence of vice-admiral Garp as the latter sat leisurely on a sofa engorging himself on a pack of rice crackers. His rice crackers.

The sound of a transponder snail suddenly rang, making Sengoku pause his work as he picked up the ringing snail from his desk, clearing his throat before answering.

"Report," the fleet admiral flatly remarked as the transponder snail grew a dark red mohawk and a long, thin mustache.

"This is vice admiral Momonga," the transponder snail spoke in Momonga's voice, its tone hard to read. "I'm calling to report the result of our mission," the vice-admiral added, making Sengoku frown at the slight hesitance he detected in Momonga's tone.

"I'm ashamed to report that the mission was a failure," Vice-admiral Momonga stated in a resolute tone after several seconds of silence. "The target has managed to escape," he added, going silent as he waited for the fleet admiral to process his words.

"What happened?" The fleet admiral asked after pausing for several seconds out of shock himself. However, Garp didn't miss the slightly relieved expression his old friend let slip for a sliver of a second.

"The target proved more powerful than we anticipated..." Momonga replied, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words. "And there was interference from a third party as well..." he added, his even tone cracking at the end of his sentence, frustration audible within it.

"Elaborate," Sengoku instructed, closing his eyes and holding back a sigh as he noticed Garp's ears twitching as he listened to the conversation with wrapt attention, Momonga proceeding to explain the happenings that took place in Alabasta.

...

"I see," Sengoku said in a calm tone after listening to Momonga's report. "You and the others may return to your original posts," he added, his eyes glancing over several reports about revolutionary army members taking advantage of the vice admirals' absence and stirring trouble.

"What about our punishment for failing the mission, sir?" Momonga asked, seemingly confused about why the fleet admiral didn't mention anything about the consequences of their failure.

"We are short-handed as it is, Momonga," Sengoku replied, letting out a heavy, tired sigh for the first time since he picked up the call, despite feeling the urge to do it multiple times during the conversation.

"We'll talk about your punishments when your presence in the field is no longer required," Sengoku concluded, hanging up the call while shaking his head, a tired expression on his aged face.

"HAHAHAHA!" Garp suddenly started raucously laughing as the fleet admiral ended the call, making the latter's eyes twitch.

"What the hell do you find so funny, Garp, you bastard?" Sengoku exclaimed, snatching an empty cup of coffee from his desk and throwing at the laughing vice admiral's head.

"Six admirals ganging up on some kid and failing to capture him!" Garp exclaimed, laughing loudly with tears flowing out of his eyes as he dodged the flying cup of coffee.

"How can you not find that funny, Sengoku?" Garp asked, taking a deep breath to calm himself as he wiped a tear from his eye, making the latter message his forehead as he felt an incoming headache.

"What do those scumbags from above want from the kid, anyway?" Garp asked, picking his ear as he suddenly froze after getting a glare from the fleet admiral.

"Forget I said that," Garp said with a deadpan expression, dismissively waving off his previous statement as he gestured with his right hand.

"I meant what do the people from above want from the kid, anyway?" he added, pausing for a second to see if he had unknowingly insulted the celestial dragons again and only nodding in satisfaction once sure he didn't do it again.

"You've sent six vice admirals after the poor kid," Garp remarked, giving the fleet admiral a skeptical side glance. "The world government even lost two countries because of this farce..." he added, gesturing towards the many reports littering Sengoku's desk.

"You can't tell me they haven't predicted that foolish son of mine would miss a golden chance like this when six vice admirals suddenly leave their posts?" he concluded, raising an eyebrow at the fleet admiral.

"I keep forgetting how surprisingly sharp you can be... when chose to be, at least," Sengoku muttered under his breath, shaking his head in exasperation at his old friend.

"But I'm afraid I'm just as in the dark as you are..." the fleet admiral remarked, his expression frustrated. "All I know is that the order came from as high as an order could come from..." he added, ominously trailing off as he buried his head back into his paperwork.

...

"It looks like your new friend managed to escape with all his limbs attached..." Nico Robin said as she slowly approached Crocodile, the latter standing in the street with a neutral expression, gazing at his ruined casino.

"Good," Crocodile muttered, amusement in his tone as he gave Nico Robin a side glance. "That way, I can find the brat and kill him myself later," he added with a chuckle.

"What about the officer agents?" Crocodile asked as he suddenly remembered the existence of his subordinates.

"They're still alive, most of them severely injured, but still alive," Nico Robin replied, hesitating for a second before she continued. "What do you plan to do about them?" she asked in a cautious tone as she already knew Crocodile's perspective on failure.

"If it was one or two of them failing, then I'll kill the worthless bastards and be done with it, but..." Crocodile replied, pausing as he deliberated the pros and cons of getting rid of the officer agents.

"I still need people to do my errand, so I'll make an exception just this once since it'll be troublesome replacing them all..." Crocodile explained as he began turning into sand. "But tell them there won't be a second time..." he concluded, fully turning into sand as he disappeared, leaving a thoughtful-looking Robin to stare at the ruined casino on her own.