chapter 65. Why are you so skilled?

The base commander stood at the port with a face full of resentment, waving goodbye to the battleship of the Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. Yesterday, he had spent an entire day being tormented by those bureaucrats who never got up early in the government offices.

 The calamity-bringers from Headquarters had stormed in with their troops, carrying out a brutal slaughter, and then left behind a huge mess for the stationed Marine base to clean up. That magma logia had laid down a thick layer of dark red molten rock across the streets in the combat zone.

Although afterward, the Logia ability user personally came forward to absorb back all the scattered troublesome residues with his magma, the destruction caused by bomb explosions during the battle, the houses ruined, and the entire street that had been melted through—handling the aftermath of all this was a major headache.

As the face of the World Government, according to explicit regulations, these costs should logically be coordinated and distributed between the Marine Headquarters and the local government departments.

Yet, seeing an opportunity to gain benefits, the bureaucrats stationed in the World Government office on Sabaody Archipelago immediately proposed that the entire expense of this pirate-cleansing operation should be fully borne by the Marine base stationed in Sabaody Archipelago.

Unless, of course, the battle merits report submitted to the government and Marine high command happened to include the names of a few of their officials.

Their reasoning was simple: the government departments had never requested Marine Headquarters to deploy a Vice Admiral to assist Sabaody Archipelago, so any damage caused by the Marines' actions should be compensated entirely by the Marines themselves.

Their argument sounded reasonable and well-founded, but for the Marines negotiating the cost distribution, it was absolutely chilling: when they needed support, they treated the Marines like revered lords, yet when they no longer needed them, they kicked them away without hesitation.

The intelligence gathering was done by the stationed Marine base, the pirate capture was carried out by the Headquarters Marines, and now that it was time to claim credit, the government department shamelessly squeezed their way in.

Not to mention, a routine extermination battle like this was unlikely to even catch the attention of the Five Elders, who were buried in countless affairs. Anyone with half a brain could see that these government officials were simply looking to ride on the coattails of military achievements to advance their careers.

Similar situations had happened before. If this time, the main force annihilating the pirates had been led by the base commander himself, then as long as the other party was willing to pay for the aftermath, it wouldn't have been impossible to let those power-hungry scoundrels take a share of the credit. But this time, it had been a Headquarters Vice Admiral in charge.

The highest-ranking officer of the base ultimately decided to call Sakazuki, hoping to hear the opinion of the man directly involved.

"This time, Headquarters will cover the entire compensation. It's just one city block—Marine Headquarters can afford it."

Sakazuki, sipping his coffee, gave an even more ruthless response. These bureaucrats just wanted to use the cleanup negotiations and the compensation issue to force the government office stationed on Sabaody Archipelago into participating.

"Since they claim they never requested support from Headquarters, how could these esteemed gentlemen possibly have the nerve to contribute to the compensation?"

The base commander, feeling both relieved and elated, thought, You should've said this earlier! I wasted an entire day being humiliated in the World Government office for nothing.

So, really, you with your overwhelmingly destructive Logia ability should just stay put in Headquarters! What are you doing coming to Sabaody Archipelago and causing a scene?!

With a complicated look, the base commander watched as Sakazuki's battleship sailed away.

"Vice Admiral, should we proceed with our planned journey to Fish-Man Island?"

Standing beside Sakazuki, Onigumo asked softly.

The Five Elders still hadn't responded, and without an official order from the Fleet Admiral, Sakazuki, as a Vice Admiral of Headquarters, couldn't just loiter in Sabaody Archipelago waiting for instructions.

"No, the Five Elders have been delaying their decision for too long. We'll return to Headquarters and await further orders."

Sakazuki figured that the Five Elders were waiting for the right opportunity. Since they hadn't outright rejected his proposal, it meant there was still room for negotiation. However, what exactly that opportunity would be, even he couldn't guess at the moment.

Since they were heading back to Headquarters to await orders, Sakazuki thought for a moment before speaking again:

"Onigumo, I have a special mission for you."

The Rear Admiral straightened up and immediately responded, "Your orders, sir!"

"Operation codename: [Flying Dragon]. Come closer..."

———————————————————————————————————————

"Report! Sakazuki, returning for debriefing!"

With a solemn expression, the Vice Admiral stood outside the door, unfazed by the hearty laughter coming from inside the office.

"Enter!"

There was a hint of amusement in Kong's voice. The burly Vice Admiral stepped inside as ordered.

Perhaps it was just an illusion, but it seemed like the Fleet Admiral had changed to a new desk. However, Sakazuki quickly dismissed the thought, as his attention shifted to the tape recorder on the desk playing his own voice.

Now he understood what they had been laughing about.

But since Garp was obviously not the type to run off complaining just because he had been confronted, it was clear that the tape had been deliberately presented as an open scheme by the Marine hero himself.

He wanted the two men in front of him to know about this matter—he wanted Roger's child to enter Marine Headquarters under circumstances where everyone was fully aware that Garp was looking to adopt a new son.

That old bastard might always act carefree, but this time, he had played an openly brilliant move.

Naturally, Sakazuki wouldn't pretend not to see through it. "Fleet Admiral, what is this?"

"I heard you really pissed off Garp, Sakazuki," Kong said, stroking his desk with deep meaning.

"...."

Sakazuki's face twitched slightly. The feeling of being the accused party despite not being at fault was truly bizarre. Even though he knew Garp was just playing along with the act, Garp-san, why are you so damn good at this?!

Wasn't I the one who was furious first?

Sengoku leisurely added, "Garp stormed in and smashed Kong's desk to pieces, saying he popped a few blood vessels because of you, that magma brat. Then he announced he was heading out to find a talented adopted son to restore his dignity."

"I call bullshit! That old bastard has never had any shame, yet he dares to say something like that?"

Finally, Sengoku, who was always infuriated by Garp, felt vindicated.

"Sakazuki, well done. That guy will finally calm down for a while."

Sakazuki suddenly understood. No wonder Garp was nowhere to be seen—he was making sure this plan moved forward as quickly as possible.

Garp's words and actions perfectly matched his personality, but damn it, even you can act now? The Vice Admiral couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Sakazuki cut to the point, asking concisely, "Fleet Admiral, do you believe I was in the wrong?"

"Wrong! Garp is your senior—how could you talk to him like that?"

Kong put on a stern face and scolded him, but at the same time, he extended both thumbs up at Sakazuki.

"This is simply insane !"

"Understood! I will personally visit Garp-san at a later date to apologize !"

Seeing his superior speaking in diplomatic code with a straight face and his trusted subordinate knowingly playing along, Sengoku had a sudden realization.

In the future, all this underhanded scheming can be left to Sakazuki!

Kong, being the Fleet Admiral, knew exactly how to shift the atmosphere, and after some friendly banter, he moved on to the main topic.

"Alright, enough jokes. There's something you should know—don't be discouraged. The Five Elders contacted me earlier and decided to temporarily postpone your plan to station troops at Fish-Man Island. Instead, they want to implement it alongside another major operation that is still being drafted, to be executed in one year."

Sakazuki frowned. "Only temporarily postponed? The Five Elders didn't outright reject it?"

"That's correct."

"Understood. Fleet Admiral, Admiral, I have another request that requires your approval."

"?!"

"I would like to take a leave of absence for a period of time to train my Logia ability. I have recently found a general direction for improvement."