Chapter 106: No Ambition

When Garp returned to his dog-headed warship, he found the Marine officers who had been knocked unconscious.

Silvers Rayleigh, who had been pretending to be dead, had vanished. The Straw Hat Pirates were also nowhere to be seen.

"Bogard, what happened?"

Garp sighed and woke Bogard.

"Vice Admiral Garp, Rayleigh woke up while you were fighting Caelan and watched the battle with Luffy and the others."

"When the battle ended, he knocked us unconscious and disappeared."

"It's our fault. We didn't keep our eyes on him."

Bogard lowered his head, guilt heavy in his voice.

"Don't blame yourselves. How could you keep watch over the vice-captain of the Pirate King?"

"This one's on me. I was too careless."

Garp sighed again, taking responsibility.

They had underestimated Caelan. They had thought that the strength of three top fighters would be enough to bring him down quickly.

But they never expected Caelan to be so powerful. He had fought evenly against the three of them, even returning from the brink of death to suppress them all.

"This time… the losses were serious."

Even for someone as cheerful as Garp, his mood was heavy.

Rayleigh escaped. Their 3.8 billion Berry bounty was gone.

Caelan escaped and took a candidate admiral with him.

Three top-level fighters couldn't bring him down. The Navy's reputation had suffered a huge blow.

Caelan had manipulated the Buster Call into bombarding the Celestial Dragons, triggering a conflict between the World Government and the Navy.

And the fallout from this incident was far from over. What would Caelan do next? How would they stop him? Would the pirates in the New World go on a rampage?

When Garp, Borsalino, and Akainu returned to Navy Headquarters, Sengoku's head was on the verge of exploding. He immediately convened a high-level emergency meeting.

"Bounty hunter Caelan Alaric destroyed the CP9 organization three days ago and attacked two Celestial Dragons today."

"Admirals Borsalino and Akainu, along with Vice Admiral Garp, were unable to bring him down. Caelan broke through their siege and abducted Vice Admiral Gion."

Sengoku's expression was grave, and every word he spoke made his heart ache.

The man he had once hoped to recruit had ultimately turned against the World Government.

What made it worse was the enormous cost of the mission.

After deploying so many elite forces, they had achieved nothing—no victory, and even lost a candidate admiral. Sengoku couldn't even describe the frustration he felt.

"How is this possible? He was fine before. How did things spiral into something so serious!?"

"Exactly! And two admirals plus Vice Admiral Garp couldn't beat him?!"

The room erupted into disbelief. Many officers were stunned and couldn't believe the report.

But the evidence was right in front of them—detailed battle reports, Akainu wrapped in bandages, Garp with bruises, and Borsalino looking completely drained.

They had no choice but to accept it.

"As much as we don't want to admit it, the three of us really couldn't defeat him."

Borsalino's face was partly hidden as he responded to everyone's doubts.

"Yeah, that Caelan kid's as strong as a monster!"

Garp laughed bitterly and nodded, hiding nothing.

Even Akainu, usually quick to anger, remained silent, only frowning in frustration.

A collective gasp echoed through the conference room.

The three top fighters of the Navy couldn't defeat Caelan. It was beyond anything they had expected.

Admirals were the strongest individuals within the Navy, capable of going toe-to-toe with the Four Emperors.

"To take on three of them at once… even the Four Emperors wouldn't dare claim they could do that. But he actually did."

Vice Admiral Momonga recalled the events on Jaya Island and murmured to himself.

Back then, he had been worried when Caelan clashed with Doflamingo. But now? Caelan had taken things even further—defeating Aokiji, and now holding his ground against two Admirals and a legendary Vice Admiral.

With such combat power, Doflamingo would probably wet himself at the sight of him now.

It was just a shame. How had such a man ended up on a collision course with the World Government?

No matter how disgusting the Celestial Dragons were, couldn't he have just endured it?

Momonga was filled with regret.

It was a loss that a man so powerful and righteous had become their enemy.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what should we do?"

"Can we even fight Caelan, who was able to suppress Admiral Akainu and the others?"

Two vice admirals spoke up, their voices tinged with hesitation.

They understood how powerful Admirals were. For ordinary vice admirals like them, the gap was simply too large.

Caelan, who had held off three top-level fighters, had already become something beyond their understanding.

All eyes turned to Sengoku. Even Garp didn't speak. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

Three top fighters couldn't defeat Caelan.

Was that even reasonable?

A force like his had never existed before—not even among the Four Emperors.

But the facts were undeniable. The records, the witnesses, the injured—they all pointed to one conclusion.

If three Admirals couldn't bring him down… what could the Navy do?

Would they have to send every high-ranking officer to hunt him down?

And even if Caelan didn't escape, wouldn't he be able to kill at least two of them before dying?

If all their forces were tied up chasing Caelan, who would keep the Four Emperors in check?

The more they thought about it, the heavier the room became.

Sengoku scanned the conference room. It was shrouded in silence. The normally cheerful doves were quiet. The proud hawks looked defeated.

Half of the Navy's strongest had failed against Caelan. The blow to morale was immense.

Sengoku knew he had to do something. He had to rally them.

"Just a few days ago, everything was running smoothly."

"But now, after just two or three days, we've been reduced to this."

"Can the fate of the Navy really be determined by one man named Caelan?"

"Back then, Rocks D. Xebec was in his prime… and we still brought him down."

"This is just one man—Caelan. We can handle him!"

Sengoku slapped the table, his voice deep and firm.

"Yes, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

The vice admirals were jolted back to their senses, their morale reigniting.

Countless monsters had risen in this sea. Many had dominated entire eras. But in the end, it was always the Navy that held the line.

Even Rocks D. Xebec, who once tried to overthrow the World Government, was ultimately eliminated.

Caelan might be terrifying now, but he hadn't even entered the New World. He wasn't on Rocks' level.

"Ah…"

Sengoku looked at the now-energized vice admirals and sighed inwardly.

He didn't feel as confident as he appeared.

Garp, Akainu, and Borsalino had all fought Caelan. They knew this morale boost was just talk.

In truth, none of them were confident in defeating Caelan.

The comparison to Rocks was apt. But unlike back then, there was no Roger to help them corner and eliminate Caelan.

The only consolation was that Caelan's forces weren't extensive yet. And unlike Rocks, he didn't seem to have ambitions of world domination.

(To be continued.)

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