One Piece: King of the World

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Let Sengoku Find a Celestial Dragon Wife?

At Naval Headquarters in Marineford, in Admiral Sengoku's office, a small group had gathered: Garp, Tsuru, Zephyr, Gion, Kuzan, and a few others. This wasn't an official meeting, just a casual get-together during a rare break in their busy schedules.

For almost a year now, they had been relentlessly chasing leads all over the world, trying to find Roger. As a result, they hadn't seen much of each other lately. So, now that everyone happened to be in the same place, they decided to gather in Sengoku's office to catch up and share any new information.

"There were rumors that Scopper Gaban was in West Blue," Kuzan said lazily. "I went there, checked it out, but found nothing. It was a complete waste of time."

Gion teased, "If you had found him, maybe you would've been defeated."

"Hey now, I'm pretty strong, okay?" Kuzan shot back with a grin. "You're looking at an Admiral candidate here. Speaking of which, we've got two open Admiral slots, why not just give me one?"

Sengoku rolled his eyes. "You're still too green, Kuzan. Sure, you've got the strength, but you lack experience and the other qualifications. Be patient and wait your turn."

"See? You guys keep saying you want to fill all three Admiral positions, but here I am, offering myself up, and still no takers," Kuzan said, waving his hand dramatically.

Of course, he was joking. Kuzan knew perfectly well that he still had a lot to learn before taking on the mantle of Admiral.

"I ran into Douglas Bullet in the New World," Garp said between bites of senbei. "But since he's been away from Roger's crew for a long time now, I didn't bother with him. The priority is still finding Roger."

"There have been rumors about Pluton and sightings of Silvers Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipelago. I spent a long time staking it out, but I couldn't find him. Still, I have a feeling something's off," Tsuru said, frowning slightly.

"Sabaody Archipelago?" Sengoku blinked in surprise. "If that's true, Rayleigh's got some nerve. Showing up right under our noses?"

"Maybe he thinks the most dangerous place is the safest," Tsuru said with a sly smile.

"Then he's got some serious guts, hiding out in Sabaody," Zephyr added with a laugh. Zephyr had been staying at Headquarters lately, training new officers and bringing fresh blood into the Marines now that he'd stepped down as an Admiral.

As they continued talking, it became clear that no one had made any significant progress in their search for Roger. Sengoku sighed and asked, "So, what about the CP agencies? Any word from them?"

"I wouldn't count on it. We don't have the best relationship with them," Garp said carelessly. "Even if they have found something, they're probably keeping it to themselves, worried that we'll steal the credit."

The others nodded in agreement. It was an open secret that the CP agencies were always playing their own games, even in times like these.

"Typical. We're all trying to catch Roger, and they're still worried about their own glory," Sengoku grumbled.

At that moment, Gion seemed hesitant, but eventually spoke up. "What about CP-X? Do they have any news?"

Garp burst out laughing. "Ahahahaha! Gion, are you asking about Roger or about Claudius?"

Gion shot him an annoyed glare. "Why are you so irritating, Garp?"

Garp just laughed it off, unbothered, as always. The two of them had a good relationship, so she knew he was just teasing.

Gion composed herself and said, "What's wrong with asking about both? I heard that before His Highness Claudius left Mariejois, he had a conversation with the Five Elders. I'm curious if he discovered anything, and if it might be related to Roger."

No one else teased her like Garp did. Sengoku smiled and said, "Actually, I do have some news about that."

"Huh?" Gion looked at him with interest.

"Before leaving Mariejois, Claudius asked the Five Elders if, by capturing Roger, he could become one of the upper Celestial Dragons. And the Five Elders agreed," Sengoku said with a smirk.

"The upper Celestial Dragons?" Tsuru raised an eyebrow. "That's ambitious. There are only four upper Celestial Dragons in all of Mariejois. Most of the Celestial Dragon families don't even get close to that kind of power."

"Keep this under wraps, though," Sengoku warned. "It's still a secret. Claudius might be preparing to make a move against the Donquixote family."

"Don't worry. We Marines have no interest in getting involved in Celestial Dragon politics," Zephyr said, waving his hand dismissively.

After a moment, Zephyr remembered something. "Oh, Tsuru, I heard you're about to be promoted to Chief of Staff?"

"Yes, but that'll have to wait until Roger is dealt with... if we can even manage that," Tsuru replied calmly.

"Hold on, weren't we talking about CP-X?" Gion interrupted, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"Hahaha, you're really interested in Claudius, aren't you?" Sengoku teased with a smile.

Before Gion could respond, Sengoku continued, "Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress on Claudius's end. It's been three months, and he doesn't seem to be making any serious efforts. I've even fed him some rumors about Roger, but he hasn't shown any interest in following up. For the past few months, he's been hopping from island to island in South Blue. Honestly, it looks more like he's on vacation than anything else."

"Vacation?" Tsuru added dryly.

"Yeah, vacation," Sengoku nodded. "I heard he lost more than two billion berries gambling while rolling dice in South Blue..."

Gion sighed, exasperated. While they were all working hard, Claudius seemed to be taking it easy. An unbalanced feeling crept into her chest. "So he's just living it up while we're out here sweating? Must be nice, being a CP agent under the Celestial Dragons."

Garp, never one to miss an opportunity for mischief, grinned and said, "Sengoku, you're pretty handsome yourself. Why don't you head over to Mariejois and find yourself a Celestial Dragon wife? Then when you become Fleet Admiral, we can all take it easy like Claudius."

The moment Garp said this, Sengoku shot him a deadly glare. He then subtly glanced at Tsuru, as if hoping she hadn't heard Garp's ridiculous comment. But Tsuru didn't even acknowledge it, much to Sengoku's silent relief.

After a bit more chatter, Garp pulled out a sleek black wallet from his coat and said, "Since things have been quiet lately, and we're all kind of at a standstill, I think I'll head down to South Blue. I've got some business to take care of with Claudius anyway."

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