“That guy… why would he go to Loguetown? What exactly are these people plotting? Roger, Golden Lion, and now Nereus… what the hell are they trying to do?!”
The storm had not yet subsided. Standing beneath the rain, Sengoku found himself irritated by this sudden news.
The frustration building inside him had nowhere to go, and he could only vent it by punching the empty ground beside him.
In the eyes of most Marines, capturing the Pirate King Roger was the Marines’ greatest achievement in years. But as one of the Marine leadership, and the successor favored by Kong to become the next Fleet Admiral, Sengoku naturally knew the truth.
Roger hadn’t been captured by them at all.
He had suddenly turned himself in for reasons no one understood.
But regardless of how Roger had been “captured,” reality gave the Marines no other choice.
They could never publicly admit that the Marines had been unable to find even a trace of him, and that he had ultimately surrendered on his own.
This achievement had to belong to the Marines. Even if the truth were that Roger had sleepwalked into a Marine base by himself, the propaganda machine would still cover it up.
Fortunately, both the World Government and the Marines were well-practiced in hiding the truth. They had been doing things like this for centuries.
Roger’s unexplained surrender was followed immediately by Golden Lion’s mad solo assault on Marine Headquarters over Roger. Now Nereus had appeared in Loguetown as well…
With all these events happening at once, it was difficult not to connect them.
Although this Resourceful General had never displayed any profound, far-sighted wisdom, he was still very good at overthinking things.
“Admiral Sengoku! Vice Admiral Garp! Fleet Admiral Kong orders you to report to his office immediately after receiving this message…”
A second messenger came running over.
Whether it was handling the aftermath or transporting Golden Lion, those tasks could be left to others.
Golden Lion might have been a top-tier fighter, but after losing a one-versus-two battle, he was severely injured. In this condition, restrained by Seastone handcuffs, there was no possibility of him escaping.
Even cutting off his own feet was something that would only happen later, after he had recovered from his injuries.
Hearing this, Sengoku and Garp wasted no more time and headed into the building.
“Roger’s execution must proceed smoothly. Garp, Sengoku, do you understand what I mean?”
If the goal had merely been to kill someone, there would have been no need to make such a grand spectacle of it. A public execution inherently served other purposes.
Promoting the Marines and crushing the morale of pirates were the Marines’ primary objectives. Most uninformed Marines believed that members of the Roger Pirates might attempt a jailbreak.
However, the higher-ups who knew Roger’s situation believed that, given his voluntary surrender, such a thing would never happen. All they needed was for Roger to die smoothly in Loguetown.
That said, not treating it as a priority didn’t mean ignoring the possibility entirely.
“So why is that ‘Vampire’ leaving Fish-Man Island alone and heading to the East Blue of all places at a time like this?”
As Sengoku changed out of his rain-soaked clothes, he began questioning Kong about the details.
“The Marine branch in Loguetown just sent back a report. That man arrived in Loguetown… before we even announced the execution date.
And two Lunarians were spotted with him. Theoretically… this could simply be a family vacation, which would be the best-case scenario for us.”
Kong’s answer sounded somewhat hesitant, as though he found the conclusion strange himself.
Originally, he hadn’t paid much attention to this intelligence. Throughout the years, there had never been any reports of Nereus and Roger having a friendly relationship; if anything, they had been hostile toward one another.
But then Golden Lion incident happened.
The Marine propaganda about Garp cornering Roger multiple times; how much of it was true, only the Marines themselves knew.
But the Battle of Edd War was different. Golden Lion had genuinely pushed Roger into an extremely dangerous situation. Had the sea itself not stood on Roger’s side, who knew what the seas would look like today?
If an enemy like that could storm Marine Headquarters for Roger’s sake, who knew whether Nereus might suddenly do something equally abnormal?
“The execution site was decided by a discussion among a handful of us. There can’t be a mole among us, so the possibility that Nereus learned the information in advance can basically be ruled out.
Others will be responsible for the execution platform. Your mission in Loguetown is to keep a close eye on Nereus, but do not provoke him.
If he does nothing and is simply there to watch, that would be ideal.
He had an agreement with the World Government back then. He shouldn’t do anything unusual for Roger’s sake. The execution date is approaching. The two of you should depart for the East Blue immediately.”
While Garp and Sengoku were still on their way to the East Blue, Nereus had already arrived in Loguetown.
There were no ships and no means of transportation involved.
The three of them had flown here using their wings.
For once, Marine intelligence was not wrong. Aside from Nereus having his own special purpose, this truly was just a family trip.
Though they had encountered quite a few minor troubles along the way, those troubles had merely delayed their journey. Most stemmed from greed inspired by the World Government’s bounty on the Lunarians.
At the moment, Chloe was wearing a theatrical mask on her face; not because she was worried about her identity being exposed and causing trouble, but simply because she wanted to have some fun without being disturbed, so she temporarily covered her face.
Amphitrite had not returned to her “Miss Mummy” appearance either. She merely covered her wings and the flames on her back with blue flames, a localized application of her Zoan abilities and one of the small tricks available to Devil Fruit users.
The three of them were currently in Loguetown’s central plaza, surrounded by various government institutions.
It was also the transportation hub of the city. The roads branching out from the plaza led to every district of Loguetown.
The plaza, once empty, now contained a towering execution platform.
Without question, it had been prepared for Roger.
“So this is… why you came to the East Blue ahead of time?”
Amphitrite wasn’t surprised by Nereus’s judgments regarding major events. Over the years, he had demonstrated remarkable foresight on many major events.
She had always felt that Fish-Men might truly possess some unique insight when it came to seeing the future.
“More or less. This is the birth of an era, and this place is where it begins.”
Sengoku and Garp were still en route, but Loguetown was already filled with Marines.
The local Marine branch had effectively become an auxiliary police force. Public security duties had been completely handed over to the elite troops arriving from Headquarters.
The population of Loguetown had become a chaotic mix. Pirates and figures from the Underworld alike were watching developments here, yet no disturbances had broken out.
Neither the pirates nor the people of Underworld wanted to attract trouble at such a sensitive moment, and the Marines didn’t want any incidents before Roger’s execution.
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