"Report, these are the results obtained from Dr. Vegapunk."
After Tsuru finished her report to Kong, another Marine Rear Admiral stepped forward, holding a document, and added, "Report, the surveillance room indicates that approximately four hours ago, a surveillance Den Den Mushi in an inner street west of the Science Lab was suddenly destroyed. We suspect this is related to the CP0’s disappearance."
"Such a coincidence definitely has a reason," Kong stated gravely. It was extremely rare for a Den Den Mushi to malfunction in a normal environment. Yet, for it to coincidentally break down at the same time as the CP0 incident, there was no way it could be a mere coincidence. It seemed everything had to start from that surveillance point.
"Where is the damaged Den Den Mushi?" Kong asked deeply.
"Report! Location C-12!" the Rear Admiral replied.
"Tsuru, you will investigate with Rear Admiral Bartley. Return to me with the results as quickly as possible."
After calling out, Kong heard no response. He turned to see Garp with his arms crossed, head down, bubbles emerging from his nose, and occasional snores.
"GARP!!!" Kong roared, popping the bubbles from Garp’s nose. Garp startled, quickly looked up, and wide-eyed said, "Ah! Oh no, oh no, I fell asleep."
"Did you hear anything I just said?" If there wasn’t a time crunch, Kong would have already sent a punch flying at this scoundrel.
Garp smacked his lips, wiping away the drool from the corner of his mouth. "Ah... very, very serious, after all, they’re the government’s ace investigators, ah... very serious, serious."
Tsuru, standing nearby, couldn’t help but sigh, though she was used to Garp’s antics.
"You, Sakazuki, and Kuzan will lead your respective teams to search and apprehend all suspicious individuals!"
"Alright, alright," Garp responded perfunctorily. He couldn’t care less about the government.
"Sigh," Kong sighed, finally looking at Sengoku. "Sengoku, halt all ships preparing to sail. I suspect the opponent possesses highly sophisticated stealth techniques, including disguise. Perhaps he’s waiting for one of our warships to depart so he can easily escape."
"Understood," Sengoku nodded, accepting the order. He couldn’t help but purse his lips slightly. "But Fleet Admiral Kong, two warships have already departed within the last two hours."
Kong’s eyes narrowed. "Which two?"
"Rear Admiral Brandley’s ship, heading for patrol in the North Blue, and Vice Admiral Seuss’s ship, heading to Water 7 for investigation."
"Recall them immediately! Notify them to keep a close eye on every person on board their ships, to conduct a thorough headcount, and not to let a single soul escape," Kong ordered.
"It’s just a government agent; why bother alarming the entire Headquarters? Anyway, leave this matter to Sakazuki and Kuzan. I’m going home to eat doughnuts." Garp waved dismissively, turned, and pulled open the door to leave.
Under normal circumstances, Kong would at least loudly scold him, but this time, Garp actually had a point. No matter how important CP0 was, it wasn’t enough to warrant the entire Marine Headquarters being thrown into a frenzy. The key was the World Government standing behind them.
"Pere-pere-pere-pere..."
On a warship bound for Water 7, the Captain, also the highest-ranking officer on the vessel, Vice Admiral Seuss, suddenly received a call from Headquarters via his deputy.
"Vice Admiral Seuss, return to Headquarters immediately! Bring your entire crew back to Headquarters at once."
Seuss, holding the Den Den Mushi, frowned upon hearing the urgent message from Headquarters. "Has something happened?"
"There’s no time to explain, Vice Admiral Seuss! Please return to Headquarters immediately, return to Headquarters!"
The voice was indeed from Headquarters.
Helpless, Seuss could only order the ship to turn back.
Approximately fifty meters away, a soldier patrolling by the bow of the ship heard his words, and his eyes subtly shifted.
’Finally, they’ve realized? But we’ve already passed through the Gates of Justice, so I suppose it doesn’t matter now.’
He first needed to stop this ship from returning to Headquarters—no, rather, from returning inside the Gates of Justice.
Finding an excuse to leave temporarily, Alucard made his way to the ship’s internal control room.
Meanwhile, Seuss entered a room alone, re-dialed the Den Den Mushi, and asked, "There’s no one else around me now. Can you tell me what’s going on?"
The person on the other end, hearing this, quickly replied, "Vice Admiral Seuss, you must be careful. There might be a soldier on your ship who is an enemy impersonating one of your own."
"It’s too complicated to explain how to check your crew right now, and there’s no time to tell you the whole story. In short, there’s a strong possibility that there’s a fake Marine on your ship, and their strength might even surpass yours. You must be careful!"
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