Amidst the heated argument between two elderly Marines, Luffy stealthily reached for the small box on the table, crouched down, and attempted to slip away unnoticed.
But his plan was foiled when Sengoku caught sight of him.
"Luffy," Sengoku's sharp voice halted him mid-step. "Did you kidnap Kaido's daughter, Yamato? When do you plan on returning her?"
Caught off guard, Luffy straightened up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh... I'll send her back after Wano Country is stabilized," he replied with an awkward smile.
Sengoku raised a skeptical eyebrow, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Do you take me for a fool? Stabilizing Wano Country might take you years—or worse, what if you claim it's stable, and I can't verify it?"
Luffy grinned nervously and tried to sweet-talk him. "Oh, come on, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you're welcome to visit anytime and see for yourself!"
"Every six months," Sengoku shot back, crossing his arms. "I'll conduct an inspection every six months. If I find anything out of line, you can forget about being the base commander."
Luffy's face fell, his confidence deflating like a balloon. "Understood," he muttered reluctantly.
Sengoku dismissed him with a wave of his hand, grumbling under his breath. "Get out of here, you useless brat. And take care of that girl! Train her properly, you hear me?"
Before Luffy could respond, Sengoku added in a muttered complaint, "I don't know how the Monkey family managed to produce such a lecherous kid."
Luffy's lips twitched into a sly grin. "Hey, it's just about spreading the family name, nothing lecherous about it!" he quipped before hurriedly trotting out of the office.
The moment he closed the door, the muffled sounds of Sengoku and Garp's argument resumed behind him. Chuckling to himself, Luffy adjusted the box of Devil Fruit in his arms and strolled off, whistling a cheerful tune.
A couple of days later, Sengoku returned to Marine Headquarters to attend to pressing public affairs. Shortly after, the World Economic News officially released the long-awaited report on the Marine's surprise attack on Wano Country.
Though the well-informed had caught wind of the incident earlier, the detailed account sent shockwaves across the seas.
"Hahaha! Is this the Four Emperors?!" A raucous laugh erupted from a burly pirate in a crowded tavern. "If Kaido can't even defend his territory, he doesn't deserve to sit on the throne of the Emperors. Let's take him down and claim his title!"
"Kanpaiii!!" The room echoed with the boisterous cheers of pirates raising their drinks in agreement.
Upstairs, hidden in the shadows of the tavern's second floor, two cloaked figures observed the scene below.
One of them scoffed softly, her tone laced with disdain. "Idiots. They don't understand why the Four Emperors are in a league of their own. Even if Kaido's forces are weakened, as long as he's alive, no one can challenge his throne."
She glanced at her companion, who remained engrossed in a newspaper. Curiosity piqued, she asked, "What are you reading so intently? Something wrong with the report?"
The other woman shook her head, folding the paper thoughtfully. "No, it's nothing. I'm just... a little sentimental."
Following her gaze, the first woman picked up the newspaper and turned to the page her companion had been fixated on. As her eyes landed on the bold photograph of a grinning Luffy, she sighed.
"Yes, it's true. You can't judge someone by who they were yesterday. When I first heard his name in the East Blue, he was just a rookie chasing a small-time pirate with a 20-million bounty. Now, not even two years later, he's in the New World, battling monsters like the Four Emperors. If the reports of him injuring Kaido are true..."
The second woman interrupted, a determined glint in her eyes. "Then it's perfect. With him as an ally, our ideals can become reality even sooner."
The first woman chuckled at her companion's enthusiasm. "It's not just about ideals. It'll take all of us working together."
Robin smiled under her hood, standing up with a resolute expression. "Then let's get to work, Captain."
"Let's do this," the other woman agreed, lifting her glass in a toast.
"But first," she added with a playful smirk, "let me finish my drink." Tipping back her head, she drained the whiskey in one satisfying gulp.
As the two women prepared to leave, the lively noise from below continued unabated. The storm Luffy had unleashed in Wano was just beginning to ripple across the world.
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