Pain dragged Smoker back.
His chest burned. Every breath hurt.
He opened his eyes. White ceiling. Bandages everywhere.
He tried to sit up.
His ribs screamed. He fell back against the pillow, gritting his teeth.
Then the door banged open.
"Smoker-san!" Tashigi practically fell into the room, catching herself on the doorframe. "You're awake! Don't—don't move! The doctor said you need to stay down! I'll get him right now—"
"Tashigi."
His voice came out rough.
Tashigi froze.
"Denden Mushi. Now."
"But—"
"The man in white. Where is he."
Her face dropped. "We don't know. Nobody was around when we got there." Her eyes watered behind her glasses.
Smoker grunted. "Fine. Just get me the Den Den Mushi."
"Y-yes, sir!"
She immediately rushed out of the room, forgetting to close the door behind her.
Smoker pushed himself up on his left hand, sitting up through the pain.
Then he looked down.
Bandages covered his torso from neck to waist.
His right arm—
Gone.
His left hand clenched into a fist.
Bastard.
Sengoku flipped through another report.
Budget allocations. Personnel transfers. Paperwork that never ended... Oh, how much he wished to retire already.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
His eye twitched.
He looked up.
Garp was sprawled on the sofa, shoving rice crackers into his mouth by the handful as crumbs covered everything: the cushions, the floor.
"Garp." Sengoku's voice came out flat. "Get out of my office."
"Bwahaha!" Garp grinned, cracker bits in his teeth. "Your office has the best view! And these rice crackers taste better here!"
"There are crumbs everywhere."
"Hm?" Garp glanced at the mess, then shrugged. "I'll clean it up later."
"You never clean it up."
"Then I definitely won't start now!" He laughed and grabbed another cracker.
Sengoku pinched the bridge of his nose.
The door slammed open.
A Marine rushed in, breathing hard, clutching a folded report paper. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, sir! Emergency report from Loguetown!"
Sengoku straightened. "Report."
The Marine stepped forward and put the document on his desk, saluting.
Sengoku unfolded it.
His eyes moved across the first line.
The second.
Crunch. Crunch.
Third line.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
"GARP!" Sengoku slammed his hands on the desk. Papers scattered everywhere. "Will you STOP eating for ONE MINUTE?!"
Garp paused mid-chew. "What? I'm hungry."
Sengoku pointed at the report. "Smoker was attacked in Loguetown by someone possessing conqueror's haki."
Garp stopped chewing.
The room went silent.
Sengoku turned to the Marine. "What's his status?"
"Stable, sir. The doctors stopped the bleeding and treated his injuries, but... he has lost his arm."
Sengoku grabbed the report again. "And the attacker?"
"Unknown, sir. Only Captain Smoker has seen him. Intelligence officers are working on a sketch as we speak."
Garp sat up straight. "Conqueror's Haki? In East Blue?"
Sengoku's eyes narrowed. "And armament haki, he almost certainly has observation haki too."
"Bwahaha... that's not funny." He scratched his head. "What kind of monster did Smoker pick a fight with?"
Sengoku read the report again, slower this time.
No identification. No record. Nothing.
He set the sketch down and looked back at the Marine. "Is this all the information we have?"
The Marine hesitated. "Yes, sir. We searched every database. Every bounty record. Every known pirate crew roster." The Marine's voice grew quieter. "There's no mention of him anywhere. And his appearance is quite distinctive."
Sengoku raised his hand. "Dismissed. I'll contact Loguetown directly for further details."
The Marine saluted. "Yes, sir!" He turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Silence settled over the office.
Garp spoke, trying to break the awkward silence. "He'll be fine. Builds character! I threw Luffy off a cliff when he was seven and he turned out great!"
"Your grandson wants to be a pirate."
Garp's voice got louder. "It's that damn red-haired bastard who dragged Luffy into becoming a pirate."
He grabbed another cracker and took a bite. "It wasn't my fault he turned out that way."
Sengoku's eye twitched. "One of your grandchildren is already a pirate, Garp. The other one dreams of becoming one. And let's not forget that your son happens to be the most wanted man alive."
Garp picked his nose, completely ignoring him.
He pulled his finger out of his nose, flicked the booger straight at Sengoku.
Sengoku's eye twitched as it landed on his table.
He stood up and walked around the desk. Grabbed the box of crackers off the table.
"GET OUT!"
He hurled the box straight through the window, shattering the glass.
"MY CRACKERS!" Garp jumped to his feet, staring at the broken window in horror. "Those were limited edition!"
"OUT!"
"You... you monster!" Garp pointed at him, face twisted in exaggerated betrayal. "I can't believe you'd—"
"NOW!"
Garp moved toward the door. "You'll regret this, Sengoku! Those were SPECIAL EDITION!" He slammed the door behind him.
Sengoku stood in the middle of his office, surrounded by scattered papers and cracker crumbs.
He adjusted his glasses and sat back down, regretting nothing.
Sengoku stared at the report again.
He picked up his pen.
The bounty needed to reflect the threat. Conqueror's Haki. Armament Haki. Combat ability that disabled Smoker in seconds.
He settled on a figure, wrote it down, and sent it out for distribution. Unknown to Sengoku, the man occupying his thoughts had already left East Blue behind.
Crocus raised his teacup and took a slow sip.
Across from him, the pale young man sat perfectly still, holding his own teacup.
Kid actually accepted…
Ten minutes ago, Crocus was checking the horizon when a figure appeared at the canal's edge, just standing on the air like it was solid ground.
So he called out, offering tea to the stranger. He just didn't expect the guy to actually say yes.
Now they sat across from each other, drinking in silence.
Crocus took another sip. "So. What brings you to the Grand Line?"
"The heart."
Crocus raised an eyebrow. "The what?"
"The heart." The young man's face remained blank. "I must find it."
"Huh." Crocus set his cup down. "Most people come here looking for One Piece. Treasure or glory."
"If One Piece contains it, I will take it."
Crocus leaned back. "Kid, you're an idiot."
Green eyes locked onto him.
Crocus froze.
He slowly raised both hands. "Now, now... I'm only seventy-one. Still in my prime! And I'd like to keep it!"
Crocus chuckled and took another sip of tea.
Silence settled between them for a moment.
"Everyone is born with one." Crocus tapped his chest. "But some lose it along their journey. If you truly want to find it, look for it in yourself, not in others."
"I do not have one."
Ulquiorra stood up, preparing to leave.
Crocus watched him turn toward the door. "You know, it's rude not to give your name after staying in someone's house."
The pale figure stopped.
Crocus interrupted immediately as Ulquiorra was about to answer. "My name is Crocus, I'm seventy-one and a half years old, Gemini."
Ulquiorra vanished.
Crocus's Observation Haki flared out immediately, trying to sense Ulquiorra.
Nothing.
He was already completely beyond his range.
Crocus blinked.
That fast?
He exhaled slowly. "...Tough crowd."
Crocus walked to the shelf and found the bounty posters from that morning.
He recognized the kid the moment he appeared.
He unrolled the top poster.
WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE
UNKNOWN
150,000,000 ฿
[IMAGE: Bounty Poster]
Crocus scratched his head, staring at where the name should've been written.
"Should've let the kid finish," he muttered. "Old habits die hard."
Crocus stared at the number.
One hundred and fifty million as a first bounty, I think that's a new record.
Crocus rolled the poster back up, smiling.
"Good luck out there, kid."