Sengoku slowly sat back down in his chair, still not yet recovered from the shock. Hearing what Garp said, Sengoku rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"The corpse has been confirmed; whether we like it or not, we have to believe it." Sengoku's expression was very grim.
"A mysterious duo capable of killing the Golden Lion… suddenly appearing in the first half of the Grand Line… If we don't find out who they are, they will always be an unstable factor for us marines."
His eyes were filled with worry.
"Troubled times… The situation in the New World is getting more and more tense, and the Revolutionary Army hiding in the shadows is becoming increasingly active. Now, on top of that, these mysterious figures of unknown origin but terrifying strength have appeared… For us marines, this is anything but good news."
The World Government's efficiency was still very high. From the portraits Onigumo sent them, they quickly confirmed the identities of Ronan and the two women. What the World Government had not expected, however, was that the three of them had actually left the Lulusia Kingdom. After all, the agents they had planted in the kingdom to keep watch on Ronan had not sent back any information about him leaving the country.
It was precisely because of this that the World Government's intelligence department was extremely dissatisfied with the spies in the Lulusia Kingdom and was already preparing to replace them all.
At the same time, the World Government delivered Ronan's detailed information to Sengoku as quickly as possible.
"The second prince of the Lulusia Kingdom… Ronan?!" Sengoku's voice was full of disbelief as he stared at the report sent by the World Government. The report included photos of Ronan and the two women.
"The report says this second prince has always been rejected by the royal family, and yet his guards can actually defeat Shiki?!"
Garp, sitting on the sofa across from him, leaned over as well. His rough fingers snatched the report, and his brows knitted together.
"Oi, oi, Sengoku, this has to be a joke, right? Just this brat?" Garp stared at Ronan's photo, clearly unable to believe that a kid like that could have guards with such strength.
"Have I gotten senile, or has this world already gone beyond what I can understand?" Garp was completely at a loss.
Sengoku shot Garp an annoyed glare and jabbed a finger at the report. "The World Government's intel has been verified! There's also the report about Lucci suffering a setback in the Lulusia royal palace before. I know that guy Lucci—he would never exaggerate things. All the information matches up!"
Garp set down his bag of senbei, and his expression turned serious. "That guy Shiki, his brain's a bit off because of that ship's rudder, but his strength hasn't dropped much. The fact that he could escape from a place like Impel Down, Level 6 proves he's still a ferocious lion. Even if the two of us old geezers teamed up against him, we'd still have to put in some effort."
"Just what are those two little girls' background? That idiot King of Lulusia—if he really had this kind of power at his disposal, Lulusia wouldn't still be just a small country in the first half of the Grand Line."
"We can't find anything!" Sengoku irritably rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The CP Agency has mobilized all their resources, but those two look like they just popped out of thin air! No past, no records, as if they exist solely for the purpose of protecting that Prince Ronan."
"Protecting a prince?" Garp didn't really buy it, but judging by the evidence so far, the two guards hadn't done anything else out of line. They really did seem to be just fulfilling their duty as guards.
Garp looked at Sengoku and asked, "So what are you planning to do?"
"That's exactly what makes this such a headache!" Sengoku got to his feet and paced back and forth in the office. "A small group with the power to easily kill a legendary pirate, attached to a prince whose status is sensitive yet who appears harmless. Their goals are unknown, their stance is vague! If they were pirates or part of the Revolutionary Army, we could just issue bounties! But given who they are, we can't do that, and the World Government wouldn't allow it either. Otherwise, they would have made a move as soon as Lucci failed!"
Sengoku stopped walking and looked at Garp. "Besides, the New World is already a complete mess. The marines don't want to invite another source of trouble, do they?"
"The status of being part of a World Government member nation is still too sensitive. And they haven't done anything that harms the World Government or the marines. You're just going to leave them alone like this?" Garp asked.
"Of course not!" Sengoku walked over to the window, a flash of resolve in his eyes. "We must strengthen surveillance! Have the CP people keep a close eye on their every move!" He turned back around and fixed his gaze on Garp. "I'm planning to make the Golden Lion's death public."
Garp raised an eyebrow. "Make it public?"
"That's right!" Sengoku picked up the sample newspaper carrying the story of the Golden Lion's death and tapped his finger on the photos of Beth and Alicia. "Shiki the Golden Lion is a villain left over from Roger's era, a legendary great pirate! His fall is an enormous shock to countless pirates! It can greatly boost the prestige and morale of both the marines and the World Government!"
He paused for a moment, then continued, "And the ones who killed him are the prince's guards from the Lulusia Kingdom! This will proclaim to the whole world that when it comes to fighting pirates and upholding justice, it isn't only the marines who are on the battlefield! The member nations under the World Government's banner also possess powerful guardians, who dare and are capable of wiping out any mighty pirate bold enough to challenge order! It will make those pirates who dream of plundering the member nations think long and hard about whether they are really stronger than the Golden Lion."
As Garp listened to Sengoku's words, he immediately understood what he was getting at.
"You want to prop them up as 'heroes' and use their names to scare the pirates?"
"This isn't scare tactics—it's the simple truth." With that, Sengoku began issuing orders to the officer beside him.
Garp fully agreed with Sengoku's decision. Cleverly making use of the strength of a member nation, and the fact that the two women had defeated the Golden Lion, would definitely attract other pirates who wanted to test them—and that, in turn, could divert a portion of the pressure away from the marines.
As for everything happening at Marine Headquarters, Ronan remained completely unaware. Up to this point, he still believed no one knew that the Golden Lion was dead. Of course, even if Ronan did know, he wouldn't really care. After all, he had already considered the idea that if he found Shiki's corpse, he could just turn it in for the bounty. After this battle between Beth and the others against the Golden Lion, Ronan had completely abandoned his initial idea of keeping a low profile.
In Ronan's view, in the first half of the Grand Line there were basically no longer any existences that could threaten his safety, aside from a few special individuals—Ronan's thoughts went to Rayleigh, who was hiding in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Moreover, he still had the status of a prince of a World Government member nation. While it was nowhere near the level of a Celestial Dragon, the marines would still protect his safety to a certain extent.
(End of Chapter)
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