Chapter 47: The Hero's Grandson
Su Xiao suddenly came knocking, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he wanted to leave the experimental island.
Although Tina was Su Xiao's little secretary, she didn't have decision-making power. Her assigned task was to protect Su Xiao's safety and prevent him from escaping.
Leaving the experimental island was not something Tina could decide. While reporting the situation, she also had to stabilize Su Xiao.
"Mr. White Night, please wait a moment. I'll first contact a ship."
Rather than contacting a ship, Tina was actually contacting Marine Headquarters.
"As soon as possible."
Su Xiao stood at the door, seemingly with no intention of returning to the laboratory, his attitude resolute.
Tina took out a Den Den Mushi and dialed, occasionally glancing at Su Xiao.
The Den Den Mushi connected quickly, and a vigorous voice came through.
"This is Sengoku."
Tina could directly contact Sengoku, which was closely related to her current position.
"Marshal Sengoku, the situation is like this..."
Tina explained the matter to Sengoku. Upon hearing that Su Xiao wanted to go to Enies Lobby, Sengoku hesitated.
If it were normal times, Sengoku wouldn't refuse Su Xiao going to Enies Lobby. After all, Enies Lobby belonged to a department under the World Government, and there was nothing wrong with Su Xiao going there, especially since Su Xiao was originally from the CP department.
But now, the situation at Enies Lobby was different. After capturing Nico Robin and Franky, the situation at Enies Lobby had become turbulent.
Sengoku had wanted to send troops to support Enies Lobby several times, but was refused by the CP department each time. The Marines and the CP department were not part of the same system. Although they cooperated and the Marines had a small force stationed on Enies Lobby, when it came to their own turf, the CP department would not back down.
Unless Enies Lobby was completely overrun, the CP department would not allow a large number of Marines to land. A small force was already the limit of their tolerance.
The Marines were the military force under the World Government, while the CP was the intelligence department. Although they belonged to the same organization, they had two different leaders.
"Enies Lobby is out of the question. If you want to relax, you can go to the East Blue or Sabaody Archipelago."
Sengoku's response made Tina's face show difficulty. She didn't dare to bargain with Sengoku; he was the supreme commander of the Marines.
"Give me the Den Den Mushi."
Su Xiao knew how much authority Tina had. He wanted to negotiate directly with Sengoku.
Tina was in a painful position, caught between two sides, neither of which she could afford to offend.
"Marshal Sengoku, Dr. White Night wants to speak with you."
"Give him the Den Den Mushi."
Su Xiao took the Den Den Mushi and didn't exchange pleasantries with Sengoku. After his confrontation with Kizaru, his relationship with the Marines was half-torn. The matter of the poison sac had made the Marines' attitude resolute.
"Sengoku, I don't mind being your laborer, but now you're restricting my freedom. Was Kizaru's word just hot air?"
Su Xiao's tone was unceremonious. Constant concessions would only make the Marines more aggressive. It was time to show his fangs.
"Kid, do you know who you're talking to?"
Sengoku's tone also turned hostile.
"Mr. Sengoku, I have a question."
Su Xiao's tone suddenly became friendly again.
"Go ahead."
"How exactly did I go from being a CP0 member to being a Marine? Spandam played a crucial role in that, didn't he? And the one who recruited me, Zero, I've never even seen him from start to finish."
As the head of CP0's intelligence, Zero had never shown up after recruiting Su Xiao, not even a single Den Den Mushi call. That was very abnormal.
"Let me talk to Zero?"
Sengoku remained silent.
"Or perhaps Zero is a ghost? Maybe he's not the head of CP0 at all, but a Marine."
Sengoku continued to stay silent.
"You Marines have put a lot of thought into this. Although I don't know who the leader of the CP department is, he's probably not very happy right now."
After a long silence, Sengoku sighed.
"Just as Tsuru said, you're a tough one to deal with. What's your purpose in going to Enies Lobby? Are you after an Ancient Weapon? Or do you want to join the CP department?"
"Are you joking, Mr. Sengoku? Who would want to join those spies? As for the Ancient Weapon, I have no interest in ruling. Otherwise, with my bomb-making abilities, I could easily form a force or start a pirate crew."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku nodded. Su Xiao was telling the truth.
"Then what's your purpose in going to Enies Lobby?"
"Can't I go find a girl? You've heard of Kalifa, right?"
Sengoku was speechless.
"What? Finding a girl?"
"That's right. You can investigate my relationship with Kalifa. We've done everything except pinning her on the bed and hehehe."
Although Sengoku didn't know what "hehehe" meant, he could understand the meaning of "pinning on the bed."
Sengoku gave a wry smile. So it was about finding a woman.
It was understandable that Sengoku would guess this. It wasn't that Sengoku lacked intelligence, but that Contractors' goals were often peculiar.
Ordinary people's goals were nothing more than love, hate, greed, or desire. But a Contractor's goal was to complete the mission, survive, and grow stronger.
If Sengoku could guess Su Xiao's true goal, that would be abnormal. It would mean there was a traitor among the Contractors.
Su Xiao had never heard of a Contractor cooperating with a plot character to betray Reincarnation Paradise.
That would no longer be a fancy way to court death, but a fancy way to seek death.
"Isn't Tina as beautiful as Kalifa? With a female secretary like this by your side, you still want to go find other women?"
Su Xiao was stunned. This Marshal Sengoku was an old hand.
"Ahem, she's not my type."
"Hahaha, just kidding. Take Tina with you. She can ensure your safety."
"Of course, no problem."
The Den Den Mushi was hung up. In the Marine Headquarters Marshal's office, Sengoku's expression wasn't very good.
Crunch, crunch... The sound of chewing came.
"Sengoku, what exactly is that kid's purpose?"
Garp asked while munching on rice crackers. Sitting on the sofa beside Garp was Aokiji.
"Nico Robin or one of the Ancient Weapons, or perhaps reaching Enies Lobby itself is his goal. He really wants to get there."
Sengoku lightly tapped his desk, his expression serious.
"Then you're still letting him go?"
"Why not?" Sengoku had already sorted out his thoughts. The intelligence of a Marine Marshal was beyond doubt.
Garp stopped chewing his rice crackers. He felt that his old friend might have thought of something.
"Enies Lobby is not under our jurisdiction. If he wants to cause a ruckus, let him, as long as he doesn't die there. Those spies at Enies Lobby need to be reined in. Their claws are getting too long. And Zero's identity can't be exposed openly, otherwise the CP department won't have a way to save face.
Vegapunk was recruited by Zero. Now with White Night added, that CP guy should be at his limit. Have Zero withdraw. Aokiji, handle this."
Aokiji, who was already dozing off, took off his eye mask.
"Me? That's not good. After that incident..."
Sengoku suddenly thought of something and nodded.
"Then Garp will go. Withdrawing Zero will be somewhat difficult. I promised him back then that I would let him leave the CP department alive. Now it's time to fulfill that promise."
Garp didn't say anything. He poured all the rice crackers from the bag into his mouth, crunching as he chewed.
"Is direct conflict allowed?"
"If it's you... then yes."
Garp nodded and left.
Sengoku sat behind the Marshal's desk, his eyes flickering.
"Nico Robin might not be able to be saved."
"Hmm?" Aokiji beside him was slightly surprised.
"A group of pirates is heading to Enies Lobby."
It seemed that Sengoku was very troubled by that group of pirates.
"That group of pirates isn't that strong~."
"They aren't strong, but the Vice Admirals we sent can't catch them. Even an Admiral might not be reliable."
Aokiji gave a wry smile. Sengoku sighed. Debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay.
"The captain of that pirate crew is Garp's grandson."
Hearing Sengoku's words, Aokiji wasn't surprised. He had known about this before.
"And the Vice Admiral responsible for receiving Nico Robin at the Gate of Justice is one of Garp's former subordinates."
Aokiji didn't respond further, cold sweat dripping down. He had also let the Straw Hat Pirates off once before.
Aokiji had once been Garp's direct subordinate. He had learned Haki from Garp. Garp had promoted him at every opportunity, using his own reputation to pave the way for Aokiji to become an Admiral. When the World Government had opposed Aokiji becoming an Admiral, Garp had stood firm against all opposition.
Without Garp, there would be no Marine Admiral Aokiji today. Of course, Aokiji's own strength was also beyond question.
Aokiji couldn't bring himself to kill his mentor's only grandson. That went against the justice in his heart.