Marine Headquarters — Marineford.

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.

Sengoku the Buddha sipped tea while flipping through the latest newspaper.

"That damn Big News Morgans... still refusing to retract the 'Godslayer' title from Sora."

"Does he not realize how deeply this offends the Celestial Dragons of the World Government?"

Sengoku muttered as he read the article describing Sora.

He knew all too well just how infuriating the title "Godslayer" was to the Celestial Dragons—those who called themselves the descendants of the creators, divine beings destined to rule the world.

Now someone had appeared who openly defied and killed them?

No wonder CP0 had gone into a frenzy lately, turning the world upside down in search of Sora.

Sengoku flipped to another page and noticed an article about Alabasta. His brow furrowed as he turned to Garp, who was half-dozing while munching on senbei.

"Garp, if your damn grandson doesn't return soon, I'm sending people to drag him back."

Pop!

Garp's snot bubble burst. He looked at Sengoku in a daze.

"Huh? You wanna be my grandson?"

With that, he popped more senbei into his mouth and continued snoring.

Sengoku's temple throbbed violently. Furious, he lunged over and began pounding Garp with a barrage of fists.

"You rotten old man! Trying to mess with me again?!"

"Let me teach you a lesson!"

Despite taking a beating and growing several lumps on his head, Garp lazily opened one eye, glanced at Sengoku... and went right back to sleep.

Sengoku was so livid, he nearly activated his Golden Buddha form on the spot.

Bang!

The door to the office suddenly slammed open.

Brannew, nicknamed the "Meeting King," rushed in, breathless.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! We've located Sora!"

"Hm?" Sengoku dropped Garp and looked over sharply.

"Where is he?"

"East Blue!" Brannew replied without hesitation.

"East Blue?" Sengoku and Garp said at the same time, shocked.

They had suspected Sora had already fled from North Blue, but they never expected him to show up in East Blue. Most criminals at his level would head for the Grand Line.

"What kind of lunatic avoids the obvious route?" Sengoku muttered.

Brannew continued, "According to reports from East Blue Branch 16, Sora just attacked the base. Almost all marines were killed—only a few survived."

Boom!

"He attacked a Marine branch base?!"

Sengoku slammed his fist on the desk, stunned.

Even Garp's face grew serious. East Blue was his home turf, and the 16th Branch wasn't far from Foosha Village.

"What was the reason?" Sengoku asked grimly.

Brannew hesitated, glanced at the report in his hand, and said reluctantly:

"According to the survivors, the base commander—Captain Nezumi—had been colluding with Arlong for years, oppressing and extorting the locals. Many civilians died as a result."

"Sora has a woman traveling with him... one of the victims."

"So the attack was most likely an act of revenge."

Sengoku and Garp both fell silent.

They didn't need much imagination. For a Marine captain to hide such corruption for years, the rest of the soldiers had to be complicit—or at least willfully blind.

No wonder the headquarters never heard a word.

Which meant... those Marines probably got what they deserved.

Sengoku's face darkened.

"I'll go to East Blue myself," Garp said after a moment.

Now that Sora had appeared there, he couldn't stay put any longer.

Sengoku narrowed his eyes, then nodded.

"Go. And bring that bastard back with you."

...

East Blue — Foosha Village.

While Garp was preparing to return, Sora had already arrived alone outside Makino's bar.

He pushed the door open.

Behind the counter stood Makino, a green-haired woman. She blinked when she saw the unfamiliar face, then quickly greeted him with a warm smile.

"Welcome!"

"One of your specialty beers and a plate of egg fried rice," Sora said as he sat at the bar, glancing at the menu and then back at her with a smile.

He'd heard good things about her brewing skills, and wanted to taste for himself—plus check out her cooking.

After all, she was going to be his future ship cook.

"Just a moment," Makino replied, setting aside the glass she was cleaning and pouring him a cold mug of beer.

She placed it in front of him and headed into the kitchen to start cooking.

Sora took a sip and scanned the room.

No sign of Dadan's gang—just a few ordinary villagers. That disappointed him.

He had planned to use their heads to "convince" Makino to join his crew.

They might be close to Luffy, but in Sora's eyes, they were still mountain bandits—not exactly saints.

He wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

His eyes wandered to the wall behind the bar, where two bounty posters were pinned up.

One was Luffy's current bounty—100 million berries.

The other was his older 30 million bounty.

"Here you go."

Makino brought over a steaming plate of egg fried rice and placed it in front of him with a smile. Maybe it was Sora's looks—or his calm demeanor—but she seemed to have taken a liking to him.

Not bad.

Sora took a bite and nodded in approval.

She wasn't a trained chef, but she was damn good.

Definitely better than Anna, Shalria, or Reiju.

"Where's Dadan's gang today?" he asked casually between bites.

"You looking for Miss Dadan?" Makino asked while polishing a glass. "Why?"

Gulp.

Sora set down his spoon, took another sip of beer, and smiled.

"No big deal. Just planning to borrow their heads for a bit."

Crash!

The glass slipped from Makino's hands and shattered on the floor.

She stared at Sora, wide-eyed. "Are you... a bounty hunter?"

Dadan and her crew were known bandits, and they had bounties on their heads.

Everyone else in the bar had turned to look at him too.

Sora continued eating leisurely, unfazed.

"I'm planning to invite you aboard my ship," he said calmly. "But I figured you might say no... so I thought I'd offer you a gift."

"Their heads."

Silence fell. Makino and the others stared at Sora like he was insane.

No one had ever heard someone talk about gifting severed heads before.

Then suddenly, a villager's face went pale.

"H-he's... the Godslayer..."

"The one who killed a Celestial Dragon in North Blue—Sora the Godslayer..."

"A wanted criminal with a bounty of 1.5 billion berries!"

_____

[You give me a power stone, and I will give you a mass release deal? And if you like this story, add it to your library and give me a review, and I will reward you with mass release.]