One Piece: Creating Avatars Start With Ryomen Sukuna

Chapter 357: The Five Elders Who Let the Marine Scramble for Admirals

The next day.

The Grand Line, a certain area of sea.

Dark clouds stretched for miles, waves surged, and a warship with a dog-shaped figurehead sailed across the boundless ocean.

On the warship.

Marine hero Garp sat in a shaded chair, with an umbrella overhead, his body wrapped in a coil of bandages.

On the small table beside him is a Den Den Mushi.

A booming, deafening voice roared from the Den Den Mushi, echoing across the entire warship and rattling Garp's eardrums.

"Garp!!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I told you to escort a king, and you turned it into a headline! You got beaten by some kid who came out of nowhere, and now the whole world's buzzing about it. You've completely humiliated the Marines!!"

Listening to the ear-shattering voice from the Den Den Mushi, Garp stared at it, lounging back in his shaded chair.

He flicked some earwax with a finger and said nonchalantly, "Sengoku, your voice is too loud. My eardrums are about to burst."

Then he burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha! It's not a big deal, is it? I lost, so what? The world's different now, and I'm injured! Keep it down a little."

Hearing Garp's casual response without even a hint of an excuse, Sengoku grew even angrier.

"You—! You're the Marine hero Garp! You're on par with the Marine's top combat strength. If our top fighters lose so easily, how's that supposed to look? The public's confidence in the Marines will drop. Can you take this seriously?"

Though Sengoku had seen the fresh news reports, which described Garp as being utterly dominated by this Iori Yagami from start to finish, an image that was beyond embarrassing.

He had reason to believe Morgans was stirring the pot, deliberately using selective photos to create a one-sided narrative.

That guy, who loved chaos more than anything, was absolutely capable of it.

Sengoku had also read Bogard's report to headquarters about Iori Yagami. Based on the situation, it was just Garp being careless, there was no way it was a complete beatdown.

"It's no big deal, Sengoku! As long as King is still around, everything will be fine. Even Fleet Admiral Kong hasn't said anything. Why is a mere admiral like you so worked up? Or is Fleet Admiral Kong planning to hand the reins over to you?"

"Garp, watch your words."

A heavy tone came through the Den Den Mushi.

Hearing Sengoku's shift in tone, Garp, who knew him all too well, immediately sensed something was off. Could he have accidentally hit the nail on the head?

On the other end, Sengoku was rubbing his temples. Garp had actually stumbled onto something.

Not long ago, Fleet-Admiral Kong had indeed shared some news with him.

Due to the Five Elders' influence, Kong himself might be moved into the World Government to become the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. When that happened, the position of Marine Fleet-Admiral would likely fall to Sengoku.

Commander-in-Chief might sound like a promotion, but for Kong, it was more of a restraint.

The Five Elders felt that Kong, the cunning old fox, had been too evasive with them ever since King appeared. He'd been brushing them off, and this time he'd even botched the handling of the Heavenly Gold reduction issue.

If he'd been fully committed from the start, things wouldn't have escalated this far.

So they planned to keep Kong under their watch to feel at ease.

Once Kong was promoted, the only one in the Marine capable and suitable to take over as Fleet-Admiral would be Sengoku.

King's power was immense, but he barely managed anything.

Esdeath, the newly appointed admiral, had the same issue, she delegated everything to her adjutant.

A Marine Fleet-Admiral couldn't operate like that.

The only other candidate was Garp, but Kong had zero expectations for him.

So the choice was pretty much set.

That said, there was still some time.

Kong had managed to delay it, arguing that the current generation's strength wasn't quite up to par yet.

But that delay wouldn't last long. The Five Elders didn't care about such details once they'd made up their minds.

An Admiral? They would just toss someone into the role to fill it.

Right now, the Marine's admirals weren't exactly balanced in terms of deterrence.

Mainly because King was overwhelmingly powerful, and the newly appointed White Phoenix Esdeath was equally dazzling.

Based on her performance at the Death Island War, she could probably take on three traditional admirals single-handedly without breaking a sweat.

So aside from those two, the Marine's other forces didn't quite measure up.

In the Five Elders' eyes, they could just throw anyone into the remaining slots and call it a day.

"Enough about that for now, Garp. What's the deal with this Iori Yagami? How much do you know about him?"

Hearing Sengoku's question, Garp picked up a cup of freshly brewed tea from the table, took a sip, and let out a satisfied sound. It irritated Sengoku more, as black lines formed on his forehead.

"Hahaha, Sengoku, he's a promising talent! After this Reverie, I'll nab him for the Marines. We'll have another admiral in no time."

Garp was genuinely impressed by Iori Yagami. Forget the excuses about being careless, he'd been seriously injured this time.

Maybe someone like Kaido or Big Mom, with their freakishly tough bodies, would have fared better.

But that was all hindsight.

Garp wasn't the type to cling to pride. Precisely because of that, he saw immense potential in Iori Yagami. The kid might even surpass the peak of the seas, like Esdeath or King.

The man's personality wasn't inherently bad either. With a bit of guidance, he could become a pillar of the Marines.

On the other end, Sengoku was surprised to hear Garp speak so highly of him.

This guy was rated that highly by Garp?

At the same time, Sengoku's expression grew serious. If that was the case, the Marines would need to approach this man cautiously to avoid any conflict.

After a moment of thought, Sengoku began pressing Garp for details about his fight with Iori Yagami. Finally, with a grave look, he hung up the Den Den Mushi.

"Finally done. I'm going to rest well for the rest of this trip."

Under Bogard's speechless gaze, Garp grabbed a newspaper, draped it over his face, and promptly fell asleep.

---

The Grand Line, in a certain sea region.

A maritime merchant convoy was heading in a specific direction.

Inside a room on one of the merchant ships.

A pink-haired girl, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, was reading a newspaper.

Beside her was a black-haired girl with a side braid, just a few years older.

"Marine hero Garp got beaten, huh! Hina is disappointed."

The pink-haired girl shook her head as she read the newspaper.

Hearing Hina's words, the girl beside her burst into laughter, her silvery voice filling the room.

"Hina, even if the Marine hero lost, he could still beat you easily. Don't get too full of yourself."

"Hmph! Hina is not afraid! Besides, if I can't win, I've got you, Nonoko!"

Nonoko shook her head at Hina's response.

"We've never experienced the strength of those big shots firsthand. And I'm just a flower nurturer, fighting's not my job. If you stir up trouble, deal with it yourself."

"So harsh! Hina is hurt. And what kind of flower nurturer can make flowers shoot light cannons?"

Hina's quip left Nonoko momentarily speechless.

"Alright, enough banter. We will arrive in two days if everything goes smoothly."

Nonoko walked to the open window. Outside was an endless expanse of waves, a cloudless blue sky, and the occasional seagull soaring by.

Her gentle eyes fell into deep thought.

What kind of person was that King, really?

"Hehe, the Land of Miracles! Hina is so excited. Is the king there the one who gave us our powers? Hina's going to show off big time when we get there."

Hina grinned goofily. Her journey felt like something out of a fairy tale, she was the protagonist, destined to take down evil.

This time, she'd worked hard to set out, traveling far and wide, even meeting a new companion Nonoko. To her, this was the fate of a main character.

Seeing Hina's silly grin, Nonoko's eyes softened with a hint of fondness.

No matter what, since she'd been chosen by this power and brought to another world, she might as well enjoy the ride.

Nonoko mused quietly to herself.

( End of this Chapter )