Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

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Grand Line, Little Garden

Under the watchful eye of Vivian, the blue ogre Dorry and the red ogre Brogy boarded two specially designed warships made to contain giants.

Their journey was nearing its end. Soon, the two giant pirate legends would be delivered to Impel Down—now fully restored. Given their immense strength and status as heroes of Elbaf, they were likely to be imprisoned on Level 6: Infinite Hell. Their sentence? 500 years!

"Gahahaha! How embarrassing! Getting caught by a little girl from our own tribe! Brogy!"

Even with arms shackled in iron chains as thick as barrels, and their towering bodies crammed into reinforced iron cages, Dorry showed no fear at all. The legendary warrior was still laughing as he shouted toward Brogy on the other ship.

"Hehahahaha! Look who's talking! Still, that little girl really is something. We've been away for a hundred years, and Elbaf's raised a real powerhouse!"

Brogy also burst into hearty laughter, completely unconcerned about their fate as prisoners destined to spend the rest of their lives in jail.

"Mm, what a pity that little girl became a Marine. Otherwise, the new generation of the Giant Warrior Pirates would surely be even more fierce than we were back then."

Dorry turned his head to look at Vivian, who was directing the Marines to board the ship. In the eyes of ordinary humans, the tall and strong Vivian was already an extraordinarily powerful female giant.

But to fellow giants like Dorry and Brogy, Vivian was still just a newly grown "little girl." Even though the two of them had lost to her in combat, they couldn't bring themselves to harbor any resentment toward such a "little girl."

"Lord Dorry! Lord Brogy! I'll follow in your footsteps and make the Giant Warrior Pirates greater than ever… Ow!"

The giant woman standing on the shore, Gulz, shouted loudly as she watched the two legendary heroes of the giant race being locked in cages.

But before she could finish her sentence, Vivian gave her a hard smack on the head.

"Idiot! Remember your current position! You're a Marine now! That Giant Warrior Pirate stuff ends with me!" Vivian mocked her, imitating Kizaru's usual lofty stance, looking down at Geltz, who was half a head shorter than her.

Even though Kizaru had never deliberately instilled any era-transcending ideals in her, after spending so many years by his side and within the Navy, Vivian's way of thinking and worldview had inevitably been heavily influenced.

Though she still sometimes displayed the giant race's characteristic love for battle, if one overlooked her enormous size, Vivian's mannerisms actually resembled those of a true Marine even more than Kizaru's.

"Ugh… violent woman…"

Gulz muttered under her breath while holding her head, but under Vivian's oppressive presence, she could only look on with teary eyes as Dorry and Brogy were taken away.

"All right, let's get moving too! We have to make it back to Marineford before the ceremony starts!"

Vivian shouted loudly to the other Marines on the beach. At that moment, she couldn't wait to return to headquarters and witness the moment when Boss Kizaru became the new Fleet Admiral with her own eyes!

"Are we already heading back…"

Ai Haibara packed the blood sample she had extracted from a styracosaurus into a refrigerated box. Looking back at the lush, fern-covered primeval forest, a look of regret appeared on her small face.

This massive island known as Little Garden preserved a wide range of prehistoric species. Even though they were all creatures from another world, to a researcher like Ai Haibara, it was an unimaginably rich genetic treasure trove.

"Ahem… If we don't leave soon, we might miss the promotion ceremony…"

Vice Admiral Dalmatian, wearing his signature spotted dog hat, said helplessly. They had already spent a long time here on Little Garden.

If he missed Kizaru's promotion ceremony because of this, Dalmatian would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Then let's head back… Will all the Marines attend the ceremony?"

After locking the box and double-checking to ensure nothing was left behind, Ai Haibara finally nodded and replied.

She wasn't the kind of unreasonable and overbearing woman either.

What's more, her expertise lay more in chemistry and pharmaceuticals; her research into biology was primarily a personal interest.

During this time, with the help of the two giant women, Vivian and Geltz, Ai Haibara had managed to collect samples of almost every major species on Little Garden.

She even helped Kizaru by shipping a batch of every dinosaur species over to the Marvel World. There really wasn't much point in staying on the island any longer.

"Of course not. Only Vice Admirals from headquarters and the Fleet Admirals are required to be there in person. The officers from the branches still have their own duties to fulfill. However, most branch Marines will send representatives to observe the ceremony at Marineford…"

Vice Admiral Dalmatian glanced curiously at the high-tech refrigerated box before patiently explaining. If the promotion ceremony weren't relatively short and a good opportunity to coordinate some large-scale operations, Marineford might've even considered only summoning a portion of the Vice Admirals from headquarters.

After all, the Navy never paid much attention to formalities. Historically, there had even been Fleet Admirals promoted in the middle of battle, with the official ceremony held at Marineford afterward.

"It really is something to look forward to… the promotion ceremony of the Fleet Admiral."

Ai Haibara boarded the warship alongside Dalmatian. The boxed samples, naturally, would be carried into the hold by the Marines.

Although she wasn't exactly a sheltered girl in her original world, Ai Haibara had never had the chance to get close to such a high-ranking figure like a Fleet Admiral.

Especially someone like Kizaru—as a Fleet Admiral, his power and status far exceeded that of any so-called king or noble.

While Vice Admiral Dalmatian was hurrying back to Marineford, the Navy Headquarters was already bustling with excitement.

Hundreds of warships from the Four Blues and the Grand Line's various Marine branches had gathered there, creating a scene comparable to the Marineford War itself.

Marine officers from all over the world were eagerly awaiting the promotion ceremony of the new Fleet Admiral. Many were veterans stationed far from headquarters, returning for the first time in years—or even decades.

Some had never been to HQ before at all.

"It's magnificent! Truly worthy of being called Headquarters!"

"That's where Kizaru took down Whitebeard, right?"

"He's Fleet Admiral Kizaru now! Mere pirates could never hope to stand against the Navy!"

…

Marines from every corner of the world were gathered together in rare unity, though there were still a few unsociable individuals—like Smoker, who always had a scowl on his face no matter who he was talking to.

Most of the Navy officers were quite happy to connect with colleagues from other seas—after all, who knew when they'd have to work together in the future?

"After being Fleet Admiral for so long, I can finally put down this burden. Come to think of it, the last time I went on vacation was more than twenty years ago..."

Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, former Fleet Admiral Sengoku looked relaxed as he gazed down at the lively scene in the Marineford plaza.

Originally, he had planned to vacate this office for Borsalino, but due to Borsalino's insistence, Sengoku ended up keeping his old room. Borsalino's previous office was instead converted into the new Fleet Admiral's office.

Although the official promotion ceremony for the new Fleet Admiral was still days away, Sengoku had already gradually transferred his authority to Borsalino.

The mountain of paperwork that used to pile up daily had suddenly vanished. Even Sengoku himself felt a rare sense of ease.

Just as he was basking in the warm sunlight and thinking about taking his pet goat out for a stroll, the Den Den Mushi on his desk suddenly rang urgently.

"Hmm? Don't tell me it's another one of those careless fools..."

Sengoku frowned slightly. Despite having stepped down from his post as Fleet Admiral, a number of airheaded idiots still came to report things directly to him in the past few days.

Good thing the new Fleet Admiral was Borsalino—if it had been Sakazuki, those people wouldn't have gotten off so lightly.

But to Sengoku's surprise, the voice on the other end of the line wasn't some slow-witted Marine—it was a high-ranking official from the World Government.

After just a few sentences, Sengoku couldn't help but furrow his brows.

The official had specifically contacted him to ask that a portion of the viewing area at the Fleet Admiral's promotion ceremony be reserved for certain "special guests."

"What? Germa 66? Are you joking!?"

If it had been just that, Sengoku might've still done the World Government a favor. But once he heard the identities of those so-called "guests," he refused without hesitation.

First of all, Marineford's promotion ceremonies for Fleet Admirals had always been internal affairs, open only to Navy personnel. It was only in Mary Geoise where non-Navy spectators were permitted.

And more importantly, the identity of Germa 66 made it impossible for the Marines to welcome them. After all, there had even been serialized comic strips in the North Blue newspapers showing the Navy and Germa 66 clashing—Vice Admiral Garp was even the inspiration for the protagonist!

Of course, in reality, Germa 66 didn't have that kind of star power. And since the Germa Kingdom was nominally a World Government affiliate nation, the Navy couldn't outright deal with them—but that didn't mean they'd allow them to step foot on Marineford's soil.

No wonder the official had called Sengoku, the "washed-up" Fleet Admiral, instead of Borsalino, who was already in charge. If they'd gone to Borsalino, they probably would've gotten cursed out on the spot.

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