"Sir Luffy, as a rookie pirate, may I ask why you had the courage to charge into Marineford?"
"Ah? I just wanted to save Ace. There wasn't really much more to it."
"Ahem, I see. Then what are your thoughts on Dragon? He's considered by the World Government to be the World' Worst Criminal. So far, he's already overthrown the regimes of several affiliated nations.
Did his influence lead you to become a pirate? And was the Revolutionary Army officer Emporio Ivankov who helped you escape from prison also acting under your father's orders?"
"That... Actually, I didn't even know I had a dad. I've never even met him."
The interview was unusual, but Luffy's answers gave the reporter a major headache. There was nothing juicy, and worse, no logic at all. The reporter wasn't even sure if he was interviewing a person or just a puppet controlled by a beetle.
After all, once that beetle tapped Luffy on the head with a stick, Luffy shifted positions and exposed the logo on his shoulder, looking just like a marionette.
The tattoo-like symbol was his way of sending a message to his crew members. As long as this photo made it into the papers, nothing else really mattered.
Even though the interview was unproductive, the reporter didn't break down. He was already a master at selectively quoting and taking things out of context. As long as he clipped a few lines from Luffy's words, he could still create an eye-catching headline.
Still, to avoid dying from sheer frustration, he ended the interview as quickly as possible.
…..
At this time, Marineford had already become a wasteland. The residents who had moved out before the war never came back as the several battles had long reduced the area to rubble.
Exaggerating slightly, one could say that you didn't even need to lay foundations to build houses here anymore; everything was already in place.
To rebuild Marineford, the first thing they'd need to do was reclaim the land from the sea, filling in the destroyed parts of the island.
Since there was still no agreement within the Marines on how to proceed or whether to relocate Marine headquarters, no formal development plan had been made.
At this moment, Zephyr's funeral had just concluded. The Marine Headquarters gave Zephyr a burial with full Admiral honors, and his death further fueled the Marines' hatred toward pirates.
After a period of rest and reorganization, the Marines began mobilizing their forces to deal with the flood of pirates. However, the effect was minimal. There were simply too many pirates setting sail. Even driven by hatred and putting in extra effort, they still couldn't restore the seas to the state they were in before Whitebeard's death.
The situation in the New World was no better. The heartlands of the territories ruled by Red Hair, Big Mom, and Kaido were still relatively stable.
But, even the border areas of those three territories were beginning to suffer from attacks by increasingly frenzied pirates, and the remaining territories once controlled by the Whitebeard Pirates were hit even harder.
The only areas that the remaining members of the Whitebeard Pirates had the strength to defend were those very territories.
The chaos in the New World was bound to continue for some time. Only when enough blood has been shed, when the troublemakers have battered themselves bloody, will this storm temporarily subside.
Luffy's exclusive interview mainly summarized his "crimes" starting from his break-in at Impel Down, making him the de facto leader of the Worst Generation. The destruction caused by the rest of the Worst Generation combined likely couldn't compare to what Luffy had done in this single act.
And the result of the interview stirred significant unease in certain people, especially among some within Marine Headquarters.
"Garp! Look at your grandson, just look at what he's done!"
The information in the newspaper nearly made Sengoku lose his composure. Though he was already preparing to resign, the identity of the next Fleet Admiral had yet to be decided.
Sengoku himself had recommended Kuzan, and others in the Marine high command like Garp shared similar thoughts. However, the Five Elders favored Akainu more. Moreover, some mid- and high-ranking Marine officers, spurred by Zephyr's death, had begun shifting toward the hawkish camp, so Akainu also had significant support. [TN: People who are actively aggressive and favor military force or action.]
None of them were willing to back down, which led to the matter being shelved for the time being. As a result, all the headaches still fell to Sengoku.
This time, Garp didn't just laugh it off. He silently chewed on a senbei without saying a word.
"Can't anyone in your family be normal for once?! What was the point of that kind of interview? And that b*stard Morgans actually dared to... Well, never mind. There's nothing he wouldn't dare to do."
Sengoku suddenly let out a deep sigh and slumped back into his seat with a helpless expression.
He knew Garp had been holding back during the Summit War. Sengoku would never believe that Luffy could actually punch Garp hard enough to send him flying.
But Sengoku had discovered an even more critical issue. Given the situation during the Summit War, even if Garp had fought seriously, it probably wouldn't have changed the outcome of the war. That was what truly worried him.
The only thing keeping things from getting worse was that the pirates on the seas could never truly work together. Because if, as the World Government feared, Red Hair was really plotting to form a super pirate alliance, then the trouble would be far, far greater.
….
As the newspaper spread, the other members of the Straw Hat Pirates also saw Luffy's photo on the front page.
One had to admit, Kuma had really gone to great lengths for Dragon's son.
After seeing Luffy's crewmates on Thriller Bark, Kuma began investigating their information and, in his final moments, arranged suitable destinations for each of them.
It was as if Kuma had foreseen what would happen today, so he sent each person exactly where they needed to go.
Chopper was sent to the Torino Kingdom, the island of giant birds; Franky to an Industrial island; and Nami to the small Sky Island, Weatheria, each of them found something well-suited to them there.
Compared to those three, the experiences of the others were even more legendary.
For example, Sanji and Bon Kurei, these two ended up in the same place after being slapped by Kuma: the okama kingdom—Kamabakka.
"I want to get out of this hell!"
"This place is absolute paradise!"
For Sanji, Kamabakka, a place with no real women, was hell. It wasn't just about the promise he made with his crew, even if there was no promise, he would still do everything to escape this terrifying island.
But for Bon Kurei, it was a dream paradise, the holy land in his heart.
His only regret was not getting to meet the okama queen. While Sanji was suffering and struggling, Bon Kurei had already fully integrated into the okama community and was living quite comfortably.
When Emporio Ivankov returned to the Kamabakka Kingdom, Bon Kurei was completely overjoyed and entered full-on fan mode.
Upon receiving news from Luffy, both Sanji and Bon Kurei prepared themselves to undergo training in the okama kingdom. But before that, Sanji had a very difficult problem to solve.
Due to changes in the Straw Hat crew's sailing routes, not all members had active bounties. Bon Kurei had an old wanted poster, and his okama identity helped him quickly blend in with the local community. While Sanji was still agonizing over what to do, Bon Kurei had already become close sisters with the okamas on the island.
But Sanji was a different case.
That's when Ivankov raised his question.
"You say you're a member of the Straw Hat boy's crew?"
"That's right."
"Then how can you prove you're really one of Straw Hat boy's crew?"
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