One piece: I,Akaino will not die easily

"Tea? Or coffee?"

Sengoku bent down behind his desk, rummaging through it.

Sakazuki maintained a perfect sitting posture, his back always at a fixed distance from the sofa, his waist straight as a rod.

Hearing the question, he looked at his superior, who was clearly in a good mood.

"Tea will do. Admiral, regarding the recruitment expansion for the Giant Unit, should we start preparing for it?"

"Where are my rice crackers?"

Sengoku completely ignored Sakazuki's question. He was entirely focused on searching his drawer for a while but couldn't find the snacks he had stashed away.

The Vice Admiral got up and accepted the teacup handed to him by Sengoku. Before he could express his gratitude, the sound of Buddha's voice roared like thunder in his ears:

"Garp! You took my rice crackers again, didn't you?!"

...

Sakazuki's ears were ringing. This time, he truly understood what it felt like to suffer collateral damage from someone else's battle.

"Hahaha, don't make it sound so harsh! I saw little Robin return, and I was happy, so I borrowed your rice crackers for a bit."

From the adjacent room came Garp's signature laughter.

"Sengoku-san, if you use your Devil Fruit ability indoors, the building will collapse."

Sakazuki glanced at his superior, who was already starting to glow with golden light, and gave a subtle warning.

The Admiral took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. No matter what, those rice crackers were as good as gone.

"Hah... Relax a little, Sakazuki."

Sengoku chuckled, signaling that he had cooled down. However, the Vice Admiral noticed that the teacup in his hand was already showing tiny cracks.

The Golden Buddha forcibly suppressed his urge to drag that old bastard from the next room and beat him up. Instead, he changed the topic with a kind smile:

"How has the past six months been?"

"Thanks to your kindness, Sengoku-san, over the past six months, I have deepened my training in my Devil Fruit ability—"

Before Sakazuki could finish organizing his words, the Great Buddha directly interrupted him:

"I'm asking about how little Robin has been. You're right here in front of me—what else could there be to ask about?"

"..."

Do you even know how to hold a conversation? Just tell me, do you?!

Sakazuki was speechless.

"Robin is right next door. Rather than listening to my plain report, wouldn't you find it more enjoyable to ask her in person? Now, regarding the Giant Unit's recruitment—"

"You're right."

Sengoku nodded, taking on a benevolent expression as he walked next door.

"Come, come, Robin, tell your Uncle Sengoku about your past six months."

Left standing there, Sakazuki was completely dumbfounded.

I was just giving a suggestion—why did you really go?! And besides, that old bastard Garp is still in the next room!

Damn it, the Navy is doomed.

When Borsalino lazily wandered into the Admiral's office to report on the task distribution of the two Giant leaders, he was surprised to see Sakazuki, hat brim lowered, reclining on the sofa with his legs crossed.

"Oh~ Long time no see, Sakazuki. Where is the Admiral?"

"Next door."

Still exuding low pressure, the Magma Fruit user pointed a finger at the adjacent room.

"And you?"

"A draft regarding the work management and distribution of the two Giants you brought back."

Borsalino casually plopped down on the sofa beside Sakazuki.

"How terrifying~ You were just quietly training in seclusion, yet you've made such big waves."

The Pika Pika no Mi user placed both hands on the sofa's armrests, crossed his legs with practiced ease, and sighed dramatically.

"I'm so envious of you. I'm working myself to the bone, while you're hiding away here, enjoying your peace and quiet."

"No, I came to discuss the Giant Unit recruitment plan with Sengoku-san."

Sakazuki's tone carried obvious frustration.

"Then where is he?"

The perceptive man quickly guessed the situation and delivered a merciless jab.

"...Can we change the topic?"

Sakazuki seemed to hear the faint cries of agony from the tea cup in his hand.

Borsalino's smile turned mischievous.

"Then shall we talk about Gion?"

"Let's go back to discussing where Sengoku-san is!"

Feeling like today was particularly unlucky, the Vice Admiral was already mentally exhausted.

"I'm right here. You two are just slacking off in my office, huh?"

Sengoku strolled in with half a bag of rice crackers in hand, teasing his two most capable subordinates.

From the moment Sakazuki had sent word of his return, Sengoku and Tsuru, along with the strategy department, had been planning the welcome ceremony—setting up the venue, ensuring the atmosphere was lively, and everything in between.

Even though it seemed like a simple event—just bringing people back to participate in a ceremony—the amount of trivial tasks Sengoku had to handle in the process was overwhelming.

Seeing these two comfortably lounging with their legs crossed, Sengoku let out a small sigh.

"This ceremony is an excellent start. I'm putting you in charge of the Giant Unit recruitment plan, Borsalino."

"I'm already overseeing the assignments of Dorry and Brogy! Not to mention that troublesome brat called Vegapunk—the Fleet Admiral wants me to convince him!"

The Pika Pika no Mi user nearly used his light-speed ability to escape.

"That brat is indeed stubborn. The key issue is that he's one of the top scientists selected by Brother Kong for the Navy's science unit."

Sengoku had a headache just thinking about it.

"But if I don't delegate this work to you two, I'll end up dying on this post."

Pointing at Sakazuki, he asked,

"Do you have any confidence in persuading Vegapunk?"

But before the Admiral even finished speaking, he immediately retracted the question.

"Never mind. With your personality, I might as well just send you to collect his corpse."

How dare you slander me like this?!

Already fed up with the old-timers today, Sakazuki was fuming.

"As long as I target the right approach, I'd like to see just how rigid this Vegapunk really is."

He completely failed to notice Sengoku's victorious expression or the casual thumbs-up he gave Borsalino.

"Oh, right!"

Sakazuki suddenly recalled something from the newspaper.

"That so-called 'Hell Campaign'—is it one of our military's new strategic operations?"

"'Hell Campaign'? I've never heard of such an operation."

Sengoku looked even more confused than Sakazuki. He frowned.

"Where did you get that information? There haven't been any classified plans issued by the Fleet Admiral."

"From the newspaper. It even highlights key details of the Navy's movements over the past six months."

Sakazuki's expression darkened. Sengoku clearly wasn't joking. Even if 'Hell Campaign' was a false rumor, the intelligence published in the paper closely matched the Navy's activity records for the past half-year.

Sengoku sat back down, taking a moment to organize his thoughts before speaking.

Borsalino, still smiling, but with a noticeably colder tone, remarked,

"Do we have a leak?"

"Wait, you said 'key details'? Do you mean burning pirate ships?"

Sengoku caught onto something.

"Could it be that?"

Borsalino's smile turned wry, as if recalling something.

"During your training, several Rear Admirals, led by Onigumo, Doberman, and Gion, began mimicking your tactics—ruthlessly slaughtering pirates along the way."

"Onigumo?"

Sakazuki connected the dots. Could these guys be implementing the battle formations he had outlined for them?

"Yes, exactly. This even sparked a wave of imitation among officers at headquarters. The Fleet Admiral laughed, saying that even though you weren't physically present, your influence was everywhere."

Sengoku sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"That doesn't quite make sense,"

Sakazuki frowned.

"How did they get hold of the compiled information? Were they deliberately gathering it and sending it to the press?"

"No."

Sengoku's face darkened.

"I compiled that information myself, but I only sent it to the Celestial Dragons' higher-ups as per protocol."

"What are the Five Elders planning?"

The three of them were momentarily at a loss. The Elders wouldn't sabotage the Navy, but if they were trying to boost Sakazuki's reputation, even he felt he wasn't that important in their eyes.