Leisurely times always make people happy.
After teasing Garp for a bit, Kenji turned to Anna to chat, asking if there were any sudden incidents.
He knew that unless there was an urgent matter, Anna, as his secretary, wouldn't enter the office during afternoon tea.
Seeing Kenji proactively bring up business, Anna's brows furrowed, and her delicate nose wrinkled slightly.
"The World Government sent a joint defense notice, requesting the Marine to dispatch troops to the New World to help escort the Heavenly Tribute." Anna said, her eyes revealing undisguised disgust when she spoke of the matter.
Kenji frowned slightly after hearing the report, looking somewhat troubled.
Garp, seeing this, immediately became happy. "Hahaha! So you have your difficult moments too, Kenji."
At this point, Garp became even more smug, humming a tune and eating senbei, saying somewhat indistinctly, "That's why I've always refused Kong's promotion to Admiral."
"The lower the position, the more freedom you have to do things~"
Kenji heard these mocking words but did not respond.
He was currently considering: Should he let Garp handle this, or just throw it to Sengoku?
Or contact Zephyr, who was leading a group of elite students in practical exercises? He remembered their training ship was in the New World.
Of course, no matter which of the three he ultimately chose, Kenji would have enough reasons to persuade him to take on the task, and might even get a 'thank you'.
Garp didn't know yet that he had already been included in Kenji's future plans.
His face returned to its usual cheerful smile, and he occasionally sighed, "If I have to think about these troublesome things every day, I might get so anxious that all my hair will turn white..."
"Huh? Speaking of which, how did your hair turn black? When did you dye it?" The thick-headed Garp suddenly noticed the change in Kenji's hair color.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen it before, but he hadn't paid attention. He had been so focused on the last time he went out to pursue the Roger Pirates that he didn't care if Kenji's hair was black or white.
At this moment, Garp observed carefully and found that Kenji's originally graying hair had turned jet black, and it wasn't just certain areas that had darkened. All of his hair was shiny black.
Besides dyeing his hair, he couldn't think of any other possibility and couldn't help but tease, "You don't have to care so much about your hair. It's normal for hair to turn white and bald when you get old."
"When I reach your age, I probably won't dye my hair!"
Facing Garp's sarcastic teasing, Kenji raised his hand, touched his hair, smiled, and didn't offer an explanation.
He knew that even if he told the truth, few people would believe him.
Kenji's hair turning black, of course, had nothing to do with dyeing. This was the effect of the Superspeed Regeneration trait.
In fact, it wasn't just the change in hair color. If one observed carefully, they would notice that many of the wrinkles on Kenji's face had also disappeared.
Since he acquired the Superspeed Regeneration trait more than twenty days ago, Kenji's body had been changing daily.
Simply put, his body was continuously growing younger.
At this time, Kenji looked like a handsome middle-aged man in his forties.
Because it was a continuous rejuvenation, apart from his close associates, other Marine personnel who saw Kenji almost all thought that this Admiral, who spent all his time at the Marine Headquarters Base and rarely went on missions, was bored and went to dye his hair and get skin care to make himself look younger.
Presumably, some people might even think that this old Admiral was always neglecting his duties and not doing proper work. Good at everything except his professional skills.
Garp was also one of these people. Looking at Kenji, who appeared younger than himself, he found it a bit difficult to understand.
"There's nothing wrong with aging naturally... I don't understand what you're thinking," Garp mumbled while eating and drinking.
Kenji chuckled, still having no intention of explaining. It was satisfying to keep certain things a secret that only he knew.
Their afternoon tea time passed little by little until it ended.
As Garp was about to get up and leave, Kenji's expression suddenly changed, his face becoming serious.
"I just received some intelligence here. Kong should make arrangements at the meeting in a few days."
"It's intelligence about the Roger Pirates."
As expected, upon hearing this, Garp suddenly stood up and eagerly pressed for details.
Kenji and Anna next to him simultaneously revealed a 'this guy took the bait' smile.
"The detailed intelligence hasn't been sent over yet. I'm telling you this to give you a heads-up, otherwise Sengoku will probably try to snatch it from you..." Kenji smiled as he watched Garp's anxious appearance.
...
A few days later.
Fleet Admiral's office at Marineford.
The highest Marine meeting was in progress. The attendees, besides the Fleet Admiral and Admirals, included only three senior Vice Admirals who were observing.
Tsuru was naturally one of them, but she had no right to speak at this meeting.
Garp, as a Vice Admiral, did have the right to speak, but he was generally too lazy to talk, however, this time seemed different.
Kong was eloquently discussing some major recent troubles, so that he could then assign these major troubles to the Admirals and Vice Admirals participating in the meeting.
Essentially, this meeting was a quarterly division of labor conference.
Sengoku carefully examined the documents in his hand, occasionally responding to Kong, a work attitude that pleased Kong greatly.
Kenji was different. He not only reviewed the intelligence but also helped Kong assign tasks.
For example, the recently transmitted 'Legendary Pirate War' incident to the Marine Headquarters Base.
"Roger and Shiki are fighting again in the New World... and at such a time." Kong lowered his head and rubbed his forehead, his peripheral vision glancing at the two Admirals before him.
Kenji checked the intelligence but didn't find the information he wanted, so he directly asked Kong, "What's the reason for their fight this time?"
"It's said to be for a treasure, the specific situation requires further investigation."
"Oh? So, Shiki wants to rob Roger's treasure again?"
"No, this time Roger actively went to rob Shiki!"
Kenji was surprised after hearing the intelligence. Based on his understanding of Roger, he didn't seem like he would go rob Shiki.
It wasn't that Roger was kind-hearted, but mainly because Shiki didn't have many good things, and robbing another Legendary Pirate carried a high risk.
Of course, the Roger Pirates generally didn't care about the size of the risk. What they cared about was whether the risk and reward were equivalent.
For example, the God Valley battle six years ago, the risk was great, but the reward was also great. Roger and his crew plundered a huge amount, making a killing and getting rich in one go.
"So, this conflict between Roger and Shiki, will be handled by..." At this moment, Kong raised his head again.
Although he didn't look at Kenji, his peripheral vision kept darting towards him.
The meaning was clear: 'You'd better be sensible and take on the task yourself.'
(End of Chapter)
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