"Stand down! Your father hasn't fallen so far that he needs his sons protecting him!"
Whitebeard's voice carried enough confidence that everyone instinctively believed him.
Marco and the other division commanders exchanged hesitant looks, but Whitebeard struck the table with one hand, making a dull thud.
"Are you refusing to listen to me now? Stand down, you idiot sons!"
His authority filled the air, and this time, Marco and the others obeyed.
Even after moving behind Whitebeard, however, their expressions remained tense.
They continued watching Sengoku and Garp like a pack of wolves facing dangerous enemies.
A mocking smile appeared on Sengoku's face.
"What an obedient sons. Hmph. Only the worst criminal could gather so many villains under his protection."
His words immediately angered Marco and the others.
Insulting them was one thing.
Insulting Pops was something they would never forgive.
"Gurararara! Sengoku, has old age ruined your mind? I've been a pirate for decades. Being called a criminal is nothing new."
Whitebeard remained calm, and his laughter only made Sengoku's face colder.
The two men stared directly at each other, neither willing to back down.
"Hmph. You protected the greatest evil in this world, yet you still stand there without shame."
"What's wrong with a father protecting his foolish son? Gurararara..."
Their conversation left Ace with a complicated expression. Anger and pain showed clearly on his face.
The greatest evil in the world...
Sengoku was talking about him.
"Portgas D. Ace, allowing you to survive is the greatest stain of my life. Your existence threatens this world, and I will never let you go."
Sengoku looked at Ace with cold eyes.
Ace showed no fear. Instead, he smiled carelessly.
"Then you can watch this stain become your worst nightmare."
A wild grin appeared on Ace's face.
Whitebeard laughed loudly, which only made Sengoku even angrier.
"Hey, Ace! Call Luffy up here!"
At that moment, Garp stepped forward and shouted.
He looked irritated, and Ace instinctively took a step back.
His childhood experiences with Garp still made him nervous whenever he faced the old man.
A moment later, however, Ace steadied himself.
"Old man! I'm not letting you beat Luffy in front of me!"
Garp immediately exploded.
He raised his fist and waved it around like an angry gorilla.
"What?! Do you want me to beat you too?! What kind of example have you been setting as his older brother?!"
Ace's confidence visibly weakened.
Between his childhood memories and everything he had heard about Garp over the years, he genuinely found the old man terrifying.
He still remembered exactly how painful those punches had been.
"Ace! What's... going on... Grandpa?!"
At that moment, Luffy came running up on his own.
He had been looking at Ace at first, but the moment he noticed Garp, his expression changed completely.
His grandfather was here!
"Crap!"
Ace immediately tensed.
He had not expected Luffy to run up at the worst possible time.
Garp, on the other hand, looked delighted. He flexed his fingers, and the loud cracking of his knuckles made everyone nearby feel uneasy.
"Luffy! Get over here and accept your grandfather's Fist of Love! Don't make me come catch you!"
Garp slowly stepped forward, rolling his wrists as he walked.
"No!"
Luffy immediately turned and ran.
However, a silver-white blur crossed the deck, and in the next instant, Garp had already caught him.
The distance of more than twenty meters vanished in the blink of an eye.
Marco and most of the others did not even see what had happened.
Only Whitebeard glanced over, but he did not interfere. He knew Garp well enough to understand that Luffy was not in real danger.
Yuuka, Yukari, and the others remained calm as well.
Garp's speed was impressive, but not enough to surprise them.
"AAAAAH! ACE, SAVE ME!"
Luffy screamed as soon as he was caught and called for his brother.
It had always been like this.
Whenever Garp tried to beat him as a child, Ace had protected him.
Ace was about to rush forward, but Whitebeard stopped him with a meaningful glance toward Sengoku.
Ace quickly calmed down.
If he charged in carelessly, Sengoku might capture him again.
Luffy was in Garp's hands, but nothing truly serious would happen.
At worst, he would receive a painful beating.
Ace looked toward his brother with guilt.
"Sorry, Luffy! You're on your own this time!"
Luffy continued struggling, but Garp had locked one arm around his neck. He could barely breathe, much less answer.
Garp shot Ace an angry glare.
Sengoku gave a cold snort.
If Ace had rushed forward, he would have captured him immediately.
What a shame.
"You idiot! You actually dared to charge into that battlefield?! I'm going to educate you properly today!"
Garp began giving Luffy his Fist of Love.
Luffy looked helpless in his grasp. Garp held him with one hand while bringing the other down again and again.
Duang! Duang!
The scene did not look like a grandfather disciplining his grandson at all.
Every punch landed with a loud crack, and Luffy screamed each time.
Yuto stared as Luffy's face slowly swelled until it looked almost like a pig's.
He was honestly amazed.
Was that really his biological grandfather?
While Garp continued "educating" Luffy, Sengoku turned his attention toward Yuto.
Yuto noticed immediately and looked back.
Whitebeard let out a quiet snort.
He had known from the beginning that Sengoku's true target was Yuto.
"Sengoku, do you have something to say to my honored guest?"
Sengoku lowered his head slightly.
The shadow of his cap covered his eyes, making his expression look darker.
"There are a few questions I need answered."
He stepped forward.
As he moved closer, the division commanders behind Whitebeard began stirring again.
Shanks narrowed his eyes slightly but raised one hand to stop his own crew.
For the moment, the matter did not directly involve him.
It was better to wait and watch.
Sengoku's words made Yuto look at him with confusion.
Sengoku continued walking until he stood across the table, with Whitebeard seated nearby.
From beginning to end, his eyes remained fixed on Yuto.
"Who are you people?"
Sengoku pressed one hand against the table, his face filled with suspicion.
Yuto frowned slightly.
How was he supposed to explain this?
His silence made Sengoku even more uneasy.
The pressure around Sengoku slowly increased, as though a golden Buddha were waking from a long sleep.
Whitebeard's brows drew together, and his eyes became sharp.
Before he could speak, however, Yuuka raised her head beside Yuto.
She calmly looked at Sengoku.
In that instant, Sengoku's body swayed.
The pressure he had just released disappeared immediately.
Yuuka narrowed her eyes and gave a faint scoff, then looked away again as though Sengoku was not worth any more attention.
Yukari laughed softly beside her.
Across the table, Sengoku was completely shaken.
Who exactly was this woman?
For the first time, he felt nervous.
Although his hand remained pressed against the table, every muscle in his body had tightened.
That single glance from Yuuka had made his instincts scream in warning.
Sengoku had always believed he could remain calm no matter what he faced.
Now he realized how wrong he had been.
He had fought countless dangerous criminals and seen things far worse than most people could imagine.
Even so, Yuuka's single glance had filled him with real fear.
Standing before an angry Whitebeard had never made him this tense.
It felt like being dragged into the deepest part of the ocean, with pressure crushing him from every direction.
The bloodlust around her was so great that Sengoku felt like a piece of driftwood caught in a violent whirlpool.
He had never met anyone whose murderous aura felt so endless.
Not the Four Emperors.
Not the Seven Warlords.
Not even the worst criminals imprisoned in the deepest level of Impel Down.
None of them came close.
'This woman is more dangerous than anyone I've ever met.'
The thought flashed through Sengoku's mind.
Yuuka had only looked at him for a moment, but it felt much longer.
By the time she looked away, cold sweat had already soaked his back.
Yuuka calmly took a sip of tea.
She felt no pride in frightening someone weaker than herself.
If anything, she found the whole thing slightly boring.
After living for thousands of years, she had long since lost count of how many lives she had taken.
Yuuka had never claimed to be a good person.
She was a dangerous youkai by nature, and the number of people she had killed simply because she felt like it was impossible to measure.
If someone asked how many people she had killed, she would probably only scoff.
Humans did not count every grain of rice they ate.
She killed when she wished to.
Who had the power to question her?
That was simply how youkai survived.
They devoured others, while others tried to devour them.
The stronger and crueler side survived.
The onmyouji and other humans who once tried to defeat her had long since become fertilizer beneath her flower fields.
Sengoku could not be blamed for trembling before her.
For a human, he was already extremely strong.
But humans lived short lives, and there were some things they could never fully understand.
Sengoku continued staring at Yuuka without speaking.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and his face was full of caution.
Yuuka completely ignored him.
She could not even be bothered to look at him again, much less answer his questions.
For a moment, the table fell silent.
Luffy was still screaming nearby, but even his cries did not affect the mood around them.
Yuto finally broke the silence.
Earlier, he had been wondering how to explain who they were.
Now he realized there was no need to make things complicated.
What was wrong with simply telling the truth?
"You could say we're Whitebeard's friends."
Yuto's calm answer made Sengoku's expression shift.
A moment later, his face became much darker.
Whitebeard alone was already terrifying enough.
Now a group of mysterious 'friends' like them had appeared beside him!
As Fleet Admiral, Sengoku felt as though a huge weight had been placed on his chest.
He took several deep breaths before calming himself.
"Why have we never seen you before? Where did you come from?"
His voice had become slightly rough.
During the brief silence, many theories had already passed through Sengoku's mind.
There was a reason he was known as a brilliant strategist.
He might not have Garp's overwhelming strength, but his mind was much sharper.
He reviewed everything he had seen since first noticing Yuto.
Something told him the situation was not as simple as it looked.
Yuto smiled faintly.
"Another world." He answered simply.
The small smile on his face made him look even more mysterious.
Sengoku stared at him in shock.
His expression changed several times as he tried to understand the answer.
"What do you mean by another world?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. We aren't from your world." Yuto answered calmly and adjusted his position.
Without meaning to, his arm brushed against Yuuka's.
Her skin felt slightly cool and extremely smooth.
Yuuka glanced at him but said nothing.
Sengoku fell silent.
He looked toward Whitebeard, whose expression remained calm, though his eyes were still sharp.
Sengoku took a deep breath.
Should he believe them?
Decades spent fighting pirates had made suspicion natural to him.
When he was younger, he had once trusted people too easily and paid a painful price for it.
Now, facing Yuto and the others, his thoughts became tangled.
He tried to find a flaw in the explanation.
However, no matter how hard he searched his memories, he could find nothing that proved it was false.
After a long silence, Sengoku let out a heavy sigh.
He chose to believe them.
As Fleet Admiral, almost nothing in the world could remain hidden from him.
Yet Yuto's group was completely unknown.
Believing they came from another world was the only explanation that made sense.
Once he accepted that possibility, much of his tension disappeared.
The mystery finally had a possible answer.
His expression relaxed slightly, but his questions were not finished.
"Then what is your purpose in coming to this world?"
Yuto gently shook his head.
"You're thinking too much. We don't plan to interfere with this world any more than necessary. We only came to attend the banquet."
"Think of us as travelers passing through. We won't involve ourselves in the conflict between pirates and Marines."
Yuto understood exactly what Sengoku feared.
Once he gave that promise, Sengoku's expression improved considerably.
His greatest worry was that Yuto and the others might help Whitebeard fight the Marines.
If that happened, the balance of the entire world could collapse.
The chaos would be far worse than anything Roger had ever caused.
Yuto's promise allowed Sengoku to relax a little.
"Thank you. That would be for the best." Sengoku spoke with rare politeness.
"Don't worry about it."
Yuto waved casually.
Sengoku then turned back toward Whitebeard.
His eyes became sharp again.
"Whitebeard, next time, I will capture you."
Whitebeard grinned with open arrogance.
"Gurararara! There won't be a next time, Sengoku."
His words were as confident as ever, but something else seemed hidden beneath them.
Sengoku narrowed his eyes and studied Whitebeard's face.
They had been rivals for decades.
In a strange way, they understood each other better than most.
Even if their relationship was far from friendly.
Sengoku gave a cold snort and turned toward Garp.
"Garp, we're leaving!"
Garp, who had been happily beating Luffy, finally released him.
He casually tossed Luffy toward Ace.
Ace hurriedly caught his brother and called his name several times, but Luffy no longer had the strength to answer.
His swollen face had become so distorted that it was hard to tell where his mouth was.
"Ace! You're getting your beating next time! Prepare yourself, because you need proper education too!"
Garp shouted at him.
Ace looked nervous but forced himself to stay calm.
"Drop dead, old man."
Garp immediately flew into a rage and tried to charge toward him.
Sengoku stopped him.
"That's enough. We're leaving."
His voice was cold.
The purpose of their visit had been to learn who Yuto and the others were.
Now that they had gotten their answer, there was no reason to stay.
Sengoku had no desire to remain any longer.
Simply standing in front of Whitebeard made him want to start fighting.