At Naval Headquarters in Marineford, in Admiral Sengoku's office, a small group had gathered: Garp, Tsuru, Zephyr, Gion, Kuzan, and a few others. This wasn't an official meeting, just a casual get-together during a rare break in their busy schedules.

  For almost a year now, they had beelessly chasing leads all over the world, trying to find Roger. As a result, they hadn't seen much of each other tely. So, now that everyone happeo be in the same pce, they decided to gather in Sengoku's office to catch up and share any new information.

  "There were rumors that Scaban was i Blue," Kuzan said zily. "I went there, checked it out, but found nothing. It was a plete waste of time."

  Gion teased, "If you had found him, maybe you would've beeed."

  "Hey now, I'm pretty strong, okay?" Kuzan shot back with a grin. "You're looking at an Admiral didate here. Speaking of which, we've got two open Admiral slots, why not just give me one?"

  Sengoku rolled his eyes. "You're still too green, Kuzan. Sure, you've got the strength, but you ck experiend the other qualifications. Be patient and wait your turn."

  "See? You guys keep saying you want to fill all three Admiral positions, but here I am, myself up, and still no takers," Kuzan said, waving his hand dramatically.

  Of course, he was joking. Kuzan knew perfectly well that he still had a lot to learn before taking on the mantle of Admiral.

  "I ran into Dougs Bullet in the New World," Garp said between bites of senbei. "But since he's been away frer's crew for a long time now, I didn't bother with him. The priority is still finding Roger."

  "There have been rumors about Pluton and sightings of Silvers Rayleigh in the Sabaody Archipego. I spent a long time staking it out, but I couldn't find him. Still, I have a feeling something's off," Tsuru said, frowning slightly.

  "Sabaody Archipego?" Sengoku blinked in surprise. "If that's true, Rayleigh's got some nerve. Showing up right under our noses?"

  "Maybe he thinks the most dangerous pce is the safest," Tsuru said with a sly smile.

  "Then he's got some serious guts, hiding out in Sabaody," Zephyr added with a ugh. Zephyr had been staying at Headquarters tely, training new officers and bringing fresh blood into the Marines now that he'd stepped down as an Admiral.

  As they tialking, it became clear that no one had made any signifit progress in their search fer. Sengoku sighed and asked, "So, what about the CP agencies? Any word from them?"

  "I wouldn't t on it. We don't have the best retionship with them," Garp said carelessly. "Even if they have found something, they're probably keeping it to themselves, worried that we'll steal the credit."

  The others nodded in agreement. It e that the CP agencies were alying their own games, even in times like these.

  "Typical. We're all trying to catch Roger, and they're still worried about their own glory," Sengoku grumbled.

  At that moment, Gion seemed hesitant, but eventually spoke up. "What about CP-X? Do they have any news?"

  Garp burst out ughing. "Ahahahaha! Gion, are you asking aber or about Cudius?"

  Gion shot him an annoyed gre. "Why are you so irritating, Garp?"

  Garp just ughed it off, unbothered, as always. The two of them had a good retionship, so she knew he was just teasing.

  Gion posed herself and said, "What's wrong with asking about both? I heard that before His Highness Cudius left Mariejois, he had a versation with the Five Elders. I'm curious if he discovered anything, and if it might be reted ter."

  No one else teased her like Garp did. Sengoku smiled and said, "Actually, I do have some news about that."

  "Huh?" Gion looked at him with i.

  "Before leaving Mariejois, Cudius asked the Five Elders if, by capturing Roger, he could bee one of the upper Celestial Dragons. And the Five Elders agreed," Sengoku said with a smirk.

  "The upper Celestial Dragons?" Tsuru raised an eyebrow. "That's ambitious. There are only four upper Celestial Dragons in all of Mariejois. Most of the Celestial Dragon families don't eve close to that kind of power."

  "Keep this under s, though," Sengoku warned. "It's still a secret. Cudius might be preparing to make a move against the Donquixote family."

  "Don't worry. We Marines have no i iing involved iial Dragon politics," Zephyr said, waving his hand dismissively.

  After a moment, Zephyr remembered something. "Oh, Tsuru, I heard you're about to be promoted to Chief of Staff?"

  "Yes, but that'll have to wait until Roger is dealt with… if we even mahat," Tsuru replied calmly.

  "Hold on, weren't we talking about CP-X?" Gion interrupted, trying to steer the versation ba track.

  "Hahaha, you're really ied in Cudius, aren't you?" Sengoku teased with a smile.

  Befion could respond, Sengoku tinued, "Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress on Cudius's end. It's been three months, and he doesn't seem to be making any serious efforts. I've even fed him some rumors aber, but he hasn't shown any i in following up. For the past few months, he's been hopping from isnd to isnd in South Blue. Holy, it looks more like he's on vacation than anything else."

  "Vacation?" Tsuru added dryly.

  "Yeah, vacation," Sengoku nodded. "I heard he lost more than two billion berries gambling while rolling di South Blue…"

  Gion sighed, exasperated. While they were all w hard, Cudius seemed to be taking it easy. An unbanced feeling crept into her chest. "So he's just living it up while we're out here sweating? Must be nice, being a CP agent uhe Celestial Dragons."

  Garp, never oo miss an opportunity for mischief, grinned and said, "Sengoku, you're pretty handsome yourself. Why don't you head over to Mariejois and find yourself a Celestial Dragon wife? Then when you bee Fleet Admiral, we all take it easy like Cudius."

  The moment Garp said this, Sengoku shot him a deadly gre. He then subtly g Tsuru, as if hoping she hadn't heard Garp's ridiculous ent. But Tsuru didn't even aowledge it, much to Sengoku's silent relief.

  After a bit more chatter, Garp pulled out a sleek bck wallet from his coat and said, "Sihings have been quiet tely, and we're all kind of at a standstill, I think I'll head down to South Blue. I've got some busio take care of with Cudius anyway."