After retiring from the Navy, I became a doting husband.

"Boom!"

Martin slammed his head into Gara's mouth, knocking out all of Gara's teeth.

"Waaaaah!"

Galo covered her mouth with one hand, and blood kept flowing out from between her fingers.

"puff!"

A mouthful of blood, along with knocked-out teeth, spurted from Galo's mouth.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Gara coughed incessantly, pointing at Martin as she coughed, but the pain prevented her from speaking.

"I'll fight you to the death!" Gara shouted, stomping his feet on the ground and transforming into an arrowhead, charging directly at Martin. What he had thought would be an easy and simple task had turned out like this, and this outcome had completely ignited his ruthlessness.

Seeing Gara rushing towards him, Martin calmly raised his hands and then used both palms to hold Gara's rabbit head, letting the head rotate between his palms.

"Oh!"

Martin raised his leg and kicked Garo in the stomach, sending him flying to the ground. He then quickly followed up with another kick...

"boom!"

Galo fell from a height and lay motionless on the ground, having already fainted at some point.

Martin sensed that he had exhausted the demonic power within Gara, and that if he continued, he might kill himself, so he had no choice but to stop.

"How are you, Sakazuki? Feeling any better?"

Only then did Martin walk over and greet Sakazuki.

"Martin, why did you come along? Are you afraid I won't go back?"

“How could that be? Although you’re a bit too righteous and will stop at nothing to achieve justice, I still believe your promise. But what could an old bachelor like you possibly have to deal with? I just felt you were looking to cause trouble for the Five Elders, so I came along to check. You see, it’s a good thing I came, otherwise you would have broken your promise,” Martin said with a smile.

"I didn't expect the Five Elders to have such strong fighting power hidden away. They didn't even get a single clue from our Navy. It seems they don't consider the Navy as one of their own." Sakazuki seemed to realize something. He was no longer a member of the Navy, and referring to the Navy as "our Navy" seemed inappropriate.

Seeing Sakazuki's embarrassed expression, Martin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't be embarrassed. It's normal that you can't change your way of addressing people after all these years. I also hope that you will serve the temple in the future, just like you did in the Navy."

"Serves him right. He dedicated his life to the Navy, and in the end, he had a bounty on his head. How pathetic," Sakazuki said dejectedly.

"Don't be discouraged. Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent. When you reach the temple, you will be less bound and able to realize the justice in your heart without having to do anything against your conscience to please anyone."

"I hope so." Sakazuki regained some of his spirits after hearing Martin's words.

“Can’t we still walk? We should leave as soon as possible. I wonder how many people like Garo are left in Mary Geoise,” Martin said, reaching out to help Sakazuki up.

"It's much better now, it should be fine," Sakazuki said, touching his injured area.

"Let's go then!"

Martin grabbed Gara, who had returned to human form, and then disappeared into the street.

Sakazuki followed. As for seeking revenge against the Five Elders, it seemed he had been too arrogant, but he believed he would have his chance in the future.

With Martin and his group gone, Mary Geoise returned to its quiet state, the streets deserted and empty. The Five Elders had not granted permission for anyone to enter the area until they received a reply from Garo.

Time ticked by, and the Five Elders grew impatient. The battle was clearly over, so why hadn't Gara reported back yet?

"Go and see why Gara hasn't returned to report yet?" The Five Elders, unable to wait any longer, dialed the God's Guard again.

"It's the Five Elders!"

"Lord Five Elders, something terrible has happened! There's no one left at the place where the battle just took place, and Gara is nowhere to be found either."

After waiting for some time, the Five Elders finally received a reply, but the result was something they never expected.

"Where is he?! Where has he gone?!"

The Five Elders roared at the Den Den Mushi, saying that every member of the God Guard was handpicked and selected. They were not only their last trump card, but also the cornerstone of the World Government's control over the world. As long as they were there, no one could breach Mary Geoise.

"Could Lord Gara, one of the Five Elders, have betrayed us? Has he fled?"

"Impossible. He knows what leaving Mary Geoise means—it means losing power. He couldn't possibly do something so foolish."

By the way, has Sakazuki's body been found?

“Five Elders, there are no people or corpses over there, but I’m certain Judge fought with Sakazuki; there’s a lot of lava debris left behind!”

“There was a battle, and Sakazuki didn’t die? How is that possible? Why is Sakazuki still alive? Besides Mary Geoise, who else in this world could stop someone with demonic power?”

The five old men in the power room looked at each other, a situation they had never encountered before since they came to power, nor had the disappearance of members of the God's Guard ever happened.

"I don't know the specifics of the Five Elders either. This is how it is wherever we are. Do we need our guards to continue the investigation?"

"No need. We will send CP0 personnel to handle this. Your task is simply to protect Mary Geoise and the adults."

"It's the Five Elders!"

"What do we do now? How could a member of the God's Guard disappear? I don't think Sakazuki has that kind of ability. Who could have done this?"

"Could it be Kaido? He's the only one with that kind of ability."

"That's impossible. Although Kaido has come to Mary Geoise to seek death many times, don't forget that he was almost killed once, and he hasn't dared to come to Mary Geoise since then."

"Who could that be? It seems like there's no such person in the world."

"No, you've forgotten someone. He fought Kaido for ten days and ten nights in the New World. Without the power of a demon, how could he have fought that monster Kaido for so long?"

"You're Martin!"

"Is this possible? How did he awaken demonic power? Only Lord Im has this ability to awaken demonic power in others."

The Five Elders fell silent instantly; they really couldn't explain it. Could it be that Martin had also mastered this ability?

"Have CP0 keep an eye on things and see if Garo has been kidnapped by Martin. We should also think about how to deal with Martin's situation. Lord Im has been urging us several times already, and he'll get angry if we don't confirm it soon."

"That's the only way. Let's discuss Martin's matter carefully."

The power room fell silent again, and the Five Elders began plotting something once more.

Marineford.

"Marshal, that's how it is!"

"Okay, I understand. You can go now!"

"It's the Marshal!"

"Oh!"

After the sergeant left, he closed the door to the Sengoku office as well. Apart from the sound of tea being drunk, there was no other sound in the office.

"How should we handle this Sengoku matter? Our navy can't just let the World Government do whatever it wants. Today it's Sakazuki, but who knows who it will be tomorrow?" Tsuru spoke first.

After Vice Admiral Tsuru finished speaking, Kuzan and Borsalino looked up. This wasn't the first time they had held such a meeting. They had come once before when Zeff was leaving, but they were powerless to change anything. Edward Weevil was added to the list of Shichibukai.

"I know all that, but what can we do? We are, after all, just the Navy. We have to obey the World Government and the Five Elders."

After saying this helplessly, Sengoku continued, "If we offend the World Government and the Five Elders, then the Navy will really be finished. At that time, we won't have any Beri or any people. Will our Navy still have any reason to exist?"

“Sengoku, are we being too weak? Our navy is the strongest armed force of the World Government, after all. Can’t we be a little tougher and refuse the unreasonable demands of the World Government and the Five Elders? If this continues, our navy will really be finished and become nothing more than a decoration,” Vice Admiral Tsuru said.

Kuzan and Borsalino couldn't get a word in edgewise, nor did they know what to say. They were just a little worried that they might end up like Sakazuki.

Sengoku hesitated, unsure whether he should say something. The secret he knew could be a secret in a good way, or a warning in a bad way—a warning to himself to obey and not disobey the Five Elders' orders.

"Tsuru, do you really think our navy is the strongest armed force under the World Government's control? Then why was Fleet Admiral Kong promoted to Commander-in-Chief? We can't be the strongest armed force, we can only be the armed force with the most personnel," Sengoku said tactfully.

Tsuru, Kuzan, and Borsalino were somewhat bewildered by Sengoku's words. The navy is the strongest armed force; isn't that universally acknowledged? Is that wrong?

The office fell silent again, and everyone went about their own business, drinking their tea.

Just then, the Den Den Mushi rang.

Sengoku quickly stood up and then gestured for Tsuru and the others to be quiet.

"The Five Elders!"

“It was Sakazuki who came to Marineford.”

“You didn’t want him to go back to the Navy, so I didn’t make things difficult for him and let him leave.”

“He attacked Mary Geoise. How dare he do such a thing?”

"I understand now!"

"What happened in the Warring States period?" Tsuru asked hurriedly after seeing the Warring States hang up the Den Den Mushi.

"Sakazuki went to confront the Five Elders, but was stopped. He then fought his way in, and I don't know what happened after that. Just now, the Five Elders asked me if Sakazuki had returned to Marineford, and also about increasing his bounty; it's currently two billion Berries," Sengoku replied.

"Sengoku, do you mean Sakazuki was defeated, repelled by the World Government? Is that possible? Is there someone in the World Government who could withstand Sakazuki's attack?" Tsuru asked incredulously.

Kuzan and Borsalino both looked at Sengoku, asking the same question: Does the World Government have the power to do this?

Chapter 238 Windmill Village, Luffy Sets Sail

Gaya Island.

Martin has been back from Mary Geoise for some time now, and neither the World Government nor the Navy has taken any drastic actions. All parties are at peace, as if nothing has happened.

The bigwigs of the underworld originally wanted to negotiate with Martin to redeem their subordinates, but they didn't expect Martin to kill them directly. In the end, they could only swallow their anger and suffer in silence. As for revenge, they really didn't have that idea. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but that they didn't have the strength or dare to even think about it.

"It's the year 1520 of the Sea Calendar. The future Pirate King is going to set sail this year. Shall we go and take a look?"

Martin leaned against the railing, gazing at the blue and white clouds, and muttered to himself. He couldn't sit still any longer and immediately got up to find someone to explain.

"I'm leaving the Temple of Good and Evil to you. I'm going out for a walk to clear my head. Call me if you run into any trouble."

"Why does the captain suddenly want to go for a walk? Should we ask Monet and the others to go with you?"

When Martin heard that he wanted to go for a walk to clear his head, Monet and Smoothie came over, wanting to go with him.

"I'm going alone this time, don't worry, I'll be back soon. Keep an eye on Gaya Island, I'm afraid someone might come and cause trouble again."

Seeing the longing in Monet's and the others' eyes, Martin still refused. Too many people would make them too conspicuous, and he didn't want anyone to know that he had left Gaya Island.

"Then it's up to you, Captain!"

"Captain, take care of yourself!"

Although somewhat disappointed, everyone still gave Martin some advice.

After bidding farewell to everyone, Martin piloted the solo version of the Harem, soaring into the sky and leaving Gaya Island, heading towards the East China Sea.