Sengoku rubbed his forehead, utterly helpless. For the first time in a long while, he genuinely regretted bringing Garp along.
It was simply too embarrassing.
This old bastard had zero sense of occasion. No stance, no seriousness, nothing. He was actually acting like he had come to catch up with an old friend.
"Hahahaha, Sengoku, don't be mad. I just forgot for a moment, that's all. Relax, my stance won't change. If it really was Amon who killed people, I absolutely won't shield him!"
After clearing his throat, Garp tried to look fierce, even if the intimidation did not quite land.
"Hey, Amon, were these Marine soldiers killed by you?"
Amon looked at Garp, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"I killed them."
There was no reason to lie.
But Garp, whether because his ears were failing or because his brain had slipped a gear, somehow heard it as something else entirely.
"Hahaha, I knew you wouldn't do something like that. Sengoku, you old bastard, you…"
He trailed off.
Because in the next instant, he realized something was very wrong.
Sengoku was glaring at him with pure rage. Garp blinked, then replayed Amon's words in his head, slowly, carefully. The moment it clicked, his entire face froze.
His eyes widened.
His mouth dropped open.
"Wait… you really did it?"
Amon watched his expression shift and found it very amusing. He nodded and said,
"Yeah. I really did. Garp, what are you going to do about it?"
Garp, after confirming Amon truly had killed them, instantly "blew up," roaring in a furious voice.
"You really killed them? You asshole!"
As he spoke, he sidled closer, leaned toward Amon's ear, and lowered his voice.
"Killing Marines is a huge crime. If you admit it for real, even I won't be able to protect you! This kind of joke can't be made!"
It was obvious Garp wanted to protect Amon. As long as Amon did not admit it, Garp had ways to keep him safe.
The problem was, this "whisper" had absolutely no technique to it.
He did not whisper. He practically announced it, just slightly closer to Amon's ear.
Not only did Amon hear every word, Sengoku heard it clearly too.
Even the Rat Major's followers, standing a bit farther away, could catch the whole thing.
The surviving Marine soldiers instantly felt awful.
They never expected the man in front of them to have such a relationship with Garp.
From the way Garp was acting, it even looked like he wanted to smooth everything over for him.
"Garp!!"
Sengoku's face darkened to the point of turning black.
All these years, he had always thought Garp had many annoying flaws and a shameless tendency to protect his own people, but when it came to right and wrong, he had always been firm.
That was why this made Sengoku furious.
"Garp, I'm not joking. I did kill them."
"…So it really was you."
Garp sighed, the fire in him fading into something heavy and complicated.
"Amon… you're too stubborn. Fine. I can't interfere anymore. Sengoku, you handle it. I won't shield him."
Amon's gaze sharpened.
"Yes, I killed them. But they deserved it."
"All I know is, if I didn't act, Cocoyasi Village would never know peace again."
"I'm curious, before you came here, how much did you actually investigate Rat Major? Did you never wonder why I killed them?"
As Sengoku's posture shifted as though he was about to strike, Amon's aura exploded outward.
A terrifying sword intent surged, layered together with Conqueror's Haki.
The Rat Major's surviving loyalists instantly turned pale.
In that moment, they finally understood why the Marines outside had been knocked down without even getting to fire a single shot.
"Som… Someone… save… save us!"
Under Amon's pressure, they clutched their throats, faces contorted, begging with strained voices.
"Amon! How dare you!"
Sengoku did not expect Amon to unleash pressure so suddenly. Almost instinctively, he activated his Devil Fruit ability.
A golden Buddha manifested in front of everyone, radiating overwhelming force.
It was the posture of a man ready to strike at any moment if Amon so much as twitched.
"Heh, this is interesting. I thought you, as Fleet Admiral, would stand for justice. But I didn't expect you'd come here and condemn me without investigating anything. You really are decisive. Did you not investigate what Rat Major has been doing?"
"Hmm?" Sengoku narrowed his eyes.
Seeing that Amon was only projecting pressure and not directly killing those men, Sengoku did not rush to attack.
When Sengoku asked, "What do you mean?", a middle-aged man standing to Amon's left stepped forward.
His legs were clearly shaking. Fear churned inside him, but he forced it down and summoned courage he had never possessed before.
He shouted loudly.
"Fleet Admiral! It was those Marines who came to loot our village first! Mr. Amon only stepped in because he happened to pass by!"
"Exactly! Those Marines have been coming here every so often for years. They always barge into Cocoyasi Village and make up excuses to force us to hand over money and treasure. If we didn't, they would…"
"My brother was beaten to death by them a year ago!"
"Mr. Amon is a good man. Those Marines deserved to die!"
"If the Fleet Admiral is the same as those Marines, then even if we die, we will never let you take Mr. Amon away!"
"Never!"
The villagers grew more and more emotional as they spoke, blood rushing to their heads, rage and fear mixing into something fierce.
As their voices rose, figures suddenly appeared all around the village.
From every direction, people came running at full speed, converging toward the market like a tide.
Belle-mère snapped out of her shock as well.
She stepped forward with the crowd and spoke loudly.
"Fleet Admiral, my name is Belle-mère. I used to be a Marine soldier too! But because of certain reasons, I left the Marines and returned home to raise my two daughters. I swear on my character. The Marines Mr. Amon killed were all criminals, people who did evil without limit and deserved every bit of it!"
"That's right! Mr. Amon is a truly good man, you can't hurt him! If you try, I will fight you!"
Nojiko ran to Amon's side and threw herself in front of him.
She spread her arms, protecting him with her small body, as if saying that if anyone wanted to harm Amon, they would have to step over her corpse first.
Amon chuckled, looking at Sengoku's golden Buddha form.
"Heh, Sengoku… what's the plan? Want to fight first and talk later?"