Chapter 155: Rising Fame and Rampant Rumors

"What?"
"That Garen defeated the Dark King Rayleigh."
Sengoku gripped the Den Den Mushi receiver in his hand, momentarily wondering if he had developed senile dementia.
"It is the absolute truth."
Onmy蜘蛛's cold and serious voice came through the receiver with crystal clarity.
"You're not joking, are you?"
For the first time in his life, Sengoku questioned Onigumo's working attitude.
"Marshal Sengoku, do I sound like a person who jokes?"
"I witnessed the battle between Garen and Rayleigh with my own eyes; there can be no falsehood."
Onigumo's voice did not waver in the slightest, delivered in an unquestionable, declarative tone.
...
After listening carefully to Onigumo's report, Sengoku hung up the phone in a daze.
Onigumo was certainly not the type of person to jest. As a famously cold-blooded law enforcement machine within Marine headquarters, his words carried immense credibility.
Yet, recalling the intelligence regarding Garen...
Sengoku vividly remembered that just half a year ago, Garen was a newcomer who could barely handle a third-rate headquarters lieutenant commander, and Garp had also mentioned that Garen's strength was negligible when they parted ways.
Later on, Garen's ability to kill Crocodile had already caused Sengoku to feel a slight trace of shock.
And now...
What kind of growth rate was this?
Suddenly, Sengoku felt a slight headache coming on:
An expert capable of rivaling the Dark King Rayleigh, and yet such an inexperienced young man—this was simply a massive, unstable factor.
With his strength having ballooned to such an extent, he was evidently no longer some small fry that the Marines could casually manipulate.
"Sigh..."
Sengoku let out a deep sigh, wondering inwardly whether he should simply dispatch forces to block off the sea route from the East Blue to the Grand Line, lest another monstrous disruptor emerge from those waters.
The only silver lining was that Garen was not some heinous pirate.
Not only was he not a pirate, but he had actually managed to make the hawk faction's general Onigumo—a staunch upholder of absolute justice—praise him profusely, while also achieving the peerless merit of helping the Marines resist the Dark King Rayleigh.
"So..."
Sengoku pondered for a long time before finally making a decision:
Since the events had already transpired, he might as well make good use of this incident to establish the authority of the Marines and the World Government.
Hmm...
Let's name the news headline: "Newly Appointed Warlord Coordinates with Marine Headquarters to Effectively Crush the Arrogance of Terrorist Rayleigh"...
"Wait..."
Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku suddenly felt that something was amiss:
"Where on earth did I learn these rhetorical tricks?"
..........................................................................
"It was me."
Garen stood once more before the cameras of a throng of reporters, speaking of his glorious experiences with serene nonchalance:
"I killed Gecko Moria, that is correct."
"Although Moria and I are both Warlords of the Sea and nominally allies..."
"His atrocious deeds are plain for all to see. How could I, as a partner of justice, possibly collude with him?"
"That fellow deserved his death; my killing him can only be considered cleaning house for the Warlords."
Having answered this question, Garen could not help casting a sharp glare at that tactless tabloid reporter.
The other journalists had based their inquiries on the news releases issued by the Marines and the World Government, asking primarily about his battle with the Dark King.
Naturally, Garen was more than happy to answer such questions that burnished his reputation.
Yet this tabloid reporter, eager to break a major story, had taken an unorthodox approach by asking about the cause of Gecko Moria's death—a matter the World Government couldn't even be bothered to investigate—attempting thereby to set verbal traps for Garen.

Ambitiously, he sought to pin the label of lawlessness on Garen for slaying a Warlord peer, and then extend that line of questioning all the way to Garen's supposed "disloyal intentions" toward the World Government.
However, such stretched reasoning ultimately backfired.
That tabloid reporter immediately reaped Garen's threat-laden gaze.
A thick layer of cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead, his teeth chattered uncontrollably, and he found himself utterly unable to utter another word.
For the tabloid reporter suddenly realized—
Playing such ridiculous word games in front of a top-tier powerhouse capable of rivaling the Dark King Rayleigh was undoubtedly an act of seeking his own death.
"Haha..."
Observing the reporter's prompt submission, Garen smiled with satisfaction:
"My journalist friend, do you have any other questions? Feel free to ask boldly!"
"In Alabasta, we have always supported freedom of speech!"
"Yes, yes..."
The tabloid reporter wiped the cold sweat from his brow with difficulty and stammered in frantic reply:
"I have no further questions."
Having experienced both freedom of speech and a threat to his life, the tabloid reporter quietly retreated.
The surrounding journalists wisely reined in their petty thoughts and, guided once more by Garen, shifted their inquiries to harmless matters:
"Lord Garen!"
"Might I ask about the black blade Shusui you confiscated from the Dark King Rayleigh? Will you use it as your personal sword from now on?"
Aware of Garen's "true strength," the journalists treated him with a heightened sense of respect.
"Sigh..."
Garen first explained with "modesty":
"I have already emphasized this: that blade was not spoils of war confiscated by me."
"The Dark King Rayleigh is, after all, a long-established powerhouse; there is still a considerable gap between him and me."
"You are too modest!"
"The World Government and the Marines have both officially recognized your strength!"
Naturally, the reporters refused to believe Garen's disclaimers.
Even if it were true, they wouldn't write it that way; after all, the headline "Defeating Rayleigh" was far more eye-catching than "Gifted a Sword Out of Rayleigh's Admiration."
Garen did not waste his breath arguing further, merely continuing to answer the questions:
"A swordsman does not lightly abandon his own blade, and neither do I."
"Therefore, I have gifted the black blade Shusui to a young Marine whom I hold in high regard. I believe this famous sword will wield an even greater purpose in her hands!"
A commotion rippled through the reporters, their minds instantly conjuring the dashing posture of a future supreme swordsman.
The news that Garen had gifted the Dark King's personal sword to a young Marine made the reporters even more acutely aware of the deeply intertwined relationship between this new Warlord and the Marines.
In reality, however, the person receiving the black blade Shusui was merely an airheaded young maiden.
Rayleigh had his own personal sword and had no use for Shusui, so, following Crocus's entrustment, he had handed the blade over to Garen.
And Garen had done likewise.
Since Bon Kurei had been assigned back to the East Blue to spearhead the Neo Marine Company's anti-corruption and crime-fighting efforts, Garen had simply handed the sword to Bon Kurei to take back to the East Blue, intending to present Shusui as a gift to Tashigi, who loved collecting famous swords.
After answering a few more trivial questions and solidifying his image as a law-abiding citizen, Garen prepared to turn and leave the press conference.
Suddenly, an obscure reporter stood up from a corner and lobbed a long-concealed blockbuster bomb at Garen:
"Lord Garen?!"
"I've heard a rumor in the East Blue; could you please explain it?"
Garen's footsteps abruptly halted, and he asked with a trace of wariness:
"What rumor?"
The other reporters similarly pricked up their ears, a surge of excitement flashing through their hearts at the prospect of catching a major scoop.
They heard that abruptly aggressive reporter ask in a clear voice:
"There is a rumor in the East Blue that you are a Celestial Dragon traveling incognito. Is this true?"

"......"
Garen was momentarily dumbfounded.
A murmur ran through the press corps, followed by a brief pause before they frantically picked up pens and paper to take notes.
Garen had assumed that the tale of "Garen's Incognito Journey" had long since been forgotten, swept away by Goa Kingdom's official refutations and Wallace's manipulation of public opinion; he never expected it to be dredged up from some dusty corner now that he had achieved worldwide renown.
Public opinion was a double-edged sword; if mishandled, it would harm others and oneself alike.
Garen was finally tasting the bitter fruit left behind by the propaganda war, and what was worse, he hadn't even been the one who started that rumor in the first place.
"Rumors! These are completely baseless rumors!"
Garen had no choice but to bite the bullet and reprimand:
"If I were any sort of Celestial Dragon, why would I come here and break my back working as a Warlord? Am I a fool?"
"Then, Lord Garen..."
The reporter pressed on:
"No matter how one investigates your background, your records only go back half a year. You seemingly appeared out of thin air, which naturally sparks the imagination."
"Furthermore, why have you consistently refused to disclose your surname?"
"......"
Garen was once again rendered speechless.
He had always presented himself by his given name "Garen," making it rather difficult to explain that his surname was actually "Gai" (or "Cover/Garen").
"Ahem..."
Putting on a righteous, official expression, Garen replied with a stern face:
"Fabricating and spreading rumors only serves to cause severe chaos in public order."
"I urge everyone to keep your eyes open and refuse to believe such absurd nonsense!"
"I trust that the World Government will never sit idly by while such rumors mocking the World Nobles are allowed to spread unchecked!"
........................................................................
"Let them spread!"
An elderly man with a Mediterranean hairline, a pair of walrus mustaches, a birthmark on his forehead, and a striking resemblance to the "Undertaker of the Empire" Mikhail Gorbachev roared robustly into the telephone.
This elder was no ordinary individual:
He was one of the most revered high-ranking Celestial Dragons among the World Nobles and one of the supreme rulers of the World Government, the Gorosei.
And the person on the other end of the line was equally extraordinary:
Spandam, the chief of CP9, the World Government's direct undercover secret service agency, who had long been responsible for gathering and monitoring intelligence in the first half of the Grand Line for the upper echelons of the World Government.
Upon learning that a rumor concerning a Celestial Dragon was spreading wildly, Spandam had reported it to the World Government at the very first instance.
Yet, the order he received in return was to "let the rumors run rampant."
Hearing this directive, Spandam couldn't help asking over the phone:
"Sir, could that Garen actually be...?"
"That is not for you to inquire about!"
A stern reprimand echoed from "Gorbachev," causing Spandam to shudder remotely across the connection:
"In any case, the wider this rumor spreads, the better."
"Not only are you not to interfere, but you are fully permitted to fan the flames behind the scenes."
With that, the Gorosei member "Gorbachev" heavily slammed down the receiver.
A smug smile crept onto the old man's face:
Though he didn't know where the rumor had originated...
Hearing such a tale, those troublesome major pirates and revolutionaries would naturally position themselves in direct opposition to the new Warlord Garen.
To bind an expert comparable to the Dark King Rayleigh to the chariot of the World Government using nothing more than a ridiculous rumor...
Why wouldn't he welcome such an outcome?
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