After receiving the order from the Five Elders, Kizaru was the first to return.
Taking advantage of Luffy being distracted by the situation on the Sabaody Archipelago, he launched a surprise attack.
"How terrifying~ Straw Hat~"
Kizaru stood exactly where Luffy had been a moment ago. For some reason, that kick just now hadn't felt solid.
The situation before him looked good.
Luffy's figure shot backward like a cannonball, crashing through several thick roots of Yarukiman Mangrove trees before finally holding on in a cloud of dust.
"That hurt, bastard."
Luffy knelt on one knee, rubbing his slightly numb chest.
That kick of Kizaru's, combining lightspeed and Haki, was indeed not to be underestimated.
It had been so fast that he hadn't even reacted.
"Don't lie, you bastard Straw Hat." Kizaru's mouth twitched.
Even a Supernova would have bled from that kick.
Luffy?
He was completely fine.
But Rayleigh, standing where he had been, did not immediately focus on Kizaru's next move.
"So it's not just you?"
Rayleigh's eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze crossed the battle-torn ground ahead, looking toward a direction further away.
His usually lazy, bland expression had rarely changed. Now, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"Hey, hey. Why would an old bastard like you come here? This shouldn't be happening."
Rayleigh shouted, "Garp!"
"Puhahaha! No help for it. This old man hasn't retired yet. You know how that bastard Sengoku is with his orders."
Accompanied by laughter—
An exceptionally tall, burly old man, built like an iron tower, walked toward them from the end of the shattered street with an oppressive pace.
He wore a standard white Marine suit, with the same white Marine coat over it.
Though his hair and beard were white, his bulging muscles and upright posture all showed the terrifying power contained within his body.
Compared to the old-timers Luffy had encountered like Zephyr and Shiki, who all had a very old appearance—
Garp showed no signs of age at all.
"This old man is also in a difficult position."
As he walked, Garp dug his thick finger into his nostril, completely at ease.
The Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp!
"Does the Marine Hero take orders from Sengoku?"
Rayleigh twirled the still-intact long sword he had picked up from somewhere, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground. His tone was teasing. "This isn't the Garp I know."
"Well, since we're going up against 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh himself,"
Garp flicked away the booger he had dug out, completely unconcerned. His gaze swept over Rayleigh and finally settled on Luffy, who had just stood up. His voice boomed, "Old remnants of a bygone era keep popping up one after another. They need to be given due attention.
This old man doesn't want to get mixed up in this kind of troublesome business. But that bastard Sengoku gave strict orders. I have no interest in saving those Celestial Dragon pieces of trash.
But if I let you cause such a huge commotion here, the Navy's pride will be completely destroyed."
SHING!
A crisp metallic ring. Rayleigh flicked his wrist, and the long sword in his hand suddenly rose. The sharp blade pointed precisely at Garp. An invisible, sharp aura spread.
"Even against your own grandson, you plan to show no mercy?" Rayleigh shouted.
"This old man is a Marine! Marines capture pirates. Isn't that only natural?!"
Garp put his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and said in a loud voice, "That brat chose to put on that straw hat and walk down a path from which there is no return. He must be prepared to bear all the consequences. Especially after doing something today that will shake the world. Isn't that right, Straw Hat – Monkey D. Luffy!"
His gaze locked onto Luffy again, carrying a complex and incomprehensible emotion.
There was anger at his lack of righteousness, and a hint of unconcealed pride?
He was very proud.
Garp had never liked those pieces of trash. His grandson had done something he himself, because of his position as a Marine, had never been able to do.
And he had caused such a huge commotion.
A Marine Hero plus two Marine Admirals... that was a treatment reserved for Roger and his crew back in the day.
A very complicated feeling.
Almost as soon as Garp finished speaking, a mutation occurred.
Luffy looked at Kizaru.
"Gomu Gomu no... Mogura Gun!"
The ground in the area where Kizaru had been standing suddenly undulated like a living thing, instantly transforming into elastic rubber.
"Hm?"
A fist wrapped in jet-black armed haki, its surface even jumping with black-red arc, like a giant snake emerging from its lair, abruptly bursting through the rubber ground from below, rapidly hitting Kizaru in the abdomen.
THUD!
The impact was loud, dull as a drum.
"Don't space out at a time like this."
Garp watched the scene and warned.
Kizaru also seemed not to have expected that Luffy, after taking his kick, could launch such a weird counterattack so quickly.
Caught off guard, he was solidly hit in the abdomen by this punch, which contained terrifying domineering energy.
He turned into a golden stream of light, flying backward even faster than he had come, crashing through
the remains of several buildings before being buried under a pile of rubble, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Oh~ How terrifying~ Straw Hat."
A slightly mocking voice came from the rubble. Amidst flickering golden light, Kizaru's figure somewhat embarrassedly regrouped.
The air pressure slowly settled. The pattern at the center of the battlefield was clearly revealed.
On one side stood Rayleigh, sword in hand, his breath was far away.
On the other side stood Garp, just having appeared, majestic and heroic.
On the flank, Luffy, who had just completed a beautiful counterattack, stared at his two enemies.
Kizaru, rising from the rubble, said, "One can never let one's guard down."
Four strongmen standing at the apex of the sea. Their auras intertwined and collided. The invisible pressure made the air in this area seem to freeze.
"So, you refused my trade?" Luffy asked.
"Yes. Our superiors did not agree to your outrageous demand."
Kizaru said, "Besides, a trade between pirates and the Navy – just thinking about it, it could never happen. We do not compromise to criminals."
"You didn't say that before, you bastard monkey."
Luffy's eyes showed killing intent. His terrifying Conqueror's Haki swept outward.
Haki leaked.
The rubble was struck by black-red lightning. Dust flew everywhere.
Not very aggressive – after all, Admirals had extremely strong willpower. It was unlikely to knock them unconscious with Conqueror's Haki.
But it's very intimidating.
Kizaru brushed the dust from his suit, tilted his head to look at Luffy, then at Garp. "Garp-san, this grandson of yours surprises me more and more."
"Puhaha! Isn't that right? Even this old man can't let him guard down around him now."
Garp crossed his arms, letting out his signature laugh. "After all, this old man trained him like he was training the finest Marine soldier!"
His look at Luffy was full of pride, like a parent proud of their child's success.
If Sengoku were here, Garp might have restrained himself a bit.
But here, there was only Kizaru.
As he laughed, Garp's eyes shifted slightly downward, staring at Luffy. "Straw Hat, are you ready? Ready to face the consequences of challenging the Navy – of challenging the established order of this world?"
Luffy took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling, calming his churning blood and energy.
"Grandfather, don't you know that Ace has been captured?"
He didn't believe that Garp, the Marine Hero, wouldn't know about this.
Clearly, this was a truth Garp didn't want to face.
His heroic smile instantly froze on his face. His arms, crossed in front of his chest, unconsciously loosened slightly.
Silence.
A brief silence fell over the Marine Hero.
"This is the fate you chose by becoming pirates."
Garp's voice deepened somewhat. "When you were children, I told you again and again that you should become the finest Marine soldiers. Why didn't you listen?!"
If they had followed the path he had laid out, this wouldn't be happening.
Ace's identity would not have been exposed.
Luffy would not have been wanted as a pirate with such a high bounty.
"Because these are our dreams!"
Luffy answered loudly without hesitation, his eyes firm and unwavering. "Ace has his dream, and I have mine! Becoming the Pirate King is my dream!"
"Then pay the price for your dreams!"
Garp's emotions also seemed to be ignited. His voice suddenly rose. "If you choose this path, you must be prepared to lose your lives and bring pain to your loved ones!"
Old and young stared at each other.
At this moment, both their emotions were ignited.
Garp was like an elder who had laid out a path for his descendants, hoping they would follow it and live well.
But things had not gone as planned.
One by one, they had chosen paths opposite to the one Garp had laid out.
Was he wrong? Or was the path wrong?
Garp couldn't figure it out.
He would not, and did not want to, admit that the creed he had held for most of his life was wrong.
Just then, the nearby Celestial Dragons saw the Marine Hero and Admiral gathered together.
Apparently believing the situation was settled and their safety assured, their deeply ingrained arrogance and stupidity again took over.
Shalria was the first to shriek, "Quick! Capture all these lowly pirates! Especially that Straw Hat! I'll make him my lowest slave, atonement for eternity!"
Roswald also resumed his lofty posture. "And that woman! That blue-haired one who dared to hit me! I'll skin her and make her into a carpet!"
Charlos, not to be outdone, even more directly aimed his spearhead at Garp.
"Hey! That white-haired old man is called Marine Hero Garp, right? Straw Hat is your grandson?! You have such a sinful grandson! You are also guilty! Your whole family is guilty! I'll report this to the Five Elders and have everything taken away from you!"
These harsh, venomous words, suddenly ringing out on this battlefield where strongmen faced each other, seemed particularly funny and out of place.
Nika, standing near the Celestial Dragons, did nothing to stop this development.
She looked like she was about to burst, barely holding back laughter.
Celestial Dragons really were irredeemable fools.
The more they said, the faster they died!
Sure enough, Luffy gripped Magi.
He didn't even turn his head to look at the noisy Celestial Dragons.
"Grandfather, is this what the Navy, with its Admirals and Hero, wants to protect and uphold?"
"Hah? Don't be ridiculous."
Garp picked his ear, looking utterly disgusted and impatient. "This old man's orders are only to arrest the Straw Hat crew and stop you from causing more trouble. As for these noisy pieces of trash, their safety is not within this old man's mission scope. Protecting the World Nobles is the job of CP0 and certain specific units."
The originally tense situation actually relaxed quite a bit.
Kizaru, standing nearby, couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid.
The final command he had received from the Five Elders was to completely eliminate the instability. If these Celestial Dragons could be saved, save them. If not, their priority was obviously far lower than eliminating the Straw Hat crew.
Still, at Garp's "trash" epithet, he couldn't help but use his unique drawl to remind him, "Hey, hey, Garp-san~ You can't say that kind of thing so blatantly. It's not a good look~"
Garp let out an "oh," waved his hand casually, unconcerned. "Yeah, yeah, got it. Next time I'll be careful not to say it in front of so many people."
Kizaru: "..."
Next time?
Forget it. Leave Garp to Sengoku.
He was just a mere Admiral. He couldn't control this old man.
And those Celestial Dragons seemed completely unable to grasp their precarious situation.
Or rather, they simply don't believe that on this sea, anyone would dare to kill them in front of a Marine Hero and Admiral.
Seeing that Garp and Kizaru weren't immediately capturing Luffy but were instead chatting, Charlos grew even angrier, escalating his insults and threats.
"Shut up."
Luffy said quietly.
He swung the arm holding Magi casually backward!
HUM!
A dark red giant, tens-of-meters-high crescent slash, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, silently tearing the air.
At a speed beyond the naked eye, it instantly swept past the positions of Charlos, Roswald, and Shalria.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The expressions on the three Celestial Dragons' faces froze completely.
The next moment, their bodies, like sandcastles blown by the wind, slowly slid along smooth cut surfaces. Blood surged like a fountain, instantly staining the ground beneath them.
The world finally fell completely silent.
All the secretly watching eyes were breathless.
"He killed them."
"He actually killed them!"
"Those were Celestial Dragons!"
And Straw Hat Luffy had personally slain three World Nobles – Celestial Dragons – right in front of Marine Hero Garp and Admiral Kizaru!
***
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