Garp retracted his gaze and turned to look at Luffy, who was still on the ground rubbing his head with a look of grievance on his face, preparing to properly correct his desire to become the pirate king.
Just then, the tree canopy above rustled, and several startled birds flapped their wings and flew toward the sky.
A figure descended silently from high above using Moonwalk. The person wore a crisp suit and had a stern expression; it was Garp's adjutant, Borgart.
He landed steadily beside Garp, holding a den den mushi that was making a "brub-brub" sound, the den den mushi mimicking an anxious face.
"Mr. Garp, Fleet Admiral Sengoku has called for three consecutive days, urging you to return to Marineford."
Borgart's voice was steady and devoid of inflection, faithfully conveying the order.
"Hmm..."
Garp picked his nose, looking reluctant and annoyed.
"So annoying! It's that guy Sengoku again... I'm in the middle of an important mission to educate my grandson! No time!"
Before he could finish, Borgart had already pressed the answer button.
The den den mushi's mouth suddenly widened, and an image mimicking Sengoku's angry face appeared, followed by a deafening roar.
"Garp!! You bastard, don't think you can brush this off! I never approved your vacation! Get back to Headquarters immediately!!"
The den den mushi mimicked Sengoku's furious expression, its roar almost overturning the entire mountain forest.
Garp was startled by the sudden roar, his nose-picking action freezing; he then picked at his ear, which was buzzing from the noise, and gave a perfunctory reply.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it."
With that, he unhesitatingly snatched the den den mushi receiver from Borgart's hand and slammed it down, and the world was instantly peaceful.
Borgart was long used to this and calmly took back the den den mushi.
After finishing all this, he let out a long sigh, then lunged forward to where Luffy was still rubbing his head and grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"Let's go! Brat! Training is over!"
"Eh? But I still want to be the pirate king, Grandpa!"
"Shut up! If you dare mention the word 'pirate' again, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the Sea Kings!"
The intimate interaction between grandfather and grandson was ultimately interrupted. Garp finally just grabbed Luffy by the ear, dragged him back to Dadan's house while grumbling, and then boarded his own dog-headed Warship.
The Warship slowly sailed out of the Goa Kingdom's waters. On the deck, Garp sat cross-legged, munching on rice crackers, making a crunching sound, while asking Borgart beside him in a garbled voice.
"By the way, is there any information about that kid named Lorne?"
Borgart bowed slightly, took a document from his pocket, and responded concisely:
"According to the recent report from the 77th Branch, just a few days ago, the Arlong Pirates entrenched in the Cocoyasi Village area were completely wiped out by a young man. That young man's name is Lorne. His physical description basically matches the one we encountered."
"Oh?"
Garp stopped chewing his rice crackers, grinned to reveal a mouthful of white teeth, and let out a hearty laugh.
"Oh ho ho ho! Not bad! Making such a big scene so soon? As expected of the kid I had my eye on!"
...
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
After drifting at sea for several days, the Marines under Nezumi who had luckily survived on a huge wooden board were finally rescued by a patrolling Warship.
After being sent back to their branch, they immediately reported everything that happened on that nightmare-like day.
The Marine intelligence department was extremely efficient and quickly consolidated the testimony of Nezumi's Marines, the previous vague report from the 77th Branch, and the intelligence that the Arlong Pirates had been wiped out.
A complete report was presented on the conference table of the Marine high command.
Annihilation of the Arlong Pirates, who had the highest bounty in the East Blue.
Single-handedly crippled a standard Marine Warship of the 16th Branch and killed the Marine Branch Colonel Nezumi on the spot.
Capable of creating frost out of thin air, suspected to be a Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit user.
The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy.
The Marine generals present didn't care about the destruction of the Arlong Pirates; it was just a small pirate crew in the East Blue that wouldn't cause any trouble.
But killing a Marine Colonel and destroying a Marine Warship was the most blatant provocation to the dignity of the World Government and the Marines!
"We must punish him severely! We absolutely cannot tolerate such a guy who despises justice!"
A hawk-faction general slammed the table and roared indignantly.
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"