"Chinjao?" Garp raised his brow and asked with interest, "Didn't that guy retire?"
"He returned to the New World not long ago," Bogard said calmly. "Headquarters believes he was also drawn in by Laugh Tale, the final island. He likely wants to search for the great treasure Roger spoke of, as well as those sixty billion Berries."
"Ahahahaha, that really does fit his greedy nature," Garp said with a loud laugh.
Not far away, Kuzan also came over, wiping the dirt and blood from his knuckles with a towel.
"I heard Headquarters was also preparing to form a special unit to search for Laugh Tale, right?" he asked.
The great treasure of Laugh Tale and Pirate King Roger's wealth of more than sixty billion Berries had drawn the attention of more than just pirates. Marine Headquarters was interested in it as well.
More than half a year earlier, Sengoku had suggested forming a special unit to enter the New World and investigate the Final Island, hoping they could seize the legendary treasure—and the sixty billion Berries—for the Marines.
From a higher perspective, sixty billion Berries was not actually that much to the Marines. It could not even compare to the massive annual military budget required by Marine Headquarters.
But if that money fell into the hands of a great pirate, the meaning would be different.
That amount could become hundreds of powerful warships.
Because of that, the Marine higher-ups felt that this matter had to be watched. It would be best if they could take it themselves and keep it from becoming fuel for pirates.
"That news is already old. The people in Mary Geoise rejected the idea and denied the whole plan. They even made it clear that the Marines are not allowed to take part in this matter," Garp said with clear disdain.
Kuzan froze after hearing that and asked in surprise, "Why? If we do not go looking for it, then the great treasure will eventually fall into pirate hands. When that happens, it will become cannon fire aimed at us…"
"You are still young, but you saw Zephyr's matter with your own eyes, so you should already have some thoughts of your own. Just as you guessed, there is very deep darkness hidden in Mary Geoise. The World Government is trying to erase parts of the past. If the Marines search for Laugh Tale, we might come into contact with that past they do not want anyone to mention, and that could affect the spirit of the entire Marine force. Do you understand now?" Garp said with a cold laugh.
Hearing Garp's words, Kuzan fell silent.
"All right, these are not matters we should be thinking about. A person should do the work that fits their position. Leave these ugly problems to Sengoku, Kong, and the others," Garp said, patting Kuzan on the shoulder to comfort him. Then he turned and said, "Bogard, where is Chinjao now? Where is he heading? We will go find him right away…"
At this point, an eager smile appeared on Garp's face.
"Back then, I could not break that iron head of his, so I specially found a few mountains and smashed them apart with my fists, one punch at a time, all so I could flatten the head he was so proud of. In the end, just when I felt I had trained my strength to the perfect level, enough to stun him without damaging his brain too badly, that guy went back to the West Blue and stopped coming out…"
Chinjao's identity was actually rather special. He was an official pirate of Kano Country in the West Blue, and his group was called the Happo Navy.
As a powerful country in the West Blue, Kano Country was a member nation that the World Government paid close attention to, because the country's military strength was indeed very strong. Aside from the king's army, guard forces, and other troops, there were at least eight groups similar to the Happo Navy.
In other words, there were at least eight leaders on the same level as Chinjao.
It was even very possible that Chinjao was near the bottom among them, because he still needed to use his son's marriage ties to keep good relations with the other leaders.
This showed that Kano Country's strength in this area was truly not something the World Government could look down on.
Because of that, even though Chinjao had often acted as a pirate many years ago, Marine Headquarters had always taken a vague attitude toward him.
They still issued a wanted poster for him, but on that poster, it clearly said he was to be taken alive only.
Garp had clashed with Chinjao many times over the years. It was not that he could not beat him, but the situation was hard to handle. In the beginning, Garp had captured Chinjao several times, but soon after, Kano Country would always use official channels to get him released.
After that, Garp stopped arresting him. He simply beat him up to vent his anger. After taking a heavy beating, Chinjao would stay quiet for a long time, since he needed time to recover from his injuries.
After this happened a few times, Sengoku gave Garp a bad idea. He said that beating Chinjao like that was not very useful, and since they could not kill him, Garp should focus on the head that Chinjao was so proud of next time.
As long as Garp flattened Chinjao's head, Chinjao's spirit would quickly collapse. When that happened, he would naturally quiet down.
After hearing this, Garp thought it made a lot of sense.
So he spent a long time specifically training his fists to flatten Chinjao's head. But whether Chinjao had caught wind of something or the Kano Country had undergone internal changes, he returned to the West Blue. For several years after that, he never appeared in the New World again.
Garp had honed his fists to perfection—but never got the chance to use them.
After all, he couldn't simply charge into the territory of a World Government member nation and drag Chinjao out for a beating.
But this time, hearing that Chinjao had returned to the sea and once again set foot in the New World, Garp was genuinely excited. He wanted to see whether that man could still act so proudly after having his head flattened.
In the original story, Chinjao's head was flattened by Garp, and just as Sengoku had said, his spirit collapsed right after that. During the prime years of his life, he failed to keep climbing toward the peak of his strength. Instead, he wasted thirty years in frustration and eventually ended up in Dressrosa.
If his head had not been flattened, then with Chinjao having all three types of Haki, his unique fighting skills, and Garp as a rival to sharpen himself against, he would have kept improving in the New World. After thirty years, even if he could not become a top pirate on the level of an Emperor, he should at least have become a major figure in the New World.
"Chinjao is currently on Savila Island. According to Headquarters' guess, he is most likely heading straight for Frost Island, which used to be Wano," Bogard said in a serious voice.
Garp, who had been rubbing his fists in excitement, froze for a moment. Then he seemed to understand and asked in surprise, "He is going to find Valthior?"
"That is right. The Intelligence Department thinks the same," Bogard said with a nod.
Garp clicked his tongue after hearing this. "That guy stayed in the West Blue for too long. He has already fallen behind the waves of this era. I am sure he is looking down on Valthior, thinking that the kid does not deserve such a high bounty. At the same time, Valthior was on Roger's ship and reached Laugh Tale with them. So as long as Chinjao defeats Valthior and forces the location of Laugh Tale out of him, he can take the great treasure and those sixty billion Berries for himself. He wants to take a shortcut!"
"The strategists at Headquarters think the same as you," Bogard said with a helpless shrug.
After a short pause, Bogard added, "More interestingly, three days ago, there was a sighting of the Oro Jackson leaving Frost Island, and it was heading in the direction of Savila Island. Headquarters believes Valthior is very likely going after Chinjao as well…"
"Damn it!" Garp shouted after hearing this. "Then what are we waiting for? Kuzan, get the ship ready. Raise the sails on my dog-head warship. We have to hurry and chase Chinjao, or all the mountains I smashed back then will have been for nothing…"
Garp was familiar with Chinjao's strength, and he also understood Valthior's strength very well.
From his point of view as an outsider, Garp did not think Chinjao could beat Valthior at all.
What kind of joke was that?
When Valthior fought seriously, he could even badly injure Harald. How was Chinjao supposed to compare?
Under the condition that Chinjao did not fully know Valthior's abilities during their first meeting, Garp even felt that the fool might be killed by Valthior in an instant.
After all, that pair of eyes was far too unreasonable.
So if they did not hurry and chase Chinjao now, Garp might never get the chance to flatten that guy's head in this life.
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