On the way to the restaurant, Kaito and the others ran into the old duo, Garp and Sengoku.
Both were dressed in floral shirts and huge flower-pattern shorts, each carrying a fishing rod on one shoulder and a tackle box in the other hand—clearly heading out to fish.
Seeing Kaito, Sengoku pushed up his round-framed glasses and exclaimed,
"Yo! Isn't that Kaito!"
Garp stopped as well. Following Sengoku's gaze, he shouted,
"It really is! Hahaha! My grandkids are here too!"
The two old men jogged over to Kaito's group. Sengoku greeted Kaito, while Garp grabbed Luffy in one hand and, spraying spit everywhere, yelled at him,
"Good boy! You've gotten sturdier again! Much stronger than your dad was back then!"
Luffy, face full of disgust, pushed against Garp's giant face and shouted while struggling,
"Let go of me! Ace and Sabo are right here! They're stronger than me!"
Naturally Garp couldn't favor only one. But when he turned around, the other two brothers had already slipped far away—one tilting his head and staring at the sky in deep thought, the other scratching his cheek while counting ants on the ground.
Luffy was dumbfounded. Wiping the spit off his face, he said,
"Grandpa, you should hurry up and go fishing before someone steals the good spot."
"My good grandson! Don't worry! Borsalino already went with Zephyr to reserve the place. They're just waiting for me and Sengoku!"
"Hm?"
Kaito raised a brow. Crossing his arms, he said,
"I remember Admiral Kizaru hasn't retired yet, right? So now slacking off isn't enough—he's directly gone to fishing?"
"Uh..."
Garp froze. He had let it slip and sold out his teammate.
Letting go of Luffy, he immediately started making excuses for Kizaru,
"Well, Kaito, you know... Borsalino's not young anymore. Thanks to you, the seas have been peaceful these years, so he really doesn't have much to do. So, uh, you see..."
Seeing Garp's nervous face, Kaito couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Alright, Vice Admiral Garp, I don't run things anymore. Just don't let Kalifa know. She'll dock his pay!"
"Got it, got it. If his pay gets docked, that guy really might die. He's always complaining he hasn't saved enough for retirement."
"Hm? How's that possible? An Admiral's salary and benefits aren't low. Retirement benefits are great too. How could he not have enough?"
Sengoku answered for Garp,
"Oh it's enough. Borsalino just wants to open the world's largest kindergarten after retiring. His salary alone won't cut it."
Kaito was stunned. He never expected Kizaru to have such a dream. Was he actually a character who transmigrated from some comedy manga?
Before Kaito could gather himself, Aokiji walked over from behind wearing light ice-blue shorts, carrying a sun umbrella over his shoulder. Lazily, he said,
"Vice Admiral Garp, why are you still here? I alre— huh? Kaito!!"
Aokiji instinctively hid the umbrella behind him, but that only made it more obvious.
Garp felt a chill. He had just managed to protect Kizaru, and now Aokiji had delivered himself into the trap.
Kaito glanced at Aokiji, eyes pausing on those unusual shorts.
"So you're going fishing too?"
Aokiji swallowed hard and after a long struggle squeezed out,
"If I say I'm on guard duty for these retired old men... would you believe it?"
Kaito rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"Alright, alright, all of you go. Sakazuki's going to suffer for this though..."
Before he finished, another deep voice arrived.
"Kuzan, I've thought it over. Relaxing once in a while isn't bad. Besides, I feel like eating fish."
Kaito looked over—and damn. Akainu was wearing a pink shirt on top, fully revealing his tattooed, muscular chest, and bright red shorts that matched Aokiji's like a couple outfit.
This getup was pure gangster-boss style. No one would guess he was a Marine Admiral.
Most noticeable was the basket he carried, filled with all sorts of spices—mostly chili powder. Clearly he loved spicy food.
Akainu walked up to Aokiji. When he saw Kaito, he froze.
A puff of black smoke rose from Akainu's body. He still remembered to salute first, speaking in a muffled voice,
"Fleet Admiral Kaito! I..."
Kaito gestured for him to stop. Even he hadn't expected that the ever-dutiful Akainu had been corrupted by Garp and company.
But he understood. They had dedicated their lives to Justice. Now that the world was finally peaceful, couldn't they enjoy themselves?
He waved his hand boldly.
"Alright, then we don't need the restaurant. Let's just go with Vice Admiral Garp and eat fish."
Hawk Eyes and the others naturally had no objection—especially Hawk Eyes. When he used to drift around the sea on his tiny boat, he often fished. It was one of his main food sources.
When they reached the shore, they heard Zephyr's scolding from afar,
"Borsalino! How many times have I told you?! Don't rely too much on your fruit! The fish you shot are all charred! How the hell are we supposed to eat them?!"
Kizaru's signature drawl followed,
"Instructor Zephyr, you're making things difficult~ If we rely only on your fishing, we'll all be starving soon~"
"Damn it, can you clean up these banana peels?! You're a Marine Admiral—have some basic manners!"
"You just don't understand~ Banana peels are all-natural. Even if they wash into the sea, they can feed the fish. I'm super eco-friendly!"
"And you still want to open a kindergarten? Don't corrupt the kids!"
Sengoku sighed helplessly,
"Those two—once they're together, peace is impossible."
Kaito's group walked toward the sound. Soon, they saw Zephyr and Kizaru sitting atop a protruding boulder.
The two were quiet now. Zephyr was staring at his float with absolute focus, and beneath it, a huge shadow had appeared.
Kizaru whispered beside him,
"Instructor Zephyr, this one's a big one~ With your old bones, need help later?"
Zephyr shot him a sideways glare and whispered back,
"Scram! As long as that fish bites, I'll yank it up instantly! Just don't mess things up!"
But Garp had already rushed over. He slapped Zephyr on the shoulder and said boldly,
"How's the haul?"
----------------
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (516 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)