The walk from the Galley-La headquarters back to the Scrap Coast was a surreal procession. Leading the way was Monkey D. Luffy, cheerfully chatting with Portgas D. Ace, the two brothers miraculously fully recovered from the brutal, double-decker "Fists of Love" they had received just an hour prior. Behind them, Vice-Admiral Garp marched with heavy, authoritative steps, loudly crunching on rice crackers and laughing at his own jokes.
Trailing nervously in the wake of the Marine Hero were Coby and Helmeppo, both looking incredibly out of place walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the newly minted 500-million-berry Pirate Captain and his infamous crew.
"I still can't believe it," Coby whispered to Helmeppo, adjusting his bandana. "Luffy-san is the Vice-Admiral's grandson... and his father is Dragon the Revolutionary? It's like the entire history of the world is concentrated in one family."
"Keep your voice down!" Helmeppo hissed, his visor gleaming in the afternoon sun. "If the higher-ups know we know this, we'll be assigned to scrub the toilets in Impel Down for the rest of our lives!"
Eventually, the group descended the rocky cliffs and arrived at the secluded cove where the Going Merry was docked.
Garp stood at the edge of the water, looking at the small caravel with its cheerful sheep figurehead. He placed a hand on his hips, raising an eyebrow.
"This is it?" Garp asked, genuinely unimpressed. "This is the ship that flew up to Skypiea and outran a Buster Call-level bombardment at Enies Lobby? It looks like a pleasure yacht from the East Blue. I could break it over my knee by accident."
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Garp san!" Ben grinned, "Come inside and take a look!"
"Pfft," Garp scoffed, tossing another cracker into his mouth. "Alright, let's see how the rookies live."
Garp stepped onto the deck, his heavy boots thudding against the wood. Coby and Helmeppo followed close behind. The exterior of the ship was pristine, the wood enchanted to be harder than steel, but it was undeniably small. It was a single-masted caravel. There shouldn't be much room to breathe, let alone house a crew of monsters and two legendary Elbaf giants.
"Right this way, Vice-Admiral," Ben said politely, opening the heavy wooden double doors that led to the lower decks.
Garp ducked his head to fit through the doorway and stepped inside.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
The cracker fell out of his mouth, bouncing off his chest and hitting the floor.
He wasn't standing in a cramped, musty below-deck hold. He was standing in a massive, sprawling grand foyer with polished mahogany floors and a towering spiral staircase. To his left was a dining hall easily large enough to seat fifty people, complete with a massive, state-of-the-art industrial kitchen where Sanji was already tying on an apron. To his right, an enormous, multi-level library stretched upward, filled with thousands of books where Robin was casually browsing. Further down the hall, massive, reinforced doors led to what looked like a colossal training facility and an indoor aquarium that housed a small coral reef.
"What..." Garp blinked. He rubbed his eyes with his massive fists. He looked back at the small wooden door he had just walked through. He looked back at the mansion interior. "What kind of Devil Fruit trickery is this?!"
"It's not a Devil Fruit, sir," Coby gasped, his jaw practically unhinged as he stared at the vaulted ceiling. "It's... it's physically impossible!"
Helmeppo took his sunglasses off, wiping the lenses frantically. "Are we under illusion? Did they drug us?!"
"Welcome to my pride and joy," Ben said, walking past the stunned Marines. "Spatial Expansion magic. It's a bit of an advanced technique, but it ensures we travel in absolute comfort. A cramped crew is an unhappy crew, after all."
Garp stared at Ben. The boisterous, carefree grandfather persona slipped for a fraction of a second, replaced by the sharp, analytical gaze of a veteran commander who had fought against the most dangerous powers in the world. Reports had said the Magician could teleport, increase or decrease the size of living beings and shield. No one had mentioned he could literally bend the laws of physics and space to create pocket dimensions inside wooden boats.
"You're a terrifying man, Magician," Garp muttered, his voice low.
Ben smiled. "I prefer 'resourceful.' Vice-Admiral, if you have a moment, could we have a one-on-one chat? Away from the... chaos?"
Ben gestured toward the dining hall, where Luffy and Ace were currently arguing loudly over who got the first piece of the massive sea king steak Sanji was preparing.
Garp looked at his grandsons, sighed heavily, and nodded. "Lead the way. Coby, Helmeppo, stay here and don't touch anything. I don't want to explain to Sengoku that you got lost in a pirate's hallway."
"Yes, sir!" the two young Marines saluted nervously.
---
Ben led Garp down the grand corridor, past the training rooms and the aquarium, until they reached a heavy, reinforced steel door at the very end of the hall. A biometric scanner glowed blue as Ben approached, the door sliding open with a soft, pressurized hiss.
"My research room," Ben introduced, stepping aside to let the massive Marine enter.
Garp walked in, ducking under the doorframe. The room was vast, brightly lit by floating, glowing orbs of light. The walls were lined with complex machinery that looked decades ahead of its time. On one side, massive blueprints for an "Arc Reactor" and "Valkyrie Thrusters" were pinned to a glowing drafting board. In the center, glass tubes bubbled with strange, colorful liquids, alongside meticulously organized medical texts from the Drum Kingdom and ancient desert scrolls salvaged from Alabasta. Chopper's advanced surgical equipment sat perfectly sterilized on a steel table, right next to Ben's alchemy cauldrons.
Garp looked around. He saw beakers, wires, glowing screens, and equations written in the air with hard-light holograms.
He yawned loudly.
"Boring," Garp announced, picking his nose. "Looks like a nerd's paradise. I prefer things I can hit with my fists. Machines just break when you punch 'em."
Ben chuckled, walking over to his mahogany desk and taking a seat. "I figured you might say that. You've always been a straightforward man, Garp-san. But I didn't bring you here to talk about engineering."
Ben gestured to the plush leather armchair opposite his desk. "Have a seat."
Garp dropped into the chair. It groaned under his immense weight, but the structural enchantments Ben had placed on the furniture held firm. Garp crossed his arms, looking at the Magician expectantly.
"Before we get into the heavy stuff," Ben reached into a desk drawer. "I wanted to offer a token of hospitality."
Ben tossed a small, unassuming brown leather pouch across the desk. Garp caught it easily in one massive hand.
"What's this?" Garp asked, raising an eyebrow. "Pirate gold? If you're trying to bribe a Marine Hero, you're gonna need a bigger bag, kid."
"Open it," Ben insisted, a knowing smile playing on his lips.
Garp untied the leather drawstring. He peered inside. The scent hit his nose instantly. Savory, salty, with a hint of toasted seaweed.
He reached a thick finger inside and pulled out a perfectly baked, golden-brown rice cracker.
Garp's eyes lit up. He popped it into his mouth.
Crunch. "Oh!" Garp's eyes widened. "That's good! That's really good! Perfect crunch, excellent soy sauce ratio! Where did you buy these?!"
Bolo-bolo-bolo! Bolo-bolo-bolo!
A baby Den Den Mushi in Garp's coat pocket suddenly began to ring aggressively. Garp pulled it out. The snail looked incredibly angry, complete with a tiny seagull perched on its shell, a vein visibly throbbing on its forehead.
"GARP!" Fleet Admiral Sengoku's voice screamed so loudly from the receiver that the glass beakers on the desk rattled. "YOU IGNORED MY CALLS!"
Garp reached into the pouch and pulled out another cracker. It was slightly red, speckled with spices.
Crunch. He chewed loudly right into the receiver. "Shh, Sengoku! Keep your voice down! I am currently conducting a highly dangerous, undercover infiltration of the enemy vessel! It's a matter of life and death!"
He instantly hung up the snail, cutting off Sengoku's furious sputtering, and tossed it back into his pocket. He looked at Ben cheerfully.
"Spicy chili!" Garp roared, completely thrilled, utterly ignoring his superior. "And it's warm! Like it just came out of the oven! Got any tea to go with these, Magician?"
"I do," Ben said, chuckling as he poured two cups of tea. He watched the Marine Hero excitedly dive back into the bag. "It's an enchanted pouch. I placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on the interior. The pouch will never be empty. You could eat a thousand crackers, and a thousand more will appear. Furthermore, every time you reach in, it will produce the exact flavor of rice cracker your subconscious desires at that exact second."
Garp stopped chewing. He pulled out a green one ("Wasabi!"), then a white one ("Salt and vinegar!"). He looked at the small leather pouch in his hand with a reverence usually reserved for religious artifacts.
"Never empty?" Garp whispered, his voice trembling with pure, unadulterated joy. "Infinite... perfectly flavored... crackers?"
"Infinite," Ben confirmed. "Consider it a gift."
"Magician!" Garp slammed his hand on the desk, laughing uproariously. "You are a good man! If you weren't a pirate, I'd make you a Fleet Admiral just for this!"
"I appreciate the sentiment, Garp-san," Ben smiled, sliding the teacup across the desk. "And by the way... you did a phenomenal job raising Ace. It couldn't have been easy hiding the Pirate King's son from the entire world for twenty years."
Garp completely choked on his cracker.
He coughed violently, his jovial grandfather persona shattering into a million pieces. The air in the room suddenly grew heavy, suffocating. A terrifying wave of defensive Conqueror's Haki flared up from the Marine Hero, cracking the porcelain teacup in his hand. He stared at Ben, his eyes wide with absolute, chilling horror, realizing this 'Magician' casually knew a secret that could get Ace executed instantly.
"How..." Garp growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "How do you know that?"
Ben met the Vice-Admiral's murderous glare without blinking. The polite host was gone.
"I know many things, Garp-san," Ben said, his voice dropping into a serious, even cadence, utterly unbothered by the crushing Haki pressure filling the room. "Things that could unravel the world if spoken aloud. Which brings me to why you are here. I do need something in return for my silence, and my hospitality."
Garp's jaw tightened. The Magician was holding a gun to Ace's head, and they both knew it. Garp swallowed the remaining cracker dust, the Marine Hero taking over the grandfather.
"There's always a catch," Garp said flatly. "What do you want, pirate? Money?"
"I want you to take a Soul Binding Vow with me," Ben stated.
Garp frowned. "A what? A Soul Binding Vow? Is that some kind of pirate blood pact? I don't make deals with criminals, Magician. You should know that."
"It's not a deal," Ben clarified. "It is a magical contract. An Unbreakable Vow. If two people take this vow, they are bound by the very fabric of their souls to uphold the terms. If you break the vow... your soul shatters. You die instantly. No exceptions. No Haki can save you. No Devil Fruit can protect you."
Garp's eyes narrowed. "And why the hell would I agree to put my life on the line for a magic trick?"
"Because," Ben leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, "the things I am about to tell you are too dangerous to exist freely in the world. If what I am about to say is heard by the wrong ears the World Government will not just issue a Buster Call. They will erase us. They will erase my crew, their families, your family, Coby, Helmeppo... they will exterminate everyone connected to us without leaving a single trace in the ashes of history."
Ben's eyes locked onto Garp's. "If you know what I know, we will become bigger criminals than Monkey D. Dragon. We will be greater threats than Gol D. Roger."
Garp was silent. The air in the room grew heavy, suffocating.
"What is this about?" Garp asked, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Are you talking about the Ancient Weapons? Do you know the location of them?"
"No," Ben shook his head. "I know something far more dangerous than weapons. Let me be clear with you, Garp-san. I am not a Devil Fruit user like the World Government thinks. I have not eaten the Teleport-Teleport Fruit or the Shield-Shield Fruit."
Ben raised his hand. The Elder Wand slipped from his sleeve into his grip. A gentle, ethereal silver light illuminated the dark room.
"I am a Magician," Ben said softly. "A true wielder of arcane arts. And my abilities extend beyond mere combat. Sometimes... I can look into the tapestry of the world. I can see the past. I can see the present. And I can see the vast, branching rivers of the future."
Garp stared at the glowing wand. He was a man of Haki, of physical might. But the absolute certainty in Ben's voice sent a chill down his spine.
"You can see the future," Garp repeated, skeptically.
"I can," Ben confirmed. "And I can see the past that the World Government desperately tried to bury. If you want to know what I know... if you want to understand the true storm that is coming for this world... you have to take the vow. You cannot share this information with the Navy. You cannot report it to Sengoku."
Garp leaned back in his chair. He looked at the infinite pouch of crackers. He looked at Ben.
He was hesitant.
Garp had lived a long, bloody life. He had fought in the most horrific wars of his era. He had protected the innocent to the best of his ability, working within a corrupted system because he believed it was the only way to maintain order. He was old. His era, the era of Roger and Whitebeard, was coming to a close.
He had come to Water 7 to see his grandsons, yes, but also to gauge the true threat level of this 'Magician'. The reports from Enies Lobby were vague, filled with impossible claims of instant teleportation and impenetrable force fields. Garp wanted to know if Ben was a threat to the stability of the world.
But now... Ben was offering him the keys to the kingdom.
I am too old for this, Garp thought, rubbing his scarred jaw. I have done my part. I have raised Coby and Helmeppo to be righteous Marines. They will carry the torch. My time is almost over. I don't need to unravel the world's secrets now.
"I think I'll pass, kid," Garp finally said, his voice weary but resolute. "I'm just an old soldier. I came here to make sure you weren't going to get my grandsons killed. I don't need to know the secrets of the universe. Ignorance is a peaceful way to retire."
He moved to stand up.
Ben didn't blink. He simply smiled, a small, knowing, devastating smile.
"Even if I can tell you what really happened at God Valley?" Ben asked softly.
Garp froze.
He didn't explode with Haki this time. Instead, an absolute, deathly stillness fell over him. The temperature in the room plummeted. The sheer, suffocating gravity of the Marine Hero's true presence pressed down on the room, vibrating the steel walls of the laboratory in a silent hum of suppressed power.
Slowly, Garp turned his head. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and filled with the ghosts of thirty-eight years ago.
God Valley. The island that no longer existed on any map. The incident that gave him the title of "Hero of the Marines." The battle he never, ever spoke of.
"What... did you say?" Garp's voice was a terrifying whisper.
"I know the truth, Garp-san," Ben said, utterly unaffected by the crushing pressure. "I know what you saw. I know what the World Government erased from history. I know who Rocks D. Xebec and you all really attacked."
Garp breathed heavily, his massive chest heaving. The desire to walk away warred with the agonizing, thirty-eight-year-old itch in the back of his mind—the missing pieces of the greatest battle of his life.
Garp slammed his fist onto the desk, splintering the mahogany.
"Let's take the vow," Garp growled, his eyes burning.
Ben nodded. He stood up, extending his right hand across the desk.
"Take my hand," Ben instructed.
Garp reached across and gripped Ben's forearm with a vice-like hold.
"A Soul Binding Vow requires a witness," Ben stated. He didn't look at the door. He looked up at the ceiling. "Are you ready?"
"I am ready, Papa," a clear, sweet voice echoed from the speakers embedded in the ceiling.
Garp flinched, looking around the empty room. "Who is that? Is that the little girl with the sunglasses?"
"I am the Going Merry, Vice-Admiral," the voice replied politely. "I am the spirit of this ship. The girl you met earlier is merely my avatar. I shall bear witness to your words."
Garp stared at the ceiling, his jaw slacking for the second time that day. He had heard legends of Klabautermanns—spirits of ships that had been loved immensely by their crews—but to hear one speak so clearly, to realize the adorable child he saw earlier was the ship itself...
My grandsons... what kind of miraculous crew have they assembled? Garp thought, utterly bewildered.
"Let us begin," Ben said, his eyes glowing with arcane energy.
A stream of brilliant, fiery gold light shot from the tip of the Elder Wand. The light wrapped around their clasped hands, forming a glowing, ethereal chain that bound them together. The magic pulsed, syncing with the rhythm of their beating hearts.
"Do you, Monkey D. Garp, vow to never reveal the secrets spoken in this room to any member of the World Government, the Marines, or any living soul without my explicit consent?" Ben asked, his voice echoing with magical resonance.
Garp stared at the glowing chain of gold. "I vow."
The golden chain tightened, sinking into their skin, binding their souls.
"Then the pact is sealed," Ben said. He pulled his hand back. The golden light faded, leaving no physical mark, but Garp could feel a strange, heavy weight settling deep within his chest.
Garp sat back down, taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart.
"Alright, Magician," Garp said, his eyes demanding answers. "The vow is taken. Now speak. I was at God Valley. We fought that monster but I never knew what that was."
Garp frowned, his fists clenching as he recalled the memory he had kept buried for decades. "I saw a shadow. A monster that defied all logic. What was that thing?"
"That 'thing' was the ultimate secret of the world," Ben explained, his voice taking on the cadence of a storyteller. "But to understand it, you have to remember what the Celestial Dragons were actually doing on that island. They weren't just vacationing, were they, Garp-san?"
Garp's face darkened with profound disgust. "The Native Hunting Competition. A sick, triennial game. They took over an unaffiliated island, dumped their slaves and the native population there, and hunted them to extinction for sport. The mastermind was Saint Figarland Garling, and the prizes were legendary Devil Fruits."
"Exactly," Ben nodded. "A slaughterhouse disguised as sport. But the hunt had another hidden purpose, Garp-san. It was bait. The World Government told you that Rocks D. Xebec went there seeking domination. The truth is far more desperate."
"He wanted his family," Ben stated simply. "Hidden on the island among the targets were his wife, Eris, and his two-year-old son. Rocks was not invading. He was rescuing."
Garp's eyes widened. The memory of the slaughter flashed in his mind. He had always been told it was an unprovoked terrorist invasion. "He... he went to save his family?"
"Yes," Ben nodded. "When the Rocks Pirates arrived, the hunt collapsed into war. Slaves revolted. Giants resisted. Pirates clashed with Marines and Holy Knights. Amidst that chaos, a young slave named Bartholomew Kuma obtained the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi and began saving hundreds of prisoners, sending them away from death."
Ben leaned forward, his voice dropping. "And watching all of this... witnessing the absolute depravity of the Celestial Dragons and the Marines ordered to assist them... was a young Marine recruit. Your son, Monkey D. Dragon. That was the day the 'gods' became monsters in his eyes. That was the day he abandoned his faith in your Justice."
Garp physically flinched, the revelation about Dragon that day on that island and then he was thrown in jail for saving civilians and the look he gave him from inside the cell was like a physical blow. The origin of his son's rebellion was rooted in the very incident that made him a 'Hero'.
"But the true horror had yet to begin," Ben continued. "As the battle spiraled out of control, the hidden ruler of the world intervened. A being named Nerona Imu."
"Imu?" Garp asked, reeling. "Who is Imu?"
"The one who sits on the Empty Throne," Ben said flatly. "Using Saint Jaygarcia Saturn as a vessel, Imu descended onto the battlefield. The power unleashed was beyond anything pirates or Marines understood. Rocks D. Xebec confronted this god directly to protect his family."
Garp's breath caught in his throat. A hidden ruler? A King of the World?
"And then... Imu transformed him," Ben revealed the darkest secret of the Void Century's legacy. "Twisted by overwhelming, demonic power, Rocks became a monstrous being, losing control of his own mind. After that you know what happend during yours and rogers fiight with xebec, where he was being controlled to kill you."
Garp sat frozen in his chair. The memory of the blinding flash of dark light, the monstrous silhouette that he and Roger had battled.
"Realizing he was going to kill his own family and allies in his mindless rampage," Ben said softly, "the most feared pirate in the world did something unimaginable. He begged his enemies for help. He asked you and Gol D. Roger... to kill him."
Garp's massive hands began to tremble. The missing context slammed into place. They hadn't defeated a tyrant that day. They had performed an execution.
"We..." Garp whispered, his voice hoarse, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. "We killed him... out of mercy."
"Yes," Ben nodded respectfully. "An alliance born from mercy, not just to protect the Celestial Dragons. Together, you and Roger fought the transformed Rocks in a battle that shattered God Valley itself. The final blow ended his life, and the World Government erased everything. The genocide. Imu's presence. Rocks' true motive. They sank the island and gave you a new story: The Hero who saved the Dragons."
Garp closed his eyes, the weight of the 38-year-old lie crushing him. The justice he had served, the hero title he wore... it was all built on the ashes of a tragic sacrifice and a government cover-up.
"But the children of God Valley survived to shape the future," Ben said, drawing Garp back to the present. "As the island collapsed, Roger's crew discovered a red-haired infant hidden in a treasure chest. A child of the Figarland bloodline. His name was Shanks."
Garp's eyes snapped open. "Shanks is a Figarland?!"
"And another child survived the massacre," Ben continued, his tone turning dangerously calm. "Nearby, another infant lived. Rocks' two-year-old son."
Garp frowned, his tactical mind working through the roster of the sea's worst criminals. Whitebeard's shadow. No bounty. Recent news.
The image of the man who had defeated his grandson Ace flashed in his mind. The man who had handed Ace over to the Marines, setting the stage for a catastrophic war, only for Ace to mysteriously vanish.
"Teach," Garp whispered.
"Marshall D. Teach," Ben nodded slowly. "Blackbeard. The son of Rocks."
Garp's eyes widened as the realization hit him like a physical blow. He thought of the pictures in the recent Marine reports. The wild, unkempt black hair. The massive, barrel-chested build. The missing teeth. The sheer, terrifying, bottomless ambition in his dark eyes.
Garp had never paid much attention to Teach. The man had just been a nameless face in Whitebeard's background, utterly unremarkable for twenty years. But now... looking back at the few times he had seen the man from a distance... the physical resemblance to the monster he had fought at God Valley was uncanny.
"Teach... is Xebec's son?" Garp asked, the blood turning to ice in his veins.
"He carries his blood, and he carries his will," Ben confirmed. "Teach didn't just betray Whitebeard for power. He has been planning this for his entire life. He knows about the hidden history. He knows what his father tried to do. And he is going to finish the job."
Ben leaned back, letting the horrifying truth settle over the old Marine.
"The World Government is not our only enemy, Garp-san," Ben said softly. "The son of Rocks has stepped onto the board. And he brings the darkness with him."