"Intercepting... time fragments?"
Garp's pupils shrank to a point.
Absurd! Outrageous! But what he had just experienced, the wild lightning, the terrifying beast, the brutal, fist-to-flesh, life-and-death fight... it was all too real for him to refute!
It wasn't an illusion! It was a true, life-and-death battle!
After a long time, the mountain-heavy aura around Garp slowly receded. He stared at Blake and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"Kid."
"Come back to Marine Headquarters with me."
"With your ability, I can recommend you to Sengoku. I'll have you made a Marine Admiral directly!"
Boom! This sentence was more shocking than the battle's aftershock!
Ace and Luffy were stunned.
Marine Admiral?! That was the pinnacle of combat power in this world! This lazy-looking white-haired kid... could become a Marine Admiral?!
However, facing this proposal that would drive the entire world into a frenzy, Blake's reaction was so flat it made people want to hit him.
He dug a finger in his ear, yawning lazily.
"No."
He answered decisively.
"Become a Marine? Have to clock in for work every day, and take orders from a bunch of Celestial Dragon idiots?"
Blake pouted, his face full of disdain.
"That sounds way too boring."
"I'm not a man with big ambitions. I just like to be free, see the sights, and eat good food."
He patted Garp's shoulder, speaking like a worldly-wise elder.
"Old man, broaden your horizons. The world is so big. Don't always think about that boring stuff like catching pirates."
Veins bulged on Garp's forehead.
Luffy and Ace were even more dumbfounded. This guy... actually dared to talk to their grandpa in that tone?!
Just as Ace expected Garp's "Fist of Love" to fall.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
Garp suddenly burst into a deafening, wild laugh!
"Well said!"
He slapped Blake hard on the back, with enough force to snap a large tree.
"Freedom, huh... Just what I'd expect from a kid I've taken a liking to!"
He didn't insist.
Because he saw something in this kid's eyes. It was the same thing he had, the same thing Dragon had, and even the same thing Luffy had.
It was the purest yearning for "freedom."
This kind of person couldn't be caged.
"What a pity! Truly a pity!"
Garp laughed heartily, turning to walk toward his warship.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn back and give Luffy and Ace each a "Fist of Love."
"You two brats! Train hard for me!"
"If you're still this weak when I come back, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the Sea Kings!"
After speaking, he boarded the warship without a backward glance.
As the warship slowly pulled away from the port, Garp stood at the bow, yelling at Blake on the shore.
"Kid!"
"Next time you have a fun 'dungeon' like this, you have to tell me!"
"The price... is negotiable!"
Blake waved the check in his hand, smiling like a crooked merchant.
"You got it! Take care, old man!"
On the deck of the Marine warship.
The moment Garp's blood-soaked, tattered-clothed figure stepped onto the deck, the atmosphere on the entire ship froze.
"Mr. Garp!"
Adjutant Bogard rushed over in one step. Seeing the wounds on Garp, even his perpetually ice-cold face broke, his pupils shrinking violently.
"What happened?!"
"Did you encounter Whitebeard followes? Or some Yonko crew that didn't know its place?"
To be able to injure the Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp like this, a dozen worst-case scenarios had already flashed through Bogard's mind.
However, Garp just waved his hand casually, grinning to reveal his blood-stained white teeth.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
"Relax, Bogard."
He nonchalantly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"No enemy."
"I just did... a super-exciting warm-up exercise!"
Bogard: "..."
He looked at Garp's eyes, shining with excitement, then at the gruesome wounds on his body. His mind was full of question marks.
What the hell kind of warm-up exercise is this?
"Get me a Den Den Mushi."
Garp's smile faded a bit, his eyes becoming sharp.
"I need to say a few words to that guy Sengoku."
Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Purupurupuru...
The Den Den Mushi imitated Garp's signature lazy expression, ringing impatiently.
Sengoku grabbed the receiver, roaring at the Den Den Mushi!
"Garp! You bastard! Where did you run off to slack off again!"
"I heard you went back to the East Blue! Do you think the Marines are your backyard?!"
On the other end of the line, Garp calmly stuck his pinky in his nose and dug around.
"Yo, Sengoku."
"You're getting old. Don't be so hot-tempered."
"I have some serious business. I need you to approve a special expense for me."
Veins instantly bulged on Sengoku's forehead. He yelled even louder at the Den Den Mushi.
"No way!"
"Not one Beri! Don't even think about it!"
"Every time you request expenses, you either sink half an island or beat a Warlord half to death! I'm not falling for it again!"
"Tsk."
Garp flicked his finger, his expression turning serious for the first time.
"This time is different."
His low words brought the roaring on the other end to an abrupt halt.
"I just had a fight with a monster."
Sengoku was silent for a moment, his tone grave.
"Who?"
"A dark-skinned man covered in blue lightning. Called himself the Third Raikage."
Garp recalled the hearty battle, fighting spirit burning in his eyes.
"His power and speed were not beneath mine."
"We completely destroyed a gorge."
On the other end, Sengoku's brow furrowed tightly.
"Third Raikage? I've never heard that name. Is it some new lunatic from the New World?"
Garp grinned.
"No."
"He's not from our world."
Sengoku's breathing stopped for a second.
Garp ignored his shock and continued, concisely describing the "dungeon" and the "time fragment" from another world.
The other end of the line fell into a long silence.
The Den Den Mushi, imitating Sengoku's expression, had its anger and impatience long since replaced by an unprecedented shock and gravity.
After a long time, Sengoku's voice, suppressing a raging storm, came from the Den Den Mushi.
"Garp... what you're saying..."
"Is it true?"
"BWAHAHAHA! When have I ever joked about this kind of thing!"
Garp looked at his right fist, still bloody and charred.
"The wounds on this fist can't be faked!"
Another silence.
Sengoku was clearly processing this world-view-shattering information.
"That kid who can create 'dungeons'..."
Sengoku's tone became extremely serious, even a bit urgent.
"Can we get him to join the Marines?"
"At any cost! As long as he's willing to join, I can personally approve the position of Admiral!"
Hearing this proposal, the expression on Garp's face became strange.
He remembered the kid's lazy expression and the phrase "too boring."
"BWAHAHAHA!"
Garp burst into wild laughter again.
"Too late! I already asked!"
Sengoku pressed urgently: "And what did he say?!"
Garp picked his nose, imitating Blake's lazy tone.
"He said..."
"Being a Marine means clocking in for work, and taking orders from those Celestial Dragon idiots. It's too boring."
"He said he's not a man with big ambitions, he just likes to be free."
On the other end, Sengoku was so angry he almost crushed the receiver.
But Garp just laughed even harder.
He leaned against the ship's railing, looking at the endless sea, his eyes holding a kind of appreciation and anticipation one has for a worthy opponent.
"Sengoku."
"That kid... he's not a bird that can be held by a cage like the Marines or the World Government."
"He is... an absolutely free man."