"Intercepting... time fragments?"
Garp's pupils constricted to a point.
Absurd!
Outrageous!
Yet, everything he had just experienced—the raging lightning, the terrifying giant beast, the brutal, fist-to-fist combat—was so real that he couldn't refute it!
That wasn't an illusion!
That was a genuine, life-and-death battle!
After a long while.
The mountain-like heavy aura around Garp slowly receded.
He stared at White Night, speaking with utmost seriousness.
"Kid."
"Come back to Marineford with me."
"With your ability, I can recommend you to Sengoku to directly become an Admiral!"
Boom!
This sentence was even more astonishing than the aftershocks of the battle just now!
Ace and Luffy were both dumbfounded.
Admiral?!
That was the top-tier combat power in this world!
This seemingly lazy white-haired kid... could become an Admiral?!
However, facing this offer that could drive the entire world mad, White Night's reaction was so nonchalant it made people want to hit him.
He picked his ear, then yawned lazily.
"No."
He answered swiftly and decisively.
"Be a Marine? Having to punch in for work every day, and listen to the orders of a bunch of Celestial Dragons idiots?"
White Night pouted, a look of disdain on his face.
"That's too boring."
"I don't have any grand ambitions; I just like to be free and easy, travel around, and enjoy good food."
He patted Garp's shoulder, speaking earnestly.
"Old man, broaden your horizons a bit; the world is so big, don't always think about catching pirates."
A vein throbbed on Garp's forehead.
Luffy and Ace were even more stunned; this guy... actually dared to speak to their grandpa in such a tone?!
Just as Ace thought Garp's "Fist of Love" was about to descend.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
Garp suddenly burst into deafening laughter!
"Well said!"
He heavily patted White Night's back, with a force strong enough to break a large tree.
"Freedom, huh... As expected of the kid I've taken a liking to!"
He didn't press the matter further.
Because he saw something in that kid's eyes that was exactly like his own, like Dragon's, and even like Luffy's.
It was the purest yearning for "freedom."
Such a person could not be caged.
"What a pity! What a true pity!"
Garp laughed heartily, turning to walk towards his Marine ship.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn back and give both Luffy and Ace an "Fist of Love."
"You two brats! Train hard!"
"Next time I come back, if you're still this weak, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the Sea Kings!"
With that, he boarded the Marine ship without looking back.
As the Marine ship slowly departed the port, Garp stood at the bow, shouting at White Night on the shore.
"Kid!"
"Next time there's such a fun 'instance,' be sure to let me know!"
"The price is negotiable!"
White Night waved the check in his hand, smiling like a sly merchant.
"Of course, of course! Take care, old man!"
On the deck of the Marine ship.
The moment Garp's blood-soaked, tattered figure stepped onto the deck, the atmosphere on the entire Marine ship solidified.
"Mr. Garp!"
His adjutant, Bogard, rushed forward, looking at the wounds on Garp's body. His perpetually stoic face couldn't hold, and his pupils contracted violently.
"What happened?!"
"Did you encounter Whitebeard's remnants? Or some reckless Four Emperors crew?"
To injure the marine hero Monkey D. Garp to this extent, Bogard's mind had already flashed through a dozen of the worst possibilities.
However, Garp merely waved his hand casually, grinning to reveal a mouthful of blood-stained white teeth.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
"Relax, Bogard."
He nonchalantly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"No enemy."
"Just a... super invigorating warm-up!"
Bogard: "..."
He looked at Garp's excitedly shining eyes, then at the gruesome wounds on his body, his mind filled with question marks.
What kind of hellish warm-up was this?
"Get me a den den mushi."
Garp's smile faded slightly, his eyes becoming sharp.
"I need to have a word with that Sengoku guy."
...Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office.
Purupuru purupuru... The den den mushi mimicked Garp's characteristic lazy expression, ringing impatiently.
Sengoku snatched up the receiver, roaring into the den den mushi!
"Garp! You scoundrel! Where did you run off to slack off again?!"
"I heard you went back to the East Blue again! Do you think the Marine is your backyard?!"
On the other end of the den den mushi, Garp leisurely extended his pinky finger and picked his nose.
"Yo, Sengoku."
"You're getting old, don't be so hot-headed."
"I have something serious to tell you; approve a special budget for me."
A vein instantly bulged on Sengoku's forehead, and he roared even louder into the den den mushi.
"No way!"
"Not a single Berry! You wish!"
"Every time you request a budget, you either sink half an island or beat a Shichibukai half to death! I'll never trust you again!"
"Tsk."
Garp flicked his fingers, his expression becoming serious for the first time.
"This time it's different."
His low words made the roaring on the other end of the den den mushi stop abruptly.
"I just fought a monster."
Sengoku was silent for a moment, his tone grave.
"Who?"
"A dark-skinned man covered in blue lightning, calling himself the Third Raikage."
Garp recalled the exhilarating battle, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.
"His strength and speed were no less than mine."
"We wiped out an entire canyon."
On the other end of the den den mushi, Sengoku's brows furrowed tightly.
"Third Raikage? Never heard that name. Is he some madman who popped up in 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, succinctly describing the so-called "instance," that time fragment intercepted from another world.
On the other end of the den den mushi, a long silence fell.
The den den mushi, mimicking Sengoku's expression, no longer showed anger and impatience; instead, it displayed unprecedented shock and gravity.
After a long while.
Sengoku's words, suppressing a turbulent storm, came through the den den mushi.
"Garp... what you're saying..."
"Is it true?"
"BWAHAHAHA! When have I ever joked about something like this!"
Garp glanced at his right fist, which was still bloody, bruised, and scorched.
"The wounds on this fist can't be faked!"
Another silence.
Sengoku was clearly processing this world-shattering information.
"That kid who can create 'instances'..."
Sengoku's tone became extremely serious, even with a hint of urgency.
"Can we get him into the Marine?"
"At all costs! If he's willing to join, I can guarantee him an Admiral position!"
Hearing this suggestion, Garp's expression became peculiar.
He remembered that kid's lazy expression and his remark, "Too boring."
"BWAHAHAHA!"
Garp burst into wild laughter again.
"Too late! I already offered!"
Sengoku urgently pressed: "Then what did he say?!"
Garp picked his nose, mimicking White Night's tone, and replied lazily.
"He said..."
"Being a Marine means punching in for work and listening to the orders of those Celestial Dragons idiots, which is too boring."
"He said he doesn't have any grand ambitions; he just likes to be free and easy."
On the other end of the den den mushi, Sengoku was so angry he almost crushed the receiver.
Garp, however, laughed even harder.
He leaned against the ship's rail, looking at the boundless sea, his eyes filled with the appreciation and anticipation of meeting a worthy opponent.
"Sengoku."
"That kid isn't a bird that can be caged by the Marine or the World Government."
"He... is an absolute free spirit."
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