💖 If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon. I'm offering advanced chapters there as a thank-you to readers.
--------------------
Check out advanced chapters on : patreon.com/DragonOP
--------------------
The sky was a perfect, clear blue, and the fresh air was stirred by a gentle breeze that carried the scent of the salt sea. At the pier, docked beside the massive warship with its distinctive dog-headed figurehead, Gion stood ready to see off Goku and Garp. To her, the old Vice Admiral was merely a tag-along; her focus was entirely on the boy who had captured her heart.
"Little Goku, you must come back soon," Gion said, squatting down to ruffle his messy black hair with a sweet smile. "Big Sister still needs to cook for you, after all."
"Mm-hmm! Once I find Grandpa Master Roshi and Krillin, I'll come back to see you!" Goku promised with a brilliant, toothy grin. During his brief stay at Marineford, Gion had been the one to care for him most outside of Garp, and he was genuinely fond of the gentle, considerate "Big Sister"—though he was perhaps even more fond of her mouth-watering cooking.
"Little fellow, you must listen to Garp, okay?" Tsuru added, standing just behind Gion. "And remember, I'll have Garp check on your lessons every single day."
Goku's head instinctively recoiled at the mention of schoolwork. He let out an awkward, nervous chuckle. "Ha, haha... I understand, Grandma Tsuru." While he knew she cared for him, Tsuru had transformed from a kind grandmotherly figure into a strict, formidable tutor in his mind ever since she started forcing him to study those obscure subjects.
Tsuru then turned her gaze to Garp. "Garp, you must keep a close eye on him." She didn't truly approve of this quest; searching for a "family" that the Navy's entire intelligence network couldn't locate seemed like a fool's errand. However, Garp had chosen to support the boy's resolve, leading to this departure.
"Hahahaha! Of course I'll keep an eye on him! Don't you trust me?" Garp laughed heartily.
"It's precisely you I don't trust," Tsuru replied, shaking her head. She knew Garp was a legend in a fight, but his track record for looking after children was questionable at best. Gion added a final, fierce warning: "I'm telling you, Garp! If anything happens to little Goku, I won't let you off!"
"Hahaha! Don't you all worry!" Garp shouted back, leaping onto the warship. "Let's go, Goku!"
"Coming!" Goku responded, waving one last time. "Goodbye, Big Sister Gion! Grandma Tsuru!" He leaped onto the deck with effortless grace as the warship began to pull away from the pier. As the vessel grew smaller in the distance, Tsuru felt a vague sense of unease. She suspected this departure might stir up something extraordinary, but with Garp there, she hoped nothing truly major would go wrong.
On the warship, Goku enjoyed the sea breeze for a while before turning to his mentor. "Grandpa Garp, where are we going now?" He realized that despite his determination, he had no sense of direction in these unfamiliar seas. Back home, he could always find his way to Master Roshi's Island, but here, the very stars felt different.
"We're going to the East Blue!" Garp announced with a boisterous laugh. "I have some business to attend to there, so we'll start our search in those waters!" Garp didn't truly believe they would find anyone, but he had seen the fire in Goku's eyes and knew the boy would have snuck away on his own if Garp hadn't agreed to take him.
A few days later, they successfully navigated the Calm Belt and arrived at a small island in the East Blue. Before the ship had even docked, Goku impatiently jumped overboard and sprinted inland. "Grandpa Garp, I'm going to find them!" he shouted, his voice drifting back on the wind.
"Hahahaha! What an impatient little fellow," Garp chuckled. He waved his hand, dispatching two teams of Marines to follow the boy and assist in the search.
"Grandpa Master Roshi! Krillin! Where are you?!" Goku's voice echoed through the town and into the forest. Residents looked on with curiosity, and small animals watched from the brush, but no one answered. After a thorough exploration of the island, Goku scratched his head in frustration. "It seems they aren't here either."
Disappointed but not defeated, he suddenly had an epiphany. "Wait! It's almost been a month, hasn't it?" He started counting on his fingers. "Grandpa Master Roshi said the World Martial Arts Tournament would be held in a month. They have to be there! If I find the tournament, I'll find them!" He began to rush back toward the town to ask Garp for the location.
As he hurried through a deserted alleyway, a few hushed voices drifted toward him on the wind.
"Is the only task on this voyage helping that kid find someone?" one Marine asked. "Seems so. If there were other tasks, Vice Admiral Garp wouldn't have brought us here first," another replied. "I don't get it. We already searched for him once. If his family could be found, we'd have found them by now."
"Exactly. The kid got lost in the South Blue, and now we're in the East Blue. There's no way we'll find them here." "Shouldn't we be fighting pirates? Why are we babysitting a kid who isn't even in the Marines yet?" "Sigh... just follow orders. He's Garp's subordinate, after all."
Goku froze, the bright light of hope in his eyes flickering as the reality of the Marines' search—and the vast distance between the blues—finally began to sink in.