Everyone stepped out of the Ferris wheel together.
Sengoku glared unhappily at the people in front of him, then dumped out the massive pile of things Garp had bought.
"Bwahahahaha! We got caught! Ahem—!"
Garp had not noticed anything different about "Cain" and "Uta" compared to his earlier impression.
Laughing loudly, he raised his hand and threw out a punch.
"Ow!"
Uta clutched her head and crouched on the ground, her eyes instantly turning red.
Yet there was not a trace of girlish fragility in her expression. Instead, she glared viciously at Garp.
Sengoku also noticed something was wrong at that moment and began circling around Uta.
Since when was "Cain" this afraid of pain?
Cain immediately stepped in front of Uta and shouted, "GRANDPA, ARE YOU CRAZY? WHY ARE YOU HITTING PEOPLE FOR NO REASON?"
Garp scratched his head, his fist still hanging in the air.
He stared blankly at it.
"Did this old man's Iron Fist get even stronger?"
Thinking that, he placed his large hand on Cain's head and slowly said, "Silly girl, this old man is helping you!"
"Huh?"
Garp immediately lifted his chin toward Cain and looked at Uta, who was crouched on the ground in Cain's body.
His tone carried a sense of frustration, as if he were scolding someone for not meeting expectations.
"Confessing your feelings is something the man should do! How can you let the girl take the initiative?"
Hearing this, Cain almost forgot they had swapped bodies.
He hurriedly grabbed Garp's face and shouted, "Y-YOU DAMN OLD MAN! LET PEOPLE FINISH EXPLAINING FIRST!"
But Garp completely ignored Cain's complaint. He pulled Cain aside and lowered his voice.
"Uh, that brat from my family didn't upset you, did he? Listen, that kid is clumsy when he does things, so please be a little patient with him…"
Cain opened his mouth, about to say something, only to hear Garp leisurely begin telling embarrassing stories from his past.
Cain immediately shoved Garp's face away and shouted, "HEY, GRANDPA, THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP SPOUTING NONSENSE!"
Garp's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard the key word.
"Huh? What did you call me? Grandpa?"
He abruptly moved closer to Cain, pulled him around to leave everyone else with only their backs, then secretly took two things out of his pocket and stuffed them into Cain's hands.
"This extra-large senbei is for you. And this is a Grand Bun—a Grand Line bun, a Sabaody specialty. Try it."
"Oh, right. Take this money too. Consider it a greeting gift."
"Let me tell you a secret. Back when Cain joined the Marines, even though he was on my ship, he actually had a salary."
"Back then, Sengoku and I kept it hidden from him! We collected it for him and saved it up secretly. The original plan was to leave it for his wedding."
"I saw everything in the Ferris wheel just now. Even though you were the one who took the initiative, this old man fully supports you two. When there's a chance, I'll hand the money over to you for safekeeping."
Cain held the senbei, the bun, and the Beli in his hands, completely stunned.
So back then, all that talk about him being too young and only being able to do odd jobs on Garp's ship, not counting as a proper Marine, and only being an intern…
He had felt something was strange at the time.
He had been given a Marine identification number and had worn the uniform, so how could he possibly have no benefits at all?
Later, when he became old enough and officially joined the Marines, his salary still never arrived.
Garp and Sengoku had merely said that the Marines were having some funding issues, then kept dragging the matter out.
Although Cain had wondered about it and doubted whether they were telling the truth, the other party was still his own grandfather.
Surely he would not scam his own grandson, right?
So Cain had not thought too deeply about it.
Garp still gave him pocket money, after all, so he had not bothered investigating further.
So it turned out that the old man had taken all three years of his wages!
No wonder every time Cain asked for pocket money, Garp acted so stingy.
Seriously…
"That's enough!"
Cain's face darkened until it looked like ink was about to drip from it. He immediately swung a fist at Garp.
The force was light and fluttery, only leaving a few shallow marks on Garp's face.
"You damn old man! You've got the wrong person! Hurry up and apologize to Uta!"
After a long, helpless explanation, Garp and Sengoku finally understood that the two had swapped bodies.
As for the Demon King of Songs, both of them tacitly avoided mentioning it.
"Ah, I'm really sorry. Sorry about that."
Garp bent down with a sincere expression and apologized to Uta.
Relying on Cain's sturdy body, the pain in Uta's head had long since faded.
She was just about to speak when Garp suddenly raised his head, snot running from his nose, and said with a dumbfounded look.
"If you're Uta, then everything I just said… Cain heard…"
"Ah, of course I heard it! You told me every single word yourself, you two rotten old bastards! My salary!"
Cain yanked off his jacket and started whipping the two of them with it.
"Sumimasen desita!" x2
Knowing they were in the wrong, the two could only bend over and let Cain's jacket strike them again and again.
Once Cain grew tired from hitting them, Uta quickly helped him sit down on a nearby seat.
He no longer bothered making a fuss about the salary either.
In the end, that money would be handed over to Uta anyway, so there was no point clinging to it.
Cain looked at the vacation shirts the two were wearing. They were not dressed in Marine uniforms, nor were they wearing their iconic Justice coats.
His heart filled with confusion.
Only two days had passed since the Summit War.
How were these two so free?
So he asked curiously, "By the way, why are you two here?"
When Sengoku heard that, he exchanged a glance with Garp and pulled out a strange smile.
…
Flashback.
Inside the temporary office built among the ruins of Marine Headquarters—
"THAT'S ENOUGH, GARP! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY? WE STILL NEED TO PERSONALLY MAKE A TRIP REGARDING THE WARLORDS, AND THEN THERE'S THE MARINE PERSONNEL REPLENISHMENT PLAN, AND SO ON AND SO ON! THERE ARE TOO MANY TROUBLESOME THINGS TO DEAL WITH!"
Sengoku angrily shouted while reviewing the documents in his hands, glaring at the relaxed Garp in front of him.
Garp, meanwhile, leisurely brewed tea and retorted.
"Hey, Sengoku, you old bastard. This old man is just worried about you, you know? You've been working nonstop for two days. Can't you take a break?"
Sengoku rubbed his head, but his hands did not stop moving.
"Heh. Tsuru is handling Doflamingo's matter. Zephyr has taken a team out to catch pirates again. Aokiji still hasn't returned from patrol. Akainu is still recovering from his injuries…"
"Among the Marine higher-ups, you're the freest one right now. I want a vacation too, but if I leave, who's supposed to handle this mess?"
Click.
A familiar crisp sound rang out.
The two turned their heads and saw golden light gathering. Kizaru's figure instantly appeared, leisurely clipping his nails.
Seeing him, Garp immediately said,
"Look, someone even freer than me just showed up."
At that moment, Sengoku looked as if he had just seen his savior.
It had to be said that Kizaru did not work like Akainu or Aokiji.
He was much smoother than either of them.
On top of that, with his seniority, while he might not be fit to become Fleet Admiral, reviewing documents was absolutely something he could handle.
Thinking this, Sengoku immediately stepped forward and patted Kizaru on the shoulder, his tone urgent.
"Borsalino, are you interested in earning some extra money? Or rather, would you like a raise?"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you don't need to say so much. I'm—"
Before Kizaru could get the word "not" out, Sengoku cut him off.
"Good! As expected of the Admiral I value most, most, most! Sure enough, I don't need to say anything else. You'll handle this for me, right?"
As Sengoku spoke, he grabbed the documents beside him, dragged Garp, and rushed toward the door.
"I believe in your abilities. Do your best! We're heading out on official business for two days. I'll leave this office mess to you! Double pay!"
Clatter!
The nail clipper in Kizaru's hand fell to the floor.
He looked at the chaotic temporary office and froze stiffly in place!
…
"Bwahahahaha! That's roughly what happened! We came here for a bit of official business, and just so happened to see a group of people chasing after you, so we followed along too."
"And we were supervising you while we were at it! After all, as a Marine, this old man has to keep an eye on you, pirate brat, to stop you from doing anything inappropriate to some poor young girl!"
Garp finished laughing without the slightest hint of guilt.
He even grabbed a handful of senbei and stuffed them into his mouth, crunching loudly.
"You're the only person who can describe spying on your grandson's relationship so grandly, Garp," Sengoku said, rubbing his aching head, his tone full of helplessness.
Cain wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Borsalino, you really have it rough.
Cain looked at the two men in their flashy short-sleeved shirts, then at the mountain of snacks piled up beside them, and could not help rolling his eyes.
"So this so-called 'official business' of yours is just an expense-paid vacation!"
"Hey, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Garp hurriedly swallowed the snacks in his mouth and said,
"We came here specially to recruit someone into the Seven Warlords of the Sea! Since the person we need to recruit this time is rather special, ordinary Marines won't do. The Admirals are all busy with their own matters too, so it has to be people like us, who know the inside story, coming in person!"