"Ace! Grandpa, you said Ace, right? Do you know him?"
Tama took an eager half-step forward, her wide eyes shining with disbelief.
She was still stunned that Garp knew Ace's full name, and she immediately clenched her little fists and bombarded him with questions.
Beside her, Tenguyama Hitetsu tensed, his eyes filling with caution.
Ace was a pirate, after all, and pirates generally had far more enemies than friends.
He reached out to pull Tama behind him, but Garp casually pressed one hand downward.
His heavy palm carried irresistible force, driving one of Hitetsu's tall geta deep into the sand.
No matter how hard the man struggled, he could not pull it free.
Only then did Garp scratch his head, turn back to Tama, and laugh loudly.
"Bwahahaha! Of course I know him! I know that brat Ace better than most!"
As he spoke, Garp bent down, removed his shoes, and reached beneath their soles.
He had hidden one item in each shoe.
One was a photograph of Cain and Ace together in their Marine uniforms.
The other was Ace's Vivre Card.
Both were extremely important to him.
If he kept them in an ordinary pocket, they might be washed away like his donuts, so hiding them inside his shoes was much safer.
They had both been waterproofed, so even being soaked in seawater had not damaged them.
As for a photo of Luffy, that brat had never worn a Marine uniform, so naturally, he did not get one!
Garp held the photograph out to Tama.
"I'm Ace's grandfather!"
"G-grandfather?!"
Shock and delight spread across Tama's face.
She immediately threw her arms around Garp's leg and held on tightly, her voice trembling close to tears.
"Grandpa Garp! Did Ace send you to pick me up? Tama finally waited long enough! I'm so happy!"
"Pick you up?"
Garp tilted his head and was about to ask what she meant when Hitetsu finally pulled his geta free from the sand.
He stared at Garp and muttered,
"I didn't expect that boy to still remember his promise."
He then explained everything that had happened between Tama and Ace.
"…And that is the whole story. Tama could have left this place and lived a much better life, but she remained in Amigasa Village because she was waiting for Ace."
"She always hopes he'll return. Every so often, she comes down to the beach to see whether his ship has arrived."
Halfway through his explanation, Hitetsu turned his head and saw a huge bubble hanging from Garp's nose.
The old man had fallen asleep standing up.
"He really is Ace's grandpa," Tama said with a giggle. "They're exactly the same."
"Huh? Did I fall asleep?"
Garp abruptly woke, shook his head, and looked between Tama and Hitetsu.
Although he had dozed off, he had still heard most of the story.
His fists immediately cracked as he clenched them.
That bastard Ace truly was outrageous.
First, there had been his promise with Kaido's daughter, Yamato. Now there was this promise with Tama too.
Making promises everywhere was bad enough, but he had even encouraged such a young child to become a pirate.
Garp stared at Tama, who was about the same age Luffy had been back then, and his brow furrowed deeply.
Luffy had only chosen the crooked path of piracy because that bastard Shanks influenced him when he was young!
The anger in Garp's heart grew even stronger.
Children clearly needed proper guidance. He absolutely could not let Ace corrupt Tama as well.
He immediately leaned down and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Although I'm Ace's grandfather, he wasn't the one who sent me here."
"But don't be discouraged. Even if you can't go to sea with Ace, I can still take you to meet him."
"Just not as a pirate."
"Being a pirate isn't worth much anyway. You spend every day being battered by wind and rain, never knowing where your next meal will come from. It's nothing but suffering."
"So come become a Marine with Grandpa instead!"
Tama was visibly disappointed when she learned Ace had not sent Garp to collect her.
Even so, she did not show it openly.
"A Marine? Is that an army belonging to pirates?"
"If I become one, will I never go hungry again? Will I be able to eat until I'm full every day?"
She had no idea what the word meant.
Wano had been isolated for so many years that almost everyone who washed up near Amigasa Village was a pirate who robbed and pillaged.
Tama had no concept of the Marines at all.
Hitetsu immediately grew even more tense.
His true name was Kozuki Sukiyaki, the former Shogun of Wano.
As someone who had once stood at the highest levels of the country, he knew perfectly well what the Marines were.
He could not determine whether the sudden appearance of a Marine in a country controlled by pirates was good or bad.
And seeing Garp so openly attempting to lure away a child only deepened his suspicion.
Hitetsu grabbed Tama by the wrist, subtly pulled her behind him, and began leading her away.
"Tama, we're leaving."
"Hey, wait for me, Tama! Listen, I still have plenty to tell you!"
Garp hurried after them with long strides.
He did not seem offended in the slightest and continued following cheerfully, counting off the many benefits of joining the Marines on his fingers.
Every advantage he mentioned was carefully aimed at something Tama cared about.
Hitetsu pulled Tama onto Komachiyo's back and fled as fast as he could, desperate to lose the persistent old man behind them.
After looking back and confirming Garp was nowhere in sight, he finally returned to Amigasa Village with Tama.
But had they truly escaped him?
Of course not.
Garp would never allow a child as young as Tama to be led down the crooked path of piracy by Ace.
Since Ace had created this mess, Garp would take responsibility for it as his grandfather.
He deliberately slowed down, concealed his presence, and pretended to have been left behind, while secretly following Tama's group from a careful distance.
Not long after Tama and Hitetsu returned to the village and began packing their belongings, a commotion erupted outside.
"It's a misunderstanding! This is all one huge misunderstanding!"
"I'm doing this for justice!"
Garp was being chased through the village by a mob of residents wielding farming tools.
Their furious shouts carried clearly to Tama.
"Tama, stay away from him! That man is after you!"
"Child kidnapper! Stop that old man before he kidnaps her!"
…
On Onigashima, Queen the Plague finally completed the "masterpiece" he had spent so long preparing.
Dozens of virulent diseases he had personally cultivated now lived inside Koby's body, turning him into a walking biological poison jar.
Countless viruses rampaged through his bloodstream, each one highly contagious.
They violently attacked his organs and channels while Queen's careful adjustments forced them to restrain and counteract one another.
The antibodies produced against one disease immediately transformed into an even more dangerous toxin when confronted with the next.
Every new collision between the viruses caused Koby unbearable pain.
His muscles swelled and ached as though they were being torn apart.
His body alternated between burning heat and freezing cold, while the toxins stained his skin in a hideous array of colors, leaving grotesque signs of infection everywhere.
He could still barely stand and walk, but in truth, his life had already entered its final countdown.
He would survive only a few more days.
The side effects caused every strand of hair on his body to fall out.
Queen even pretended to be considerate by placing a wig on his head and spraying him with a specially prepared flesh-colored coating.
The paint temporarily sealed the viruses inside him, preventing them from leaking before the proper moment.
Once everything was ready, Queen proudly clapped his hands and escorted Koby to Onigashima's harbor, intending to grant him his "freedom."
His plan was already complete.
Once Garp brought Koby back among the Marines, the moment Koby died, every dormant virus inside his body would erupt at once.
Even if Garp somehow survived, he would become infected by the incurable combination of diseases and fall into a permanently weakened state that steadily consumed his life.
The Marines would lose a huge portion of their greatest fighting strength.
Simply imagining it made Queen shake his enormous body and chuckle with delight.
He raised one thick leg and kicked the small boat carrying Koby away from Onigashima's shore.
Considering Koby's condition, Queen had thoughtfully prepared a technological vessel capable of moving automatically without wind.
As he watched the boat drift farther across the water, Queen theatrically wiped the corner of one eye and pretended to sob.
"Oh, what a shame. I almost hate to give away such a perfect poison jar."
The moment he finished speaking, he raised his head and saw Kaido and King returning.
Queen's round eyes widened.
His heart skipped a beat.
Had they already finished dealing with Garp?
Then what about Koby, who was still drifting at sea?
Queen spun toward the water, but the small boat had already disappeared from view.
His heart turned cold.
'Oh, shit. I've really screwed up this time!'
…
Koby, meanwhile, knew nothing about how the confrontation between Garp and Kaido had ended.
All he remembered was what Queen told him.
His teacher Garp had come to Wano to rescue him and was currently somewhere near the country's entrance.
Koby was certain that someone as powerful as Garp would create an earth-shaking commotion once he began fighting.
If Koby circled Wano's outer waters and listened carefully for the sound of battle, he would surely find his teacher near one of the ports.
He was not the only person thinking along those lines.
Marco and Aramaki, still chasing and fighting each other through the sky, had also reached the waters surrounding Wano.