After helping Smoker work through his frustration, Garp took him back to see Ace.
When Smoker faced Luffy again, he had already regained his composure. Instead of immediately charging in to arrest him, he formally challenged Luffy and declared that one day, no matter how long it took, he would capture him.
Luffy was just as fired up and happily welcomed the challenge.
Meanwhile, Garp began explaining the situation on Hachinosu to Ace.
The moment Blackbeard's name came up, Ace agreed without hesitation.
Unlike the reckless Ace of the past, however, he did not immediately rush off without thinking. Instead, he carefully considered the risks involved and whether his current strength was truly enough to take part in whatever battle might be waiting there.
While he was thinking, Garp suddenly smacked him on the head.
"Relax. With this old man watching your back, what exactly are you worried about?"
"That's precisely why I don't want you protecting me forever, old man."
"Idiot. You're still my grandson."
Garp folded his arms.
"And you're a Warlord now. How could this old man just stand there and do nothing?"
"Sengoku said I'm not supposed to interfere under normal circumstances, but if you lot run into something you genuinely can't handle, then of course I'll step in!"
Just as he finished speaking, the Den Den Mushi tucked inside his clothes began ringing.
Pururururu…
Speak of Sengoku, and Sengoku immediately called.
The instant Garp answered, Sengoku's familiar roar blasted through the receiver.
"GAAAAARP!!! YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!"
"When the hell did you steal the key to my room last night?!"
"I spent the entire night away from my quarters, finally came back hoping to rest, opened the door—and where are my doughnuts?!"
"Not a single bag left!"
"And half my rice crackers are gone too! How much did you steal from me?!"
Garp scratched his head.
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, this old man used your room last night. Sorry about that."
"But I cleaned up afterward, didn't I? I even mopped the floor."
"As for the doughnuts, didn't you promise me fifty bags?"
"I saw that you'd packed twenty sacks of them nice and neatly, but that still wasn't enough, so I figured I'd make up the difference with your rice crackers."
Garp calmly explained what had happened the night before.
On the other end, Sengoku's sanity immediately snapped.
"I SAID FIFTY BAGS OF DOUGHNUTS! NOT FIFTY SACKS!"
"Is there something wrong with your ability to understand basic words?!"
"Those sacks were just how they were transported! Nobody had unpacked them yet!"
"And you carried off all of them?!"
"Those were special triple-layer wave-glazed doughnuts from Water 7! You took every last one!"
Garp froze.
"Uh…"
"So they weren't supposed to be whole sacks?"
He hesitated before offering,
"Want me to bring them back? I ate some, but there's still plenty left."
The moment Sengoku heard that, his anger disappeared considerably.
"Then bring them back immediately!"
"And anything extra you ate is coming out of your retirement pay!"
"Bwahahahaha! Deduct whatever you want!"
Garp could not have cared less about his pension.
"This old man spends all his time in Whitebeard's territory anyway."
"Haven't you been collecting my retirement pay for me this whole time?"
"Just keep managing it. I don't even remember how much money I have anymore!"
"BASTARD! What do you think I am, your wife?!"
Sengoku snapped.
"Managing your money is already bad enough, and now you expect me to take care of everything for you too?!"
Then his tone suddenly changed.
"Anyway, when you come back this time, don't go through Mary Geoise."
"Head to the Sabaody Archipelago instead and take Trafalgar Law's submarine over."
"I'll send someone to retrieve the warship."
Garp blinked in confusion.
"Why?"
"Why avoid the Red Line and make me go all the way through the deep sea?"
Sengoku's anger immediately surged again.
Then he suddenly remembered that Sakazuki was technically the one dealing with this mess now, not him.
That realization helped a little.
Still, he answered with obvious resentment.
"You have the nerve to ask why?"
"This is all because of the trouble you caused!"
"What do you think I was doing all night instead of sleeping?"
"I spent the entire night in meetings with Sakazuki trying to figure out where Aramaki had disappeared to!"
"We couldn't contact him at all."
"And then we found him in Impel Down!"
"I never imagined you were responsible!"
"Beating him half to death was bad enough, but then you actually sent him to Impel Down?! You bastard!"
"Sakazuki has already taken people to Mary Geoise to wait for you."
"When he left, magma was practically pouring off him!"
"Aramaki is still an Admiral candidate, and with his personality, the World Government has placed quite a lot of importance on him."
"So when Sakazuki decided to intercept you, the higher-ups more or less gave him permission."
After ranting through all of that in one breath, Sengoku paused to breathe.
Then he snorted.
"Not that I'm worried about you or anything."
"I'm only worried about whether my doughnuts and rice crackers make it back safely."
"Understand?"
Garp stared at the Den Den Mushi.
"Wait. In your eyes, I'm worth less than doughnuts?"
Sengoku did not bother answering.
"Just behave yourself for once."
"Come back through Fish-Man Island. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah. Got it."
Everyone standing nearby had gone completely silent.
These two had just spent half the conversation screaming at each other over doughnuts.
And apparently Garp had also beaten one of his own Marines half to death and accidentally sent him to Impel Down.
What kind of organization was this?
Garp cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ace, why are you still standing there? Go pack your things."
"Oh."
Ace immediately hurried away to prepare.
Before long, they boarded the Marine warship and set sail toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
Luffy stood on the shore watching them leave and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Ace! Come back safe!"
Ace waved back.
"Don't worry! I will!"
…
Meanwhile, atop the Red Line at the Marine cable-car port in Mary Geoise…
Sakazuki sat reviewing documents while repeatedly glancing toward every Marine warship arriving from below.
Beside him stood Aramaki.
He had finally been pulled out of Impel Down and restored himself by absorbing nutrients.
Now he glared furiously toward the bottom of the Red Line.
He was going to settle the score with Garp.
This time, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki himself was backing him.
Why should he be afraid of some so-called Hero of the Marines?
The two waited.
And waited.
Yet Garp never appeared.
"That bastard caused all this trouble!"
Sakazuki clenched his cigar between his teeth.
"Sengoku might not have been able to keep you under control, but I will."
"Just you wait."
So they waited.
Morning became afternoon.
Afternoon became night.
"Damn it!"
Sakazuki growled.
"Is he not even doing his mission now?!"
"Did he stay down there playing house with that brat Ace?!"
Then came the next day.
Noon.
"He still isn't here?"
Sakazuki's forehead throbbed.
"What the hell does that old bastard think a Marine mission is?!"
At that moment, a subordinate finally arrived with a report.
Garp had already returned to the New World.
"What?!"
After spending an entire day and night waiting at Mary Geoise with his anger steadily boiling over, Sakazuki finally reached his limit.
That day, Mary Geoise witnessed the largest magma firework display it had ever seen.