Spotting Garp, the old rival who'd pummeled them in the past, Roger felt a spark of excitement. Letting Garp walk away without a good thrashing felt wrong—especially since they were on Brook's turf.
As members of the Pirate Guild, didn't they have some duty to chase off these Marines? Plus, there might be a sweet reward in it.
"I remember the Guild's diamond Den Den Mushi listing a mission to seize a Marine officer's warship," Roger mused. "Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral—each ship's worth a different payout, plus some rank points!"
Rayleigh's gold-rimmed glasses glinted with a dangerous light. He, too, was itching to settle the score with Garp. After surviving a life-or-death battle with Saracha and mastering Conqueror's Haki Coiling, it was time to show off!
That technique was a hallmark of Overlord Pirate crews. Sure, the Roger Pirates weren't quite at that level, but they needed to make their name ring out. Otherwise, every no-name pirate would come knocking.
With their Diamond Pirate status and the bounty spike from taking down Saracha, the Roger Pirates already struck fear into most crews—second only to the Overlord Pirates. Who wouldn't tremble?
"Haha! Time to give him some trouble!"
Roger's mind flashed back to the humiliating beatdowns Garp had dealt them. Now, "freshly trained" and stronger than ever, this was the perfect chance for payback. He didn't usually go looking for fights with the Marines, but Garp had chased pirates right into Brook's territory. Wasn't that just begging for a rematch?
...
The Roger Pirates dove into the chase, joining the fray. Chinjao spotting the rising stars of the Roger Pirates, saw his chance to slip away from Garp's relentless pursuit.
He'd clashed briefly with Roger's crew before, but after they vanished for half a year, they returned with the jaw-dropping feat of defeating the false Overlord Saracha. It left every supernova in the New World stunned.
Chinjao didn't believe for a second that Roger's crew had used tricks to beat Saracha. He'd felt the terrifying weight of Roger's Conqueror's Haki firsthand—a force that even he, a Conqueror's Haki user, respected and feared.
"Roger, let's take down this Marine together and loot their ships! I'll take the Vice Admiral's head to join the Pirate Guild. The rest is yours," Chinjao proposed.
He'd accepted his fate—no shot at ruling the seas anymore. But becoming a free-roaming big-shot pirate? That wasn't bad. Guild rules said taking out a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral would fast-track him to Gold Rank status.
Being on Brook's turf was risky. If the Hell Pirates' officers caught him, he'd either be forced to join them or face death. Joining the Pirate Guild was his best play.
His Happo Navy had already been crushed by Golden Lion Shiki, forcing a desperate retreat to the New World's front lines. Now, with Garp hot on his tail and back in Hell Pirates' territory, the Guild was his lifeline.
"Haha, rough times, huh, Chinjao? Heard Shiki beat you senseless!" Roger laughed, well aware of Shiki's strength. If Chinjao had been chased down by Shiki, he was no match for Roger now.
That's how the New World worked: the strong got stronger, and if you couldn't keep up, you were left in the dust. Even among the Worst Generation's eleven supernovas, the top like Luffy, Kid, and Law boasted bounties of three billion Belly, while the likes of Bonney and Drake lagged at two or three hundred million.
Roger himself had climbed from the bottom of the New World's supernovas. Beating Saracha vaulted him past them all, his bounty even surpassing the Hell Pirates' four top fighters.
That's why Shiki kept picking fights with Roger—jealous of his skyrocketing bounty and eager to reclaim the spotlight. But even at full strength, Shiki could only stalemate Roger. Roger's three Haki types and swordsmanship outclassed him, with Shiki's Float-Float Fruit barely keeping him in the game.
"Hmph!" Chinjao grunted, dodging Roger's jab.
...
On the dog-head warship, the Marines were panicking. Chasing a target into an Overlord's territory was already nerve-wracking. Sure, they hadn't run into the Hell Pirates, but facing the newly infamous Roger Pirates was just as bad.
"Vice Admiral Garp, we gotta pull back!"
The warship's adjutants, staff officers, and commanders were frantic. Last time Garp chased Vesper's crew remnants without orders, it cost heavy Marine casualties. He'd just been chewed out by Admiral Sengoku.
Now, pursuing Chinjao into Hell Pirates' territory was another reckless move. If the three warships took heavy losses, Garp's Vice Admiral rank could be stripped, and he'd face harsh punishment.
Worse, with Rocks' arrival shaking things up, Marine Headquarters had just ordered a defensive pullback, banning operations in the territories of the two Overlord crews to avoid catastrophic losses.
Garp was outright defying orders. Even with Sengoku as his buddy, if he didn't bring the fleet back intact, he could face a court-martial. Ignoring orders, causing elite Marine deaths—each charge was severe, and neither Garp's strength nor Sengoku's pull could fully shield him.
Seeing the Roger Pirates appear, Garp itched to throw down with the rising pirate star. But his crew's pleas snapped him back. He was strong enough to walk away unscathed, but what about his men?
Against either the Roger Pirates or the Happo Navy alone, he'd be fine. But if Roger and Chinjao teamed up, his crew would be slaughtered.
"Load the cannons! I'll cover the retreat!"
Garp couldn't let his recklessness cost more Marine lives. Sengoku and Tsuru had reamed him out recently, and he wasn't about to repeat that mistake.
"Got it!"
The adjutant felt like he'd dodged a bullet. He ordered the crew to prep every cannon, terrified Garp might charge in alone, expecting them to keep up with his invincible self.
Garp unleashed his signature move, hurling cannonballs by hand in a frenzied barrage. The recoil pushed the dog-head warship back, sinking low into the sea as it retreated faster than any sail could manage.
The three warships sped away. With their superior performance, pirates rarely caught fleeing Marine ships—especially with Garp as a human cannon battery.
Regular cannons needed gunpowder and loading time, but Garp's hand-thrown barrage was relentless, its power and density forcing the Roger Pirates and Happo Navy back, halting their pursuit.
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