"Garp…"
"You idiot!"
"Your grandson—Straw Hat Luffy! He was a pretty promising kid from the start! If he'd joined the Marines and gotten a proper pile of resources poured into him, he'd be at least a rear admiral by now!"
"And now look—he ends up becoming an unpredictable threat at that future Marineford War!!!"
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
Sengoku couldn't take it anymore. With a headache, he rubbed his temples and then turned toward Garp, scolding him in exasperation.
Damn it!
Even if you couldn't raise a kid yourself, you could've handed him to Vice Admiral Tsuru, or Momousagi, or any other female Marine to bring up!
Why in the world did you have to toss him back to Foosha Village?!
A savage backwater like that—bandits and pirates crawling around everywhere—Luffy would have to be a miracle not to grow up rotten!!!
"…"
Faced with the lecture, Garp fell silent. He opened his mouth—"three-nine-seven"—as if to argue on instinct.
But when the words reached his throat, not a single one came out.
Yeah…
Sengoku wasn't wrong.
All these years, about Luffy's upbringing—Garp had been hung up on it the whole time.
He'd imagined it countless times.
If he'd ignored the hassle and just kept Luffy at his side back then…
Then maybe now—
With Luffy's talent and stubborn willpower—
He would've already grown into an elite rear admiral from Marine Headquarters… and hell, maybe even a vice admiral.
And that possibility was huge!!!
"Oooh…"
"Vice Admiral Garp, this time I can't help siding with Sengoku…"
Borsalino stretched lazily, deliberately drawing out his trademark tone.
"Though honestly, now I'm curious—how exactly did your grandson Straw Hat get mixed up with 'Fire Fist'?"
"They don't seem to have any blood relation at all, right?!"
In an instant—
The moment that came out of Borsalino's mouth—
Everyone else present brightened, nodding along.
They all realized at once: he was right!
Ace wasn't part of the Monkey family.
He had no blood ties to Garp or Dragon.
And yet—
In that earlier segment, in Ivankov's old memories—
They'd heard it clearly.
When Luffy talked about Ace, he kept calling him "big brother," over and over.
And the emotion behind it was real—no hint of acting.
Otherwise Luffy wouldn't have gone berserk, broken into Impel Down, and after the prison break still charged straight for the Marineford battlefield!
There was definitely something fishy here!!!
At that—
Garp went quiet again.
He clearly didn't want to answer.
The truth was—
Among everyone in that room, aside from him, Sengoku also knew Ace's real identity—
Ace was the son of the Pirate King.
Back then—
Because Roger was terminally ill—
Before his death, after he disbanded the Roger Pirates, he secretly sought out Garp and entrusted his child to him.
He wanted Garp to raise Ace into adulthood.
"Hah…"
Garp's gaze flickered.
Remembering that old history, right there in front of everyone, his expression turned complicated as he let out a heavy sigh.
He didn't even seem to care—
About the risk of exposing what lay underneath.
Because honestly—
By the time the ranking video reached this point, Garp had already guessed it.
Once the Marineford storyline was exposed—
Ace's background—
The truth that he was Roger's heir—
There was no way it could stay hidden.
Sooner or later, it would be revealed to the entire world!
And that was what gave Garp the biggest headache right now.
Compared to Luffy, that damn grandson of his… Garp wasn't worried at all.
After all, the ranking subtitles had already made it crystal clear:
Garp was Luffy's fourth "backer."
On top of that, on the Marineford battlefield, the other Marine higher-ups and powerhouses—
They'd probably give him some face.
If they ran into Luffy, they'd intentionally hold back and avoid going for the kill.
So there was nothing to worry about.
Garp was sure of it: in the end, Luffy would be fine.
But Ace…
Whether his life would be safe—whether he could even survive—
That, Garp truly couldn't say!!!
———
And at this moment—
Just as the Marine higher-ups were still arguing—
On the transparent light screen, new footage kept getting revealed—
Grandfather and grandson clashing!
Both stubbornly fuming at each other!
In the end, Garp got furious and actually did wash his hands of his grandson, ignoring him completely!
And he personally dumped Luffy off at the home of his bandit friend, Dadan!
When that scene got exposed…
In the real world, Dragon saw it—and he couldn't stay seated anymore.
Inside the Revolutionary Army headquarters, he complained helplessly:
"What the hell…"
"Garp, that bastard! I handed Luffy to him back then because I wanted him guided toward the right outlook on life!"
"And now, if you disagree with him, you just toss him to bandits?!"
Dragon's eye twitched.
He almost laughed out of pure anger.
Sure, he admitted it himself—he wasn't a qualified father.
From childhood to adulthood—
He hadn't participated in Luffy's childhood at all.
He'd barely even met him.
You could probably count the times on one hand—he hadn't even met him three times!
But…
Dragon had his reasons.
He didn't want Luffy to end up like he had when he was young—
Someone who could've become an outstanding Marine, but abandoned it halfway through and ultimately walked onto the road of opposing the World Government.
And now—
What he'd originally hoped for—
And what reality produced—
Were total opposites!
And the real culprit… was his own father.
After learning the truth, Dragon felt nothing but helplessness—he didn't even know what to say anymore.
Bandits…
And pirates…
They were practically the same thing!
Squatting on a mountain, acting like kings, burning and looting—how could people like that calmly educate a kid?!
Luffy grew up on bandit turf.
No wonder that once he got older, he became single-mindedly obsessed with becoming a pirate.
Wasn't that the most obvious outcome imaginable?
Seriously… unbelievable!!!
Off to the side—
The Revolutionary Army cadres—
All of them were desperately holding it in, trying not to burst out laughing right there…
Garp, Dragon, Luffy…
This grandfather-father-son trio was beyond weird.
A family of three "supremes," every one of them a freak of nature—there really was nobody else like them!!!
But—
When you got down to it—
It was still Garp's fault!
If he hadn't spoiled them, if he hadn't indulged them, if he hadn't basically let things slide—
Then Dragon or Luffy…
Wouldn't have ended up walking the wrong path and becoming enemies.
They wouldn't have stood on the opposite side of the Marines!!!
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]