Under the watchful gazes of the crowd, Colonel Miz took a deep breath, sweeping his eyes over the curious faces of the surrounding Marines. His tone was solemn as he said:
"Tell me — among all of Marine Headquarters — who else bears the name Monkey D.?"
"Can none of you figure it out?"
"Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"
"That person…"
"He is the very embodiment of Marine justice — idolized by countless Marines!"
"If you joined the Marines and still haven't heard of that man, then I hate to say it—"
"You've failed. You're failures as Marines."
The atmosphere instantly grew heavier.
The gathered Marines looked increasingly shocked.
At that moment,
a timid voice rang out from the crowd:
"C-Colonel Miz… you're not talking about that hero of the Marines, are you?"
Instantly—
Dead silence.
Not even the sound of breathing.
After a moment, Miz replied with complete certainty:
"You're absolutely right."
"I'm talking about our Marine hero — Monkey D. Garp!"
"The most renowned figure in all of Marine Headquarters!"
"A hero of his time. A symbol of an era. And one of the most fearsome powerhouses this ocean has ever known!"
"He once pursued Pirate King Gol D. Roger to the brink of death multiple times!"
"He even hounded the so-called 'strongest man in the world,' Whitebeard, so fiercely that the man avoided needless confrontation at sea!"
"Vice Admiral Garp is the very faith of countless Marines. He has been praised within our ranks as the strongest Marine in history!"
"Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku never bore such a title."
"And although he remains a Vice Admiral, that doesn't mean he wasn't qualified for promotion—"
"He is the only Marine in history to voluntarily reject the rank of Admiral."
As Miz spoke at length,
the entire group of Marines stood frozen, minds reeling.
The name "Hero Garp" rang through their ears like thunder.
And from Miz's words, many of them — for the very first time — heard Garp's full name:
Monkey D. Garp.
"I-It's really Vice Admiral Garp?!"
"No way!"
"So that means… that Mr. Kai…"
"He's actually the grandson of Vice Admiral Garp?!"
"H-Holy sh*t. That background is insane!"
"No wonder even Vice Admiral Aokiji was visibly cautious and respectful toward him!"
"Everything suddenly makes sense now."
"That four-year-old who annihilated the entire Demon Pirates… he really might be Garp's grandson!"
Shock rippled through the Marines.
The more they thought about it, the more shaken they became.
"No wonder Kai has the kind of kingly aptitude that only appears once in a million lives!"
"And no wonder he was able to awaken Conqueror's Haki at such a young age!"
"He carries the bloodline of Vice Admiral Garp — the living legend of the Marines!"
"I never imagined Mr. Kai's background would be this terrifying!"
"Looking across the entire Marine organization, who would dare provoke someone like him?"
"And more importantly…"
"Mr. Kai doesn't even need to rely on his background — his talent alone is enough to scare off anyone in the Navy!"
"He's a once-in-a-century prodigy — no, more like once in a thousand years!"
The Marines grew increasingly excited and awed.
Standing silently to the side, Miz listened to their chatter, eyes unfocused as he stared toward the direction Kai and Vice Admiral Kuzan had left.
Mouth slightly open, he muttered to himself:
"Mr. Kai…"
"To think… he's actually the grandson of the Hero of the Marines!"
"There are few in this entire ocean whose background could rival that!"
"No wonder even someone like Vice Admiral Aokiji dared not treat him lightly."
"With a lineage like that, he can walk sideways through Marine Headquarters and no one would dare stop him!"
But what truly terrified Miz wasn't just Kai's heritage—
It was the fact that, on top of that…
he possessed mind-boggling, monstrous talent!
At just four years old, he obliterated the entire Demon Pirates.
He even took down three division captains with bounties in the tens of millions.
"Now that's what you call a true monster of the sea!"
Soon after,
under Miz's command, the thousand or so elite Marines began processing the pirates sprawled across the battlefield.
Each pirate was cuffed, shackled, and bound, ensuring they couldn't resist once they regained consciousness.
As for the two division commanders who had Devil Fruit powers?
They had already been shackled with seastone cuffs, rendering them even weaker than ordinary men.
Under such suppression, they posed zero threat to Miz and his forces.
Gradually…
All 3,000+ surviving members of the Demon Pirates were gathered into a massive chain of prisoners and escorted toward the nearest Marine branch prison.
Handcuffed and foot-shackled,
their every move was monitored by armed Marines with rifles raised.
A long, winding procession of pirates marched slowly, heads hung low, spirits broken.
Among them—
even the two critically injured division captains were treated with maximum security.
Not only were they restrained with seastone cuffs and shackles,
they were also guarded by over a hundred armed elite Marines, each one on high alert, eyes sharp and fingers on the trigger.
No chances would be taken.
As for the frozen body of the Demon Pirates' captain, Oren the Demon…
Miz dispatched a special transport unit, complete with a reinforced cart and dozens of Marines, just to haul the massive ice sculpture back to the Marine prison.
That day…
The large-scale transfer of the Demon Pirates to Marine custody could not escape the eyes of the hundreds of thousands of residents living on Chuanliu (Flowstream) Island.
The scale was simply too grand.
The moment a thousand Marines mobilized toward the Demon Pirates' territory,
the rumors had already started spreading.
Long before the final battle ended, the people of Chuanliu Island had already taken notice.
All eyes were fixed on that once-infamous street.
Everyone waited anxiously for the outcome.
Would it be the Marines' victory?
Or would the Demon Pirates prevail?
And now—
with the total defeat of the Demon Pirates and their forced march into Marine custody,
the news exploded like wildfire.
It was uncontainable — like trying to hide fire in a paper bag.
Especially since…
the Marines had no intention of covering this up.
In fact, they were more than eager to publicize it far and wide.
After all, the defeat of such a vicious pirate crew only boosted their reputation.
It earned them admiration, fear, and respect from the populace.
Why would they not broadcast this win?
It was a total win-win!
Chuanliu (Flowstream) Island erupted.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians broke into cheers.
"Huge news! This is huge!"
"The Demon Pirates have been wiped out!"
"Yes! YES!!"
"Those bastards who plagued us for so long are finally gone!"
"We can finally sleep peacefully at night!"
"Serves them right! What sweet justice!"
"I always said the Marines wouldn't stand by forever!"
"Chuanliu Island will return to its former glory!"
The atmosphere across the island hit a fever pitch.
The people had been waiting for this day.
The Demon Pirates were finished.
The moment word got out, emotions boiled over.
Then someone whispered:
"Hey… did you guys hear the rumors?"
"Apparently, it wasn't even the local Marines who did the job."
"They never had the strength to take down the Demon Pirates, right?"
"They let them run wild on this island for over half a year."
Someone else said:
"You're right. The ones who wiped them out came from outside."
"But let me tell you something even crazier—"
"It wasn't some squad of elite Marines…"
"It was a four-year-old kid! A single boy did it!"
"And his name… is Kai."
"That boy destroyed all 3,000-plus members of the Demon Pirates — by himself!"
"At first, I didn't believe it either."
"But the intel came straight from within the Marine branch. It's no rumor. It's real."
The moment that was said…
BOOM—!
An even bigger wave of shock rolled across Chuanliu Island!
"W-What?!"
"Are you serious?! That was the Demon Pirates! Over 3,000 of them! And Oren was a beast!"
"How could a four-year-old possibly wipe them all out?!"
"That's insane! Unbelievable!"
"Who is this Kai…?"
"What kind of monster is he?!"
"That's not just a prodigy — that's a legend in the making!"
That day…
the name of the four-year-oldMonkey D. Kai echoed across all of Chuanliu (Flowstream) Island!
From alleyways to markets,
from fishermen to merchants,
from dockworkers to nobles…
his name was spoken with awe.
He inspired reverence in all—
and earned the adoration of hundreds of thousands.
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