Regarding Kai, Garp's heart held nothing but shock and satisfaction—there wasn't a trace of any other thoughts left.
In less than a month, Kai had mastered all the Six Powers. Then, over the next two to three months, he'd even created his own exclusive extensions of the Six Powers!
Every moment, Kai shattered Garp's understanding. Before this, only three people in the entire Marines had fully mastered all the Six Powers: himself, former Admiral Zephyr, and Kong, who had just stepped down from Fleet Admiral to become Supreme Commander of the World Government's entire military.
Among the three, Garp himself had been the fastest to fully master the Six Powers. From age twenty-three when he was promoted to officer rank and gained the opportunity to train in the Six Powers, to age forty-two when he mastered them all—Garp had spent a full nineteen years!
Yet Kai had done it in merely one month. What Garp didn't know was that if Kai had wanted to, completely mastering the Six Powers wouldn't even require a full day.
However, Kai had no intention of being so conspicuous. At the same time, slowing down his mastery of the Six Powers allowed him to become more familiar with the power laws of the One Piece world.
At this moment, Garp could say he was extremely grateful for having invited Kai to join the Marines back then.
Otherwise, if someone with Kai's monstrous talent had become a pirate, the Marines would face an existence surpassing even the Four Emperors in the future. Just thinking about it made Garp shudder!
"Marine Headquarters? Marineford?" Hearing Garp's words, Kai murmured to himself.
"Ahahaha! I've snuck away for so long this time—wonder if Sengoku will go crazy," Garp laughed while scratching his head, showing absolutely no shame on his face.
Hearing Garp's words, Kai's eye twitched. Probably no one except Sengoku the Fleet Admiral could tolerate Garp's personality—at the very least, the next Fleet Admiral Akainu couldn't do it.
Before departing, Garp gave Luffy his customary beating, only then feeling satisfied enough to leave with Kai.
Marineford.
The location of Marine Headquarters, positioned at the central point of the Grand Line, adjacent to the Sabaody Archipelago, the Red Line, and the "Holy Land" Mary Geoise. With absolute justice, it carried out its duties across the world's oceans—one of the three great powers of the Grand Line!
The Gate of Justice slowly opened. A warship bearing the dog-head insignia gradually sailed in. Before it even docked, shouts could be heard from the shore:
"Vice Admiral Garp! The 'Hero of the Marines' Garp has returned!"
"Vice Admiral Garp? Where is he!?"
"This is my first time seeing Vice Admiral Garp in person!"
As the "Hero of the Marines" and legendary Marine who had defeated Pirate KingRoger multiple times, combined with his approachable personality, Garp's popularity at Marine Headquarters was absolutely unmatched by anyone. After being away for several months and returning to Marine Headquarters, he naturally caused quite a commotion.
"Ahahaha! See that, Kai? As long as you can become an excellent Marine, I believe you'll be even more popular than me. Alright, let's go meet Sengoku first." After speaking, Garp led Kai off the warship, heading toward the most magnificent building in the central area.
Fleet Admiral's Office.
Garp didn't even bother with any greeting—he directly pushed open the door. Clearly, for Garp, this kind of behavior wasn't a first or second occurrence.
"Hmm... Everyone's here, ahahaha!"
Garp showed no embarrassment whatsoever, directly plopping down on a nearby sofa and grabbing a donut from the table to take big bites.
Looking carefully, all of the Marine high command had gathered here: Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the three Admirals, Chief of Staff Tsuru, and Zephyr. This room had assembled the entire Marine's top-tier combat power.
"Garp, you actually know to come back!" Sengoku was first stunned, then roared loudly: "Fleet Admiral Kong just got promoted to Supreme Commander of the World Government's military! The pirates in the New World have stirred up the Four Emperors! The Marines are now facing an unprecedentedly severe situation, and you just ran off for several months!"
Letting Sengoku's spittle spray all over his face, Garp remained calm, picking his nose with one hand while tossing donuts into his mouth with the other. Looking up at Sengoku, Garp casually said: "Mmm... today's donuts taste pretty good."
Hearing Garp's words, Sengoku's face showed complete defeat, feeling a sense of frustration welling up from within.
At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out: "Sengoku, I absolutely will not agree to the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea' plan! The Marines are the symbol of absolute justice—we absolutely cannot mix with pirates!"
A burly man wearing sunglasses with short purple hair suddenly slammed his fist hard on the table, glaring at Sengoku and speaking sternly.
This person was none other than Zephyr, known as "Black Arm," the former Marine Admiral who had defeated countless pirates throughout his life but had never killed a single enemy—also called the "Non-Killing" Marine Headquarters Admiral.
However, ever since his family was all killed by pirates, he began to hate pirates intensely. Now he had resigned from his Admiral position to serve as Marine Chief Instructor. The current three Admirals—Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji—had all been Zephyr's students.
Hearing Zephyr's voice, Sengoku had no time to deal with Garp anymore. He turned to look at Zephyr, his expression somewhat troubled as he spoke: "Zephyr, I know you hate pirates, but given the current situation, if we don't establish the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea,' the Marines' strength in the Grand Line will suffer devastating damage!"
Zephyr's expression showed no sign of softening. He opened his mouth, preparing to continue speaking, when Tsuru, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke: "Garp, who is the young man beside you?"
Hearing Tsuru's words, everyone turned their gaze toward Kai standing beside Garp. After consuming the God Tree Fruit, Kai looked at most to be in his early twenties. Even considering his real age, Kai was much younger than anyone sitting here.
You had to understand—the youngest person here, Aokiji, was already in his forties.
"Kai Mitarashi, future Marine Admiral." Without waiting for Garp to introduce him, Kai spoke directly.
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