"So you're a lieutenant now, huh? You've finally become the naval officer you always dreamed of, Coby!"
"H-ha ha… I'm still just a low-ranking officer, though."
Thanks to Coby and Helmeppo, the atmosphere had lightened a bit, and Garp turned to the sailors with a command.
"Hey, boys."
The Marines snapped to attention immediately. Garp, picking his nose, pointed to the hole in the wall he had smashed earlier.
"Fix it."
For a moment, the Marines stared at him with resentful eyes.
"Ehhhhhh?!?!?!"
"Then why'd you break it in the first place?!"
"If you start something, you finish it! So how about you pitch in, Vice Admiral!"
At their protest, Garp drew exaggerated drooping eyebrows, looking like he didn't want to. Coby, smiling, stepped in.
"Still, sir, you really should help too."
"Tch! You brats—if that Rengoku guy told you to do it, you'd have done it without a word."
"Ha… ha ha… but Vice Admiral Rengoku would've gone through the door instead of the wall."
After teasing Garp, Coby set an example by gathering the broken bricks himself. Seeing him take the lead, the other Marines pitched in as well, and even Garp—though grumbling under his breath—ended up working faster than anyone.
It was a strange sight: the Navy repairing the hideout of pirates.
Once the wall was mostly patched up, Garp left the finishing touches to the soldiers and turned to speak with Luffy and his crew.
"So, did you meet your father and your sworn brother?"
At Garp's question, Luffy picked his nose and tilted his head.
"Dad? I've got a dad? And if you mean sworn brother… you mean Ace?"
"What? You mean you haven't introduced yourselves?"
Hearing this, the rest of the Straw Hats pricked up their ears.
Luffy's father… Garp's son… and a sworn brother?
They normally didn't pry into each other's pasts or families, but if this was their chance to hear it, they weren't going to miss it.
"Didn't you meet your father in Loguetown?"
"Loguetown?"
Even with Garp's hint, Luffy was completely lost.
"Your father's name is Dragon. The revolutionary. I heard he crossed paths with you in Loguetown once—but I guess you didn't notice."
"EHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!"
"EHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!"
"EHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!"
Garp's bombshell sent shockwaves through not only the Straw Hats but also the Marines.
The son of the Navy's Hero, Monkey D. Garp, was none other than Dragon—the world's most wanted criminal, the leader of the Revolutionary Army…
And that meant the Straw Hat before them was Dragon's son.
There could hardly be bigger news.
"Revolutionary? What's that?"
Luffy looked clueless. Robin quickly gave the simplest explanation she could.
"If pirates are the Navy's enemies, revolutionaries are the enemies of the World Government itself. Their goal is to overthrow the Government. Their ideology has already spread across nations, sparking revolutions everywhere—one of the Government's greatest headaches."
"Ohhh, I see."
After everyone had finished reeling from the revelation, Garp scratched his head sheepishly.
"Wait, was I not supposed to say that yet? Forget it, forget it—pretend I never said it."
"EHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!?!"
The crew and Marines alike cried out in unison at how casually he tried to retract the earth-shattering news.
Only Luffy, unfazed, asked the next question.
"So, if you mean sworn brother, you're talking about Ace?"
"Ace?"
Robin, knowledgeable as ever, caught on right away.
"Luffy… do you mean Portgas D. Ace, the 'Fire Fist'? The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates?"
Luffy scratched his head, answering in his usual carefree way.
"Uh, I dunno about all that—but yeah, if you mean my sworn brother, then that's Portgas D. Ace. Why?"
!!!
"In the New World, there are four great pirate crews, known as the Yonko. The strongest of them is Whitebeard's, and the one serving as his Second Division Commander is 'Fire Fist' Portgas D. Ace. He's got a bounty of 550 million berries on his head."
The Straw Hats and the Marines were beyond shock at this point. They were half-dazed, their minds overwhelmed.
"Five hundred fifty million, huh? That's Ace for you. Guess I'll just have to catch up soon!"
Luffy only grinned brightly as he spoke.
Garp, knowing full well Ace's current situation, kept his mouth shut.
"But back when I was still in Baroque Works, all news of Portgas D. Ace had already gone cold…"
At Robin's words, the mere mention of Ace's name stripped the playfulness from Garp's face. He waved a hand dismissively.
"No… I wasn't talking about Ace."
"Then… who?"
"Rengoku. The one you fought against—though 'fought' might not be the right word."
This revelation hit harder than even learning that Dragon's full name was Monkey D. Dragon. To the pirates and Marines present, it was perhaps an even greater shock.
"V-Vice Admiral Rengoku is Luffy's sworn brother?!"
Even Coby hadn't known this.
"That guy's… my sworn brother?"
Luffy looked just as confused as anyone.
"What kind of family is this…?"
The Straw Hats had already given up trying to make sense of it all.
As the room spun into panic, Garp explained.
"Strictly speaking, he's my foster grandson. So he isn't directly related to Luffy."
"That terrifying man… your foster grandson?"
Robin, who knew firsthand the terror of Rengoku's strength, shivered involuntarily.
"That's right! Luffy, if you had just joined the Navy like I told you, I could've raised you into a Marine as strong as Rengoku! But no, you had to listen to that damn red-haired brat and become a pirate! Your poor grandpa's heart aches!"
Whack!
Clutching his chest with one hand, Garp smacked Luffy over the head with the other.
"Arghhh!"
Rubbing his head, Luffy grumbled, "If being a Marine means dragging Robin away, then forget it—I wouldn't do it even if you begged me!"
Whack! Whack! Whack!
"You worthless brat! You don't even understand your sworn brother's heart!! You're driving me mad!"
Knowing the state Rengoku was in, Garp let out a heavy sigh as he struck his grandson again.
"Vice Admiral Rengoku is the strongest candidate to become the next Admiral. He's respected across the Navy, regardless of faction. Luffy, calling someone like him 'that guy' is far too disrespectful."
Coby, both Luffy's friend and someone who admired him deeply, also warned him about his careless words.
"That's right! Straw Hat, I don't care if you're Vice Admiral Garp's grandson or Dragon's son—we won't forgive you for insulting Vice Admiral Rengoku!"
Helmeppo, joined by several Marines, snapped at Luffy in outrage.
"Eh? What? He was strong, sure, but was he really that important?"
Whack!!
"Owwwww!!"
"Would it kill you to read a newspaper once in a while, Luffy?!"
Even Vice Admiral Garp himself barked at him this time. And while Luffy remained clueless, the rest of the Straw Hats—especially Robin—felt the full weight of Rengoku's standing in the Navy.
After all, she alone had seen him stop a Buster Call and sever Admiral Aokiji's arm.
Nami, on the other hand, understood perfectly well. She remembered the silent prayer he had given at Bellmère's grave. That was no lie—he truly was a remarkable Marine.
And Usopp, spying secretly from outside, recalled their encounter with Rengoku and understood why the Marines defended him so fiercely.
"Bah… you're burning me up inside, brat! Alright, everyone—we're pulling out for today!"
Leaving the still half-bewildered Luffy behind, Garp sighed, then led Coby, Helmeppo, and the Marines back to their warship.
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