"Ice Age!!!"
At this moment, Aokiji had not yet adopted his lazy demeanor following the Ohara Incident. The justice he believed in now was passionate and fervent. Ruthless and silent, he unleashed his ultimate move right after a short delay—an all-out area-clearing attack.
"Whoa!! Vice Admiral Kuzan really lives up to being trained by Vice Admiral Garp! He took down so many big-name pirates in one move!"
"Yeah, absolutely! A true role model for us all!"
...
Seeing their vice-captain racking up kills, the navy grunts on the bench waved their towels enthusiastically, playing the role of admiring lackeys to perfection.
Can't blame them for overacting—their boss was just too strong. Back when they sailed with Garp, he either moon-stepped into the enemy ranks and wiped them all out himself, or had them haul out a mountain of cannonballs before blasting everything away with his Fist Bone: Meteor Shower.
All they ever did was cheer from the back—and then literally clean up the battlefield. Their "cleanup" was literal.
That's why Garp's ship had the highest survival rate in the entire Navy—one of the biggest reasons he was held in such high regard among lower-ranking marines.
Boom!!!
"Kuzan, what are you so smug about?! Go chase after Roger already!!"
Just as Aokiji basked in the navy's cheers after his flashy move, Garp's Love-Filled Iron Fist crashed directly onto his head.
"Admiral, what should we do? Are we really going to fight Garp?"
"Fight your damn head! We're heading back!"
Golden Lion roared as he ordered a retreat. Though they failed to recruit Roger this time, they did manage to clean out a lot of small fries—fewer wages to pay. But if they tangled with Garp any further, the issue wouldn't be money anymore—it'd be whether they'd live long enough to pay anyone at all…
"Oh right—who among you killed that four-eyed brat?"
Shiki suddenly remembered the punk who had dared to curse him out in front of tens of thousands. But with how long the fight had gone on, that brat was probably chopped to pieces by now.
"Captain, that kid didn't... die. Strangely, the more we slashed him, the more energetic he got. His body held up freakishly well. Despite bleeding buckets, he's totally fine—and even followed Rayleigh around stabbing a bunch of our guys…"
"Useless trash!!"
Golden Lion Shiki was fuming. No one had ever dared to insult him like that before. Even Captain Rocks only ever called him "damn Shiki." The next time he saw that brat, he had to kill him—or he wouldn't be able to sleep!
"Achoo!"
"Achoo!"
"Achoo!"
Aboard the Oro Jackson, a lively party was underway, celebrating their 369th successful escape from Garp. Chronos sneezed several times in a row, spraying a mouthful of booze all over Shanks and Buggy.
"North, are you okay? You're not weakened from all the blood loss, are you?"
Shanks wiped the wine from his face and looked at Chronos with concern. During the recent battle, he had seen Chronos take dozens of slashes and bleed several liters…
"I'm fine. Someone must be thinking about me. Probably that golden-fried chicken named Shiki."
"No way… Would a pirate like him even bother thinking about interns like us?"
"Trust me. My gut instinct is never wrong!"
"Captain! Look what I found!"
A crewmate responsible for post-battle loot sorting (aka, the stuff they stole while the Flying Sky Pirates were distracted) came rushing over with an ornate treasure chest and plopped it down in front of everyone.
"What's this?"
"Where'd it come from?"
"Is it filled with Beli?"
...
"This has to be a treasure chest, right?"
No need to guess—of course it was Buggy who said that.
"This chest definitely holds a Devil Fruit!"
Chronos stared at the box, tears welling in his eyes. It was his first time encountering a real Devil Fruit. For someone without a fancy cheat system, this was the biggest possible power-up.
He wasn't greedy—he didn't even need a Logia. A Paramecia would do just fine. Even someone like Doflamingo, a washed-up rich kid, had turned the "garbage" String-String Fruit into a perfect offense-defense combo. As a highly educated man, Chronos was confident he could develop his power to the same level!
"Chronos, how do you know it's a Devil Fruit? You didn't even open it."
The others looked puzzled.
"Ugh! Read more, would you? A box this ornate must contain something extremely valuable. For pirates, there are only two things that important: Beli and Devil Fruits. This chest is way too small to hold much money, so it must be a Devil Fruit."
Chronos wiped his lensless frog-style glasses (just like Sengoku's) and shook his head, looking down on the rest of the Roger Pirates.
Roger Pirates, collectively: He's got a point… but we still really want to punch him!
"It is a Devil Fruit. Anyone want it?"
Roger pried open the lock with his Western sword. Inside was a blue, spiral-patterned Devil Fruit shaped like a banana. The moment the box was opened, the crew lost all interest.
They joyfully went back to drinking together.
"Tch. A Devil Fruit? Not even a dog would eat that…"