At the harbor, a warship bearing a dog-head emblem slowly docked. Garp, wearing his signature dog-head cap, swaggered down the gangway with an infuriatingly casual demeanor that begged for a punch.
CP agents who had been waiting on the shore immediately approached him, urgency in their voices: "Vice Admiral Garp, Bahr—the one who kidnapped Shalria—is hiding in a town inn!"
They had been under immense pressure from their superiors during this period. After deploying numerous agents and finally uncovering a lead, they hesitated to act due to the target's strength and promptly notified the Marines.
"Yeah, yeah, got it." Garp dug at his ear, muttering with clear disdain. "That Sengoku, really... My mood's already terrible, and now he sends me to rescue those scumbags."
The CP agent's face stiffened, but he dared not offend this Marine legend. Swallowing his discomfort, he pressed on: "Vice Admiral Garp, the priority is rescuing Shalria..."
Bahr's fate didn't matter. As long as Shalria was retrieved, the CP organization would avoid major repercussions.
"Shut it, I know what I'm doing!"
With a dismissive wave, Garp left the agent standing there. By the time the agents caught up, he was already at the inn's entrance, bellowing without hesitation: "Hey brat Bahr! Hiding in there like a coward? Get your ass out here!"
"..."
The CP agents exchanged bewildered glances, utterly speechless.
Was this guy... actually here to rescue someone?
....
Meanwhile, inside the inn—a few minutes earlier.
"Ah!" Shalria knelt on the floor, her upturned face flushed with a sickly red hue. Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes as she gazed at Bahr with desperate, pleading subservience.
"Barely passable." Bahr pinched her chin, roughly prying her lower lip open with his fingers. After a cursory glance inside her mouth, he shoved her away in disgust.
Yet his words made Shalria's eyes light up. She immediately turned around, practically throwing herself face-down on the floor, her trembling voice thick with excitement: "Please reward this servant, Master!"
"Enough. Not in the mood today." Bahr waved her off impatiently. "Pack up. We're leaving now."
Having decided to head for the "New World," he wasn't about to delay—his actions emphasized decisiveness. It definitely wasn't because he felt insecure.
Shalria froze, her heart sinking with disappointment, but she scrambled up to obey. As she packed, she stole furtive glances at Bahr, nails digging into her palms.
Had she done something wrong? Had her master grown tired of her?
Bahr didn't spare her a second glance. Leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms, he waited for her to finish when suddenly, a booming shout erupted outside, rattling the windowpanes.
His heart lurched. In three quick strides, he peered down from the windowsill and spotted Garp—dog-head cap and all—planted squarely in the middle of the street, one hand on his hip. Bahr's jaw nearly hit the floor.
The Marine's toughest old bastard—Garp.
Despite his age, this geezer was a Marine legend. In his youth, he'd chased after the Pirate King himself, his monstrous strength making him more fearsome than even the Admirals.
Damn it, was there no way out for him?
Outside the inn, the CP agents were hopping mad with anxiety: "Vice Admiral Garp, this is a hostage rescue! Your shouting will alert them! If anything happens to Shalria—!"
"What's the panic?" Garp picked his nose while giving him a sidelong glance, completely unfazed.
About half a minute later, the CP agent received a message via Den Den Mushi and paled in shock. "Vice Admiral Garp, my men have spotted Bahr holding Shalria hostage at the street corner. They're about to leave town."
Garp frowned. He had been guarding the entrance—how had that brat managed to escape with her? And in such a short time, they were already on the verge of leaving town...
"Interesting," Garp grinned, revealing a row of neat teeth.
Bahr dragged Shalria along, darting and weaving through space, each teleportation leaving behind translucent ripples. He didn't dare pause, fleeing desperately.
Just as he was about to teleport again, Garp suddenly materialized behind him without warning, raising a fist the size of a sandbag, wreathed in overwhelming Haki!
Boom!
The fist struck Bahr's back with a sonic boom, the impact wave sending him flying like an air cannon. He crashed hard into a boulder, sending up a cloud of dust.
"Master...!" Shalria's eyes widened before she turned to glare furiously at Garp. "Who gave you the right to strike my master?!"
"Master?" Garp gave the fuming Shalria a puzzled look, muttering, "Since when do these scum call others 'master'?"
"Tch... this old monster really lives up to his reputation," Bahr groaned as he crawled out of the rubble, rubbing his smoking shoulder.
The distance he had covered with teleportation—yet Garp had closed the gap in an instant. If he hadn't reacted fast enough and reinforced his back with Haki, that punch might have killed him.
The seas were truly dangerous.
"Master!" Seeing Bahr unharmed, Shalria's heart settled, and she immediately tried to run toward him.
Garp's thick brows furrowed as he grabbed the back of her collar like plucking a chick. He despised the Celestial Dragons' arrogance, but he still had a mission to fulfill.
"You filthy thing! How dare you lay hands on me?! Release me at once!" Shalria struggled and cursed, kicking wildly at Garp, but her strikes clanged against him as if hitting steel.
"Annoying," Garp grunted before delivering a swift chop to the back of her neck. Shalria's eyes rolled back as she passed out, and he casually tossed her to the approaching CP agents.
Then, turning back, he suddenly grinned, his wrinkles bunching up like a laughing Buddha. "Not bad, kid. Got that crazy woman wrapped around your finger, huh?"
Knocking out a Celestial Dragon? Calling her a crazy woman to her face? So very Garp.
Bahr didn't respond, his fingers twitching as he activated his spatial ability. In an instant, the unconscious Shalria vanished from the CP agents' grasp and reappeared in front of him.
She was his lifeline—he couldn't afford to let her go.
But the moment he caught her, a shadow flickered before him. Garp's towering frame was already there, his calloused fist whistling through the air.
Bahr's pupils contracted. He barely managed to raise his arm in defense, Armament Haki solidifying into a dark-purple armor over his skin. Yet with a thud, the sheer force sent him skidding back over a dozen meters, carving a deep trench into the ground.
"Damn, that strength…" Bahr's arm trembled as he cursed inwardly.
"Kid, not bad with that Haki!" Garp shook out his fist, knuckles cracking like firecrackers. "Come on, come on! It's been a while since I've met such an interesting youngster!"
"You old bastard, don't underestimate me so much. A tiger doesn't show its might, but you take this young master for a sick cat." Bahr's face darkened. He didn't want to provoke Garp, but he wasn't about to let someone step on his face without retaliating.
With a sudden motion, he drew a long blade from the void, the edge slicing through the air with a shriek like shattering glass.
"Dimensional Slash."
"Ha!" The blade light flashed like lightning, a slash wrapped in purple electricity tearing through the air straight toward Garp's face.
Seeing this, Garp's eyes lit up. He raised his fist to meet the slash, his pupils burning with excitement. "Now that's more like it! Give me everything you've got, even the strength you used to suckle!"