Seeing Garp appear overhead again, Luffy made another disgusted face.
"Grandpa!" he yelled, "You're so annoying!"
His words sent the rest of the crew into a full-blown panic.
Zoro and Sanji immediately lunged forward and clamped their hands over Luffy's mouth.
"Could you please not provoke him right now?!"
Up in the sky, veins bulged on Garp's forehead.
"Even if I'm gonna capture you and take you back for execution," he roared, "I'd still like some respect from my own grandson!"
At this point, even Buggy was speechless.
'This old man and Luffy are exactly alike. Just blurting out whatever pops into their heads.'
But seeing Garp power up again, Buggy got serious.
"Ray," he asked, "are you sure you can control all this energy?"
Ray just shot Buggy a glare from the neighboring ship.
"Stop wasting time! Release it now!"
Buggy took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly sharp and filled with killing intent.
"Alright then," he growled, "let's let this old man experience the big gift we prepared for him."
With that, Buggy activated his ability.
Immediately, hundreds of transparent cubes filled with crackling blue energy flew out from his ship's cabin.
This was the result of Ray and Buggy pulling an all-nighter.
They'd drained Ray's Demonic Power, let it recover, drained it again—three times in total.
It was enough energy for six full-power Azure Dragon Breaks.
Ray had stripped away the destructive properties, leaving pure energy, which Buggy had then split into tiny fragments for storage.
All of this was just in case the Marines sent a second wave.
…
Garp saw the energy building up around the pirate ships.
Outwardly, he glared fiercely, but inwardly, he was actually nodding in approval.
'This companion of Luffy's is really something. Looks like Luffy and the others will be fine for a while.'
But that didn't mean he was going easy on them.
"Luffy! Get ready for prison!" he yelled. Red Haki lightning crackled around him again.
"GALAXY IMPACT!"
Seeing the attack coming, Buggy immediately shouted, "Ray, hurry up!"
Ray ignored him.
He had already drawn Tokijin, unleashing all his stored Demonic Power at once.
This was his strongest attack yet.
A colossal azure dragon, nearly 400 meters long, instantly took form and shot towards Garp's terrifying fist wave.
(Note: 6x the power doesn't just mean 6x longer; it means 6x the volume – way bigger and denser than the one he used against Gion.)
The moment the dragon and the fist wave collided, the world seemed to explode.
Dark clouds shattered, red and blue lightning flashed everywhere.
The explosion was so intense it looked like it could tear space itself apart.
Ray's attack seemed to have a slight edge, with some of the leftover energy surging back towards Garp.
The shockwave created colossal waves once more, and propelled by the wind and water, the two pirate ships shot forward into the distance.
But could they really escape Garp that easily?
Nope.
The Marine Hero flashed through the air and reappeared right above them again.
He was covered in dust, his clothes slightly torn, but he looked completely unharmed and full of energy.
"WAHAHAHA!" Garp laughed. "Not bad, brat! But now, what can you do?"
Ray frowned.
This was bad.
Garp was just too well-rounded—insanely fast, incredibly strong, perfectly balanced.
Compared to Gion, the pressure Garp exuded was truly terrifying.
And yet... Ray wasn't nervous.
Precisely because it was Garp.
He glanced over at Nami and Chouchou.
One woman and one dog instantly understood.
They each dragged a captive out onto the deck: Gion and Hina, both tied up... very thoroughly.
The sight was so shocking that Sanji just collapsed on the spot.
Luffy, on the other hand, ran over excitedly, fascinated by the intricate knots.
(Nami had tied them. Ray suspected some personal feelings were involved.)
But now wasn't the time for that.
Garp was still a threat.
Ray gestured to Nami.
Nami understood immediately.
She split her Clima-Tact into two rods and pressed them against the backs of the two beautiful captives, ready to deliver a nasty shock.
Gion and Hina struggled violently, but with gags in their mouths, they couldn't make a sound.
Seeing Nami was ready, Ray looked up at Garp.
"Have you thought through the consequences of taking action?"
Garp saw the whole scene.
His mouth twitched.
'How thrilling—no, how vicious! Is Luffy going to turn bad hanging out with this Ray guy?'
(If Ray knew what Garp was thinking, he'd argue that he only told Nami to prepare to use the hostages. He didn't tell her to tie them up like that.)
But secretly, Garp was kind of pleased.
'Heh. This brat Ray is clever. Giving me the perfect excuse to back down.'
Then, Garp looked over at Buggy's ship.
Buggy was doing the exact same thing, with Smoker and Tashigi tied up on his deck.
Smoker even had a Seastone collar on.
Buggy had two detached fingers pressed against their foreheads, openly warning Garp that if he attacked, he'd kill them.
Garp nodded inwardly.
'Good. Excuse secured. Time to retreat.'
So, Garp pretended to be absolutely furious.
"As expected of a heinous pirate crew!" he roared.
"How dare you threaten me with the future of the Marines! Even if they are important, do you really think I wouldn't annihilate you right now?!"
He powered up his Haki again, looking like he was about to launch a third Galaxy Impact.
Ray immediately signaled Nami with his eyes.
Buggy activated a tiny bit of his power.
Instantly, electric current surged through Nami's Clima-Tact.
"Mmmph!"
Gion and Hina turned black again, smoke billowing from their ears and nostrils.
Sanji writhed on the ground in sympathetic agony.
On the other ship, Smoker and Tashigi started bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, nearly passing out.
Seeing this, Garp felt a chill.
'Crap, I overacted. Gion is definitely going to hold a grudge after this.'
He angrily punched the surface of the sea, sending up a huge splash.
"After you enter the Grand Line, you must release them!" he shouted.
"Otherwise, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth and destroy both your crews!"
With that, he activated Geppo and flew off towards Loguetown.
Seeing Garp finally leave, everyone on both ships let out a massive sigh of relief.
Ray sheathed his sword.
But when he saw Gion's miserable, smoking state, his heart skipped a beat.
She glared fiercely at him, her eyes filled with endless grievances she couldn't speak.
Ray actually felt a little guilty, like he'd bullied an innocent woman.
But then he remembered who she was.
'Innocent? This is the man-eating rabbit we're talking about.'
So, Ray just snorted coldly and turned away, walking towards the stern.
…
Thanks to the giant wave Garp created before leaving, the two pirate crews were now speeding towards the entrance of the Grand Line faster than ever.
Riding three 'free rides' in a row – what a weird trip.
Now, the two legendary (for the East Blue) pirate crews were very close to their destination.