"..."
Speechless.
At that moment, inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters.
Garp fell silent, wearing a completely speechless expression.
That deeply wrinkled face showed a mix of shock and anger.
Garp clenched his fist in fury, his eyes fixed on the transparent light-screen, grinding his teeth as he fumed:
"Damn it..."
"That bastard Luffy! He really does love running around causing trouble everywhere!!!"
In truth,
as the Hero of the Marines,
the strongest figure within the Marines, and a veteran who had fought for decades,
how could Garp not understand
what kind of consequences would come from striking a Celestial Dragon?
Thinking of that, he frowned and shifted his gaze.
His eyes stopped on the three Admirals seated side by side across from him.
Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji...
The current Three Marine Admirals!
They not only represented the highest combat power of Marine Headquarters—
they also stood among the top-tier monsters of the pirate world.
Judging purely by individual strength, they were the kind of people who could be placed in the same conversation as the Yonko, perhaps only a hair short at most!!!
And at this moment,
noticing Garp's stare,
the smooth-talking Kizaru narrowed his eyes beneath his black sunglasses.
After briefly observing Garp's expression and demeanor, he shook his head and said:
"Ooohh… Vice Admiral Garp. Your grandson Straw Hat… he's gone a little too far, hasn't he?"
"Forget the first half of the Grand Line!"
"Even in the New World, those lawless pirates wouldn't dare lay a hand on a Celestial Dragon so casually!!!"
Those words were Kizaru's genuine thoughts—he truly believed that.
Even Kaido and Big Mom...
those two Yonko with the most domineering personalities—
over all these years, they had never proactively stirred up conflict with the Celestial Dragons.
As for other pirates,
there was no need to even mention it.
And yet now!
This ranking video had exposed Luffy—some hotheaded reckless idiot!
And he'd done it right in front of the entire world!
It was playing the footage of that punch in high definition, crystal clear!
Even Kizaru was caught completely off guard by this!!!
Nearby,
Aokiji parted his lips.
Meeting Garp's gaze, he instinctively wanted to say something—
but every word
got stuck in his throat,
and in the end, he couldn't force out a single syllable.
Yes.
Aokiji felt helpless too.
It wasn't like he'd never had contact with the Straw Hat crew before.
He had long understood
that Luffy was the type—straightforward by nature, burning with hot-blooded impulsiveness.
But he never expected...
this was impulsive to an insane degree!
To actually aim his fist at a Celestial Dragon—
that was way too much nerve!!!
In the end,
that left only Akainu.
Beneath the brim of his Marine cap, Akainu's eyes flickered.
Unlike Kizaru, he didn't take the initiative to speak and smooth things over.
And unlike Aokiji, he didn't try to stay silent to avoid awkwardness.
Akainu's temperament
was as radical as ever.
Even under Garp's stare, he still spoke bluntly:
"Vice Admiral Garp..."
"Allow me to speak frankly—some things should be made clear in advance!"
"If, later, the Marine Admiral dispatched to deal with this… is the future me..."
"Then I advise you to start preparing for the worst possible outcome right now!"
Those words
were already Akainu at his most restrained.
He was practically one step away from saying it to Garp's face—
If you really run into me,
with the power of the Magma Fruit, a single punch would be enough to...
melt straight through
Luffy's fragile flesh and blood.
(End of Chapter)
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