Hoo!
Rost, the Vice Admiral of the East Blue Branch, exhaled heavily, forcing down the shock twisting in his chest. His eyes fixed on Kai, filled with doubt and disbelief.
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then finally, he turned to Garp:
"Vice Admiral Garp, rest assured. I will report this matter truthfully to headquarters."
"Hmph, of course."
Garp gave a dismissive chuckle.
"An old man like me has no reason to lie about such things. You can investigate all you like. You'll see soon enough whether what I've said is true."
He wasn't offended by Rost's hesitation at all. If anything, he found it amusing.
These days… even telling the truth sounded like fantasy.
But who could blame them?
His grandson's talent was simply too monstrous.
A four-year-old who single-handedly wiped out an entire pirate crew?
Unless one had witnessed it with their own eyes, who would ever believe it?
"Vice Admiral Garp, it's not that I doubt you…"
Rost hurriedly tried to explain himself.
But Garp waved him off with a laugh.
"No need. I understand. You're just doing your duty. Nothing more."
Rost secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though he was a Vice Admiral himself, the man before him was the Hero of the Marines—a living legend whose fame eclipsed even that of Admirals. One did not lightly offend Garp.
"Kai, boy, let's go."
With a casual wave, Garp turned, leading his grandson back to the warship. His aide Bogard and the others followed closely behind.
"Set sail. Return to Foosha Village."
The massive battleship slowly departed the fortress port, sails billowing as it turned back toward the East Blue seas.
Rost watched until the ship vanished from sight before finally letting out another long breath.
Standing before Garp had been suffocating. His very presence was a weight unlike any other.
"Vice Admiral…"
A voice sounded softly beside him. Darmes, the Ensign, swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"You don't actually believe what Garp just said, do you? That… that a four-year-old child destroyed the White Ostrich Pirates?"
His face twisted, disbelief written all over it.
He remembered vividly the humiliation of being beaten back by that very crew—slaughtered and routed despite commanding hundreds of Marines.
And now he was expected to accept that a boy—barely old enough to walk—had done what his entire force could not?
Absurd. Impossible. Unthinkable.
"Is such a thing even possible?" Darmes muttered.
Rost narrowed his eyes.
"Truth will reveal itself soon enough. Those pirates we just locked away—question them. If this is a lie, we'll know."
"But Vice Admiral, do you really believe—"
"I believe nothing until I hear it myself," Rost cut him off coldly.
"Come. We'll question them now."
Inside the fortress prison.
Chains clinked in the dimly lit cells. Guards escorted Rost and Darmes to where the freshly captured pirates had been thrown.
One of the men stirred, groaning awake. His eyes snapped open—only to meet the icy stares of two high-ranking Marines.
"Listen well."
Rost's voice was flat and sharp.
"I ask. You answer. Quickly. If you try to waste my time… I won't guarantee your safety."
The pirate trembled.
"Y-Yes! I'll answer! I'll tell you everything!"
"Good."
"Now—who destroyed the White Ostrich Pirates?"
The question dropped like a thunderbolt.
Darmes leaned in, his eyes wide with desperate anticipation.
The pirate's face twisted. His pupils shrank. He shook violently, sweat dripping down his temples.
Then, like a man reliving his worst nightmare, he broke.
"A… a demon!" he howled.
"That brat—he was a demon in human skin!"
"Everyone on the ship… dead! Just like that! Slaughtered like cattle!"
"He was no child! He was a monster!"
"Three punches—just three! That little monster killed Captain Kukari, a Devil Fruit user worth eleven million berries!"
"He didn't need anyone else! Just him alone—he swept through all of us! A tyrant, unstoppable, merciless!"
By the time he finished, the pirate was sobbing, his whole body trembling with terror.
Rost froze. His throat clenched.
Hhh—!
He sucked in a sharp breath, cold sweat on his back.
"It's true… everything Garp said was true!"
Beside him, Darmes turned to stone. His jaw dropped.
"This—this is impossible!"
"That boy… he's no more than four years old! A four-year-old wiped out a crew worth twenty million berries?!"
He staggered back, muttering like a madman:
"What kind of monster is he?!"
The two men left the prison in silence, their minds reeling.
Rost would need time to compose himself before reporting this to headquarters.
Darmes, meanwhile, returned to the docks.
There, Marines crowded around him, curiosity in their eyes.
"Ensign Darmes! Tell us—was Garp telling the truth?"
"Did that child really destroy the White Ostrich Pirates?"
"No way, right? Four years old? That's… that's absurd."
"Yeah, no kid could possibly do that."
Their chatter pressed in from every side.
Darmes's lips trembled. His voice came out hoarse.
"It's true."
The words dropped like cannon fire.
Silence.
Then—
BOOM!
The entire port exploded into chaos.
"What?!"
"A four-year-old?!"
"He wiped out the White Ostrich crew alone?!"
"Impossible! Their combined bounty was twenty million!"
"And Kukari, the captain—an eleven-million Devil Fruit user!"
"Yet he was killed in three punches?!"
Gasps. Shouts. Disbelief.
But Darmes only stood there, bitter.
"All my life… I trained, fought, bled for strength. And in the end… I can't even compare to a child barely out of his diapers."
That day—
The East Blue's greatest naval fortress shook with news of a miracle.
A four-year-old monster had been born.
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