With a loud "Duang," Luffy crashed heavily into the floor like a cannonball, raising a cloud of dust.
Luffy clutched his head, letting out a series of agonizing screams: "Ah! It hurts! It hurts so much!" His expression was twisted in pain, as if he had suffered immense injury.
Sanji's eyes widened, looking at Luffy with disbelief, then at the Marine standing by, still in a punching pose, his heart filled with confusion and shock. He couldn't help but speak, "Hurts? What are you talking about! That was a punch! How could it be effective against rubber! Orochimaru... you quickly...?"
As Sanji spoke, he turned his head to look for Orochimaru. However, when his gaze fell beside Luffy, he froze. A figure was kneeling on the ground in a perfect dogeza pose; it was Orochimaru.
Sanji's voice instantly became sharp and trembling. He could barely believe his eyes, stuttering, "Orochimaru???? What are you doing!"
"A punch full of love is irresistible," Garp said, taking off his dog-head hat and looking at the two in front of him.
"You really caused quite a ruckus, Luffy... and you too, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru looked up at Garp obediently, though his face was not looking too good. "Long time no see... Grandpa."
"Grandpa!!!!!!!!" The group looked at Garp in horror, then at the obedient Orochimaru, wondering who this was, then at the terrified Luffy, and swallowed in shock.
"A vice admiral of the navy... is... is Luffy's Grandpa????" Chopper looked at Garp in disbelief.
Garp stared at Luffy with his arms crossed. "Luffy! Is there something you absolutely must apologize to this old man for!"
"Garp? Isn't Garp the Marine Hero's name, Luffy? Is that really your Grandpa?" Nami asked in surprise... Luffy, clutching the bump on his head, grimaced, glancing at the very obedient Orochimaru. He knew this snake was useless now.
"Yes... so you absolutely must not attack him. I've almost been killed by Grandpa countless times before!" Luffy looked at Garp indignantly.
Garp looked at Luffy. "Hey, hey... don't make it sound so bad... Orochimaru completed it very easily. This old man threw you into a thousand-foot abyss, a jungle at night, and tied you to balloons to fly into the sky! It was all to train you into strong men!"
Garp sighed. "Finally, I even asked a friend to let you train with Ace, but you ended up like this when I wasn't paying attention. This old man wanted to train you to become strong Marines! But all of you! I originally thought at least there was Orochimaru, but you even kidnapped Orochimaru!"
"Didn't I say I wanted to be a pirate!!! And Orochimaru never said he wanted to be a Marine!!!" Luffy angrily confronted Garp.
"You've been poisoned by Red Hair! How boring!" Garp said disdainfully.
Luffy retorted with a slightly timid tone, "Sha... Shanks is my savior... you're not allowed to speak ill of him!!"
Garp picked up Luffy and raised his fist. "How dare you order Grandpa not to say such things!! Orochimaru has already repaid Shanks' life-saving grace for you! You were the one who wanted to go to sea!"
"Ah! Sorry!" Luffy screamed, trying to dodge.
The others looked at the two who had completely lost their ability to resist, feeling a bit worried... Just as they were about to worry, they saw Garp, who was holding Luffy and sleeping, and Luffy, who was sleeping in his hands. Their gaze shifted downwards, and Orochimaru was stealthily crawling away.
...The silence of the crowd was deafening.
Garp, half-asleep, nodded, then suddenly woke up and shook his head.
"Oh no, oh no... I actually fell asleep."
Subconsciously, he looked at Luffy in his hand, who was also sound asleep. His veins bulged, and his other foot directly stepped on Orochimaru's waist, who was crawling away.
"Wake up, Luffy!!! Is this how you accept someone's lesson! And you even spoke rudely to Grandpa!" After a flurry of iron fists, Luffy sat on the ground, grimacing, with a string of bumps on his head.
Garp cracked his knuckles, looking at Orochimaru under his foot.
"Luffy's been dealt with, Orochimaru... shouldn't you give me an explanation as to why you two became pirates?"
Orochimaru looked at Garp innocently. "Grandpa... what are you saying... we were forced to become pirates. Didn't you read the newspaper?"
Orochimaru pulled out a stack of newspapers and handed them to Garp. Garp looked at the several people on the newspaper who were forced to become pirates, even with photos attached. Garp didn't even look, directly throwing them away. For this cunning Grandson, Garp chose not to listen.
He directly picked him up.
Orochimaru's alarm bells rang, and he immediately extended his hand. "Stop!!! Grandpa, I have something very important to tell you." Sorry, Merry! I had discussed with Usopp and the others before about sending you back to Syrup Village, but I don't think you'd mind having an extra Grandpa.
Orochimaru flashed, holding merry and presenting her to him.
Garp saw merry, stumbled back a step, his fingers trembling slightly.
"Orochimaru... you... you even have a child...?"
Orochimaru's face darkened, unable to yell at this old man. "No! Grandpa, this is merry... How could I possibly have such a big child!!"
Orochimaru told Garp about merry. merry, in essence, was only a few months old. Garp skillfully took merry, his face full of smiles, and made a funny face at merry.
"merry... I'm Grandpa, oh, yoshy yoshy, so good!" Garp happily held merry high, looking at the decorative wooden sheep horns on merry's head. Garp felt that Sengoku would also like Merry very much.
Although merry was a Companion, seeing Garp's kind and amiable appearance, Luffy even felt a bit jealous, pouting and saying that Grandpa was showing favoritism.
The others also did not object. Although they became pirates for various reasons and went out to sea, it was undeniable that the Straw Hat were unique pirates. Although the Marine were their enemies, they still respected them.
Especially Nami, she was very clear that although a part of the Marine was corrupt, Marines like Garp were truly just, and they also hoped that merry could have a carefree childhood.
"Grandpa, merry will stay with us for a while, until we set sail again... When we leave, merry will be entrusted to you. If you are busy, you can leave him in Syrup Village, with Miss Kaya. merry the butler will take good care of him." (To distinguish between the two Merrys... the butler was changed to Merry.)
Orochimaru lowered his head and praised his own quick wit. This way, Garp would have another reason to go on vacation in the East Blue, which could reduce the probability of encountering this old man in the Grand Line.
And Garp was also sizing up Orochimaru. The people Garp wanted to beat, he always managed to beat. A mere Grandson. However, this snake was very cunning, he couldn't let him react.
The Grandfather and Grandson, each with their own ulterior motives, both let out sinister smiles in their hearts.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"