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Chapter 40
By the time they reached Windmill Village, night had already fallen. Nami and Guina were completely exhausted from training, so they stayed on the ship to rest.
Only Garp and the curious Jepack went ashore together. The first thing they saw was the giant windmill. After walking along the small path for a while, they arrived at the heart of the village—Party's Bar, the tavern run by Makino.
Since it was evening bordering on night, the tavern was lively and bustling. When Garp and Jepack walked in, everyone greeted them warmly—clearly Garp was a regular here.
Behind the counter stood a girl with the classic girl-next-door look: short dark-green hair tied with a striped headband, and a gentle, pretty face.
In his previous life, Jepack had always liked this character. Though she didn't appear often, as the owner of Party's Bar in Windmill Village in the East Blue, she was marked by her short dark-green hair and headband. Her personality was warm and cheerful. For years she had taken care of the daily lives and meals of Luffy, Ace, and Sabo—the three brothers.
She was one of the few characters in the One Piece world who truly spanned the entire story: she cared for the future Pirate King in his childhood, the son of the previous Pirate King, and even hosted Red-Haired Shanks and his crew. She once tried to stop a conflict between mountain bandits and pirates.
As someone Luffy treated like family, Makino's warm and包容 personality ran through the main storyline, becoming the key link connecting the protagonist's childhood and growth. Her bar wasn't just a hangout for bandits and pirates—it was also the fateful turning point where Luffy secretly ate the Devil Fruit.
Two Emperors, the second division commander of Whitebeard's crew, and she even had a subtle romantic subplot with Shanks—though whether Shanks had already won her heart by now was unknown.
"Makino, two glasses of rum!"
Garp and Jepack walked up to the bar counter and called out to Makino.
"Coming right up! Mr. Garp."
A soft, sweet voice came from Makino.
When she brought the rum over, Jepack stared straight at the beautiful big-sister figure in front of him, making Makino blush slightly.
Garp noticed and patted Jepack's shoulder, lowering his voice to warn quietly:
"Behave yourself, kid. Don't cause trouble on this island. Makino already has someone she likes—you can't afford to mess with that."
Jepack gave Garp a reassuring look and replied calmly:
"Don't worry, old man. I'm not a bull—and I've hated bulls my whole life. So you really think that lowly of me…"
After hearing Garp's words, Jepack felt a little regretful and withdrew his gaze, responding to what Garp said.
"You little punk… don't think I didn't hear all the noise you three made in the middle of the night on the ship. This old man just didn't want to get involved in your private business."
"So that's what kind of person you are, old geezer—eavesdropping on walls at night!!!"
"Shut up!"
Garp looked visibly irritated. He drank his rum and asked Makino about recent events in the village, ignoring Jepack.
Watching the angry old man, Jepack burst out laughing. He then drank his own rum and looked around at the crowd in the tavern.
When Jepack finished his glass, he faintly overheard Garp and Makino mentioning Luffy and Ace's names. Wanting to hear more, but Garp had already stood up. He warned Jepack not to cause trouble on the island—he was going to the mountain bandit hideout to see his grandson—and then headed straight for the door.
Hearing Garp's words, Jepack didn't pay it much mind. He turned to the beautiful tavern owner and said:
"Beautiful big sister, another glass of rum, please!"
Maybe because he'd stared too long earlier, or because Jepack's sunny and handsome face had some charm, Makino didn't react right away.
Only after Jepack repeated himself did she snap out of it. A faint blush appeared on her face again as she hurriedly took the empty glass from him.
"Oh… sorry, sir! Coming right up!"
When she handed the new glass back, the blush on her face was already gone—she seemed to have quickly thought of that red-haired man and composed herself.
Jepack didn't say anything more. He simply watched the drinking crowd in the tavern. After all, he really disliked bulls. From childhood to now, he hated them the most—so whenever he ate beef hot pot, he always finished every single piece of beef, leaving nothing behind.
While Jepack was drinking, on the other side, Garp was hurrying toward the mountain bandit hideout. Seeing the lights still on inside, he kicked the door open in one motion, grabbed Dadan by the collar, and roared with wide eyes:
"Dadan! Why didn't you wait for me to arrive before letting Ace set sail?!!"
It turned out that what Makino had just told Garp was that Ace had secretly set sail half a month ago—so that's why he rushed here in such a panic.
This scene startled Luffy, who was eating meat nearby. From childhood to now, he had never seen his grandpa this angry.
Dadan, grabbed by the collar, weakly but stubbornly replied to Garp:
"I… I couldn't stop them from chasing their dreams. Besides, Ace is already 17 years old—you know that, right?"
"Garp! Ace left me… Ace grew up… he left me, do you understand?!"
By the end, Dadan's nose was running and tears were streaming down her face as she cried out in pain.
Hearing this, Garp froze. Deep down he knew that the person who felt the deepest for Ace and Luffy was this tough-looking but kind-hearted woman in front of him.
In the end, Garp gently let go of Dadan. He had only reacted in anger because he hadn't thought of this side of things. After hearing the news, his rage had flared up. Now, after letting go, he sighed and said nothing more to Dadan.
He turned to Luffy, who was still eating, and shouted loudly:
"Luffy! You brat—come out here! I want to see how much you've trained!"
Luffy looked stunned and pointed at himself:
"Huh? Me… me?"
"Yes, you! Get out here—don't make me test you right here!"
"No way! I'm not done eating yet!"
Luffy refused while stuffing huge bites of roasted meat into his mouth, completely ignoring Garp's increasingly red face.
"You can't refuse! If you won't come out, I'll just test you right here!"
"Love's Iron Fist!"
In a flash, Garp appeared above Luffy's head. His sandbag-sized fist slammed down hard.
First came a BOOM—the sound of the dining table being smashed by Luffy's head. Then came a thud—the sound of his head hitting the floor.
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