"Let the children go."
Dragon said no more. From Grimm's vantage, the scowl beneath his black cloak was plain to see.
"Quite protective of your own son, aren't you?" Grimm sneered.
"So you're not as heartless as all that, Dragon?"
Dragon nodded sharply. A large iron cage was rolled out from belowdecks; five or six figures were visible inside.
"Uldar!" the Holy Light crew shouted — the five men sent to Fath Island.
"Hostage exchange," Dragon said flatly. He had miscalculated; he never expected Grimm to strike so fast and so deep.
"No cooperation means you're the enemy." Grimm drew Ashbringer, its blade resting lightly against Luffy's neck.
"Despicable!" Dragon's face darkened.
Seeing his son held at sword‑point, Dragon dared not unleash his powers.
He could only watch as Holy Light pirates swarmed onto his ship and clashed with the Revolutionaries.
"I'm sorry — buy me time. I will get them back," Dragon said.
He would not reveal his bond to Luffy, not even to his own men.
"Understood. Leave it to us, Dragon."
Ivankov drove his long nails into his neck once more, swelling his face to monstrous size, and fixed the invaders with a glare.
"Deadly Gaze!"
Dragon launched himself toward Grimm, winds howling so fiercely they tore everything within ten meters apart, wrapping him in a swirling eye of calm.
SWISH!
Blades of wind hammered Grimm before he could react, slicing his body into ribbons, blood spraying wide as fragments were scattered by the gale.
In the next breath, Dragon leaped onto the other ship, sweeping everyone aside — all but Luffy, Ace, and Sabo.
"Come with me!"
He reached for the three boys, ready to bound back to his own vessel —
CRACK!
A black bullet tore from the forest along the western shore.
Dragon shifted into his element form, but the shot passed straight through his left shoulder, leaving him weak and stumbling.
The boys slipped from his arms.
He could barely stand; the wind eye collapsed around him.
"Sniper… Sea‑stone rounds?"
Grimm sheathed his weapons and stepped forward in his fox‑skin robes.
"Disappointing, Dragon. Or were you just too worried about your boy?"
"Eh? Weren't you dead?!" Luffy gaped, oblivious to the slip — true to form, he missed the obvious.
But Sabo and Ace were sharper.
They knew their own fathers: Outlook III and Gol D. Roger. Luffy's grandfather was Garp, but no one had ever named his father.
This man with the hoof print… could he be…
---
East Blue, Windmill Village
The Dog‑Head Marine warship docked, but Garp did not wait for the gangplank.
He leaped ashore and hurried straight to Chief Slap's house. "Chief — where's Luffy?!"
Slap's face fell. "He's gone. Taken — with Ace and Sabo."
Garp's eyes narrowed.
Without another word he turned and sprinted back to the ship, leaving his men scrambling to catch up.
"Vice Admiral Garp — sir?!"
They stared in confusion. They knew Grimm was after his grandson — why was he rushing back out?
"Mr. Garp!"
A woman's voice rang out. He turned to see Makino standing on the pier, tears spilling over.
"I'm so sorry — I told them about Luffy. It's all my fault."
"None of this is your doing," Garp said, then strode back aboard.
"Men — set course for the New World."
As he weighed his options, one name surfaced: his own troublesome son, Dragon.
Is he involved?
The more he thought, the surer he felt — there was no other explanation.
He had not spoken to Dragon in years; contact was always one‑sided, so he could not simply call him to account.
Spreading his charts, Garp traced Grimm's likely path.
The three‑way war at Artemis's eastern port raged on.
Logically, Grimm would hurry through the Calm Belt, past Fish‑Man Island, and straight home.
He marked a bold red line across the map. "Fastest route back. That's the way he'll go."
He handed the chart to the navigator, then scratched his head.
"Should've made a Vivre Card for the boy — would've saved all this trouble."
By all reason, Garp was right: with Shanks attacking his base, Grimm should have been racing back.
But Grimm was in no rush. Why hurry? An untested "Fifth Emperor" was no threat to him.
---
Rogue Town, Night
Luffy, Sabo, and Ace were set down on the docks and left behind. Grimm's crew sailed on without pause.
He had not harmed them, nor said much at all — yet the battle, and the way he had seemingly shrugged off Dragon's strongest attack, had burned itself into their minds.
Even if the sniper shot had not been his, Grimm felt like something ancient and unstoppable.
One day, if he truly meant to conquer the world, he would sweep all pirates aside.
Luffy, who dreamed of the Pirate King, would stand in his way — but Grimm had no desire to crush him now.
The world was far too dull without rivals.
__________________
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