"We're actually free?" Luffy beamed, relieved to be alive.
Ace and Sabo were far less cheerful. Remembering Dragon's face, Ace turned to Luffy: "Luffy, that man… he might be your — mmph!"
Sabo clamped a hand over Ace's mouth, forcing a smile. "We're all starving. Let's find something to eat, shall we?"
Luffy nodded brightly. "Yeah! Let's go!" He darted ahead into Rogue Town.
Sabo let go of Ace and exhaled. "Thank goodness he's so carefree."
"Why did you stop me?" Ace asked.
"I don't know — everything's been so crazy I can barely make sense of it," Sabo said seriously.
"Right now… I just don't think Luffy needs to carry that weight."
"Fair enough. You know him better than I do."
As they ran to catch up, Ace added quietly: "But if that really is his father… and he fell into his hands…"
Sabo frowned. "That's out of our hands now. All we can do is grow stronger — fast."
---
At Sea
Grimm's fleet now sailed with a new prize: the Revolutionary Dragon.
Dragon could have escaped the East Blue battle, but a well‑placed shot from Caitlyn — always one to strike from the shadows — had left him reeling.
The Revolutionary Army had been crushed; over a thousand men were taken captive.
Grimm sat on the Revolutionary Dragon's deck, sipping beer. "We'll rename it the Holy Light Dragon. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"Lord Grimm — I am sorry," Uldar said, kneeling before him.
His left arm ended in empty space; the iron prosthetic Dragon had given him was gone.
"Not your fault. The gap in strength was too wide. I only got the better of him because he threw caution to the wind trying to save his son. Isn't that right, Monkey D. Dragon?"
Dragon lay bloodied on the planks, breathing hard — alive, for now.
"Tell me — why strike out alone? And why come after me? I don't exactly lose sleep over it, but I'm curious."
---
Half a Month Later, Beyond Reverse Mountain
Marines in Rogue Town sent word up the chain: three rowdy boys had been spotted in the streets.
The message reached Garp just as he was halfway through the first half of the Grand Line — and he realized he had sailed the wrong way.
He immediately turned back, costing him another two weeks.
Relief washed over him when he heard the boys were safe — but it was quickly replaced by deep unease.
What was Grimm playing at?
He would not have sailed all the way from the New World just to drop Luffy and his friends in Rogue Town. Something else was going on.
He also had not heard from Dragon in days — a bad sign. He would have to ask the boys once he reached them.
And this time, he would make Vivre Cards so he never lost track of them again.
---
Meanwhile, Grimm reached Drum Island — the Grand Line's most famous land of medicine.
"A winter island. Is this a detour?"
"Are we bringing patients?"
The crew traded questions, then fell silent. Ever since Grimm had taken to wearing his fox robes, he had stopped healing the sick — and a few men were unwell.
Others glanced at the Revolutionary prisoners locked in the hold, and no one argued further.
They were patients too, after all.
The ship had carried over a thousand Revolutionaries; now barely a hundred remained.
Most rank‑and‑file had been abandoned or left to their own devices; those who refused to surrender were executed. Only officers were kept alive.
Uldar — one‑armed, his prosthetic stripped away — stepped up to Dragon's cage. "We'll find doctors here. Lord Grimm ordered no killing."
"But why spare him?" Mannolos surfaced from the frigid depths, looming beside the rail.
"He betrayed us. Once, he would have died instantly."
Uldar rubbed his empty shoulder. "I don't know. But losing this arm… I'd never wish that pain on anyone. And in this cold, untreated wounds will kill them fast. We need help."
"Wait — that flag?" Mattheus pointed toward the royal docks. A pale yellow submarine bobbed there, flying a sail marked with a wide, grinning face.
"Looks like the Donquixote Pirates' mark," someone said.
"No — theirs has a diagonal line through the smile. This one doesn't," another corrected.
"Who cares? Board them and find out. Pirates are all trash anyway!"
The Holy Light ships surged forward, cutting off the submarine's escape. "Mannolos — don't let them dive!" Mattheus ordered.
Grimm closed the ancient book he had been reading and stepped to the bow, staring at the mark. "That's the Heart Pirates."
In his old life he knew them well — though now they were nothing more than a tiny, unknown crew.
"ROOM — SHAMBLES!"
A young voice rang out. A pale blue sphere dozens of meters wide snapped into existence — and the submarine vanished.
The Holy Light crew froze. "Devil Fruit?" Uldar breathed.
"Over here!"
Mannolos burst from the deep, his colossal fist curling around the submarine — now no bigger than his palm.
__________________
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