Buru buru buru—
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi in Garp's arms started ringing.
"Garp! It's me, Uwoop!"
Without wasting a second, Garp snatched up the snail and roared into it at full volume:
"Uwoop, what's wrong with you?! I tried contacting you so many times and you never answered! Hurry up and tell me—what exactly is happening in Foosha Village right now?!"
"Haha! Interesting—this is too interesting!"
Uwoop's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, sounding unusually excited.
"That boy is a traveler! All the villagers have run to the tavern to listen to his travel stories! I went over myself to join the fun and ended up hearing an extremely interesting tale!"
The moment he heard that the villagers were safe—and that they had all simply crowded into the tavern to listen to the traveler's stories—the tension inside Garp finally eased.
"Wait. You said that boy… is a traveler?"
"Of course!" Uwoop sounded just as excited as before. "This traveler's name is Kairo. He seems like a very warm-hearted young man. I can tell the villagers all like him very much! Of course, what they like most are the stories he tells about his travels."
"By the way, Garp, don't you spend all year carrying out missions across the seas? Then you should know this—"
"Is there really a country in the West Blue called the Three Kingdoms?"
"The Three Kingdoms?"
Garp froze on the spot.
As a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral who had sailed the seas for decades, he was extremely familiar with the East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, North Blue, and even the New World.
Not just countries—he knew most of the major powers across the world by heart.
And yet—
He had never once heard of any place called the Three Kingdoms.
Frowning slightly, Garp tested the waters with a careful question.
"You're sure that country is called… the Three Kingdoms?"
"How would I know for sure?" Uwoop replied. "That's just the story Kairo told."
Then, through the Den Den Mushi, Uwoop gave Garp a brief summary of the Three Kingdoms story he had heard earlier.
By the time he finished listening, the muscles in Garp's face were twitching uncontrollably.
He could say with absolute certainty that there was no place called the Three Kingdoms in the West Blue—
And certainly no Nicholas Cao Cao who liked married women, nor any Jerry with a thing for lolis.
But setting that aside…
As a story?
He suddenly wanted to hear the rest.
"Garp, if you make it back to Foosha Village now, you might still catch the next part of the story! Right now the villagers are all gathered in the tavern, and no one wants to leave. Alright, I won't keep talking—see you!"
"Oh, and one last thing."
"Don't worry. Foosha Village is completely fine."
Before Garp could say anything, Uwoop hung up.
Now that he knew the village was safe, Garp finally relaxed completely and shook his head with a laugh.
Just then, the warship slowly approached Foosha Village's dock.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
The moment the warship neared the pier, one of the Marines standing on deck suddenly widened his eyes and pointed toward a large ship moored not far away.
"T-there… that's the ship!"
The moment those words were spoken, nearly every Marine on deck turned to look.
There, quietly docked off to one side, was the very same ship that had earlier left their warship in the dust with nothing more than a few sea beasts pulling it.
On the deck—
A Droopy dog sat at a round table, wearing a gentleman's hat and a napkin around his neck.
Set before him on the table were a bottle of red wine and an assortment of food.
Across from him, the green rabbit sat there looking shy and cautious, his eyes darting around restlessly.
"Cheers."
Under the stunned gaze of the Marines, Droopy lifted a wine glass with half a pour of red wine and gently tipped it toward the green rabbit across from him.
The green rabbit didn't dare delay. He immediately stood up, held his own glass with both hands, and responded in kind.
"Delicious."
After draining his wine in one smooth motion, Droopy pointed to a plate of steak on the table with all the authority of a mafia boss.
"Eat."
The green rabbit hurriedly set down his glass and began carefully eating with knife and fork.
At that moment, Da Hong walked over and casually plopped himself down between them, excitedly raising one of his brand-new canvas sneakers for the green rabbit to inspect.
The green rabbit's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded repeatedly.
Watching all of this, Garp's curiosity flared up again.
He leapt straight from the warship deck and landed steadily beside Da Hong.
Oddly enough—
Neither the green rabbit, nor Da Hong, nor Droopy showed the slightest surprise at Garp's sudden appearance.
Droopy merely glanced sideways at him, then calmly lifted his glass and took another elegant sip.
The green rabbit blinked in confusion.
Da Hong's reaction was the calmest of all—he acted as if Garp didn't even exist, still staring at his new sneakers with shining eyes.
"Ahem…"
Seeing that none of them reacted much to his arrival, Garp suddenly felt a little awkward. He cleared his throat twice, then cautiously spoke.
"Hello there, you three. You can understand our language, right?"
The dog and two rabbits ignored him completely.
One kept drinking.
One kept admiring shoes.
Not giving up, Garp tried again.
"Would this old man be allowed to take a look around your ship?"
At last, Droopy gave Garp a proper glance and said flatly:
"Help yourself."
The moment he realized the Droopy dog could actually speak, Garp's eyes lit up.
At this point, he was almost certain that either the dog or the rabbits had eaten some kind of Human-Human Fruit.
Of course, there was also another possibility—
That the mysterious boy who called himself a traveler had somehow fed Devil Fruits to his pets.
And if that second possibility was true, then that boy's background was definitely no ordinary one.
After all, even for the Marines—who sailed year-round across the four seas and the Grand Line—finding a single Devil Fruit in one or even several years was already considered rare.
There was only one faster way to get them:
The black market.
Either buying one outright or posting an absurdly high bounty.
No matter which route one took, Devil Fruits were the kind of treasures you might never encounter in a lifetime.
And yet this mysterious boy had apparently handed them to his pets as casually as if they were snacks.
That alone was enough to prove he was anything but simple.
Though his curiosity deepened, Garp didn't show it on his face.
After receiving Droopy's permission, he glanced around the deck and headed straight toward the cabin.
The moment he ducked inside—
A pair of red canvas sneakers displayed inside a glass case immediately caught his eye.
Before Garp could react, a blur shot past him from behind.
In the next instant, Da Hong had already appeared in front of the display case, staring at Garp as if facing a mortal enemy.
"…Huh?"
Feeling Da Hong's aura suddenly rising, Garp blinked in confusion.
"That pair of sneakers… is yours?"
Da Hong said nothing, but his gaze grew sharper by the second.
Seeing that reaction, Garp understood immediately.
"Relax. This old man won't touch your shoes."
With that, he started looking around the cabin.
It was spacious, and the interior was impressively well-equipped.
There was a wine cabinet, a bookshelf, and a solid wooden table placed in the center.
A large pile of newspapers covered the tabletop.
Some were official Marine newspapers from Headquarters.
Some were World Government bounty posters.
Most, however, were common newspapers collected from all over.
Seeing that Da Hong remained standing guard by the glass display and had no intention of interfering, Garp relaxed a little.
He casually picked up one of the newspapers and sat down on the sofa by the window. Then, smiling amiably, he called out:
"Rabbit, come chat with this old man for a bit. If you tell me a little about that boy on this ship, I'll buy you another pair of canvas sneakers. How about it?"
The moment he heard that, Da Hong's eyes lit up.
Got him, Garp thought.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he asked in an offhand tone:
"Can you tell me where you all came from?"
Without any hesitation, Da Hong raised a hand and pointed upward—
Toward the ceiling.
"Hm?"
Garp's pupils contracted slightly.
"From a Sky Island?"
Da Hong blinked at him blankly, then shook his head and pointed out the window instead.
Outside, the night sky stretched overhead.
A full moon hung high above, its silver light spilling over the sea and turning the water into a dreamlike sheet of shimmering white.
Garp, a man with no appreciation for romance whatsoever, ignored the beautiful view completely.
His eyes bulged.
"You came from the moon?!"