"Stop!!"
With a loud and powerful shout, the Straw Hat trio ran frantically.
"Luffy, what's with your grandpa!?"
Zoro, with panda eyes, shouted at Luffy beside him. No one would be happy to be beaten for no reason. Except:
"Hehehe, how would I know?"
Luffy, with a swollen head, didn't mind, he was already used to it.
"Maybe Grandpa is helping us train our resistance to attacks..."
"Is there such training!?"
Sanji's blond hair turned into a mess as he hopped around. Earlier, he had recklessly kicked Garp's fist, resulting in one of his legs going numb like a club.
"Don't we have it on our ship?"
Faced with Luffy's words, Zoro and Sanji were speechless. Ever since Roman learned Armament Haki, getting beaten had become a new training project for the Straw Hat crew, making everyone even more resentful of Roman's strength.
In short, amidst the chaos, the trio was chased to the seaside by Garp, who was beating them up. In the distance, a brand-new sailing ship stood with a few figures beneath it.
"Hmm, you all look pretty good."
Roman glanced at the trio, who were beaten beyond recognition, and pointed his thumb at the ship behind him: Nami, Robin, and Chopper were already standing on the deck.
"Get on the ship, Captain."
"Hehehe, there's one more thing!"
Beside them were Usopp, who was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of everyone, the foreman of the Galley-La Company, Mayor Iceburg, and Franky.
"Yo, Straw Hat, try out this 'King of Beasts' ship—"
Whoosh~~ Snap!
Before Franky could finish his sentence, a rapidly extending rubber arm wrapped around him, and another hand grabbed the ship's rail with a snap.
"You come up too!"
?
"Hey, hey, let go, let go of me, Straw Hat!"
Swish,
The incoherent Franky was directly dragged onto the new sailing ship by Luffy, and then:
"Franky, set sail quickly!"
??
"This is the ship you built, right? If you don't set sail quickly, we'll be beaten to death by Grandpa!"
Snap, snap, snap,
Zoro, Sanji, and Roman also leaped onto the ship one after another.
"Stop!!"
Not far away, Garp, who had quietly slowed down, waved his fist and casually punched to the side.
Boom—!!!
With one punch, everything in the direction of his fist: countless abandoned ship hulls forming a massive 'graveyard' stretching for thousands of meters, seemed to be struck by an invisible giant's fist in an instant!
Countless huge shipwrecks collided into a mass and flew back thousands of meters. In the face of this mountain-splitting, sea-breaking force, these broken ships were crushed and squeezed together, forming a gigantic, unbreakable, wall-like, eerie 'plank.'
And around the trajectory of the giant 'fist,' it was a world of weightlessness!
All the wood, steel plates, or other materials were shattered in mid-air, slowly floating, splitting, and disintegrating! Flames were burning in the air, the result of high-speed friction, filled with the pungent smell of scorched wood and steel.
With one punch, the pursuing old man swept away the centuries-old accumulation of abandoned ships in Water 7, creating a wide 'plaza'!
Faced with this terrifying attack, everyone's expressions of shock hadn't even formed on their faces before their facial muscles began to tremble wildly under the impact of the oncoming shockwave, as if a level twelve gale was blowing on their faces! The air was filled with an overwhelmingly domineering aura, causing the temperature to rise by dozens of degrees.
Stunned—
Then:
"Grandpa~~"
"Ahhh, oh no!"
"Set sail, quickly set sail!!!"
"Raise the sails, turn the rudder, hurry, hurry, hurry—"
Faced with the power of a punch that could pierce through a kilometer, Zoro and Sanji, who were just looking defiant, instantly calmed down; even Franky, who was shouting about getting off the ship, immediately commanded everyone to start the new ship. He wouldn't dare use his ship to withstand such a punch!
So:
"Damn, how did I..."
When he came to his senses, Franky found himself unknowingly on the 'pirate ship.' He quickly rushed to the side of the ship, ready to jump into the sea and swim back. But:
Swish,
A huge package was thrown over, which Franky instinctively caught. The one who threw the package was Zanbai, the squad leader of the 'Franky Family.'
"Boss, we've prepared your luggage! You can go without worry."
Damn it!
"You bastards, I..."
"Franky," said Iceburg, the mayor who had joined in building the new ship, patting his suit, "Tom never blamed you... no, he never resented you, and neither do I!"
Franky had always been haunted by the fact that the battleships he built were used to attack the judicial island, leading to his mentor Tom being framed and executed. This was a thorn in Franky's heart.
"It's time to forgive yourself, Franky."
The only one still resenting Franky in this world was Franky himself!
"Go live the life you want! Whether it's Water 7, me, or our teacher—we don't need someone who's been pretending to be crazy for over a decade to 'protect' us."
...
"Hehehe, Franky, stay and be our shipwright."
"Didn't you say this ship can cross all seas?"
Luffy pressed his straw hat and looked seriously at the half-human, half-mechanical man with the pompadour.
"You haven't seen it cross all seas with your own eyes! How can you say you've achieved your dream?"
...
"Fine, I'll help you guys!"
Wiping away his tears, Franky put on his sunglasses.
"I accept your invitation and will be your shipwright!"
"Ohhh~~~"
"By the way,"
Luffy suddenly remembered.
"Who just called out 'grandpa'?"
?!
"Wasn't it you? Who else could it be—"
...
"Hey, stop joking."
Standing on the shore, Usopp watched as everyone sailed away on the new ship. When everyone rushed onto the ship, neither Luffy, Zoro, nor Sanji reached out to him, only Roman gave him a meaningful look!
"...Do you really not want me anymore?"
No, that's not it,
If I had just reached out, they would have taken me with them, right?
And all those days before, if I had admitted my mistake earlier...
Even someone as strong as Roman could admit when he was wrong, so why couldn't I...
"Hey, kid!"
A voice full of pressure sounded behind him. The three-meter-tall old Marine glanced down slightly, instantly making Usopp's knees go weak and he fell to the ground.
"Are you a pirate too?"
"Depending on your answer, I'll 'deal' with you accordingly!"
The overwhelming aura pressed down from behind, instantly taking away all of Usopp's thoughts of resistance! It was like a tiny person facing a roaring tsunami, facing a collapsing snow peak.
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run!
"I..."
"If you answer no, I'll send you back home."
"I..."
"If you answer yes, I'll judge you right here!"
The voice behind him seemed to penetrate Usopp's body and soul, making every cell in his body scream, flee, and beg for mercy! As Usopp lay limp on the ground, his lips trembling, he watched the new ship carrying the Straw Hat crew slowly sail away.
"I... still have... one more thing to say!"
Biting hard on his lower lip, trembling all over, and with a mouth full of blood, Usopp looked at the ship on the sea—at the stern, a row of figures of varying heights silently watched him, as if waiting for his decision.
"I'm—sorry!!"
"I'm the sniper of the Straw Hat crew! Usopp!!"
The pressure behind him clearly told Usopp that the other party could kill him in an instant, but Usopp still shouted these words without hesitation.
"Even though I said I would leave the pirate crew,"
With a face full of snot, tears, and blood, Usopp shouted at the departing ship.
"Can I take back those words!?"
"If I have to die, —I'd rather die as the sniper of the Straw Hat crew!"
Ah, Captain Usopp... no, Sniper Usopp's legend ends here? If Luffy and the others could forgive his stubbornness, that would be perfect—
Thud,
A hand slapped his face, making the tearful Usopp, who had closed his eyes waiting for death, look at the arm extending from afar.
The only one who could do such a thing was, of course, the rubber man Luffy!
"Idiot!!"
With tears and snot streaming down his face, Luffy shouted from the departing ship.
"Grab on already!!!"
Slap,
Two hands tightly grasped each other, then pulled hard.
Boom!!!
Vice Admiral Garp's fist came crashing down, but only 'futilely' created a huge crater on the entire coast.
Whoosh—
And Usopp, like a rocket, was pulled onto the new ship, making the Straw Hat crew smile as they watched Luffy and Usopp roll into a heap.
"Idiot,"
"So embarrassing~~"
"Hehe,"
"Hmph,"
"Waaah~~~"
"Truly~super~~moving!"
...
"A bunch of brats,"
After posing for a while, Garp slowly raised his head, his wrinkled face relaxing, and his gaze softened as he looked at the departing ship of laughter.
"Can't you let this old man have some peace of mind?"
"Sigh, kids grow up." The tall old man stood up straight and closed his eyes, "They have their own pursuits, and as their grandfather..."
"Vice Admiral!"
Facing his belated subordinates, Marine hero Vice Admiral Garp turned around, his wrinkled face looking as if it were carved by a knife!
"Return to headquarters!"
——————
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