"Come, come, come, little Ace, Robin, come see the bandaged monster." Garp peeked around the hospital room door, looking toward the bed.
Below his head, a girl also tilted her head, looking in the direction of the hospital bed.
Below the girl's little head, a baby around one year old simply lay flat on the ground. As he unconsciously opened his mouth, saliva dripped—"ba滴, ba滴"—from his not-yet-fully-grown baby teeth, leaving a small puddle on the smooth floor.
Sakazuki's face was clouded with gloom. A fellow marine had been beaten into the hospital by a pirate, yet this old man Garp was actually in such a good mood.
But looking at that little brat lying on the ground, grinning foolishly at him, his mood unexpectedly improved quite a bit.
At this moment, he suddenly had some understanding of what it meant to be a father, even though this soft little cub was grinning idiotically, giving people a sense of mental and physical relaxation. The innocence of a child could indeed bring genuine joy and inner peace.
Robin, too, was drawn to this energetic little fellow. Even though she usually spent her time buried in the library or training grounds, watching the little one crawl all over the headquarters office was just really, really—
Too cute! ớ₃ờ
The young girl bent down, looking at Ace as if she were staring at a moving giant plush toy.
"Ace! Move in a little closer! You're exposing your position like that!" Garp lowered his head, looking at the little guy giggling toward the "bandaged monster," feeling a bit speechless.
The baby, in response, continued to laugh happily—"giggle, giggle, giggle."
Yet, despite this, Garp was still overjoyed.
As he got older, he had always looked forward to having a family full of grandchildren. Taking care of Ace himself not only fulfilled his strong desire to have a grandson but also gave him an answer to his former rival and dear friend.
Even if he had to hold up a milk bottle every day and compete with Sengoku in a milk powder mixing contest—only to have Sengoku seize the opportunity to smack a milk powder can onto his head—he never tired of using his thick fingers to tease the little cub beside him, continuing his grand milk powder enterprise.
Even if this child occasionally hit him head-on with a perfectly aimed stream of baby pee, drenching him from head to toe, he would still grab the nearest officer in headquarters and boast about how the kid could already aim so far at such a young age—definitely a future warrior capable of cutting down a hundred foes.
"This kid growing up in headquarters is just too perfect." He thought to himself.
"Sakazuki, I heard from Jonathan and Miss Jessica that you got injured… um… here, this is for you."
The girl was the first to step into the hospital room from the doorway, holding a string of delicately folded paper cranes, seeming a bit shy.
Sakazuki sat up, carefully examining the string of paper cranes resting in his palm.
The cranes were small and exquisite. Their wings shimmered under the light with a rainbow-like luster, reminding Sakazuki of the stained-glass windows in a church.
It seemed they were folded from candy wrappers that had been collected over time, and with the sheer number—easily over a thousand—woven together, it was clear a great deal of effort had gone into making them.
Sakazuki's first reaction was: "Kids shouldn't eat so much candy; it's bad for their eyes."
"Huh? It's fine, it's fine!" The girl was caught off guard. She had imagined many possible conversations with Sakazuki, but she never expected that the first thing this iron-faced man would say was—eat less candy?
"…Also, thank you. The paper cranes are very beautiful. I like them a lot."
Sakazuki reached out and patted the girl's little head.
"Garp-senpai, could you help me hang this on the curtain…? Hmm, that would be convenient!"
Sakazuki looked up, about to ask the ever-present Garp to help hang the paper cranes somewhere high, but before he could finish his sentence, a pair of small hands had already lifted the string of paper cranes and effortlessly hung them along the bed curtain.
Sakazuki shrugged. "Almost forgot, you're a Hana Hana no Mi user."
Robin clasped her hands behind her back, fingertips touching: "No need to thank me! I've been very well-behaved lately. Aunt Tsuru even praised me for my theoretical knowledge! Uncle Sengoku has been personally guiding me in physical training, and also…"
The girl counted on her fingers, sharing with Sakazuki everything she had been doing lately.
The man lying on the hospital bed remained calm. He didn't show any impatience but instead listened attentively as the girl recounted one small anecdote after another.
By the time Robin had left the hospital room, Garp finally plopped down onto the chair beside Sakazuki's bed. Holding Ace in one arm, he casually asked, "How are you feeling?"
"…Not bad, the injury isn't too—"
Before Sakazuki could finish speaking, Garp waved his hand dismissively.
He locked eyes with Sakazuki. "I'm asking, how did it feel to face Whitebeard?"
"…"
Sakazuki fell silent for a moment but eventually voiced his honest thoughts: "Powerless. Even though I was mentally prepared for a fight to the death, to have every single one of my techniques crushed head-on with overwhelming force… it didn't feel good."
Whitebeard was obviously stronger than him, but what left an even greater impression on Sakazuki was that monstrous, mountain-crushing, city-shattering force—utterly unstoppable.
"Powerless, huh? That's exactly right."
Garp slapped his thigh.
"Edward, that guy, is a monster. Physique, Haki, Devil Fruit ability—he stands at the very peak of the world. Losing to him isn't something to be ashamed of."
Sakazuki was silent for a long time before he couldn't help but ask, "Garp-senpai, how big do you think the gap is between us young marines and him?"
"…Hard to say. You, Kuzan, and Borsalino might have a chance of catching up, but as for the others… not likely." Garp thought for a moment and gave an earnest reply.
Sakazuki hesitated for a moment, then finally asked the question weighing most heavily on his mind: "Where exactly is the gap between us? Even if someone is slightly weaker, they shouldn't be completely overwhelmed like that."
Garp pointed at Sakazuki. "What you should be asking is—how far are you from being the strongest force in the world?"
"…The strongest in the world?" Sakazuki chewed over Garp's words, murmuring to himself.
He looked at the legendary marine hero. "Even you, Garp-senpai, consider him the strongest?"
The old man nodded without hesitation. "Sengoku and I are confident we wouldn't lose to him… but we wouldn't be able to win either."
He poked at the bandages wrapped around Sakazuki's body. "Your physique is slightly weaker than his. Your Devil Fruit mastery is slightly weaker. Your Haki training is slightly weaker. Add all of that up, and it makes a huge difference."
"But, the most important thing…"
Garp deliberately paused for effect.
"What is it?"
Rarely did Sakazuki have the chance to hear such direct insights from one of the Navy's top powerhouses. Sitting up, he couldn't help but press for an answer.
Garp blinked playfully. "I'm not telling you."
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