After Garp left, the room fell into silence.
Rouge stared blankly at the crib, her face shifting between light and dark expressions.
Zannie, on the other hand, had little expression, stretched lazily, and left the room heading toward the second bedroom.
'My overtime tonight is finally over; it is time to rest.'
"Why…", Rouge's negative emotions at this moment had almost accumulated to the limit.
As soon as Garp showed his face, she recognized him.
That was the Marine Roger had mentioned many times as the one he trusted the most, and he had even shown her a photo.
Now that she thought about it, Roger wasn't just talking about the past back then, he was entrusting his child.
'So, why did you entrust your own child to a Marine?'
'Is it because you thought I wasn't worthy, or because you thought your pirate companions would be purged?'
Rouge's face was extremely ugly, her fists clenched tightly, and the hatred in her heart toward Roger almost reached its peak.
If he wanted her life, she could not care.
But to want her child's life, and to have her child walk a predetermined path, she was unwilling.
She would rather her child live as an ordinary person for a lifetime, than let him follow the crazy ideas of Roger.
———
Baterilla Island, on an unmanned shore where a wooden sailboat was anchored.
When Garp appeared here holding the baby, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He tightened the child in his arms, his face full of solemnity as he looked into the distance.
Even without using Observation Haki, he could clearly see two figures in the distance, blocking the only way to the wooden sailboat.
"Zephyr!", Garp let out a low roar.
He didn't expect that even Zephyr with his dumb brain could set up an ambush ahead of time.
"Garp, you're here," Zephyr moved his neck, standing in front of Garp, blocking his path.
"Move aside!", Garp said in a deep voice.
"Whether I move or not, it's not up to me," Zephyr sneered, taking a step to the side, revealing the figure of Rosse behind him.
Knowing Garp would come to Baterilla Island, they had naturally made full preparations.
The child in Garp's arms was an orphan Rosse had prepared in advance, with black hair and features somewhat similar to Rouge, sent to Baterilla Island through special CP organization channels.
Letting Garp take the child first and then stopping him was to make him hesitate.
But if a fight really broke out, even Zephyr couldn't guarantee Rosse's safety one hundred percent.
But as long as Garp was holding a child, even if he found out that this child wasn't Roger's bloodline, he wouldn't be able to unleash his full power.
If Garp could abandon the innocent, then he wouldn't be Garp anymore.
Even if Zephyr didn't like Garp's personality, he still acknowledged Garp's belief in justice.
"Celestial Dragon," Garp looked at Saint Rosse's face, his expression turned even uglier.
"Put down Ace, and I will allow you to leave," Rosse said lightly, his tone brooking no argument.
He wasn't an amateur like Rouge who'd never acted before. At least Garp couldn't see any trace of performance on his face
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[Garp]
[Overall Rating: S+]
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"Impossible! He's my grandson, I will take him away," Tightening the child in his arms, Garp replied in a deep voice.
If he had been stopped before getting the child, he might've chosen to leave and make a new plan.
But now that Ace was already in hand, how could he possibly give up halfway?
"Your grandson?", Rosse and Zephyr both showed strange expressions, 'Is he trying to fool us like idiots? And can such words really be said carelessly?'
"Pfft, Garp, Roger's son is your grandson? Are you saying Roger is your son, or that Rouge is your daughter?", Zephyr laughed loudly.
He knew Garp wouldn't make excuses, but didn't expect the excuse to be this bad.
"What are you talking about?", Garp wore a look of confusion, as if he knew nothing, "Who is Rouge? Roger's been dead for two years, how could his child just be born now?"
"Whether he's Roger's child or not, a test will tell. The World Government has recently developed an advanced technology that can compare human genes to determine blood relations. Even with a dead person, as long as there are cells, it can be tested,"!Rosse looked at Garp playfully, wanting to hear what else he had to say.
He didn't come here today to force Garp out of the Marine. So long as Garp stayed within the Marine's framework, there were many ways to make him compromise using this matter.
But if he really forced Garp to leave, then he'd have to worry about Garp's revenge.
Mainly because, with the strength and manpower he currently had, he couldn't keep Garp here.
Hearing Rosse's words, Garp fell completely silent.
Even without a test, he already knew the result. The child in his arms was definitely Roger's bloodline.
This was what Roger had told him, it couldn't be wrong.
After Roger's death, he had even come to Baterilla Island secretly to look in on Rouge once, so he knew for sure that Ace was Roger's orphan.
This matter was also his fault.
If he hadn't accidentally let it slip while discussing Roger's lineage with marines on the ship, it wouldn't have triggered the chain reaction that followed.
Even after he tried to make up for it, all he could say was that Roger had told him before dying that he had a child, but he didn't know who or where.
And because of his mistake, the South Blue, where Roger had last appeared before surrendering, suffered. Any baby or pregnant woman suspected of carrying Roger's bloodline was implicated.
Now that things had come to this, how could Garp hand the child over?
If he couldn't take Ace away, then weren't all those innocent people in the South Sea who died, sacrificed for nothing?
Thinking of this, Garp decided to strike first.
"If you dare to make a move, I'll destroy every ship nearby," Just one sentence from Zephyr completely extinguished Garp's thought, and made his face even darker.
"Hmph," Zephyr snorted coldly, "We've known each other for decades. You think I don't know how your brain works? You can swim to the next island yourself, but carrying a child? He'll surely die."
Garp fell silent.
Just as Zephyr said, without a ship, he couldn't take Ace away at all.
Thinking, Garp suddenly got an idea and turned his gaze to Rosse.
As soon as his gaze landed, Rosse smilingly took out a Den Den Mushi, "This Den Den Mushi can call my grandfather's Den Den Mushi, one of the current Five Elders."
"Vice Admiral Garp, you wouldn't want my grandfather to find out about this, would you?"
"What do you want to do? I will never hand Ace over to you," Garp gritted his teeth and said, simply choosing to break the pot and let it fall, not even bothering to lie anymore.
As long as he didn't hand over Ace, no matter how harsh the conditions, he would accept them.
Otherwise, they might as well go down together.
He was alone now, with nothing left to care for.
His son, Dragon, was already grown and didn't listen to him at all, and he couldn't be bothered to discipline him.
Marine or pirates, he had nothing left to miss.
He had already seen through this world. Hoping for justice to descend upon the world was simply impossible.
All he could do was stick to his heart, and die unyielding.
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