Nightfall — Mt. Colubo, Dadan's Hideout
The Dadan Family's hideout buzzed with the sound of clattering dishes and loud chewing. Around the table sat Dadan, her thuggish crew, and the four boys—Luffy, Ace, Sabo, and Iggy—devouring their meal like starving wolves.
Towering over the table was a colossal roast—an entire bear, cooked and stacked into a mountain of meat nearly a meter high and five meters across.
"I'm going to be the first one to set sail as a pirate!" Ace declared confidently, tearing off a massive hunk of meat and cramming it into his mouth. "You three are joining my crew, no question!"
"Like hell we are!" Luffy snapped back, immediately protesting as he spat out a bone. "I'm going to be my own pirate!"
But before the two could argue further, their expressions froze.
Everyone else had suddenly gone silent—eyes wide in horror, barbecue gripped midair as they stared at something behind the boys.
Ace and Luffy turned their heads slowly… and—
WHACK! WHACK!
Twin lumps sprouted on their heads as they were sent flying across the room.
"You brats! What did you just say?!" boomed a furious voice.
Standing in the doorway was none other than Vice Admiral Garp, fists clenched and eyes blazing with fury.
"I've told you over and over! You're going to become fine Marines! And you—Dadan! Weren't you supposed to keep an eye on them?!"
THWACK!
A third lump appeared—this time on Dadan's head, who collapsed dramatically beside the groaning boys.
"Thanks for saving me, Mr. Garp," Iggy said sincerely as he helped the three up and guided them back to their seats.
It had been Garp who rescued him from a deserted island near Marineford and brought him here to Mt. Colubo. If it weren't for that, Iggy might not have survived. Since Garp was on vacation, it was the perfect chance to properly thank him.
"Haha, it was nothing, really," Garp chuckled, scratching his head. He looked down at Iggy with fondness—he liked polite kids. "But tell me, boy—how did you end up stranded on an island that close to Marineford?"
At the mention of Marineford—headquarters of the Marines and protector of the Celestial Dragons—flashes of masked agents and a brutal CP4 assassin surged in Iggy's mind.
What happened in Mary Geoise could never be allowed to reach the Navy's ears.
"Sorry, I need to clean up the dishes," Iggy said calmly, walking toward the kitchen with a blank expression.
Garp watched him go, frowning slightly. "Hmph… another kid with a story behind his eyes."
He looked at Ace, then at the kitchen doorway, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
---
The Next Morning — Training Grounds
At the crack of dawn, Garp led all four boys to the open training field.
"I'm only here for a week," Garp barked. "So let me see how much you've all improved!"
The massive shadow he cast loomed over them. The boys exchanged a look, then nodded.
"One at a time!" Garp shouted, clenching his fists.
All four charged him at once—up, down, left, right—but Garp casually swatted them away like flies, sending them crashing to the ground in four directions.
But years of hunting in the forest had forged them into tough, stubborn brats. They climbed back to their feet and lunged again.
The battle raged on for hours. By noon, the four boys were bruised, battered, and barely standing. Garp, of course, didn't even have a scratch.
"Is that all you've got?! You wanna be pirates with this level of strength?! Pathetic!" he taunted.
Fueled by pride and defiance, Ace, Sabo, and Iggy gritted their teeth and pulled out iron pipes.
"Gomu Gomu no... Gatling!"
Luffy's arms stretched out ten meters, raining a flurry of punches toward Garp. As he blocked Luffy's attacks, the other three leapt in and clubbed him from behind.
Garp didn't even flinch. He twisted his torso, grabbed all three with one hand, and slammed them to the ground in one fluid motion.
Evening approached. Garp was still full of energy, while the kids lay sprawled across the dirt.
Only Iggy was left standing, bent over and breathing heavily, his eyes swollen but still glaring with determination.
He hadn't trained in Haki long, and his use of it was sloppy at best—but he refused to back down.
He charged again, fists clenched, landing a wild punch that finally grazed Garp's face, drawing a thin line of blood at the corner of his mouth.
For a brief second, a grin curled on the old Marine's lips.
Then his fist came crashing down like a meteor.
BOOM.
The ground cracked beneath the impact, and Iggy was left crumpled in the dirt, bloodied but conscious.
"…Grandpa…" Iggy wheezed. "Teach me Armament Haki… and the Navy's Six Powers…"
Garp's eyes widened slightly. Then his expression hardened.
---
The Following Day
Long before the others woke up, Garp and Iggy were already back at the training field.
Day after day, their sparring became more brutal.
By the time Ace, Luffy, and Sabo joined them, they were stunned by what they saw.
In just a few days, Iggy had grasped the basics of the Rokushiki—the Navy's elite Six Powers:
Shave (Soru)
Iron Body (Tekkai)
Paper Art (Kami-e)
Moonwalk (Geppo)
Tempest Kick (Rankyaku)
Finger Pistol (Shigan)
And he was beginning to show signs of awakening Armament Haki—a skill essential for fighting Devil Fruit users, as it allowed one's blows to bypass natural defenses.
Most adults took decades to master even a single Rokushiki technique. But this ten-year-old was pushing his body beyond its limits with terrifying intensity.
Garp was astonished. Even among top cadets at the Naval Academy, no one had ever endured his "devil training" the way Iggy had.
But what Garp didn't know was that he wasn't nurturing a soldier—he was training a demon born of loss and hatred.
Iggy's resentment toward his own weakness ran deeper than anyone could understand.
To him, strength wasn't a dream—it was survival.
He had watched someone he loved die because he was too powerless to stop it.
He would never let that happen again.
Until he could avenge that loss, Iggy would never fall.
"Kid," Garp said one afternoon, nodding with approval, "When you grow up… come find me. The Marines will have a place for you."
He wasn't looking at some poor orphan from a desert island anymore.
He was staring at a future monster.
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