◉◉◉◉◉
Eddie's eyes swept the open sea, alert but there wasn't a single Marine ship in sight.
That is… until he squinted at something no bigger than a pea on the horizon.
"Wait—those cannonballs are coming from there? That ship's so far, it's practically invisible!" Gin said, hurrying up to stand beside him, stunned.
"No normal cannon has that kind of range," Eddie muttered. "I'm telling you it has to be Garp. He's probably just throwing the cannonballs himself!"
He loaded one of the specially crafted Buggy Bombs to intercept the incoming shells.
And he wasn't wrong.
On that distant Marine ship stood none other than Vice Admiral Garp, the legendary hero of the Marines, wearing his signature dog-headed cap.
He stood at the bow, watching the fleeing pirate ship with amusement.
"These little punks… beat Smoker, huh? Grise still hasn't fully recovered, and now Smoker's injured too," Garp sighed, scratching his chin.
"That old geezer Sengoku's probably gonna yell at me again. Hahaha!"
"Vice Admiral Garp! If you don't do something, they're going to get away!" one of the sailors shouted, rolling over another cannonball.
"Even if I wanted to chase them, that pirate ship's faster than ours. Who knew pirates could build a ship that outruns a warship? I've seen it all now," Garp chuckled, watching the New Dove vanish into the distance.
"But hey… they should still get a taste of what this old man's made of!"
With that, he hoisted the cannonball with one hand and hurled it with terrifying force.
The shell soared through the sky and exploded near the New Dove, close enough to rock the sea around it.
Only Eddie's Buggy Bombs were strong enough to counter the sheer destructive power of Garp's throws.
Up on the mast, Aero clung to a rope, shouting down to his crew, "Everyone stay sharp! That old man is no joke!"
"Got it, Captain!"
Thanks to Aero's Wind-Wind Fruit, the Dove's speed continued to surge. Luckily, Garp's ship didn't pursue them he was more interested in letting them squirm.
On the warship, Garp scratched his head sheepishly as the pirates disappeared from view.
"Oops… they got away," he said with a grin.
"You let them get away!" a Marine muttered under his breath.
---
Back on the New Dove, the crew had narrowly avoided disaster.
Aero finally leapt down from the mast, peeling off his torn cloak.
"We almost died out there…" he muttered, tossing the shredded robe aside.
"That was Garp chasing us! You guys know he's strong but maybe you don't know how strong. Smoker? That guy probably wouldn't last a single punch from Garp at full force."
One of the crew handed Aero a fresh black cloak, which he threw over his shoulders as he caught his breath.
"A single punch?!" Gin blurted out in disbelief.
"That sounds about right," Eddie added. "Garp's from the Pirate King's era. But Captain… you sound like you know him more than most?"
"I do," Aero replied. "Forget Haki for a second. Just his raw physical strength is world-class. And his Haki? Easily top-tier."
He tightened the cloak around his shoulders.
"But none of that matters right now. We achieved what we came for we injured Smoker and got a new ship," Dylan said as he lowered his binoculars. "No one's following us. We're clear."
"Yeah," Aero agreed. "Both parts of the plan worked. Didn't expect Smoker to adapt so quickly though. That smoke trap really caught me off guard."
He paused, recalling how the wind had failed him for a time.
Logia fruits didn't have absolute counters. Ice versus fire, light versus darkness advantages were fluid.
This entire operation had been carefully coordinated from the start.
They'd split into two teams. One drew attention on the island while the other quietly acquired the new ship.
Eddie, Dylan, and Gin were the distraction giving Aero enough time to purchase the New Dove.
Then Aero went loud, drawing the Marines away so the crew could maneuver the new ship into port unnoticed.
After that, Aero staged the battle far from the harbor to avoid reinforcements interfering in the fight.
Despite the hiccups, the plan had succeeded.
Smoker was wounded. The Dove was theirs.
But there had been one wildcard: Garp.
Why was he in the East Blue? If he'd arrived even a little earlier…
They'd all be dead.
Aero didn't know Garp's current mindset. Was he letting them go? Or was he simply biding his time?
If Garp decided to pursue them seriously… the plan was only halfway complete.
For now, though, they had escaped.
---
Aboard the New Dove, inside the captain's quarters.
Aero leaned back in the command chair and asked calmly:
"Dylan… where's Raystan now?"
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!