A week had passed since the incident at Enies Lobby.
Rengoku, having regrouped with Garp, had not met with anyone else during that time. He shut himself away inside the warship, refusing all visitors. Even if Vice Admiral Garp himself knocked, Rengoku would not answer.
Coby, who had come alongside Garp, longed to see his mentor but never got the chance. He suspected that, beyond the magnitude of the incident itself, there must have been other reasons for Rengoku's self-imposed isolation.
Meanwhile, despite pressure from the Gorosei and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Garp dragged his feet, stretching a journey that could have been done in half a day into seven.
When the Marines finally arrived in Water 7, the citizens were far from welcoming. It wasn't that they hated the Marines—but in the wake of the Iceburg assassination attempt, they had been quick to accuse the Straw Hats, branding them as murderers.
If not for Iceburg himself stepping forward to vouch for them, the crew would have been condemned outright. For that reason, the people of Water 7 carried guilt—and even a desire to protect them.
The shipwrights of Galley-La tried to bar the Marines' way, but they couldn't stop the legendary "Hero of the Marines" from entering the city. Beside him were two young men who, with a single hand, pushed open the massive steel gate of Dock One—something only vice foreman Paulie, the hulking Tilestone, or CP9 elites like Lucci and Kaku could have done.
That was the strength of the Navy.
Soon, Garp's unit reached the Galley-La Company lodgings, now serving as the Straw Hats' hideout.
"Heh~ So this is where that brat Luffy's been hiding!"
With a grin, Garp twisted his waist and let loose a punch charged with Busoshoku Haki.
BOOM!!
The cement wall shattered like tofu, revealing the Straw Hat crew mid-meal.
"Oh—were you eating? My bad, my bad."
In his strange way of showing "honor," Garp immediately apologized.
"M-Marines?!"
"So they finally came…"
"Damn it! They waited until now to strike?!"
The crew leapt to their feet, startled but ready. Normally, they might have already fled to sea—but with the Going Merry laid to rest just yesterday in a sea burial, they had no ship left to sail. There was no choice but to fight.
Yet while the crew's faces hardened with resolve, only Luffy looked stricken—not serious, but shocked.
"G-Grandpa?!"
"Oh, so you recognize me, you rotten grandson? Grandpa's here!"
Before Luffy could react, Garp lunged forward and hammered his head with a Haki-imbued "Fist of Love."
WHAM!!
Luffy went tumbling across the floor, clutching his skull.
"OWWW! That really hurt!!"
"Hurt? You're a rubber man, aren't you?!"
The others couldn't understand why Luffy was in pain—none of them yet grasped the concept of Haki.
"Hmph! A Fist of Love always hurts, no exceptions!"
Suddenly, a commotion erupted at the rear of the unit.
"What's going on, Bogard?"
At Garp's question, his aide Bogard glanced over and reported calmly.
"It's Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hats."
"Oh-ho, the very swordsman Rengoku praised for his talent? Oi, you two—go deal with him."
Garp gave the order with a casual flick of his finger, picking his nose.
The two young Marines rushed toward Zoro, who was already causing an uproar.
"Roronoa Zoro… it's been a while!"
It was Helmeppo, his blond hair tied back, wielding a pair of kukris. Seeing his old "rival," he grinned with pride.
You may have gotten stronger, but I've been through hellish training under Vice Admiral Rengoku.
"Everyone stand back! I'll handle this one myself!"
With a shout, Helmeppo used Soru to blitz forward, his twin blades clashing against Zoro's Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri.
"Heh, kukris, huh? Interesting choice of weapon."
Instead of replying with words, Helmeppo answered with action. Using Zoro's block as leverage, he twisted mid-air and slipped behind him.
"Tekkai!"
With his body hardened, Helmeppo slammed into Zoro with a brutal shoulder tackle, forcing the swordsman to stagger back several steps.
"Zoro! Stop!"
Luffy, unwilling to clash with the Marines his grandfather brought, rushed forward to intervene.
But no one was going to let him pass.
Especially not Coby, who darted in front of Luffy and delivered a sharp kick to his chin.
The sudden strike stunned Luffy for an instant. But then he gritted his teeth, straightened, and raised his fists.
"Soru!!"
The pink-haired young man who blocked Luffy's path was none other than Coby. Using Soru, he instantly moved behind Luffy.
But after clashing with Lucci so many times, Luffy had grown used to reading such moves. He quickly turned.
"Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!"
"Soru-Kaiten!"
Twisting his body at the last second, Coby narrowly dodged Luffy's strike. His heart raced with excitement.
The once untouchable, impossible-to-follow attacks of Monkey D. Luffy… were now becoming clear to him.
Even if Luffy and Zoro were still recovering from their injuries, Coby and Helmeppo had also grown stronger than anyone imagined. For a brief moment, the four of them clashed on even ground.
But the stalemate didn't last.
With his strength magnified, Zoro's twin-blade strike sent Helmeppo crashing down, completely unable to fight back.
"Gomu Gomu no—"
At the same time, Luffy began spinning his arm for another attack. Across from him, Coby lowered his stance, drawing a deep breath.
Shhh—
"Breath of Thunder—Kai!"
He concentrated every ounce of strength into his legs, gripping his right wrist with his left hand to stabilize the strike.
To perform this technique properly, he needed Soru, Tekkai, full-body control, and Busoshoku Haki all at once. But his nerves and lack of mastery made him falter.
Yet even without Tekkai or full Haki coating, the attack didn't lose its edge. A faint shimmer of Haki wrapped around his fist as Coby waited for the perfect timing.
"Rifle!!"
Luffy's fist shot forward. Coby launched his own strike to meet it.
"Thunderclap—Justice Pistol!!"
Helmeppo had once mocked the name as uncool, but Coby stuck with it proudly.
His fist moved at double the speed of Lucci's Soru. Both punches connected at the same instant, slamming into each other's faces.
BOOM!
The impact hurled them both backward, crashing into the ground.
Unlike Zoro's one-sided victory, this was a true even match. Watching from the sidelines, Nami and Sanji's eyes widened in shock.
On one side was an exhausted Luffy, still recovering from battle. On the other was Coby, at full power, using his ultimate move. The very fact they clashed evenly was unbelievable.
Luffy was the first to rise—but moments later, Coby stood up as well, trembling with exhilaration.
"As expected of you, Luffy-san! I never thought my special move would be stopped like that!"
"Eh? Who the heck are you?"
Coby beamed, but Luffy only looked confused.
"It's me! Coby! The crybaby coward you once saved!"
"Eeeh?! You're Coby?!"
Not only Luffy but even Zoro looked stunned. The boy they remembered was a short, timid weakling—yet now he stood before them, hardened into a real fighter.
"Hmph. Do you recognize me, Roronoa Zoro?"
Helmeppo removed his sunglasses, glaring at Zoro.
"...Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"I'm Helmeppo."
"And that's supposed to mean something to me?"
"Helmeppo! Don't you remember?! The one who made you eat dirt-stained rice balls—the worthless son of that trash Captain Morgan!"
Even in self-deprecation, Helmeppo shouted with pride. Finally, Zoro recalled.
"Ah, so that was you."
Zoro's flat, uninterested tone made Helmeppo boil with rage.
"Arghhh! That attitude pisses me off so much!!"
"Calm down, Helmeppo-san. We're among old friends here, after all. Hehe…"
Coby placed a hand on his partner's shoulder, diffusing the situation. And so, the clash ended—peacefully, in its own strange way.
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