In the distance on the sea surface, a dog-headed warship was speeding toward them.
An elderly man with a towering, iron-tower-like build wearing a dog-head hat stood on top of the figurehead with his arms crossed.
"Yare yare, this is really troublesome."
Though Kai said it was troublesome, his face remained calm, even carrying a hint of amusement.
Was Garp strong?
Of course he was.
In the God Valley incident, he and Roger had teamed up to defeat the Rocks Pirates. In the Marineford battle, he and Sengoku had teamed up to defeat Golden Lion.
These were his famous achievements.
While fans might joke about his tendency to team up with others in big battles, Garp's individual strength was still legendary.
"Natural Disaster Kai! What do you want to do to my precious grandson!"
Garp's gaze instantly locked onto Ace on the deck, his angry roar rolling like thunder, shaking the very air.
"No good, too slow!"
Garp lost patience. He suddenly leaped high into the air, clenched his right fist, and punched down toward the warship below.
BOOM! The powerful punch of wind hit the sea surface.
Under Garp's extreme control, the violent impact didn't break the surface tension. Instead, the sea surface acted like a trampoline, bouncing the warship high up.
The dog-head warship shot toward the Rayquaza at incredible speed!
"You've got to be kidding!"
Violet cried out in shock, covering her mouth in disbelief.
BANG! The dog-head warship crashed heavily onto the sea surface, sending up towering waves dozens of meters high.
Even the massive Rayquaza was rocked by the tremendous recoil.
Garp himself landed directly on the Rayquaza's deck.
Looking at the living naval legend before him, Kai chuckled lightly: "Vice Admiral Garp, don't obstruct young people's dreams."
"That's right, old man! I've already decided to board Kai's ship and overthrow this terrible era!" Ace firmly supported him.
Ace's rebellious declaration made veins bulge on Garp's forehead.
"You bastard kid! How dare you be so arrogant!"
THUD!
Garp mercilessly gave Ace a loving iron fist, leaving a large bump on his forehead.
"Your and Luffy's future is to join the Navy and guard the peace of these seas with me!"
Huh?
Everyone who knew Ace's background was shocked.
Was the legendary Marine Hero this wild?
Not only accepting the Pirate King Roger's son as his grandson but also wanting to recruit him into the Navy.
Would the Navy's high command agree?
Kai thought Garp's wild idea wasn't without operational possibilities.
The Pirate King's son joining the Navy would be huge propaganda.
Even the Pirate King's descendant joined the Navy... what were ordinary pirates still fighting for?
If Ace were strong enough, even an Admiral position wouldn't be impossible.
Even if his strength was lacking, for the sake of this publicity, the Navy might even create a civilian Admiral position for Ace.
The World Government had enough tolerance for the strong.
In the future, they even wanted to recruit Loki into the Celestial Dragons.
If even Celestial Dragons could be joined, what was one mere Admiral?
Luffy was more dangerous.
Roger only wanted to shake the World Government's rule, while Dragon wanted to uproot it entirely.
It was fine while the Revolutionary Army hadn't achieved results, but once they made a name for themselves...
Kidnapping Luffy to force Dragon to compromise was something the World Government was all too familiar with.
They had done this on Elbaf.
It was truly a traditional skill.
"I don't want to be a marine! I want to be a pirate!"
Ace covered the bump on his forehead and said fiercely.
"Me too!" Luffy wasn't to be outdone: "I will definitely become Pirate King!"
Kuma silently watched this scene, scratching his head. Vice Admiral Garp's educational skills seemed a bit poor.
"Ahhh, you two little bastards!"
Garp's beard bristled with rage as black-red Haki burst forth, the air itself seeming to tremble.
It hardened.
His fists hardened.
"Seems like we've really angered the old man."
Kai snorted.
Thinking about it, if his carefully cultivated successor was lured to develop on another path, he'd want to kill someone too.
"Are we going to fight?"
Yamato's eyes lit up as she pulled out her kanabo.
Kozuki Hiyori and the others also tensed up, ready for battle.
On the dog-head warship, seeing things going badly, Garp's adjutant Bogard also jumped over, standing beside Garp with his right hand firmly pressed on his sword hilt.
On deck, the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point, swords drawn and ready to fight.
Kai acted as if nothing was wrong and spoke calmly: "Vice Admiral Garp, wouldn't this be a poor place for battle?"
The furious Garp paused.
He unconsciously looked around. Besides the Navy and pirates on both sides, there were quite a few villagers present.
More critically, Windmill Village was nearby.
Once he and Kai started fighting, forget everything else... Windmill Village would definitely be destroyed.
This was his hometown that bore and raised him, where many of his childhood friends still lived.
But letting Kai go like this... he couldn't swallow this anger.
"How about we change locations?"
Kai pointed to the distant Mt. Colubo: "How about over there?"
Since reasoning wouldn't work, they'd have a fight. This was more useful than anything.
"Fine!"
Garp's clenched fists made teeth-grinding "crack" sounds as his violent aura rose again: "Then let me properly teach you, youngster who doesn't know his place, a lesson!"
"Lord Kai!"
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
Both sides spoke almost simultaneously, trying to dissuade them.
But they clearly couldn't stop the two men anymore.
Two figures instantly vanished from the Rayquaza, becoming streams of light barely visible to the naked eye, shooting toward the depths of Mt. Colubo.
Deep in Mt. Colubo, Garp and Kai, who had rushed here, stood facing each other.
"Let me weigh exactly how much today's youngsters are worth!"
Garp roared as pitch-black Armament Haki covered his clenched right fist like a tide.
Kai looked at the Haki lightning erupting from Garp's fist, his expression growing serious.
What powerful Armament Haki!
But I'm not lacking either!
Kai instantly entered beast-man form.
No probing, no flourishes!
The next second, the pitch-black fist and pitch-black dragon claw collided thunderously.
BOOM!
Like two meteors colliding!
A visible ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward with the two at its center.
Wherever it passed, trees shattered like fragile straw, and even the solid ground had a layer scraped away.
With just the aftermath of one collision, the two had forcibly cleared out a huge circular space!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Both were shocked back several steps.
"Not bad, old man!"
Kai shook his numb right hand, showing an excited smile.
"Shut up! Go to Impel Down and savor it slowly!"
Garp had no interest in chatting with him and pressed forward again.
"I don't want to go to that kind of place!"
Kai laughed and swung his fist at Garp.