He spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the entire ocean and even that faraway harbor, his voice carrying an irresistible fervor:
"Your talent! That thing you used when you split the Sea King! It's a light meant to shine only on the grandest of stages! … Zephyr trained three Admirals, Sengoku always mocks me for letting my grandson grow wild… Hmph! This time, I'll make their eyes pop out of their heads!"
Garp lowered his head, leaning close to Luffy. His granite-like, weathered face carried a seriousness and burning hope never seen before, his words hammered down like iron:
"Come with your grandpa to the Marines! Sharpen your blade into the world's sharpest edge! I'll forge you into the new 'Iron Fist' of the Marines! No—into the 'Judgment Blade' that cuts away all evil and darkness! The seat of Fleet Admiral… may yet be yours to seize!"
His eyes gleamed with something called "the pride of legacy."
"What's so great about Pirate King? To hell with that straw hat! Brat, come be a Marine with your grandpa! The two of us, grandfather and grandson, will smash apart the chaos of the New World with our fists!"
He stretched out his large hand, palm wide and firm, radiating a heat and force that brooked no refusal.
The sea breeze seemed to freeze in that instant.
From afar, the laughter of children drifted from Makino's tavern. Warm sunlight touched Luffy's face, outlining the young but unusually burdened contours of his side profile.
Ace's hearty smile… Sabo's wise eyes… the sunlight glinting off Shanks's straw hat… Nami's silent tears before Bell-mère's grave… Sanji's resolute back at the Baratie… Usopp's blazing courage for his village… Robin's despair under the Buster Call… Chopper's sakura tree… Franky's battle cry… Brook's promise… Jinbe's vow… the toy-strewn tears of Dressrosa… and at last, on Raftel, the complicated gaze of Shanks as he regretfully returned the straw hat…
All of it—joy, sorrow, passion, despair—rushed into Luffy's mind like a broken dam!
Those were Luffy's bonds… the epic he would live if he became Pirate King!
Yet, at the end of that tapestry, one image lingered: the eternal holy flames of Mariejois, the Tenryūbito waving their scepters beneath glass bubbles, and… that enormous hidden straw hat buried under the Holy Land.
Cold authority. Twisted order. A bottomless abyss.
That was the true rot gnawing at the world's roots, beneath the shining mask of "justice." Marines could suppress pirates, but never eradicate that corruption.
The storm inside his heart reached its peak—and then, as if cleaved apart by a blade, it stilled.
Luffy raised his head.
Three days of confusion, hesitation, fear of the future, and doubt in his strength—all melted into a newfound, heavy conviction. Hard and unyielding, like iron tempered in the deepest seas.
He no longer looked at Garp's outstretched hand, nor responded to the brilliant vision his grandfather painted.
Luffy's gaze pierced past Garp's shoulder toward the horizon, where freedom and the unknown awaited. Then, he lowered his head to his right hand, still curled as though it gripped the heavy hilt of the Zanpakutō (Zangetsu).
His childish voice was calm, without a ripple, yet carried a weight far beyond his years:
"Grandpa…"
The feverish hope on Garp's face froze for a moment at that overly calm tone.
Luffy drew back his gaze from the horizon. His eyes, black as ink and cold with unshakable resolve, met Garp's searching stare. His small frame straightened beneath the solemnity of his words:
"…I'll go with you."
Garp's eyes flared with wild joy. His mouth began to crack open into a grin—
But the next words thundered across the quiet shoreline like a storm!
"I'll join the Marines! But not to be some Fleet Admiral's blade! And not just to clean up pirates!"
Luffy's voice rose, sharp and unyielding, cutting through everything!
He lifted his right hand—the core of his strength—slowly closing his fingers as if gripping the unseen blade that could sever the chains of fate itself! That small fist carried a world-shaking resolve.
His eyes locked on Garp's, each word beating like a war drum:
"I will become the Marine King!"
"With my power!"
"To protect true justice—cutting down every injustice in this world! Striking down all the worms that hide behind the curtain!"
"Marine King!!!"
The last three words split the skies like lightning, a declaration challenging the world itself!
The rocks fell into dead silence. Even the waves ceased their roar. The distant children's laughter froze. Only the echo of that boy's declaration remained.
The joy on Garp's face froze like a crashing wave.
His eyes widened, first in shock, as if doubting his own hearing.
Then, disbelief gave way to an overwhelming eruption of joy!
Like a dormant volcano finding a new, more violent vent!
His thick lips moved silently, tasting the words "Marine King."
"Ma… Marine… King?" he muttered.
The next instant—
"Wahahahahahaha—!!!!"
Garp's trademark earth-shattering laughter exploded, more violent and unrestrained than three days prior! The very rocks beneath them trembled under the force of it!
His massive frame shook with sheer delight, tears bursting from his eyes.
"Marine King! Hahaha! Marine King!!!"
He pounded his iron chest with booming fists. "Good! Good! Good! That's my grandson! That's the blood of the Monkey family!"
Bending down, eyes blazing like wildfire, he locked onto Luffy. His laughter still rolling, he thundered with pride:
"Marine King! That's the spirit my grandson should have! This is the line I've been waiting for! Wahahaha! To guard true justice? To cut down injustice? To strike at the worms? Hahaha! Good! Then this old body will join you in shaking the heavens! Let those bugs in the Holy Land feel what the will of a Marine King is!"
His wild laughter tore across the sky, heralding the dawn of an era. Luffy stood firm upon the trembling rocks, staring at his grandfather's face twisted with joy, for the first time feeling the weight of his chosen path.
This was no longer about rejecting the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Gum-Gum Fruit). It was about grasping the sword called Zanpakutō (Zangetsu), and pointing it at the iron curtain of this corrupt world—
A path no one had ever walked. The moment he stepped out of Foosha Village, the path of the Marine King began.
(End of Chapter)
[50 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Thanks for your support!]