As dusk approached, Gustave—still propped up in bed—heard a booming, hearty laugh echoing from outside:
"Po, you performed magnificently today! You took my Fist of Love without even crying out! We'll increase the intensity tomorrow! Bwahahaha!"
Gustave immediately recognized that distinctive, rough laughter. No one else could produce such a thunderous guffaw except Garp.
"Master, Luffy mentioned that Gustave has woken up. I'd like to check on him first," came Po's familiar voice in response.
"Ah, that's right! I would have forgotten if you hadn't reminded me. Little Luffy did mention something about that earlier. You and Tom should go see him! Hahaha!"
As soon as the conversation ended, Po's rotund figure appeared in the doorway. When Gustave caught sight of his friend's face, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Po's entire bear face was swollen and bruised, making his naturally innocent expression look absolutely hilarious no matter which angle you viewed it from.
Po knew exactly how ridiculous he looked and sheepishly patted his head while laughing along.
During Po's first day of training, Tom had watched from the sidelines, clutching his stomach and laughing so hard all day that the cat nearly died from amusement. When Po returned that evening, even Luffy had doubled over with laughter for several minutes. Fortunately, the kind-hearted Makino, despite struggling to suppress her own giggles, had immediately begun treating Po's injuries.
Just as Po was touching his head with that foolish grin, Tom appeared seemingly from nowhere, producing a stethoscope from behind his back and pressing it against Gustave's chest to listen.
After a thorough examination, Tom indicated that Gustave was fine now and just needed a few more days of rest. Although Gustave had no idea how Tom could diagnose so much with just a stethoscope, he chose to trust his feline friend's medical expertise.
"Whoa! Tom, where did you get that from? I want to learn how to do that!" Luffy suddenly burst into the room, shouting while frantically patting Tom's back, trying to figure out where the cat had hidden his medical equipment.
Seeing Luffy charge in, Tom immediately panicked and bolted from the room. Over the past few days, Tom had developed a genuine phobia of the energetic boy. Just seeing Luffy gave him an instant headache.
"Bwahahaha!"
Garp, standing outside the doorway, couldn't help but laugh joyfully as he watched his grandson chase Tom around in circles. Although his unfortunate son Dragon had gone off to join the Revolutionary Army, at least he'd left behind a grandson to brighten Garp's days.
Still chuckling, Garp entered the room. From his position on the bed, Gustave saw a towering figure standing in the doorway, completely blocking out the light.
Gustave had encountered tall people before—he'd once met basketball legend Yao Ming during a game. But if you placed Yao Ming next to Garp, the former NBA star would look like "Little Yao Ming" by comparison.
Then again, this was the world of One Piece, where such proportions made perfect sense. In this world, you couldn't call yourself a true powerhouse unless you stood at least three to five meters tall.
As the figure approached, Gustave finally got a clear look at Garp's appearance. He was exactly as depicted in the anime, except his hair was still predominantly black with just touches of gray at the temples.
"Bwahahaha! Gustave, my boy, you're finally awake!"
"You were traveling with Po and Tom, so why were you unconscious for so many days?" Garp asked while casually picking his nose with his pinky finger.
How can I possibly compare to Po and Tom? Gustave thought to himself. One of them is an immortal cartoon cat who can be sliced into pieces or flattened like paper without any lasting damage. The other is the future Dragon Warrior with incredible physical talents. How could an ordinary person like me compete with them?
Of course, these were just Gustave's internal complaints.
"My constitution isn't particularly strong, so my injuries were more severe than Po and Tom's," Gustave said with an embarrassed expression.
"But we still need to thank you, Mr. Garp, for rescuing all three of us. Who knows what would have happened otherwise."
"Is that so? Then you'd better start training seriously once you recover! Otherwise, you won't be able to keep up with Luffy. As a man, you can't go around saying you have poor health!" Garp declared, patting Gustave firmly on the shoulder.
"Haha, I'll definitely intensify my training once my injuries heal..." Gustave replied with a forced smile, watching in horror as Garp used the same hand that had just been picking his nose to pat and then wipe his shoulder.
Now Gustave finally understood why Fleet Admiral Sengoku always lost his temper when dealing with Garp. Not only did the man constantly steal his rice crackers, but he also had this disgusting habit of picking his nose and wiping it on everything. If Gustave were Sengoku, he wouldn't be able to tolerate it either.
"Mr. Garp, Mr. Gustave has just regained consciousness and his body hasn't fully recovered yet. We shouldn't overtax him," Makino interjected, stepping forward to rescue Gustave from his predicament.
"Ah? Is that right?"
"Ahahaha! Then I'll go check on Luffy and Tom first!" Garp laughed, scratching the back of his head as he walked out of the room.
"Thank you for that rescue, Makino," Gustave said gratefully.
"It's quite alright. Don't let Mr. Garp's appearance fool you—he's actually a very kind and gentle person. It's just that he sometimes..." Makino didn't finish her sentence, but Gustave understood perfectly. Garp had always been carefree and rough around the edges, and his influence had clearly shaped Luffy's similarly laid-back personality.
Come to think of it, how had someone like Garp managed to raise a son as brilliant as Dragon? Shouldn't Dragon be more like Luffy? It was truly puzzling.
"I understand what you mean. Mr. Garp's personality is quite endearing, isn't it?" Gustave responded with a smile.
"Well then, I won't disturb you any further, Mr. Gustave. You and Po probably have a lot to discuss. I'll go prepare dinner now."
After saying this, Makino tactfully left the room and closed the door behind her.
"Thank you, Po. If you hadn't protected me, I probably would have died," Gustave said earnestly. With all the chaos finally settled, he could properly express his gratitude to Po, who had truly been his savior.
"Don't worry about it! I'm built tough—a little bumping around doesn't hurt me. Besides, you, me, and Tom—we're all in this together, right?" Po replied with his characteristic innocent smile.
For Po, Gustave and Tom—who had been suddenly transported to this world by that unreliable system and had endured hardships together—were his most trusted companions.
Seeing Po's genuine warmth, Gustave couldn't help but smile back. After drifting on that small wooden boat for over a week, the three of them had really gotten to know each other's personalities. Po was exactly as he appeared: simple, adorable, and incredibly kind-hearted.
"By the way, Po, after we were rescued, did anyone ask where the three of us came from?" Gustave inquired carefully. After all, he and his companions had been pulled from different worlds by that worthless system—they weren't natives of this world. Gustave was concerned that revealing their otherworldly origins might put them in danger.
"That? No! Neither Makino, nor Master Garp, nor even Luffy asked me or Tom any questions like that," Po replied after thinking carefully about the past few days' events.
"Really? That's probably for the best. If anyone does ask where we're from, we can just say our hometown was some unknown island..." Although Gustave didn't understand why Garp and the others hadn't inquired about their origins, he knew that if he wanted to return home, he needed to work hard to earn money, buy his own ship, and transform it into a mobile sea restaurant. Only then could he activate the Gate of All Worlds and have a chance of going back.