Aokiji observed the Straw Hat crew's strength.
At their current level, Luffy and the others did not even know Haki. There was even a chance they had no idea what Haki was at all. He could sense their strength very clearly.
Their vitality was quite vigorous, but as Garp's grandson, Luffy actually did not know Armament Haki. Had neither Garp nor Dragon taught him?
Right now, Aokiji had no intention of capturing Luffy's group. Aside from the fact that this was not a suitable place, he also had to consider the ways of the world.
After all, Nico Robin had not joined the Straw Hat Pirates yet. Otherwise, he definitely would have taken action to test them.
"Aokiji-ojisan, what are you looking at?" Luffy asked familiarly.
"Nothing much. Did your grandfather ever teach you any combat techniques when you were little?" Aokiji replied.
"What?" Luffy scratched his head.
"For example, this."
Thud!
"Aaagh! That hurts! Ojisan, you can use Grandpa's move too?!" Luffy clutched his head and cried out in pain.
With a single flick to the forehead, Aokiji made Luffy's round forehead experience a familiar kind of pain.
"Aren't you a rubber man?" Nami looked at Luffy in confusion.
That was only a forehead flick. It was not like he had been cut by a sharp weapon or burned by flames.
Zoro keenly noticed that when the Marine Admiral Aokiji flicked Luffy's forehead, his finger had turned pitch-black for an instant. It was probably that strange change that had allowed Luffy, a rubber man, to feel pain.
"This is Haki. In the New World, although not everyone knows how to use it, there are plenty of people who have mastered it. You could say it's an essential ability for becoming strong," Aokiji explained.
There were many soldiers in the Marines who had mastered this kind of Haki. Even if they had only grasped the basics, for people without a method of training it, the difficulty was extremely high.
"Your grandfather never taught you when you were little?"
Luffy shook his head and said, "When I was little, Grandpa's training was throwing me down into ravines, tossing me into the jungle at night, tying me to a balloon and sending me into the sky…"
As he brought this up, Luffy shivered. Those really were childhood memories he did not want to recall.
Aokiji fell silent.
Although he knew Garp's personality, when he heard that Garp had used such barbaric training methods on a child, he still found it hard to keep his composure.
Who trained their own grandson like that?
Fortunately, Luffy had the bloodline of the Monkey family flowing through him. Otherwise, he would have died early in that hellish childhood training.
Nami and the others did not know whether to laugh or cry. No wonder their captain's physical ability was so good. So his training method had been that hardcore.
The fact that he had survived was definitely partly due to luck.
"Garp-san… that really does sound like something he would do." Aokiji shook his head.
But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. After all, Garp could not stay in his hometown all the time. As a Marine Vice Admiral, he still had to spend most of his time at headquarters.
"Aokiji, do you know who Garp left Luffy with to raise him?" Koji said with a smile.
"Who?"
The people in Windmill Village all knew Garp, so surely it had been someone reliable.
"A group of mountain bandits."
Aokiji fell silent again.
When he heard that Garp had left his own grandson with mountain bandits, he truly could not hold it in anymore. No wonder Luffy had gone out to sea as a pirate. So he had been sent straight into a den of thieves.
Even if he had not become a pirate, it would have been hard for him to become a Marine. He probably would have become a mountain bandit instead.
No one would question Garp's strength, but when it came to family education, he was genuinely speechless. Garp already had a son who was the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and now he wanted to have a grandson who became Pirate King?
"Luffy, your childhood…"
Even Zoro did not know what to say. Although he had also trained as if his life depended on it when he was little, at least he had trained in a dojo, not by being left to grow wild like that.
"Now I understand why Garp-san's grandson still hasn't learned Haki at this age," Aokiji said emotionally.
Luffy had basically been raised free-range. He had not been taught any systematic knowledge at all. If he had to rely on understanding it by himself, the difficulty naturally would not be low.
"Have you met your father?"
Since Garp had not been able to teach him, had Dragon, that extremely busy man, not taught him anything either?
"My dad? I have a dad?" Luffy asked, confused.
Everyone fell silent.
Hearing such a filial statement from Luffy, everyone did not know whether to laugh or cry. If your dad heard that, he would definitely give you a fierce beating.
Aokiji thought about how recently, under Dragon's leadership, the Revolutionary Army had once again done many things that gave the World Government headaches.
Your old man was not dead. Not only that, he was still out there causing trouble. He could be considered a world-shaking figure.
Luffy clapped his hands and said, "So my old man's name is Dragon."
He did not usually read newspapers, so naturally, he did not know what his father did.
Nami and the others widened their eyes.
The leader of the Revolutionary Army was Luffy's father?
Hearing this kind of news made them feel as if their hearts were about to stop. They had learned far too many shocking things today. It was a little hard to digest.
If the hero Garp was still within the range of what they could accept, then the name Monkey D. Dragon was different. Anyone who had heard of his reputation would be shaken. His fame was not inferior to Garp's at all. He was a true world-class figure.
"Captain, I think you don't need to become Pirate King. You can just inherit the family business directly," Nami joked.
Of course, she knew Luffy would not give up on becoming Pirate King.
"They are them, and I am me. The path I want to walk is my own," Luffy said, his will unshakable.
Although he could tell that his grandfather and the father he had never met were both famous big shots, he had no desire to inherit anything from them.
Zoro and the others smiled. This was the captain they knew.
Vivi and King Cobra looked at each other. The son of the Revolutionary Army's leader. The relationship between the Revolutionary Army and the various nations had always been rather delicate. Still, this family's relationships were truly complicated.
"You actually didn't waver. What a dangerous fellow. Should I throw you into Impel Down?" Aokiji's lazy gaze seemed to become slightly serious.
Extreme cold spread out. The sand around them, which had been scorched hot by the sun, instantly froze over.
The blazing heat retreated, and cold air descended. This was truly the first time Vivi had ever felt such a low temperature here in her homeland during the day.
At this moment, everyone finally felt just how powerful a Marine Admiral was.
He stood among the top experts of the sea.
The Straw Hat crew's expressions all turned solemn.
They could not win.
Although thinking that was somewhat embarrassing, their instincts told them they truly could not win. The moment they attacked, they would be instantly defeated.
Zoro drew his sword. The last person who had made him feel this kind of pressure had been Mihawk. He wondered who was stronger between Mihawk and a Marine Admiral.
"Forget it. Let's leave it at that. Next time we meet, just obediently go to Impel Down."
Aokiji withdrew his pressure and rode away on his bicycle.
In the end, out of consideration for Garp, he did not completely tear down their stage.
(End of Chapter)
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