Unable to find the words to argue back, Garp silently endured Dadan's fists.
Makino could not stand it anymore.
"Dadan, stop!"
"Uncle Garp is hurting too!"
Dadan froze mid punch. Her face was already soaked with tears.
"You stupid old man!"
With that, she turned and ran back home.
Only then did Makino and the others help Garp to his feet.
"Uncle Garp, are you alright? Dadan is just too angry. Please do not blame her."
Garp shook his head. "If this helps her feel a little better, I do not mind, Makino."
He brushed the dust off his clothes and walked into the tavern. Right now, he was not the Hero of the Marines. He was just an old man who had lost his grandson.
Several days passed.
Dadan and the others gradually calmed down. They still did not look at Garp very kindly, but they stopped blaming him. After all, back then, they could not control Ace either.
Just then, a Marine warship sailed into the harbor.
The blade pattern along the hull made it instantly recognizable as Ezra D. Vale's ship.
Ezra stepped off the ship and stretched. "Windmill Village, huh. Uncle Garp has probably been having a rough time lately."
Beside him, Aokiji scratched his head. "Yeah. Everyone here knows each other."
"Come on, Aokiji. Let's check the tavern."
As they walked through the village, they saw many familiar faces. Most people looked at Ezra with awe but did not dare to come over and greet him.
Ezra understood. Ever since he took the title of the world's strongest man, a distance had formed between him and ordinary people.
Just like right now.
He pushed open the tavern door.
Garp was sitting inside alone.
Makino smiled when she saw Ezra. "Ezra, you are back."
Ezra smiled and gently patted her hair. "Pour me a drink."
She nodded and went to prepare it.
Ezra walked over to Garp. The Marine hero looked nothing like his usual self. He seemed completely worn out, dressed in a casual shirt and loose shorts, stubble covering his face, cheeks flushed from too much alcohol.
Garp squinted at him. "Oh, Ezra. What brings you to Windmill Village?"
Ezra sighed and took the glass from Garp's hand. "Uncle Garp, maybe stop drinking so much."
Garp trembled slightly, then nodded.
"Sengoku was worried about you," Ezra said. "He asked me to come bring you back."
Garp waved a hand. "I am fine. You did not have to come all this way. Sengoku could have called ahead."
Only then did Aokiji speak up. "Vice Admiral Garp, that would require being able to reach you first."
He lifted a large barrel of alcohol. Garp's Den Den Mushi was floating inside.
Garp scratched his head awkwardly. "Maybe the snail was thirsty too?"
Aokiji and Ezra stared at him.
Do you really think that joke is funny?
The three of them sat and chatted for a while. The smell of alcohol on Garp faded, and his mood gradually steadied. Ezra and Aokiji both felt relieved.
They decided to stay a few more days and keep him company.
So for the next several days, the three of them fished together and relaxed. Ezra even gave himself a short vacation, staying at Makino's house.
He just went to bed rather late each night.
But that was fine.
He was the world's strongest man. A little extra exercise was nothing.
A week passed peacefully.
On the surface, Garp seemed mostly back to normal. As for what he truly felt inside, only he knew.
Under Sengoku's urging, the three finally said goodbye to Windmill Village and boarded a warship back to G1 Headquarters.
Every time Ezra stepped onto a warship, he thought of Iceburg in Water 7. It had been months since he commissioned the construction of Pluton, yet there had been no news at all.
If Iceburg were not still occasionally sending new ships to the Marines, Ezra might have thought the man ran away.
"I should visit Water 7 sometime."
After several days at sea, Ezra was training when a sharp alarm interrupted him.
"Admiral Zanka, a pirate ship is charging straight at us!" a soldier shouted from outside.
Ezra raised a brow. There were still pirates this reckless?
He quickly got dressed and stepped onto the deck.
"Admiral," Aokiji said, handing him a telescope.
"Do we know the crew?" Ezra asked.
Aokiji shook his head. "Never seen that flag before. Probably rookies."
Ezra looked through the telescope and froze.
The man on the enemy ship wore a horned hat with one horn broken, a scar across his right eye, and a mustache shaped like a W. He grinned like a maniac, sleeveless coat flapping, a cannonball raised in one hand.
Ezra's mouth twitched. "That is no rookie."
Aokiji blinked. "You recognize him?"
Ezra nodded. "Byrnndi World."
Garp and Aokiji both sucked in a breath.
"You are kidding!"
Garp grabbed the telescope. His body trembled. "It really is him."
Aokiji clicked his tongue. "What a troublesome opponent. The World Destroyer, Byrnndi World."
Ezra shrugged, uninterested. "Too weak. Aokiji, you handle it."
Aokiji's mouth twitched, but fine. He did need more exercise.
Before he could move, a roar came from the pirate ship, now much closer.
"All Marines should die!"
"Momo Momo Fruit, one hundred times speed!"
World hurled the cannonball.
With a hundredfold speed boost, it shot toward the warship in an instant.
Aokiji frowned. "Hey, I was not done talking."
His right arm turned to ice and fired forward.
"Ice Block, Pheasant Beak!"
In a flash, the cannonball froze solid midair.
Aokiji's gaze locked onto Byrnndi World in the distance.