Gear Second: Haoshoku-Infused Internal Fortification!
Luffy's form shifted into the new state he had developed the night before.
Steam sealed within. Red-black patterns blazing. His presence surged.
WHOOSH!
Luffy's afterimage lingered where he had been—then he was behind Smoker. His red-black fist, like a cannonball, tore through the air and slammed into Smoker's side before he could fully elementalize.
Triple Release!
CRACK!
"Guh—!"
Smoker felt impossible force, a penetrating impact. His Haki shattered.
Like being hit by a Sea Train at full speed. His vision went dark. Blood sprayed. He flew backward, crashing through piles of lumber before hitting the ground hard.
He clutched his stomach, staring at Luffy in disbelief. Red-black Haki coiled around him.
how long had it been?
When had he become this strong?
"Puhahaha!"
Garp saw Smoker embedded in the lumber, nearly crying with laughter. He slapped his thigh.
"Told you. You're no match for him, Smoker. Not even close. Learning Haki wasn't enough."
Smoker dragged himself up, blood still on his lips. That punch had knocked the wind out of him.
He glared at Garp. "What's so funny, old man?"
Garp tried to stop laughing. His attempt at a straight face was worse than laughing outright.
Smoker fumed. One man he respected but who acted absurdly. One brat who kept humiliating him, growing too fast.
Maybe he was just incompatible with this whole family.
But he knew this was over.
Garp hadn't come to capture Luffy. Smoker had come to see for himself—how far Luffy had come. How big the gap still was.
The answer was frustrating. But at least now he knew.
Smoker spat blood. "Fine, Straw Hat. Call it even for Alabasta. Next time, no holding back."
Luffy wanted to argue. He was the one holding back.
Because Smoker had come with his grandfather.
But he let it go. "That ice-face Aokiji said he paid you back for that."
"I don't need Kuzan to pay my debts." Smoker's cigar smoke curled. "He's him. I'm me."
"Puhahaha!"
Garp clapped Smoker on the back, nearly knocking the air out of him again. "Everyone knows you two are thick as thieves! What's yours is his!"
"You trying to kill me?"
Smoker staggered, coughing. He cursed silently.
Did this old man know his own strength?
The tension had broken.
Garp sat down in the dirt beside Luffy. The sudden shift to seriousness caught everyone off guard.
"Brat."
Garp's usual grin faded. His voice was almost grave. "Do you have any idea what you've started?"
Luffy sat cross-legged beside him, unconcerned. "Declared war on the World Government. They wouldn't leave Robin alone."
It was a strange scene.
A pirate who had just declared war on the World Government—bounty six hundred sixty million—sitting casually with a Marine Vice Admiral. The Hero himself.
Put some tea and snacks out, and someone might think it was a friendly get-together.
Pirates and Marines, sitting together?
Well, some had suspected Garp and Roger of the same thing.
The new Marines under Garp's command stared, their worldviews crumbling.
Their Vice Admiral had a pirate grandson?
The one in the headlines?
But Bogart and the old guard were unfazed. They had seen Luffy grow up on Garp's visits to Foosha Village.
Luffy waved at Bogart. "Uncle Bogart! You're here too!"
Bogart's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He nodded.
The Marines gaped.
The cold, silent Bogart smiled?
So that's why Smoker was behaving himself.
Garp glanced at Robin. His grandson had stormed Enies Lobby—for a woman?
That wasn't how a Monkey D. man did things.
But Garp felt something like relief. He and Dragon had never been interested in that sort of thing. He'd worried his grandson was the same so oblivious he'd leave the family line dead.
Now? In a few months, three beautiful women were around him. And things seemed... ambiguous.
The progress was faster than the old man had expected. He'd almost thought his generation was moving up.
But women were complicated. And dangerous.
Garp remembered old things. God Valley. Rocks, so proud, brought down by—
The Rocks Pirates fell apart. Later, Roger's crew.
He shook his head. Ancient history.
"Declaring war on the World Government," Garp said, more serious now. "I've done worse. Enies Lobby, a Buster Call? There are worse criminals on the seas."
Luffy laughed. "You taking the blame for me, Grandpa?"
Garp nearly choked.
He'd heard of sons causing trouble for fathers—but a grandson?
"I'm not taking anything! I'm your enemy!"
"I know, I know. Don't get so worked up."
"What matters is this."
Garp raised his fist—lowered it. "You fought an Admiral, even briefly. That's caught attention. From Marine Headquarters. From the Five Elders."
An Admiral was the Marines' ultimate power. The World Government's ultimate deterrent.
A rookie who'd barely been on the seas a few months—holding his own against that? It was unthinkable.
Let him grow. In a few years—
Another monster like the Emperors, ruling the New World.
The balance of power was delicate. Drop a stone in that water—the waves would be immense.
And Aokiji had confirmed it. Luffy had the king's disposition. One in a million.
Not to mention his connections.
Pirates didn't play by social rules? Don't be naive. You just hadn't reached that level.
Smoker interrupted. "Old man. Are you supposed to be saying this in front of him?"
Confidential assessments? Really?
Garp paused. "Oh! I wasn't supposed to say that? Haha! Pretend you didn't hear! Forget it!"
The Marines and shipwrights nearly fainted.
Luffy ignored the gossip. "I'm not there yet," he said. "Ice-face is still stronger."
He clenched his fist. "But I'll close the gap. Soon."
Garp watched him. "No one doubts that, brat. That's the problem. There's talk in the Marines. They're calling you the Fifth Emperor candidate."
"Fifth Emperor?"
Luffy didn't know the term.
Around him, everyone had frozen.
Garp explained. "You know Red Hair? Shanks. He's one of them. The Four Emperors rule the New World. Whitebeard. Kaido. Big Mom. Shanks. The four at the top."
He paused. "Only the Marines and the Shichibukai balance their power. That balance holds the world together. Break it—everything changes."
He looked at Luffy. "Your potential. What you've done. Some think you're the one who'll break it. The Fifth Emperor."
Luffy filtered out everything but the words "Shanks."
"So they think I'm at Shanks's level?"
He grinned. "They've got good taste. I'm getting there. Shanks and me same level now?"
He hadn't forgotten his promise.
One day, he'd have nakama as good as Shanks's. He'd see him again.
Garp's fist came down. A lump rose on Luffy's head.
"Don't get cocky, brat! You're nowhere near them!"
But the conversation had stunned everyone.
The connections—
Vivi covered her mouth. Red Hair Shanks was Luffy's mentor?
Nami ran the math. Luffy's grandfather: Marine Hero Garp. His mentor: Red Hair Shanks, one of the Four Emperors. His brother: Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
She swallowed.
That background was terrifying.
Anyone who still called Luffy a rookie from the East Blue was out of their mind.
"Oh, one more thing."
Garp remembered why he had come. He scratched his head. "I came to ask—have you met your father? He said he saw you off at Loguetown."
"I have a father?"
"Of course you do, you brat!"
Garp's fist came down again. "How do you think you were born? Did you pop out of a rock?!"
"That's not impossible." Nami covered her face.
The punch seemed to jog something in Luffy's memory. He held his new lump. "Oh. There was a guy in a green cloak at Loguetown."
Nami's eyes went wide. "That terrifying man is Luffy's father?!"
So she and Luffy were at the stage where she'd met his parents?
***
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