Chapter 116: Garp Arrives
"Knock Up Stream…"
Garp muttered, his brow tightening.
Suddenly, a flash of insight hit him.
"Sky Island?" He jerked in surprise.
As a veteran powerhouse, he had naturally heard the legends of Sky Island, though he'd never verified them himself.
"Follow them!"
Garp took a deep breath and looked out over the sea, his voice deep.
If the Dragonflame Pirates slipped through his fingers this time, his reputation would take a serious hit—especially with the World Gov·ernment.
"Yes, sir!"
The adjutant shouted, and the warship accelerated once more.
…
The waters behind Jaya Island.
Boom… rumble…
Dark clouds pressed low overhead, shrouding heaven and earth in darkness, as if the sky itself were collapsing—heavy with suffocating tension.
Yet the sea surface remained perfectly calm, peaceful to the point of eerie stillness.
The Dragonflame drifted quietly on the water.
"How much longer?"
Jiang Qize stood at the bow, his expression calm as he looked out over the sea.
Behind him stood the old drunk, who was also watching the still water with a surprisingly serious expression.
"It should be soon. I need to go underwater to confirm more precisely."
For once, the old drunk was utterly solemn, as if he were a different person.
"All right. Canglong!"
Jiang Qize nodded and called out toward the sea.
"Roar~"
Canglong surfaced.
"Protect him while he goes under."
"Roar~" Canglong bellowed.
Despite his nerves, the old drunk still jumped down.
Canglong caught him and shot back beneath the waves.
Time passed slowly.
Ten minutes later, a massive shadow surged up from below, and Canglong burst from the water.
The old drunk leapt out of Canglong's mouth, dripping wet but visibly excited.
"The Knock Up Stream will erupt in five minutes! It's right beneath us."
He spoke urgently.
Hearing that, Jiang Qize stretched his Observation Haki downward, letting it blanket the sea.
In his perception, the water beneath them was indeed compressing and spiraling upward, gathering into a pressure that grew more intense by the second.
"I'll give you a choice. You can stay, or you can leave." He looked at the old drunk calmly.
Someone who could read the weather this precisely was a decent talent.
The old drunk froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. Twenty years ago, he would have chosen to stay without hesitation, but he was already past fifty.
"I… I'll leave."
"All right. Take the money and have Canglong bring you back." Jiang Qize nodded, not forcing him.
This had been a momentary impulse at best.
"Thank you!"
The old drunk bowed gratefully.
He took the money and jumped onto Canglong's back.
With a flick of its tail, Canglong turned into a streak of gray light and shot toward the shoreline several kilometers away.
"Bawang, are you ready?" Jiang Qize looked toward him.
"Yes." Bawang nodded.
"Good."
Less than a minute later, Canglong returned.
"Ya~"
At that moment, Wukong the pteranodon cried out from the sky.
"Captain! There's a warship behind us!"
Camon shouted loudly.
Jiang Qize walked over and looked several kilometers into the distance.
"Garp?"
His brows lifted slightly as he murmured.
He hadn't expected Garp to show up here, and judging by the situation, he was clearly in pursuit.
He should have realized that piloting the Dragonflame would quickly attract the attention of the World Gov·ernment or the Navy, but he hadn't expected it to be the Navy's Hero.
But now that Garp had arrived, it didn't matter. They were still several kilometers apart, and the Knock Up Stream would erupt in less than a minute.
"Ignore him."
Jiang Qize said calmly.
Beneath the Dragonflame, the seawater began to churn, swirling slowly upward. The ship itself started to shift with the growing pull.
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