The Grand Line.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
"Bwahahaha! Finally back!"
"Man, I've gotta ask Sengoku for three months off the second I see him. This trip absolutely wiped me out!"
Garp stepped off a super warship with a dog-head figurehead, swaggering with an air of absolute, unapologetic confidence.
Beside him, Bogard stood in stunned silence.
'Are you seriously claiming you're exhausted?'
The man clearly just wanted to get his grandson back to the East Blue so he could spend some quality time beating some sense into him.
"Right, Bogard, has that brat Luffy arrived yet?"
"Based on the timing, he should have been here for several days," Bogard replied.
"Good, perfect timing. Go find out where he's being held and get him out for me!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
Garp wasn't worried in the slightest about whether something had gone wrong during his absence. After all, he had already spoken with Sengoku over the phone. They had been close friends for decades; Sengoku would certainly grant him this small favor.
Besides, Luffy had only been at sea for a few days. Aside from painting a pirate flag, he hadn't actually done anything—he didn't even have a bounty yet.
However...
A few minutes later, Bogard came jogging back.
"Vice Admiral, the ship from the 16th Branch never arrived."
"That's impossible. Sean notified me the moment he ordered them to set sail. By all accounts, they should have docked by now."
"I'm not sure, sir, but I checked the port records. The 16th Branch ship definitely hasn't come in. Could there have been an accident on the way?"
"An accident?"
Garp's heart skipped a beat.
Accidents on the open sea were no joke, especially on the Grand Line. Furthermore, Luffy was a Devil Fruit user. If they had encountered a shipwreck...
'Sizzle!'
Garp immediately whipped out his Den Den Mushi and dialed Sean.
Two minutes later...
"You're telling me that brat Dragon intercepted Luffy halfway and beat everyone on the warship to the brink of death?"
As Garp listened to Sean's explanation, his eyes widened in shock. Knowing Sean, the kid wouldn't just sit back and take this; he would definitely find a way to tear a piece of flesh off Dragon.
"Kid, don't do anything reckless! Leave this to me to resolve!"
"Old man Garp, it's already too late."
"Too late... what did you do?"
"I wiped out his entire East Army, including every single one of their officers. I took the whole lot of them."
The entire East Army?
Garp was well aware of the structure of the Revolutionary Army. They were divided into four armies—East, South, West, and North—each responsible for one of the four seas. Over the years, the Revolutionary Army had caused significant chaos across the seas, having overturned several Affiliated Nations on three separate occasions.
Consequently, both the World Government and the Marines had been desperately trying to eradicate them, specifically targeting the commanders of the four armies. Unfortunately, they had never succeeded; those people were like rats—impossible to catch.
And now Sean was saying he had simply wiped out the Revolutionary Army's East Army in one fell swoop?
Garp didn't even know how to react. He could have told Sean to leave it to him before, but the deed was already done. He couldn't exactly tell Sean, "Hey, kid, why don't you just let them go now?"
The words simply wouldn't come out.
"Old man, stay out of this. I've already given him my terms. The final outcome depends entirely on his choice."
"What terms?"
"A ransom, obviously. What else would it be?"
Hearing this, Garp breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just a ransom, it was manageable—it was probably just a matter of Belly.
Garp chatted with Sean for a few more minutes, even slapping his chest and promising that he would give that brat Luffy a proper thrashing. Only then did he hang up.
He immediately dialed another number. The moment the call connected, he unleashed a non-stop torrent of screaming and cursing that lasted a full three minutes.
"I'm telling you right now: go apologize to Sean immediately and ransom your people back! This ends here!"
"Hold on! Do you have any idea what price Sean is asking?"
"It's just some Belly! If you dare try anything else, believe me, I'll flatten the other half of your face!"
"You make it sound so easy, old man! He wants five Devil Fruits—and they can't be trash abilities! Where the hell am I supposed to find those on short notice?"
...
Garp, who had assumed Sean only wanted some Belly, was completely stunned.
Five Devil Fruits? And they couldn't be low-tier powers?
That kid was truly ruthless!
For the first time, Garp understood why Dragon was struggling. While the market price for a Devil Fruit was around a hundred million Belly, they were practically non-existent on the open market. If someone actually put one up for sale, even a useless ability could typically fetch two or three hundred million.
Even if they cost a billion each—five billion Belly in total—Dragon could have endured it. The problem was that you simply couldn't buy them!
'''
"Lucci, put out the word: the moment any trace of Luffy is found, notify me immediately."
"Especially through Blueno. I suspect Dragon won't send the boy back to the East Blue; it's far more likely he'll take him straight to the New World."
The matter with the Revolutionary Army was one thing, but the matter of Luffy...
This was the first time a prisoner had been hijacked from the 16th Branch. If Luffy wasn't brought back, that stain would follow the branch forever. Sean would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Yes, Rear Admiral!"
"However..."
Sean looked up at Lucci with a look of curiosity.
"Lucci, since when did you start hesitating when you speak?"
"Rear Admiral, I was just wondering... if the Revolutionary Army actually provides the five Devil Fruits, are we really going to release those people?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
"Uh..."
Lucci found this difficult to comprehend. Sean's tone had been dripping with disgust when he spoke of the Revolutionary Army. Given Sean's personality, if he hated a faction that much, he should never let them go.
"Let's break this down," Sean explained. "First, I don't believe Dragon can actually produce five high-quality fruits. That's point one."
"Second, even if he can, do you really think he'll save anyone other than Belo Betty?"
"Fine, let's say he uses a third fruit to save Ashiru..."
"What about the East Army officers? What about those three hundred Revolutionary Army soldiers? Do you really think Dragon will cough up a fourth or even a fifth fruit just to rescue them all?"
"Lucci, over the years, the Revolutionary Army has taken root across the globe. Trying to eradicate them through conventional means would consume far too many resources, and there is no guarantee it would be thorough."
"If we fail to be complete in our purge, those who remain will likely become even more radical, making them capable of anything."
"Therefore, we need a change in strategy when dealing with the Revolutionary Army. Do you understand what I mean?"
Lucci seemed to understand, yet at the same time, he didn't.
"Think it over. Once you truly grasp this, you will be able to lead your own operations rather than just being an instrument of execution," Sean said, patting him on the shoulder.
'''
One day later.
Just as Sean had anticipated, Dragon agreed to the ransom.
However, he stated that he only had two Paramecia-type Devil Fruits on hand and wished to redeem Belo Betty first. As for the others, he would return to ransom them once he had secured more Devil Fruits.
Sean agreed to these terms without hesitation.
"Belo Betty, congratulations. Dragon has paid two Devil Fruits for your release, so..."
"You are free to go!"
Sean announced this directly in the branch prison, in front of all the captured members of the Revolutionary Army.
Belo Betty's expression, however, did not mirror the joy one would expect.
Instead...
Her face turned grim.