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Chapter 65: The War Begins
The lights blurred, finally converging on a single, fixed image.
A blue sky.
A crescent-shaped bay.
Tens of thousands of Marines in white uniforms, their faces grim.
And... a tall, cold... execution platform.
Garp's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
He saw it.
He saw the figure kneeling on the platform, bound in Seastone chains.
Stubborn black hair, a face filled with unwillingness and anger, and the glorious tattoo of the Whitebeard Pirates on his chest.
It was Ace!
His gaze snapped down, and he saw the three figures, standing side-by-side below the platform. They were so familiar.
Sengoku... and Kuzan, Sakazuki, Borsalino...
Garp's mind buzzed and went blank.
This is!
This is the future!??
Two large, burning words, in different colors, appeared before Garp.
[Marines]
[Pirates]
One represented the career he had dedicated his life to, the justice he had enforced.
The other... represented his family, his blood.
Garp froze, the blood in his veins turning cold.
He finally understood. He understood that strange, fleeting smile on Blake's face!
The cold, grand, mechanical voice rang out again.
[Please select your faction!]
Garp's breath caught.
His gaze fell on the word [Marines].
It was the career he had dedicated his life to.
It was the justice he had enforced with his iron fists.
In the vision, below the platform, stood his lifelong friend Sengoku. Stood the three "brats" he had watched grow up. Stood 100,000 elite Marines with "Justice" carved on their backs.
That was where he belonged.
His gaze... slowly, with agonizing difficulty, moved to the word [Pirates].
And then, his gaze went past the word, to the execution platform.
To his grandson. Kneeling there, full of defiance, his head still held high.
That was his family.
His family, whom he had failed to raise right, but whom he loved, his own blood.
Justice on one side.
Family on the other.
Garp's massive body, for the first time, trembled uncontrollably.
His iron fists, which had shattered countless legends, were clenched so tight his knuckles were white.
How... how could he choose?
His entire life, he had fought for the justice of the Marines.
But now... this damn justice... was about to take his family's life!
To hell with justice!
A mad thought, without any warning, erupted from the bottom of Garp's heart. It shocked even him.
He froze.
Then, he slowly grinned, a low, suppressed laugh. It was a laugh tinged with a strange sense of relief.
"Heh... hehe..."
That's right.
He'd been the 'Marine Hero' his whole life.
Because of that title, he had lost too much, given up too much.
He couldn't be there for Roger, watching his best friend walk to his death.
He couldn't be there for his own son, letting him walk a path against the world.
And now... even his grandson...
Garp's eyes... slowly sharpened, turning wild.
"This is just a dungeon, right?"
He muttered to the void.
"Just an... 'experience,' right?"
"Bwahahaha!"
He snapped his head up, letting out his signature laugh. But this time, it was filled with complex emotions.
"I've been a Marine my whole life. Just for once... I want to be the bastard!"
"Didn't that brat Blake say... this would be an unforgettable experience?"
"Well then..."
Garp's gaze was filled with absolute resolve.
He raised his thick, calloused index finger.
Between the two options, [Marines] and [Pirates], he didn't hesitate for a second.
He pressed it, heavily, on [Pirates]!
"Let me see!"
"Just what's it like... to be a pirate!!"
Voom!
The moment he made his choice, all the images shattered!
[Faction selected: Pirates]
[Mission Objective: Successfully rescue 'Fire Fist' Ace]
[Teleporting... begins!]
Blinding white light swallowed him once again.
Endless noise and shouting instantly flooded his ears!
The darkness faded.
Noise and the smell of blood flooded Garp's senses.
The roar of cannons, the clash of swords, the screams and shouts of tens of thousands of men, all formed a violent symphony of war.
He was standing on the deck of a massive ship.
The bow was shaped like a giant whale.
The Moby Dick.
He was surrounded by the enemies he had chased his entire life.
Pirates.
They were all staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost. Their weapons were half-raised, their faces a mask of shock, confusion, and undisguised hostility.
"Garp?!"
"Marine Hero Garp?!"
"What is he doing here?!"
Garp ignored the small fry.
His sharp, hawk-like eyes instantly locked onto the tall execution platform in the distance.
He saw his old friend Sengoku, standing grim-faced at the front.
He saw Kuzan, Sakazuki, and Borsalino, the three "brats," sitting there like three gods of destruction.
And then... he saw Ace.
His grandson.
Bound in Seastone, kneeling in humiliation.
It was exactly as he had seen in the vision.
Garp's heart was squeezed.
Just then.
A voice, amplified by countless Den Den Mushi, like the judgment of a god, echoed across Marineford, drowning out all the noise of the battlefield.
It was Sengoku.
"Listen up! You worthless pirates! And all of you around the world watching this broadcast!"
Sengoku's voice was cold, carrying an authority that could not be questioned.
"The man being executed here today... his sin... is far greater than just being the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
He paused, letting the suffocating tension spread.
"Portgas D. Ace! Your biological father... is the source of all evil who began this Great Pirate Era..."
"The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!!"
The world... seemed to stop.
Then... came an even more violent, volcanic eruption of chaos!
On the platform, Ace, who had kept his head down, snapped it up!
His face was pure, unadulterated, agonizing rage!
He used all his strength to let out a roar that shook the heavens. His voice was hoarse, but filled with an unbending will!
"Wrong!!"
"My father..."
"Is Whitebeard! And no one else!!"
That scream... was his final declaration. A complete rejection of the bloodline forced upon him.
Garp heard it.
Every word drilled into his ears.
He just stood there, on the enemy's ship, surrounded by pirates.
He had known for a long time that Ace was Roger's son.
What stunned him... was Ace's desperate cry.
His brain, which just a moment ago had been a mess of anger, regret, and a strange relief, suddenly went quiet.
He blinked.
He blinked again.
A ridiculous thought, one that came from nowhere, popped into his head.
Wait a minute.
Ace just said... his father is Whitebeard?
Edward Newgate?
Garp's brow furrowed. He entered a deep, internal monologue.
The logic is simple.
Ace is my grandson.
Ace's father is Whitebeard.
Then...
Garp's eyes went wide. A strange light flickered in their depths.
His mouth twitched.
...Doesn't that make me... Whitebeard's father?
Pfft.
A laugh escaped his lips.
The surrounding Whitebeard pirates tensed, thinking he was about to attack.
But Garp just stood there, his massive shoulders starting to shake.
"Bwahahaha... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"