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Chapter 85: Mission Complete, Reward Doubled
On the Marineford plaza, Sengoku stood, frozen.
His golden Buddha form was gone, leaving only his battered uniform.
He watched the Whitebeard Pirates retreat in an orderly fashion, his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Fleet Admiral..."
A Marine commander beside him spoke, trembling.
"Should we... pursue?"
Sengoku was silent for a moment.
"No. Do not pursue."
"What?!"
The commander's eyes went wide.
"But Fleet Admiral! Ace has been rescued!"
"If we don't pursue..."
"Enough!"
Sengoku snapped, his eyes full of exhaustion.
"Didn't you see?"
"Sakazuki has already...!"
"And Garp..."
He paused, not continuing.
"We have already lost this war."
The commander opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Sengoku turned, looking at the figure in the distance, bathed in green light.
Garp stood at the edge of the deep crater.
The green steam had vanished, and the lightning no longer danced.
But his aura... was still powerful.
Sengoku stared at him.
"Garp..."
His voice was soft.
"In the end... what did you choose?"
Garp didn't answer.
He just stood there, watching Whitebeard's fleet sail away.
...
Kizaru stood on a distant piece of rubble.
He had his hands in his pockets, watching the pirates retreat.
"Ooooh..."
He scratched his head.
"This is... not going to be an easy clean-up."
...
"Voom—"
A strange vibration came from the depths of his soul.
Garp snapped his head up. The green steam roiled.
[Mission Complete!]
[Successfully rescued 'Fire Fist' Ace!]
[Calculating dungeon settlement...]
[Countdown: 60 seconds]
The cold, mechanical voice exploded in his mind.
Garp froze.
He looked down at his hands.
They were covered in cracks, dried blood caked in the lines.
"It's over?"
He muttered.
The noise of the battlefield was still clear.
The Whitebeard Pirates were retreating. The Marines were slumped in the ruins, their eyes vacant.
Garp turned, looking at the Moby Dick.
Whitebeard stood at the bow, holding Ace. The kid was still in Seastone cuffs, but the despair was gone from his face.
He was looking... this way.
At him.
Garp grinned.
"Stupid brat..."
He raised his hand, waving at Ace.
Ace stared.
Then, his eyes instantly reddened.
"Grandpa—!"
He roared, his voice echoing across the battlefield.
Whitebeard looked down at him, said nothing. He just... let go.
Ace struggled to stand, but he was too weak.
He knelt on the deck, and kowtowed in Garp's direction.
"Thank you..."
His voice was choked.
"Thank you... for saving me..."
Garp didn't answer.
He just stood there, watching the kid.
[Countdown: 30 seconds]
Sengoku stood at the edge of the crater.
He looked at Garp's back, his lips tight.
"Garp..."
His voice was quiet.
"Can you tell me now... where you came from?"
Garp was silent for a moment.
He looked at his old friend's weathered face. His lips moved, and he was about to speak—
"Ace! I'm here to save you!"
A heart-tearing scream came from the sky.
Garp snapped his head up.
A boy in a straw hat was standing on the bow of a warship. The deck was filled with pirates in prison uniforms.
Impel Down prisoners?
Garp's pupils shrank.
"Luffy?!"
Sengoku was also stunned.
At the same time, from the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's thunderous roar erupted.
"Teach!"
His voice was filled with rage and killing intent.
"You... are the one I can never forgive!"
Garp instinctively turned, trying to see what was happening.
But just then—
[Countdown: 5 seconds]
[4]
[3]
Garp's body froze.
"Wait—"
He wanted to look, one more time. To see that stupid brat.
[2]
[1]
"Damn it—"
Garp gritted his teeth.
[Teleportation beginning]
A blinding white light instantly swallowed his figure!
Boom—!
On the Marineford plaza, the figure bathed in green steam... suddenly vanished.
As if he had never been there.
Leaving only the ruins... and that deep, footprint-shaped crater.
Sengoku stood frozen. He stared at the spot where Garp had disappeared, his lips pressed thin.
...
The white light faded.
Garp fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He rolled to his feet. The green steam was gone, the lightning was gone.
He was back in the dark space.
A boundless, dead-silent void.
"Hoo..."
Garp let out a breath. He looked down at his hands.
They were covered in cracks, the blood now dark scabs.
The side-effects of the Eight Inner Gates... were still there.
But they were much lighter than he'd expected.
Probably... because I only opened the Third Gate?
Garp moved his shoulders, his joints cracking.
To be honest, he hadn't had enough.
Just then, the cold, mechanical voice exploded in his mind.
[Dungeon Settlement Complete]
[Mission Rating: SSS-Rank]
[Rating Details: Successfully rescued 'Fire Fist' Ace, defeated Marine Admiral 'Akainu' Sakazuki, frontally confronted Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Admirals Aokiji and Kizaru, and single-handedly turned the tide of the war!]
[Fulfilling "Reward Doubled" promise...]
[Reward Acquired: Strongest Paramecia · Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Perfect Version)]
[Reward Description: The power said to be able to destroy the world. Can create vibrations powerful enough to shatter the atmosphere and raise tsunamis. The Perfect Version has removed all Devil Fruit side-effects. The user will no longer be weakened by seawater or Seastone.]
Garp's pupils... shrank to pinpoints.
His mind... buzzed... and went blank.
The Tremor-Tremor Fruit?
Newgate's...
That old bastard's... power?
Garp subconsciously clenched his fist. An unprecedented, terrifying power, as if it could tear everything apart, awoke within him. It instantly merged with him, like an instinct.
He remembered... in the dungeon, every time Whitebeard swung his naginata, every time he punched... the very atmosphere shattered.
That power... was his now?
Garp slowly raised his fist. He aimed at the void... and, copying Whitebeard... slammed his fist forward!
No sound.
No light.
Only... the black space in front of him... like a mirror struck by an invisible hammer... was suddenly covered... in a web of cracks!
KRACHA—!
A crisp shattering sound. The void he struck... really did... shatter like glass, collapsing... revealing an even deeper, more terrifying chaos behind it!
Garp was frozen.
He stared at his fist... then at the spatial cracks, which were slowly repairing... The muscles in his face twitched.
After a moment of dead silence.
"Pfft..."
"Bwahahaha..."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
A deafening, wild laugh... exploded in the void, so loud it made the surrounding world-fragments tremble!
"This is... interesting!"
"I've become Whitebeard-Plus!"