Marine Headquarters, the afternoon sun bathed the harbor, the cries of seagulls rising and falling.
Bam!
The sound of a door being violently pushed open shattered the afternoon peace.
Garp, dozing at home, was startled nearly off his hammock. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he grumbled, "Who is it? Disturbing my nap…"
"Vice Admiral Garp!" A messenger ran up, panting. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku summons you urgently!"
"What's that old geezer freaking out about now?" Garp let out a long yawn, slowly getting up from the hammock, casually stuffing the half-eaten bag of senbei on the table into his coat.
When he ambled into the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku was staring grimly at a wanted poster.
"Sengoku," The door was kicked open as Garp strode in, picking his nose. "My vacation still has two weeks left. Calling me back so urgently…"
"A major incident has occurred in the East Blue," Sengoku said solemnly.
"Is it that brat Shanks going back to the East Blue? Haha, did he get beaten up by some mountain bandit again?" Garp casually picked up the tea from Sengoku's desk and took a sip to wet his throat.
"No…" Sengoku took a deep breath. "Someone has submitted Golden Lion's head."
"Pfft!"
Garp spat the tea all over Sengoku's face, urgently asking, "Confirmed?"
Sengoku wiped his face expressionlessly with a towel. "Branch 16 already cross-checked the wanted poster. But I'm still uneasy. This is a historic event. I've already sent Tsuru to verify."
Garp grumbled, "Why not send me? The East Blue is my turf, and I'd like to see that bastard Shiki off myself."
Sengoku frowned. "The people who submitted the head had… an unpleasant encounter with the Marines there. I'm worried you going over might complicate things."
Garp narrowed his eyes. "Did the base commander there try to steal the credit?"
Sengoku nodded. "The submitters are very young. Captain Nezumi of Branch 16 probably thought they just found it."
"And then? Nezumi got killed?"
"Reduced to ashes."
Garp snorted. "Serves him right! So, you're going to pay out the bounty?"
Sengoku shook his head. "The fact that those two are willing to submit Golden Lion's head suggests they don't hold major hostility toward the Marines. Moreover, according to the Marines of Branch 16, many monsters fell from Golden Lion's sky islands. Those two young men commandeered a battleship to hunt the monsters and protect civilians."
"All this indicates they are different from the usual ruthless pirates. For the sake of a corrupt Marine Captain, pushing potential top-tier fighters capable of killing Golden Lion toward becoming pirates would be unwise."
"That's true," Garp stroked his chin. "What are their names? Any intel?"
Sengoku said, "The Captain is called Chiaki Setsuna. Seems to be a martial arts specialist."
"Chiaki Setsuna?" Garp smacked his lips. "Sounds like a name from Wano."
"The other is called Ace, a user of the Mera Mera no Mi…"
"Pfft!" Garp sprayed tea all over Sengoku again.
This time, Sengoku finally lost his patience, wiping his face with a dark expression. "What's wrong with you?"
"The photo! Do you have a photo?"
Suspicious, Sengoku took out a photo. Garp snatched it, then burst into loud laughter. "Hahahaha! It's that kid Ace!"
Sengoku frowned. "You know him?"
Garp slapped his chest. "He's my grandson."
Sengoku's expression instantly froze. "Dragon's son?"
"Not that one," Garp laughed, slapping his thigh. "Not by blood, but in my eyes, there's no difference."
He examined the photo with interest. "Interesting. That kid Ace would actually acknowledge someone else as his Captain?"
Sengoku pondered for a moment. "Since there's this connection… once Tsuru confirms it, you go and invite them to join the Warlords."
Garp counted on his fingers. "Crocodile, Hancock, Mihawk, Jinbei, Moria, Doflamingo, Hanafuda… That's already seven. And you call yourself the [Resourceful General]. I think [Clueless General] fits better. You can't even count properly."
Sengoku said with a dark face, "That fool Hanafuda is now increasingly blatantly working for Kaido. If we can't check the Four Emperors, what's the use of these Warlords?"
Garp dug his ear. "Fine, fine, I'll go. But do you really think someone who can take down Golden Lion would care about being a Warlord?"
…
Five days later, all the escaped monsters had been captured by Setsuna.
The 30 pirate ships of the Krieg Pirates and the 10 ships of the Black Cat Pirates were joined together into a rectangular mass, moving across the sea as if on solid ground.
Standing on the deck of the flagship, Ace felt a surge of ambition. "Captain, shall we head for the Grand Line now?"
Setsuna reminded him, "Before heading to the Grand Line, have you forgotten something?"
Ace looked grave. "Did I eat and run again? Shouldn't have… I remember paying lately."
Setsuna shook his head slightly. "Your first crewmate."
"Right! Deuce!" Ace suddenly realized, then laughed heartily. "Haha, if that guy Deuce sees we have such a large fleet, he'll be so shocked."
"I already ordered them to head towards that island. We'll wait for news."
Ten minutes later, Kuro ran over in a panic. "Boss! We found a super-gigantic Sea King near an island ahead. It's almost as big as the island itself."
"Don't worry. That's my pet too."
Hearing 'pet', Kuro felt sick.
He originally thought his strength was probably third in the East Blue, just below Arlong and that Headquarters Captain in Loguetown.
But as it turned out, any one of the 'pets' on this fleet was stronger than him.
Thankfully, Setsuna had enough subordinates, so Kuro has no need to worry about becoming pet food… for now.
As the fleet nervously approached the island, this was the scene they saw:
The massive Sea King rested its head on the beach, eyes closed, mouth wide open.
A boy wearing an eye mask was grilling various foods on the beach, laboriously transporting the cooked food into the serpent's mouth.
The food items were even larger than he was, yet he summoned unimaginable strength to move them.
"Deuce! We're here!"
Hearing Ace's voice, Deuce trembled. Tears welled in his eyes. He'd had such a difficult time these past days.
Ace jumped onto the beach, patting Deuce's shoulder. "Deuce, you've gotten much stronger!"
Deuce teared up again. Without pushing himself, he never knew he had such potential.
Titan smelled Setsuna's scent and happily rushed towards him, scaring the pirates on the ships so much their legs went weak. Fortunately, Titan stopped in time, avoiding a collision that would have destroyed the fleet.
Setsuna stroked Titan's scales, noticing it had grown nearly 200 meters in just a few days.
Setsuna wasn't surprised. He had been suppressing Titan's growth. Coming to this world abundant with food, Titan no longer needed to restrain itself. Of course its size would change day by day.