When Kizaru's words fell.
Garp's pupils suddenly constricted!
On Dragon-san's usually calm face, a subtle flicker of emotion finally appeared.
"Holy crap..."
White Night's scalp tingled instantly.
He looked at Kizaru's lewd expression, his heart churning with shock.
How could such words come out of this guy's mouth?
This old fox was truly enlightened!
With one sentence, he directly touched upon the ultimate paradox of all revolutions!
The dragon slayer will eventually become a dragon.
This was a fate that countless worlds could not escape!
Perhaps eight hundred years ago, when the ancestors of the Celestial Dragons overthrew the rule of the Great Kingdom, they too were the heroes and hope of their era.
Kizaru watched Dragon-san, who had fallen silent, and the smile on his face grew wider.
He withdrew his finger, and the light at its tip slowly dissipated, as if the tense atmosphere just now was merely a joke.
"Well, don't look at me like that."
He spread his hands, his tone returning to that annoying, smug drawl.
"And this mission doesn't have any instructions from the World Government."
"It's Fleet Admiral Sengoku's order, you know."
Kizaru sighed faintly, glancing at White Night beside him, his eyes full of wariness.
"The Fleet Admiral, he's very afraid."
"Afraid that dangerous guys like you will gain... powers from here that we completely cannot understand or control."
"At that time, the world won't just be corrupt anymore."
Kizaru looked at Dragon-san, his lazy expression replaced by an unprecedented seriousness.
"That will be... complete chaos."
Silence once again descended upon the reef.
Only the sound of waves crashing, over and over, as if recounting some eternal law.
Finally, Dragon-san slowly raised his head.
His eyes, which had been momentarily swayed by Kizaru's words, were now clear and firm again, like the sky after a storm, washed clean by the rain.
"So,"
His voice was soft, yet like a sharp knife, it easily cut through the solidified air.
"Just because of an uncertain, fearful future, we should tolerate this present that is already rotten and festering?"
Dragon-san took a step forward.
His dark green cloak billowed without wind, and an invisible gale, centered around him, began to swirl and howl!
"I cannot do it."
This was not a question, but his answer, on which he had staked everything.
"Oh my... this is really getting more and more troublesome."
Kizaru let out an exaggerated sigh, scratching his curly hair in annoyance.
"Honestly, I really don't want to fight you, Dragon-san."
As he spoke, his eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, suddenly turned slyly, landing on Garp, who had been silent all this time.
"Speaking of which, Mr. Garp~"
Kizaru's tone became even more obnoxious and lazy, full of instigation.
"This is your son, isn't he? So disobedient, shouldn't you, as his father, discipline him properly?"
He extended a finger, lazily pointing at Dragon-san.
"Look at his rebellious appearance, it's time for a 'Fist of Love', isn't it?"
However, before he finished speaking.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A deafening burst of laughter suddenly erupted, as if it would shake the clouds in the sky apart!
Garp crossed his arms, laughing so hard he swayed back and forth, the immense force making the reef beneath his feet groan under the strain.
"Borsalino, what nonsense are you talking!"
The laughter abruptly ceased, and Garp suddenly turned his head, picking his ear with his pinky finger, not even bothering to look at Kizaru as he gazed directly at the distant sea.
"This old man hasn't received any orders from that old geezer Sengoku."
He shrugged indifferently, his massive frame making the gesture seem a bit comical.
"This is your mission; this old man is just a retired old guy on vacation in the East Blue, dropping by to see his Grandson."
The subtext was clearly written on his face.
You want me to help you beat my son? You must be dreaming! I'd be doing you a favor by not beating you up myself!
Kizaru's lewd smile froze slightly.
He certainly hadn't expected Garp to actually help, but such an undisguised refusal still made his teeth ache.
Now this was great.
This was really troublesome!
I just wanted a vacation.
Kizaru sighed helplessly in his heart, and then, his lazy expression slowly faded.
His eyes behind the sunglasses shimmered with dangerous golden light, and a terrifying aura, belonging to the Marine's highest fighting force, began to slowly rise.
"Oh my..."
He drew out his words, as if troubled by some difficult matter.
"Since Mr. Garp is unwilling to discipline his son, then I, an outsider, will have to do it."
"Dragon-san, will you come with me willingly, or... shall I invite you to Impel Down for a cup of tea?"
Before his words finished, golden light had already converged at his fingertips!
On the other side, the swirling gale around Dragon-san grew even more fierce, causing the sea surface to indent, and his usually calm eyes finally took on a chilling killing intent.
"You can try."
On the reef, a great battle was about to erupt!
Garp crossed his arms, watching the scene with keen interest, not only not stopping it, but rather looking as if he wished for chaos.
However, in this eerie silence.
The sky, without warning, darkened.
It wasn't clouds obscuring the sun.
Instead, a suffocatingly vast shadow, like an boundless giant maw, swallowed the entire sky, engulfing the entire Foosha Village!
The air seemed to be sucked dry in an instant, and an indescribable sense of oppression descended from the sky, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts!
"Hmm?"
White Night's smile subtly receded as he looked up at the sky shrouded in darkness.
All expression vanished from Garp's face in an instant, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.
Kizaru abruptly pushed up his sunglasses, his perpetually lazy demeanor completely gone, his eyes becoming sharp as knives.
And Dragon-san, whose eyes had always been calm, now had colossal waves stirring within them!
The three of them looked up simultaneously.
Only to see a colossal, unparalleled island slowly floating in the dim sky!
Below the island were grotesque rocks and earth, and even inverted forests could be seen!
That was not an illusion!
It was a real, truly floating... Sky Island, ten thousand meters high!
A legendary name instantly surfaced in Garp's and Kizaru's minds.
"That old man..."
Garp's voice was low and hoarse, his fists unconsciously clenching.
"Golden Lion... Shiki!"
"Gehahahahahaha!"
Wild, unrestrained laughter, like rolling thunder, crashed down from ten thousand meters above!
The laughter contained an unparalleled domineering arrogance, as if everything between heaven and earth was beneath his notice!