Chapter 6 - Bounty Made a Sensation arround the World
Every muscle in Rayleigh's body went taut.
He was facing an opponent he had been wary of even in his prime—a man who had just single-handedly overturned Marineford.
Garp ignored Rayleigh's defensive stance.
In his mind, the glow of the three options was slowly fading.
[Option 3: The Justice of Patience.]
Entrust Luffy to Rayleigh, take no action for two years, and conceal yourself.
Reward: After two years, proficiency in all three types of Haki doubles, and acquire the ability "Perfect Presence Concealment."
"I choose three."
Sunny made the decision in his heart.
[Ding! Selection successful. Ability "Perfect Presence Concealment" has been preliminarily issued.]
Almost the instant the System notification faded, Rayleigh suddenly felt a jarring sense of dissonance.
The Garp before him... had changed.
It wasn't his appearance, but something far more essential.
One second ago, he was a prehistoric monster; even with his claws retracted, he radiated a terrifying, suffocating pressure.
The next second?
That aura, heavy enough to crush mountains, vanished.
It wasn't suppressed. It wasn't hidden. It was thoroughly, cleanly gone.
It was as if an invisible hand had wiped his presence from the world entirely.
The old man standing in front of him was now just an ordinary, perhaps slightly exhausted, bad-tempered old geezer.
"I'm old."
Garp spoke, his voice carrying a genuine weight of fatigue.
"That battle at the Summit... it pretty much drained every ounce of strength I had left."
He pointed at the unconscious Luffy on the ground.
"For the next two years, I'm just an ordinary retired old man, responsible for watching over this troublesome grandson of mine."
"Teaching him... I leave that to you, Dark King Rayleigh."
Rayleigh didn't speak.
He just stared intensely at Garp.
He could sense that Garp wasn't lying; the concern and the entrustment were real.
But the way his presence had vanished into thin air? That confused the hell out of him—a top-tier Haki user—more than anything he had ever experienced.
Finally, he nodded.
"I promised Shanks I would look after the one he chose."
"I will teach him."
Garp grinned, found a clean rock by the seaside, plonked his butt down, and immediately started dozing off.
It was as if the man who had just shaken the world was merely an illusion.
Rayleigh watched this scene, silent for a long time.
Finally, he turned, hoisted Luffy onto his shoulder, and walked toward the depths of the island.
While Garp slept soundly on the shores of Amazon Lily, the storm he had personally ignited was just beginning to sweep across the entire world.
_______
The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
The Room of Authority.
BANG!
A solid mahogany long table was smashed into splinters by a withered hand.
"Trash! You are all trash!"
The bald Elder holding a sword roared in fury.
"One Garp! Just one Garp—who was supposed to be our sharpest blade—has trampled the face of the World Government into the dirt!"
Another Elder, this one with a long white mustache, spoke with a voice like ice.
"We must find him! If he's alive, I want to see him; if he's dead, I want to see his corpse!"
"I do not believe he can simply evaporate from this world!"
"CP0 has already dispatched all top-tier agents, but there are no leads! It is as if he has vanished into thin air!"
"His last known location was disappearing with the Kuja Pirates!"
"Then strip Boa Hancock of her Warlord title! Send troops to flatten Amazon Lily immediately!"
"No!"
The blonde Elder immediately vetoed the idea. "The Navy has just suffered a disastrous defeat and is severely weakened!"
"Whitebeard has just died from overexertion... the balance of the New World has been broken! We cannot create more enemies right now!"
"Then what do we do? Just let it go?"
"Of course not!"
The sword-wielding Elder stood up and issued the command.
"Raise Monkey D. Garp's bounty to 5.5 Billion Berries!"
"Announce to the whole world that he is the vilest traitor in history!"
"I want to ensure there is no place left for him on this sea!"
New Marineford.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office, everything was empty.
Sengoku took off the heavy coat that symbolized his rank as Fleet Admiral and placed it on the desk.
He bowed deeply to Commander-in-Chief Kong standing before him.
"I resign, taking full responsibility."
Within the Navy, chaos reigned.
Because of this unprecedented defeat and betrayal, the organization fell into massive turmoil.
To fight for the vacant Fleet Admiral position, the conflict between Akainu and Aokiji exploded completely.
Eventually, on an island named Punk Hazard, the two engaged in a death match that lasted ten days and ten nights, permanently transforming the island into a hellscape of ice and fire.
The New World.
Beside the wreckage of the Moby Dick, the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates gathered once more.
"Commander Marco! What do we do?"
"Pops is dead, and Commander Ace is..."
Marco the Phoenix looked at the wanted poster in his hand.
It featured Garp's face and that string of numbers that was shaking the world.
"Pass the order down."
His voice carried to every ship in the fleet.
"From today on, the Whitebeard Pirates form an alliance with Monkey D. Garp!"
"What? With that Marine Hero?"
"He's not a Marine anymore! He's the man who saved Commander Ace!"
"That's right! He is our benefactor!"
"He fought the entire Marineford alone! That kind of spirit... it doesn't lose to Pops!"
"We listen to the Commander!"
Beehive Island (Hachinosu).
"Zehahahaha!"
Blackbeard Teach was admiring the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit he had acquired (conceptually/or failed to acquire depending on plot nuance, but here implies he is strong).
"Captain! Garp's wanted poster is out! 5.5 Billion!"
"Zehahaha! What a terrifying number!"
"Should we go after..."
Blackbeard's laughter cut off abruptly.
"Stay far away from that old monster."
"He isn't someone we can provoke right now."
Revolutionary Army HQ, Baltigo.
The wind howled.
Dragon stood at the edge of the cliff, holding a brand-new wanted poster in his hand.
He stared silently at that familiar yet strange face. For a long time, he said nothing.
Behind him, Sabo and Koala could feel an aura suppressed to the absolute limit.
Time slipped away quietly amidst the world's upheaval.
One Year Later.
Amazon Lily, a secluded beach.
An old man wearing a flowery Hawaiian shirt, beach shorts, and sunglasses lay on a deck chair, leisurely eating rice crackers and fishing.
The fishing rod didn't move an inch, but he didn't care in the slightest.
It was Garp.
For the past year, he really had lived like an ordinary retired old man.
Every day was spent fishing, sleeping, eating crackers, and occasionally sneaking a peek at Luffy, who was being trained to death by Rayleigh.
The aura on his body had become indistinguishable from a regular person.
Even Hancock and Rayleigh had grown accustomed to his harmless appearance.
Just then.
Rapid footsteps came from the dense forest behind him.
A Kuja warrior, her face unable to mask her panic, rushed onto the beach.
She didn't even care about bowing, her voice shrill with fear.
"Lord Garp!"
"It's bad!"
Garp slowly took off his sunglasses.
"A Navy ship! A Marine warship has broken through the Calm Belt and is approaching us!"
(To be Continued)