Chapter 25: Luffy: Fish-Man Island is My Turf! Garp: That's Right, I Said It!
"Monkey... D... Garp!"
Baron Tamago finally squeezed the name out from between his gritted teeth, using every ounce of strength he had.
The name seemed to possess a magic of its own, causing the temperature in the entire Great Hall to drop several degrees.
Pekoms snapped back to reality, his extreme rage replaced by a profound, deep-seated terror.
Yet, he forced himself to move, pulling a Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
"I... I am reporting this to Mama right now! You just wait to face her wrath!"
With trembling hands, he dialed the number.
Puru puru puru...
The Den Den Mushi mimicked a giant mouth with thick lipstick as it rang.
In the next second.
A shrill, ear-piercing laugh, filled with delight and greed, exploded from the snail's mouth.
"Mamamama! Are my sweets ready?"
The air in Ryugu Palace solidified completely.
Just as Pekoms was about to speak—
A hand shot out like lightning and snatched the Den Den Mushi away.
It was Luffy.
"Hey! Are you that Big Mom lady?"
"Luffy! You idiot! Give it back to him!"
Nami's scream carried a sob for the first time.
"We're done for! We're really going to be turned into candy people this time!"
Usopp and Chopper hugged each other, already exchanging their last will and testament.
"He... He dares to speak directly to one of the Four Emperors?"
King Neptune's massive body swayed, nearly toppling off his throne.
"Madmen! The whole family consists of madmen!"
"Straw Hat! Are you trying to provoke Mama?!"
Pekoms let out a roar of despair.
The laughter on the other end of the Den Den Mushi stopped.
A terrifying pressure, transmitted solely through the radio waves, made everyone in the hall feel a wave of suffocation.
"Brat. Who are you?"
Big Mom's voice turned dangerous, filled with impatience.
Luffy grinned, revealing a brilliant smile.
"I am Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!"
"I accidentally ate all your sweets. Sorry about that, but do you have a problem with it?"
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Then came a thunderous roar loud enough to shatter the Den Den Mushi.
"What did you say?!!"
Terrifying killing intent, manifesting as a physical shockwave, poured out of the snail.
Pekoms and Baron Tamago went weak in the knees and collapsed directly onto the floor.
Luffy, however, showed no fear. He puffed out his chest and shouted back at the snail.
"I said, I ate your sweets!"
"And from today on, Fish-Man Island is my territory! If you don't like it, come find me in the New World!"
"Mamamama!"
From the other end of the line came an even more terrifying, maniacal laughter.
"You have some nerve!"
"Brat, I will kill you with my own hands, and then I will destroy Fish-Man Island!"
"I'll turn your head into a lollipop! I'll turn your crew into biscuits!"
"Just you wait! The day you step into the New World, I'll be there!"
Just then.
A hand took the Den Den Mushi from Luffy's grip.
It was Garp.
He yawned.
Speaking into the receiver, he said lazily:
"Oi, Charlotte Linlin. Long time no see."
The maniacal laughter and roaring on the other end came to a screeching halt.
It was as if someone had choked her.
The whole world went quiet.
Inside the Great Hall, everyone held their breath, staring deathly hard at that Den Den Mushi.
several seconds later.
A stiff voice, filled with disbelief, came from the snail.
"Ga... Garp? Why are you there?"
The voice had lost all its rage and shrillness, leaving only pure shock and a trace of unconcealed wariness.
"What my grandson says, goes."
Garp yawned again, as if the whole affair was making him sleepy.
"We ate the sweets together, grandfather and grandson. If you have a problem with that, you're welcome to come find us in the New World."
Heavy, ragged breathing could be heard from the other end of the line.
It lasted for a long time—so long that everyone thought the connection had broken.
Finally, Big Mom's voice sounded again. Just three words.
"I understand."
Click.
The call was disconnected.
Pekoms and Baron Tamago looked at each other, seeing an expression on the other's face that looked like they had just seen a ghost.
They didn't say a word.
They didn't even dare to leave a parting threat.
Scrambling up from the ground using both hands and feet, they turned and ran with all their might toward the large hole in the wall they had blasted open earlier.
They just wanted to escape this place.
However.
A leisurely voice sounded from behind them.
"Since you're already here."
Pekoms and Baron Tamago's bodies froze instantly.
Stiffly, inch by inch, they turned their heads.
They saw the old man in the floral shirt standing right behind them, though no one had seen him move.
"Why the rush to leave?"
A dangerous arc curled up on Garp's face.
"I'm full. Perfect time to work off some digestion."
As the words fell.
His figure vanished.
Pekoms only saw a blur, and an irresistible sense of crisis seized his heart.
Subconsciously, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, activating his strongest defense.
In the next instant.
A fist imprinted itself on his chest.
There was no loud boom.
There was only the sickening sound of bone and flesh being forcibly compressed and pulverized—a sound muffled to the extreme.
Pekoms' vaunted defense, along with his hardened sternum!
Under that fist, they were like an egg struck by a battering ram.
Instant collapse. Deformation. And then—explosion!
His body, like a broken sack, was lifted off the ground by this unreasonable force.
He lost consciousness before he even hit the air.
Almost at the exact same time.
Garp's figure appeared in front of Baron Tamago on the other side.
Baron Tamago didn't even have time to react.
Another fist solidly blasted his egg-shaped body.
Squelch!
The hard shell was pierced as easily as paper.
The fist punched right through his back, bringing out a spray of viscous liquid mixing yolk and white.
Two figures turned into two shooting stars.
Flying backward at ten times the speed they had arrived.
They shot through the large hole in the wall, pierced through thousands of meters of heavy seawater.
Finally.
They disappeared into the distant, dark deep sea.
Inside the Great Hall.
Only the broken hole in the wall and the mess on the floor remained.
Garp clapped his hands and walked back to his seat.
He picked up a clean rib bone and began to leisurely pick his teeth again.
As if he had just casually swatted away two annoying flies.
Ryugu Palace fell into a deathly silence once more.
(To be Continued)