Since they did not start fighting, Garp simply sat down at Roger's table and looked curiously at Rouge and Ace across from him.
For some reason, when he looked at Ace, he felt something strange in his heart.
He kept feeling as if this child had some kind of connection with him.
"You are a damned pirate. Do not let your kid walk the same old road as you in the future. When he grows a little older, contact me if he is interested. How about I arrange for him to become a Marine?" Garp said, nudging Roger with his elbow.
"I am the Pirate King. How could my son possibly become a Marine?" Roger said disdainfully.
"You bastard, I still have not settled with you for writing about me in the newspaper!" Garp cursed.
"I already said it was not me. I was also trying to find out who did such a despicable thing. Now I have figured it out—it was definitely that bastard Valthior. He really deserves to die!" Roger said with a face full of hatred.
To think he had even asked Valthior to help investigate who had done it.
After all that trouble, the thief had been calling for the thief to be caught!
But if one asked whether Roger was truly angry, he was not really that furious.
He just found it speechless and funny.
After all, when they parted back then, Lord Valthior had given him more than sixty billion Berries to make up for everything.
What did that count as? Advance payment for the writing fees?
"You say it was Valthior, so it was Valthior? I think you are just making excuses!" Garp glared at Roger.
"Believe it or not. If you have the guts, go confront him face-to-face!" Roger snorted.
Rouge, sitting across from them, watched the two men bicker and found it rather amusing.
Roger had told her before that although he and Garp stood on opposing sides and had fought countless times across the sea, in truth, he regarded Garp as his closest friend.
And he firmly believed that Garp felt the same.
Rouge could not say she did not believe him, but she had thought it was unlikely.
However, seeing Garp and Roger like this today, it was clear that both of them really did treat the other as a friend.
If one spoke from the standpoint of Marine duty, then Garp should definitely arrest Roger.
But Garp had never been a properly dutiful Marine. Otherwise, he would not have refused promotion to Admiral many times. He acted entirely according to his own heart and his own justice.
If Roger's wife and child were not here, Garp might really have fought Roger.
But thinking back to God Valley, when the Roger Pirates had carried him out of the battlefield…
Now that the man's wife and child were present, no matter what, Garp had no reason to make a move.
"What have you been doing in the South Blue these years?" Garp asked after lifting the tea on the table and taking a sip.
At the same time, the elevator started moving, slowly rising toward Mary Geoise.
Roger had already sold his property and fled, so there was no need to hide anything. He said openly, "I became a landlord on Baterilla Island and enjoyed two years of wealthy living…"
"Wealthy living?" Garp looked at Roger in confusion. "Wasn't it said that you left behind all the treasure you gained as a pirate without keeping a single Berry, and placed it all on Laugh Tale? More than sixty billion Berries… Where would you still have money? Was that rumor fake?"
Roger froze.
Although leaving his savings on Laugh Tale back then had filled him with deep regret—to the point that he wanted to dig up Joy Boy's grave and whip the corpse—he later learned that his title as Pirate King had practically become tied to that sixty billion Berries.
Across the sea, who did not praise him as grand and generous?
Now, asking him to admit that he had accidentally left more than sixty billion Berries on Laugh Tale was absolutely impossible.
He could only grit his teeth and admit it had been caused by his own bold spirit.
"Ahem…" Roger scratched his head. "That is true. I really did leave all my treasure there. As for where I got more money… I am Roger. With my skills and talents, is making money difficult? Anyway, do not worry about it."
Garp looked at Roger suspiciously, then said, "So it really was you, wasn't it? Damn it, because you had no money, you wrote those filthy things in the newspaper, made a huge profit, and used that money to become a landlord, right?"
"That is clearly slander!" Roger said angrily.
"Then tell me—what proper money-making skill do you have?" Garp questioned him. "As long as you can name a reasonable method, I will believe you!"
Roger could not possibly say that Valthior had given him the money again before leaving.
How embarrassing would that be?
But if Roger had to name a proper way he had earned money, what the hell could he even say?
If he had that kind of ability, why would he have become a pirate back then?
However, the two of them did not dwell on this matter for long. Garp quickly changed the topic.
"This trip to the South Blue really annoyed me. I originally went there to look for you, but then I suddenly heard that my useless son organized some damned Revolutionary Army and actually stirred up a rebellion in Malik Kingdom… By the way, while you were in the South Blue, did you ever hear of the Revolutionary Army? Did you ever meet my son?"
"No!" Roger said with complete confidence. "I did not even know you had a son. How would I know about that? Revolutionary Army or whatever—I have never heard of it. I was just a countryside landlord. Why would I pay attention to those things?"
"Is that so? That makes sense…" Garp did not suspect anything.
After all, even within the Marines, very few people knew he had a son. He had also never mentioned it to Roger, so Roger should not have known.
"CP is already investigating the Revolutionary Army. They suspect that there must be another force supporting Dragon from behind. Maybe Dragon is only a pawn pushed onto the stage…" Garp gritted his teeth as he spoke. "If I find out who is supporting Dragon in doing this, I will kill him!"
Roger did not want to answer at all.
Feeling guilty, he picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and looked out the window.
"Why are you not saying anything?" Garp looked at Roger drinking tea and could not help asking.
Roger panicked inside, nearly losing his grip on the cup. He pretended to stay calm.
"I just think there might not necessarily be someone stirring things up behind the scenes. Your son should be someone with his own ideas. Maybe he wanted to do it himself?"
Hearing this, Garp instead fell silent.
After a long while, he sighed. "That kid really does have his own ideas. Maybe it is precisely because he has too much of that that he would do something like this."
"You experienced what happened back then yourself. The darkness behind the World Government cannot be underestimated. What he is doing may not necessarily be unjust. In fact, I think he has more courage than you," Roger said after thinking for a moment.
Garp was silent again for a while.
Then he suddenly changed the topic. "You chased after the Poneglyphs and found Laugh Tale. You should know a lot, right? What exactly is behind the World Government?"
"The monster-like guy we saw at God Valley is the mastermind standing behind the World Government, ruling everything from the shadows. His name is Nerona Imu. He was once one of the Twenty Kings, but for many reasons, he betrayed the ideals of the Twenty Kings…" Roger had always held some unreliable expectations toward Garp, so the moment Garp asked, he explained everything without hiding it.
As Garp listened, his expression changed dramatically. He was clearly stunned.
Before long, the elevator reached Mary Geoise.
This was where their paths diverged.
Garp would return to Marine Headquarters through the Paradise-side Red Port, while Roger would make his way to the Red Port leading to the New World.
Before they parted, Roger looked at Garp.
"Hey, Garp!"
"What?" Garp, who was about to leave, stopped and turned back to look at Roger.
"Do not always try to force your will onto the younger generation. In my view, your son is a man with great courage. The Revolutionary Army may accomplish great things in the future. Maybe one day, you will be proud of him!" Roger said with a smile.
Garp blinked in surprise before a broad grin spread across his rugged features.
"If I always tried to force my will onto him, then he would never have been able to leave the Marines back then…"
As for whether Dragon would become his pride, Garp did not answer.
Very soon, these two "old enemies" and "close friends" who had met by chance separated in Mary Geoise.
Roger quickly headed toward the New World, while Garp leisurely went to the Red Port on the Paradise side.
As soon as he came down from the bubble elevator, he saw Momonga waiting there. Momonga held a document and stepped forward.
"Vice Admiral Garp, CP has shared intelligence from the Revolutionary Army investigation with us. There is some important information here that you need to look over."
"What important information? Did they catch Dragon?" Garp asked while taking the document.
"They have not. But a very serious situation has appeared. There may really be a force supporting the Revolutionary Army from behind. According to the investigation, before the Freedom Fighters changed its name to the Revolutionary Army, Dragon once met a mysterious person on Baterilla Island in the South Blue…" Momonga said.
Garp had only taken a couple of steps before he suddenly stopped.
"What island did you say?"
"Baterilla Island!" Momonga immediately said.
Damn it. Isn't that the island where Roger was hiding before!?
When Garp thought back to his earlier encounter with Roger and how that bastard had acted when they discussed the Revolutionary Army and Dragon, he realized Roger's behavior had been very strange.
With no time to think further, Garp immediately began reading the document in place.
Sure enough, CP's ability was still as terrifying as ever. They had already investigated many details of how Dragon's Freedom Fighters transformed into the Revolutionary Army.
And inside the document, there was also a photo of Roger using the alias "Portgas Gold."
CP speculated that this man was very likely Pirate King Roger, who had been living in hiding in the South Blue for years.
The only reason they had not confirmed his identity yet was because they still lacked supporting evidence.
But for Garp, no supporting evidence was needed.
This was Roger.
The same Roger he had just met!
"Originally, the Freedom Fighters was a civilian armed self-defense organization. Its leader, Dragon, only experienced a rapid ideological shift after meeting this mysterious person on Baterilla Island—suspected to be Pirate King Roger. In a very short period of time, he reorganized the Freedom Fighters into the Revolutionary Army. We now suspect that he was influenced by Pirate King Roger and therefore walked down this rebellious path. At the same time, it has been confirmed that the man suspected to be Pirate King Roger provided the Revolutionary Army with a large amount of financial support, including but not limited to food and money…"
After reading this passage, Garp felt his vision go black.
He staggered a couple of steps and only steadied himself with Momonga's support. Then he crushed the document into a ball and roared.
"Roger, you bastard! I swear I am going to kill you!"
"Vice Admiral Garp, please calm down. This mysterious person is only suspected to possibly be Roger. It is not certain…" Momonga hurriedly tried to comfort him when he saw that Garp looked like he was about to cough up blood from anger.
Garp roared, "It's Roger, damn it! Hurry! Order every Marine at the New World Red Port to seal off the harbor immediately! That bastard is there!"
If they moved now, they might still catch him.
Roger, you absolute bastard, don't you dare run after school!
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