"Hey!!!!!!!!"
"Th-that ship over there is..."
Looking at the small boat in the distance, where two old men were still drinking and chatting, completely disregarding the clustered Navy fleets around them, countless Navy soldiers felt their backs drenched in cold sweat.
If it really were only those two...
Even with full firepower coverage, even with every soldier of the grand fleet together, they would absolutely be wiped out in an instant!!!
"Yeah. Pirate King Roger, and Dark King Rayleigh. Those aren't opponents you can handle. All units, retreat!!!"
"Leave this old man here to hold them back!!!"
All the Navy soldiers were deeply moved, tears streaming down their faces.
"Vice Admiral Garp!!!"
Some hotheaded youths even stepped forward, as if prepared to die.
"We'll fight together with you, Vice Admiral Garp!!!"
Hearing this, sweat immediately poured down Garp's face. It was his adjutant, Bogard, who stopped them.
"Garp!!!"
"Roger!!!"
The two quickly clashed, leaving behind only a single warship as footing, while all the Navy forces cried as they withdrew from the battlefield.
The battle between the two was extremely fierce, until the warship disappeared beyond the horizon...
"Hey!!! Garp, being in the Navy is way too troublesome, huh~"
"Cheers!!!"
On the warship, Roger and Garp drank together, laughing heartily, their faces showing not a trace of their former hostility.
"Never thought there'd really be a day in this life where I'd sit down and drink with you!!!"
Garp laughed loudly.
"The only one this old man has ever chased is the Pirate King Roger who stirred up the seas, not some retired old man!!!"
"Hahahahaha!!! Yeah, now I'm just an old man!!!"
Leaning against the side of the ship, Rayleigh watched these lifelong rivals sitting together drinking and chatting, and couldn't help but sigh at the unpredictability of the world.
Perhaps...
Letting Orin, an unknown kid back then, board the ship was not entirely Roger repaying a favor to Orin, but also Roger's own fate.
Before long, the two got drunk again. Roger grabbed Garp by the collar.
"Explain it clearly, Garp—why did you make my son call you Grandpa!!!"
"Ah, about that..."
Garp was also bleary drunk.
"Because he was raised together with my grandson. Who's like you, huh, still having a son at such an old age..."
"You bastard!!!!"
Laughing and brawling, they soon arrived at Foosha Village.
After so many years, the place was still peaceful and serene.
Some villagers passing by saw the Navy warship. Garp swaggered down from it, and people went up to greet him.
"Garp, you're back from Navy Headquarters!!!"
"Ah, yeah!"
Some elderly villagers noticed that two old men followed Garp off the ship.
"Who are those two old fellows? Are they Navy too?"
Hearing this, Garp just picked his nose, his tone extremely casual.
"Don't mind them. They're Roger and Rayleigh."
"Yeah~ so they are... Huh!!!!"
Roger and Rayleigh's arrival immediately caused an uproar in Foosha Village, but by the time they reached the place, the people were already gone.
They went straight to the small wooden house by the back mountain.
Roger paused for a moment, but still stepped forward and knocked.
"Coming, who is it?"
Because she had long been protected by Orin's people, Rouge wasn't very wary. She opened the door, and saw—
A tall old man, draped in a red captain's coat, with two splayed tufts of mustache, standing at the doorway.
Rouge lifted her eyes and froze on the spot.
"Roger..."
Then tears burst forth like a spring as she threw herself into Roger's arms and wailed loudly, smearing him all over with tears and snot.
"I'm sorry."
Thousands of words, in the end, condensed into just one sentence.
Ace watched from the side, unable to hold back his tears as well, and was also pulled into Roger's embrace.
The family of three cried together.
Rayleigh and Garp exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with countless emotions.
...
On the other side, after the Summit War,
Law, who had already completed his sentence reduction and rescued Luffy aboard a submarine, also finished his treatment smoothly.
He looked to the side at Jinbe, one of the [Shichibukai] who had been found midway from the sea.
"So... where are we going next?"
Hearing the question, Jinbe, who had been sitting quietly with eyes closed, opened them and looked at the cold-faced Law.
"Orin-san instructed me after the war that I could take Luffy to Duramos Island."
"What?"
Law was somewhat surprised, because he knew what that island represented.
"That man actually thinks that highly of Straw Hat?"
After all, that was the homeland of [Black Gun] Orin. If their relationship weren't close, how could he...
"No. It's probably just to please that old man. The king of Duramos, Keek, is Orin-san's grandfather. Orin-san doesn't go back often, so he found an interesting companion for the old man."
"..."
Law nodded. He hadn't expected that to be the reason.
The submarine sailed straight into the New World, heading directly for Duramos Island.
...
A few days later, inside the royal palace, Luffy slowly opened his eyes, only to suddenly discover an old man staring at him sternly.
"Old man..."
Just as he tried to get up—
"Ow ow ow ow ow!!!!"
Not only did his wounds hurt, but Keek's cane had struck his head as well.
"What a foolish kid, charging in recklessly. Orin never got injured like this when he was young."
He had naturally followed the live broadcast of the Summit War and knew the whole story.
Though he scolded him with his mouth, his heart was filled with relief.
"However... don't think this has too much to do with you."
"Huh?"
Luffy struggled to sit up. Hearing this, he looked at Keek, who stood there with arms crossed, utterly composed.
Having lived for so many years, a veteran pirate from the Rocks era, Old Keek had plenty of insight and experience. He opened his eyes and spoke seriously.
"The reason Roger's son, Fire Fist Ace, was able to be saved ultimately comes down to the many bonds Roger once had with Orin.
Otherwise, even with the prisoners of Impel Down plus the Whitebeard Pirates, it would have been impossible to shake the full might of Navy Headquarters, together with the help of the Shichibukai."
"Now you may scrape by through luck and barely escape disaster, but what if there were no Orin? Or if one day you encounter an enemy like Orin— what would you do then!!!"
Listening to these words, Luffy's bandage-wrapped body seemed frozen in place, his eyes unfocused.
Because he remembered his helplessness before countless monsters during the Summit War, and the pain of being unable to protect his companions at Sabaody Archipelago.
After a long while, he lowered his head, struggling, dragging his bleeding body, and knelt before Keek.
"Old man..."
"Please help me become strong!!!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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