"Of course!"
"In this world, there's no such thing as coincidence."
"Some coincidences…"
"Are inevitable!"
"The four-year-old monster who turned the entire naval fortress upside down…"
"…was you!"
Gerson couldn't help but take in a sharp breath, his entire face filled with shock as he stared at Kai before him.
He had thought that story was just a wildly exaggerated rumor.
But now—today—he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
Such monsters… truly existed in this world.
And standing before him… was one of them.
"I had originally planned to sincerely invite you to join the Marine."
Thinking of this, Gerson let out a bitter laugh.
A once-in-a-century genius like this—
if someone like Kai could join the Marine,
then as his recommender, Gerson would surely gain tremendous credit.
That would've been a great achievement—
enough, perhaps, to earn him a promotion and transfer him away from this backwater town of Loguetown to the Marine Headquarters itself.
Unfortunately…
that plan had shattered before it even began.
And the reason?
Gerson looked at Kai, his eyes full of awe.
If Kai were merely a four-year-old with the combat power of a pirate worth tens of millions,
that alone wouldn't have made a seasoned Headquarters officer like him feel such fear and reverence.
But the truth was far more shocking—
Gerson knew that Kai wasn't just a peerless prodigy.
He also carried…
a terrifying identity.
An identity far more exalted than most officers in the entire Marine could ever dream of.
A background that shook the seas.
Even the sons of Marine Admirals couldn't compare to this four-year-old boy before him.
On this, Gerson was certain.
"Whether it's his talent… or his lineage…"
"Both are flawless!"
"This child truly is one blessed by destiny!"
"A genius beyond compare!"
"An identity above all others!"
Gerson couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Once, he'd never believed in fate.
But after meeting Kai, he began to.
Some people…
were simply born to stand above all.
And Kai was the perfect example.
"You… you're Vice Admiral Garp's grandson, aren't you?" Gerson asked, his voice trembling.
Vice Admiral Garp—the Marine's strongest living legend!
One of the mightiest monsters to ever sail the seas!
He'd been nominated for Admiral countless times—
and was the only man ever to refuse the title.
The Hero of the Marine s—Garp the Fist!
He was the faith of an entire generation of Marine s.
Countless men and women had joined the Marine not only for justice—
but for the dream of fighting under the banner of the Hero Garp.
Such was the sheer weight of Garp's name.
And to be the grandson of that very hero…
How exalted must such a status be?
It went without saying.
Even the Marshal's grandson wouldn't be more distinguished.
In Gerson's eyes, the child before him—Kai—
was true naval nobility.
A "third generation" of heroes.
A status that commanded respect even if he never officially joined the Marine.
"Vice Admiral Garp's… grandson?!"
Lilith and the young Marine beside her stared at Kai in wide-eyed shock, their expressions filled with awe and reverence.
The name of Hero Garp…
was thunder itself across the East Blue.
Especially here, in this sea—
Garp's name was even greater than that of Fleet Admiral Sengoku or Steel-Bone Kong!
He was a living legend among Marine s.
And to be born as his grandson—
that alone was enough to guarantee unmatched prestige.
Among the younger generation of Marine s,
no one could hold a higher standing than Kai.
"Will Mr. Kai become the Marine's next great hero?" Lilith murmured in a daze, her eyes lost on the small figure before her.
A four-year-old with power terrifying beyond reason,
and a lineage as noble as it came—
perhaps he truly would become the next "Hero of the Marine s."
At least,
no one they had ever seen…
could compare to this boy's talent.
No one.
Across the entire sea—
there was no second example like him.
His innate gifts were unmatched throughout history.
"Alright."
"Buggy's yours to deal with."
"I'll be taking my leave."
Kai waved his hand casually, preparing to leave the naval branch.
Before departing, he added,
"Right, almost forgot—about three kilometers southeast of Loguetown, there's a tavern. That's Buggy's crew hideout."
"I already took care of all his men before bringing Buggy here."
"So, you just need to send your troops to round them up and imprison them."
"Don't waste time—if you delay too long, a few of them might slip away."
"Before the sun sets, send your men to wipe them out completely. Otherwise, they'll scatter."
Having said that,
Kai turned and walked away—
not giving Gerson or the others a chance to respond.
Now that his identity had been exposed,
he knew it was best to disappear quickly.
Moments later,
they stood frozen, watching his small figure fade into the distance.
"Colonel Gerson, we should hurry and dispatch troops to capture the rest of Buggy's crew," Lilith urged, snapping out of her daze.
"For scum like them, there's no reason to hold back."
"I know," Gerson nodded firmly.
Soon after,
under Gerson's orders,
five hundred well-trained Marine s, armed to the teeth,
marched out from the Loguetown Naval Branch, heading southeast—
toward the location Kai had given.
Their mission: capture the remnants of the Buggy Pirates.
Once the orders were issued,
Gerson walked over to the near-unconscious Buggy,
looking down at the once-feared pirate lying limp on the ground like a dying dog.
"Buggy, looks like you finally got what you deserved."
"All those innocent people you've butchered over the years—there must be at least hundreds, if not a thousand."
"If they could see you now, lying beaten and broken,
they'd probably cheer from the rooftops."
"This… is retribution!"
Gerson snorted coldly, his eyes filled with disgust.
To men like him, pirates who treated innocent lives as dirt deserved no mercy.
Buggy, however, forced out a raspy laugh.
"Don't act so smug, Gerson."
"This grandpa may have fallen… but not to the likes of you."
"I lost to a monster, that's all."
"If it weren't for running into that freak in this damned East Blue,
there's no way I'd be lying here right now!"
"The East Blue…" he spat bitterly.
"It's supposed to be the weakest sea!"
"So why the hell is there such a monster here?!"
"A four-year-old monster!"
Gerson looked down at him without expression.
Finally, he spoke quietly,
"You really didn't lose unfairly. Do you even know who that boy is?"
Buggy's body twitched.
"That brat… who the hell is he?!"
Such monstrous power—
mastering Conqueror's Haki at the age of four?
Impossible!
Buggy couldn't comprehend it.
Who could train such a child?
Who had that strength… that authority?
He was utterly bewildered.
Gerson's eyes flickered with calm respect as he replied,
"He's Vice Admiral Garp's grandson."
"Now… do you still think you lost unfairly?"
"G–Garp?!"
Buggy's pupils shrank sharply, his face draining of color.
That name—
was a thunderclap in his ears.
Vice Admiral Garp the Fist!
As a former apprentice on the Pirate King Gol D. Roger's ship,
Buggy knew exactly what that name meant.
Back in those days…
it wasn't Whitebeard who terrified him the most.
It was Garp!
Even Gerson couldn't possibly understand how deeply Buggy knew that man's strength.
In that era—
even Roger himself had been cornered time and time again by Garp.
The so-called strongest man in the world, Whitebeard,
had been chased across the seas by him.
Garp's strength was the nightmare of an entire generation of pirates.
He was a monster who made even the Pirate King hesitate to face him head-on.
The name "Garp" alone represented the very pinnacle of naval might—
a symbol of an era's absolute power.
Even Roger, one-on-one, could only fight him to a draw.
Buggy had seen that man before—
from afar, back when he served on Roger's ship.
That towering figure,
that overwhelming aura—
that unstoppable will.
Dominant.
Unyielding.
Terrifying beyond words.
Even though the Pirate King was long gone,
Buggy could never forget that sight—
the man who had once made the seas themselves tremble.
So when he heard that name—
Buggy finally understood.
"No wonder…" he muttered hoarsely.
"That brat…"
"He's Hero Garp's grandson!"
"I'd been wondering who could possibly teach such a monster."
"Now… I get it."
Buggy let out a hollow laugh.
At last, all his confusion vanished.
To lose to Garp's grandson—
that wasn't shameful at all.
At least, not to Buggy.
"To lose to Garp's grandson…"
"I guess this grandpa didn't lose unfairly after all."
He exhaled heavily,
his lingering resentment finally fading away.
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