Chapter 46 — "The Monster Hidden in the Fog"
This man looked at the sea several more times, thinking he had made a mistake. His name was Grant "Iron Tusk," with a bounty of 500,000,000 berries. After the war between the Marines and the two Yonko, where Big Mom and Kaido were heavily injured, many pirates attacked their territories after hearing the news, and Grant "Iron Tusk" was among them.
He was arrogant and believed he was stronger than the Yonko, so together with his crew he attacked Kaido's territory — the land of Wano. But he was quickly defeated not by Kaido himself, but by his right-hand man, King.
However, Grant refused to accept defeat. He convinced himself that the loss happened only because his crew was weak. So he joined forces with several other pirate crews. Together they attacked Kaido's territory once again, believing victory would finally be theirs.
But that dream was shattered instantly. Kaido, now fully recovered, decided to remind them why he was called a Yonko.
The battle ended almost immediately. Without even using his Devil Fruit, Kaido crushed the pirates like insects using only his weapon and Armament Haki.
Seeing this, Grant abandoned his allies and fled. Yet even then, he refused to admit defeat, blaming only his weak allies once more.
After that, Grant gathered more pirates, still imagining himself defeating the Yonko and the Marines before eventually becoming the Pirate King.
But that dream was destroyed again when they encountered Admiral Aokiji.
Kuzan did not even pay attention to them. He instantly froze the pirates into ice statues before calmly walking away.
Among those frozen was Grant, horror frozen across his face. He had not even managed to react before becoming trapped in ice.
He felt the freezing cold surrounding him and sensed death approaching.
He did not want to die like this. Using the last of his strength, he desperately tried to break free. After several attempts, he finally shattered the ice and escaped.
He breathed heavily while his body trembled from the cold.
Raising his head, he saw only frozen statues around him, with dead pirates trapped inside them.
He took a deep breath, realizing he could have easily been one of them if not for his Devil Fruit.
Quickly looking around in fear that Aokiji might still be nearby, he relaxed only after failing to find him. Then he laughed nervously:
— I've had enough of this cursed New World! I'll return to North Blue, gather a new crew, and become king there instead!
After making his decision, he retreated.
He was no longer the pirate who loudly claimed he feared nothing and would become a Yonko.
Now he was simply a cowardly pirate.
Thus, he returned to the Grand Line and later to North Blue, where he was shocked by how quiet everything had become. He remembered North Blue being full of mafia families and pirates before he left. Now almost none remained.
Back to the present, Grant stood among the destroyed Marine ships and dead bodies.
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
— Lord Grant, you were not mistaken. This truly is North Blue.
Turning around, he saw a man missing one arm with a black eyepatch covering his left eye. Hope filled the man's expression.
Grant frowned.
— You say this is North Blue. Then what happened here? Why can't I find any mafia families or pirates?
The man sighed heavily.
— Lord Grant… I believe you heard about the war that happened in North Blue.
Grant thought for a moment before remembering hearing something about it long ago, though he ignored it, assuming it was just a small conflict between Marines and pirates.
The man continued:
— I don't think you know that this war started because of a single Marine.
Grant raised an eyebrow.
— That Marine's name is Kai… though most people call him Bloody Fog. He became a nightmare for pirates and the mafia because somehow he always found us and slaughtered everyone… despite being blind.
— Wait, wait… you're telling me a blind Marine became a threat to all of you?!
Grant interrupted him before bursting into loud laughter.
— HA-HA-HA-HA! Since when did North Blue pirates and mafia become this pathetic?! Are you lying to me? Do you think I won't kill you just because I found you first?!
Grant stepped toward the one-armed man, who immediately fell backward in terror.
— Please, Lord Grant! I'm telling the truth! That Marine is an extremely powerful swordsman! And he possesses a Logia Devil Fruit — Fog!
The moment Grant heard the word "Logia," his body twitched slightly. But once he learned it was merely fog, he quickly calmed down.
He snorted mockingly.
— So you idiots couldn't even defeat the weakest Logia fruit? Didn't you think of using Seastone?
The one-armed man answered quickly:
— We tried everything! Seastone, traps, even hostages! But nothing worked! Bloody Fog Kai was always one step ahead of us! Somehow he always found us first and killed us!
Grant frowned.
"Observation Haki…" he thought.
He had seen many people use Haki in the New World. He himself could use it as well.
"So this Bloody Fog is a skilled swordsman, a Logia user, and possibly possesses Observation Haki… Then why has nobody heard of him?"
Suddenly, Grant's eyes widened.
— Or… the Marines themselves were hiding his existence…
Understanding this, Grant began laughing even louder.
— HA-HA-HA-HA! I see now! Those Marine bastards were secretly trying to raise another monster like the three Admirals!
At that moment, he heard rapid footsteps approaching.
Turning around, he saw several more pirates.
One of them nervously said:
— Boss Grant! We found a Marine ship! I think… it belongs to Bloody Fog Kai! Please, Boss Grant, let's retreat beca—
Before he could finish, his head exploded from a single strike by Grant.
The remaining pirates trembled in terror, lowering their heads and not daring to look at him.
— If this truly is Bloody Fog Kai… then I want to see whether he's really as strong as you pieces of trash claim he is.
After saying that, Grant turned around and slowly walked deeper into the forest.