Chapter 87: Garp Retreats! Banquet Begins
Roger sucked in a cold breath at the sight.
Lotte's growth speed was simply too shocking—how had he already caught up to the two of them in just half a year?
In terms of growth rate alone,
Lotte was undoubtedly the strongest talent in history.
Surpassing Rocks in the future wasn't even out of the question.
Garp's expression became extremely ugly.
With Lotte's strength reaching this level, he could no longer capture him alone.
If the Azure Emperor Lotte and Roger teamed up,
It would be a huge problem for him.
Garp naturally understood this, so he hesitated for a moment.
But before he could give the order to retreat, he saw Lotte suddenly swing both fists—two more pitch-black wooden dragons surged straight toward him.
"Since you came to greet me so warmly, it would be rude not to return the favor."
"I haven't had a proper fight with you yet, Garp."
"If you want to drag me to Impel Down, you're still not strong enough!"
Lotte laughed heartily and loudly.
He had come back fully prepared this time.
Seeing the two black dragon heads charging again, Garp frowned and stomped mid-air. He clenched both fists and roared.
Then, with his fists surging forward,
The dragon heads shattered at the same time.
Garp used the force to retreat a distance.
Roger saw this and burst into laughter.
"Lotte, you guy—your strength really is eye-opening now."
"Need me to jump in?"
Garp's face immediately darkened upon hearing this.
Just as he had feared earlier—if Lotte and Roger teamed up,
Though Garp was confident he could escape unharmed,
The warships under his command were another story.
After hesitating again and again,
Garp finally used Soru to return to the warship.
He glanced at the stunned Marines beside him and gave the order in a deep voice.
"Full retreat."
"Now is not the time to fight these two head-on."
Garp's top priority right now was to report the Azure Emperor's return to Fleet Admiral Steel Bone Kong.
This brief clash with Lotte had already given him enough information about the other party's strength.
If they dragged this out any longer,
They would be the ones in danger!
The Marines snapped back to reality and hurriedly nodded.
"Understood! We're turning the ship around immediately!"
As the warships quickly turned their bows,
The Marines who had just witnessed the scene couldn't help but start whispering.
"The Azure Emperor's back?!"
"And even Mr. Garp couldn't beat him."
"He's gotten this strong in just half a year?!"
Their hearts were filled with shock.
Everyone knew Garp was currently the strongest Marine below Admiral level!
While the Azure Emperor Lotte had been impressive before, his ability to escape Garp and an Admiral at Sabaody had mainly relied on Whitebeard.
But now, in just half a year,
The Azure Emperor's strength had skyrocketed to such a terrifying degree!
Lotte narrowed his eyes as he watched the retreating Marines. He had no intention of chasing them.
After all, Garp's strength was no joke.
If he really pushed the man too far, he might have to reveal quite a few trump cards.
Moreover, Garp was a key figure in the God Valley War. To defeat Rocks, it was better to let Garp and Roger handle it.
Though Lotte planned to rise at God Valley,
He had no intention of fighting Rocks head-on. After all, even if Rocks had schemes, he had given Lotte plenty of benefits.
Roger walked over and patted Lotte on the shoulder.
"Last time we met was a year ago, right?"
"Back then we were talking about Sabaody Archipelago—I didn't expect you and Newgate to actually go and cause such a huge mess."
"The Celestial Dragons have been hiding in Mary Geoise lately out of fear."
Roger laughed heartily.
He had only mentioned the Sabaody auction as a casual idea, but he never expected Lotte and Whitebeard to actually do it.
Not only did they rob the auction house clean,
They even killed a Celestial Dragon right there in public.
Two Celestial Dragons killed in just a few months—that was unimaginable in the past!
Even in the history recorded by Marine Headquarters,
No pirate had ever been so brazen,
And lived to tell the tale.
That was why Roger held Lotte in such high regard. If not for the fact that Lotte was a cadre of the Rocks Pirates, he would have done everything to recruit him.
Lotte smiled upon hearing this.
"The commotion at Sabaody wasn't my fault—it was the Marines being too annoying."
"If they had just let us go quietly, none of this would have happened."
"I just killed one pig, that's all."
Hearing this,
Roger gave Lotte a strange look.
"Come on, no one's going to believe that."
"Those Celestial Dragons may be pigs, but killing them definitely brings trouble."
"By the way, where the hell have you been the past half year? There hasn't been any news of your return yet."
Since the Sabaody incident,
No information about Lotte had surfaced in the New World.
Even Roger had tried contacting Newgate and only got the reply that Lotte had temporarily left the crew to handle some matters.
So he was quite curious about Lotte's whereabouts.
"I went to handle some things in other seas. Now that I'm done, I'm on my way back."
"I was heading back to the crew when I ran into you being chased."
"What a coincidence, huh?"
Lotte raised an eyebrow and laughed.
Though he was rushing back to the crew, running into Roger was perfect timing.
He actually had something he wanted to ask this future Pirate King. As a fellow member of the D clan,
Roger might know more about God Valley.
Rayleigh's face also showed a smile,
Though his mood was somewhat complicated.
Half a year ago, his strength had still been on par with—or even slightly above—Lotte's.
But in such a short time,
Lotte had already far surpassed him—perhaps even on the same level as the captain now.
The surrounding pirates couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"The Azure Emperor's strength has improved so fast—even Garp was forced to retreat."
"You know Garp's the guy who chases the captain relentlessly."
"This is the first time I've seen him retreat so decisively."
Roger cleared his throat twice, pretending not to hear.
"It's been so long—let's have a banquet tonight!"
"Welcome back to the New World, kid!"
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