"You two are really too much. At your age, you're still squabbling like children."
A calm female voice broke through the chaos just as Garp and Sengoku were tangled up in a heated argument.
An elderly woman with graying hair and a spirited demeanor walked into the room.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru."
Seeing her arrival, Cain stepped forward and bowed respectfully toward the doorway.
Although Cain served in the Marine, he held no official rank.
He was merely a standard soldier assigned to Garp's ship. Most Marines knew Garp's grandson was in the ranks somewhere, but his face remained a secret.
Those aware of his true identity were limited to Sengoku, Tsuru, Zephyr, Kizaru, and Garp's personal squad.
Kuzan had never met him, and Akainu was too busy hunting pirates to care.
As a seasoned veteran from the same era as Garp and Sengoku, Tsuru was the only one who could step in to stop their foolishness.
She walked straight up to the wrestling legends, grabbed them each by the ear, and pulled them apart.
"Tsuru, tell him he's crazy!" Garp rubbed his ear and glared at Sengoku. "I worked so hard to turn my grandson into the Marine's greatest talent, and this idiot wants him to be a pirate!"
"A pirate?" Tsuru crossed her arms, her sharp mind instantly piecing the puzzle together. "Sengoku, are you talking about the SWORD unit?"
"That's right," Sengoku nodded.
"Huh? What sword?" Garp blinked, completely bewildered and unable to follow the conversation.
"The SWORD initiative! I explained this to you last month!" Sengoku rubbed his temples in sheer exasperation. "Did you forget?"
"Must have slipped my mind! Bwahaha!" Garp laughed it off.
He didn't actually forget, he simply didn't listened the first time. "So what exactly is this plan?"
Tsuru sighed and explained the SWORD unit to him.
It was a black-ops faction consisting entirely of former Marine personnel who had officially submitted their resignations and returned their identification codes.
Operating outside the chain of command, they could engage top-tier pirate forces like the Four Emperors without permission from headquarters.
The World Government held no responsibility for their actions and retained the right to erase all traces of their existence if caught.
While the initiative was still a secret draft with no formal recruitment, one man was already in the field.
X Drake, a former Marine Rear Admiral, had gone rogue to form the Drake Pirates.
In reality, he was the Captain of SWORD unit, acting as a deep-cover spy in the Grandline.
"I suppose you want Cain to follow Drake's example and become an undercover spy among the pirates?" Tsuru asked, looking at Sengoku.
"Exactly. Not only that, we must completely erase all records of him," Sengoku explained in a low voice.
"Fortunately, he has stayed out of the spotlight under Garp's shadow. He holds no rank and has no reputation, so his disappearance won't attract attention. On top of that, his new Devil Fruit involves classified secrets. If the World Government finds out, his life is over. Forcing him into the criminal world is the only way to protect him."
"What Devil Fruit?" Tsuru frowned in confusion.
Sengoku leaned in close and muttered the details.
Tsuru's eyes widened in realization. "Kaido's power. I see. In that case, he and Drake share the exact same target."
"Indeed. With that Mythical Zoan and zero ties to the Marine's, Kaido's crew will recruit him without a second thought. It's the perfect cover to help him grow strong," Sengoku said.
"I refuse! I won't allow it!" Garp slammed his fist down, snapping Sengoku's desk cleanly in half.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled with absolute refusal.
In truth, Cain wholeheartedly agreed with Sengoku.
This was his plan from the start.
As a pirate, he could distance himself from Vegapunk and Punk Hazard, allowing him to use the Azure Dragon powers in the open without drawing suspicion from the Five Elders.
It also meant he could legitimately participate in the Summit War.
If he fought under a black flag, he could save Ace and throw a few punches at Akainu without tearing the Marine apart from the inside, taking all the heat himself.
But seeing his grandfather's shattered expression, the words caught in his throat.
'Luffy, Ace, Cain, and Sabo, you must grow up to become proper Marines.'
'Luffy, you fool, what's so great about pirates?!'
'Cain, do you really want to be a Marine? Yeahhh, i finally have a grandson who listens to me!'
The memories hit Cain hard.
"I will never agree to this!" Garp grabbed Cain by the arm, dragged him out of the room, and slammed the door.
Tears finally spilled down the old hero's weathered face.
Inside the ruined office, Sengoku and Tsuru stayed quiet, understanding that Garp's pain went far deeper than a simple argument over Marine ranks.
...
Later that night, Cain carried a basket of sake and rice crackers down the hall.
He stopped in front of Garp's quarters and knocked.
Garp had locked himself in his room all evening, refusing to see anyone.
Cain knocked again. "Grandpa, it's me."
A clatter of empty bottles echoed from inside before the door swung open.
Garp's eyes were red.
He grabbed Cain, pulled him into the room, and wrapped him in a crushing hug. His stubborn pride finally broke as tears streamed down his face.
"Cain... you are the only one left," Garp choked out, his voice thick with grief. "If you become a pirate too, Grandpa will have nothing."
"Grandpa, you still have Luffy, Ace, and me. You didn't lose us." Cain gently broke free from the embrace and handed him the sake, his voice calm and resolute.
"I came here tonight to talk this out."
"It is my fault. I was reckless to eat that fruit without considering the fallout," Cain admitted, feeling a pang of genuine regret.
He had misjudged the timeline.
Cipher Pol and the World Government knew the artificial fruit existed, but they assumed it perished in the Punk Hazard gas explosion.
In the original story, Momonosuke's dragon form didn't surface until 2 years later.
By then, Whitebeard was dead, Blackbeard had taken his territory, and a new wave of chaos swept through the world.
A tiny pink dragon barely registered on Kaido's radar. By the time Momonosuke unlocked his giant dragon form, Wano was liberated, the Four Emperors had changed, Buggy's Cross Guild was hunting Marines, and Luffy had awakened his fruit.
The Five Elders were busy invading Egghead Island, and Vegapunk's broadcast caused a global panic.
Mary Geoise was starving, leaving the World Government far too distracted by the collapsing world to care about one copied fruit.
But right now, the Great Pirate Era was stable.
The World Government had plenty of time and resources to hunt him down, and they would drag Vegapunk down with him. S
engoku and Garp knew exactly how ruthless the Celestial Dragons could be, making their fears completely justified.
Cain fell silent, popping the cork on a bottle of liquor.
He took a long swing, letting the burn ground him before handing the second bottle to Garp.
"Grandpa, tell me the story again," Cain said softly. "Tell me about the time you chased the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."