Escorted Back: The End of the Straw Hat Pirates!

After learning of Feng Lei's relationship with Garp, Aokiji stopped trying to intervene by force.

"Sorry, Feng Lei!"

Looking at Feng Lei,

Aokiji showed a trace of resignation.

If you'd said you were Garp's disciple earlier, would I really have refused to give you face?

You just had to fight!

As for that,

Feng Lei thought nothing of it.

He had only done it to make Aokiji display his Devil Fruit powers, so the system would mistake them for Ninjutsu and let him acquire them.

Just as he had expected,

the system not only identified the Ice-Ice Fruit as "Ice Release," but also used the Sharingan to copy Aokiji's skills.

Not only that,

his progress in learning the Eight Gates had reached 85.7%!

It was a triple win.

"Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, let's take them back as soon as possible!"

Seeing this, Koby hurriedly spoke up.

Feng Lei, meanwhile, looked at Aokiji and pointed at the frozen Chopper.

"Admiral Aokiji, can you thaw it out?"

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do. You'll have to let him thaw naturally or slowly melt the ice with warm water."

Aokiji shook his head.

Once his Ice-Ice Fruit powers froze a living creature, even he couldn't thaw it out.

He could only freeze things, not thaw them.

"You're after the Straw Hat Pirates, right? That Straw Hat brat is just a pet. Its bounty is pitifully low, only fifty Beli. Why not leave it as it is?"

Ever since Luffy and the others had caused an uproar at Enies Lobby for Robin's sake, Aokiji had been keeping an eye on them.

He knew their bounties, too.

Of course,

he had his own reasons for doing this.

The ice would gradually melt in high temperatures, and Chopper would recover when it did.

Someone had to be left outside to rescue Luffy and the others.

Feng Lei raised an eyebrow at Aokiji's suggestion.

He saw what Aokiji had in mind.

Although he also knew how to thaw Chopper out, doing so would cost quite a bit at the moment.

He might as well give up instead.

"All right! Let's take them back to the warship first, then!"

Feng Lei nodded.

Even if Chopper recovered, he couldn't possibly rescue Luffy and the others from Feng Lei.

But without Chopper's help, Feng Lei had no choice but to take out a Den Den Mushi and call for assistance.

Soon,

Boka arrived with a squad of Marines and escorted Luffy and the others back to the warship.

After Feng Lei and the others left,

all that remained at Franky House was the enormous ice sculpture of Chopper.

Soon,

a figure came running over from nearby.

The newcomer wore briefs, his bright blue pompadour stood tall, and black-framed sunglasses rested on his head. His angular, iron-cast nose was especially conspicuous.

It was Franky, who had caused an uproar at Enies Lobby with the Straw Hat Pirates.

He had arrived while Feng Lei and Aokiji were fighting.

However,

he had recognized the Marine Admiral Aokiji at a glance, so instead of acting rashly, he had hidden in the shadows at a distance.

Only after Feng Lei and the others had all left did he show himself.

"What are we going to do?"

Looking at the enormous ice sculpture before him, Franky felt a headache coming on.

Chopper was the best person to help rescue Luffy and the others.

Just then,

Zanbai's voice suddenly rang out.

"B-Boss!!"

He had been knocked unconscious by Feng Lei's Conqueror's Haki. Now that he had woken up and seen Franky, his spirits lifted.

"Oh, right, there was a Marine..."

Before he could finish, Franky cut him off.

"I saw it all. The Straw Hat brat and the others were captured."

"What? Captured?"

Zanbai was shocked.

As he remembered it, that was just some young Marine who barely had any hair on his chin, wasn't he?

And Boss Straw Hat was a great pirate with a bounty of three hundred million Beli!

With strength like that, how could he have been captured?

However,

when he looked around and saw that the place was in ruins and the Straw Hat Pirates were nowhere to be found, his heart jolted.

They really were captured?

Was that young Marine that strong?

"Boss, what do we do? Boss Straw Hat and the others were captured! We have to save them!"

When he had come looking for Luffy earlier, he had planned to have Luffy and his crew take Franky with them.

After all, Franky was a wanted man now too.

If he stayed in Water 7, he would surely attract the Marines' attention and be captured sooner or later.

He hadn't expected

the Straw Hat Pirates to be captured first.

"I know."

Franky replied calmly.

Luffy and the others were comrades who had fought alongside him. Naturally, he couldn't just stand by and watch them be thrown into prison.

But he couldn't rush this.

There was a Marine Admiral, and a young Marine even stronger than Rob Lucci.

Their strength was definitely beyond anything he could contend with.

To save the Straw Hat brat, he needed a thorough plan.

And right now,

he had to free Chopper.

Zanbai also realized something was wrong. He turned and saw an enormous ice sculpture beside them, with a humanoid monster resembling a reindeer trapped inside.

"This is..."

"Chopper. That Marine Admiral froze him. We have to find a way to get him out."

As he spoke,

Franky suddenly remembered what Aokiji had said before leaving.

Use warm water!

"Zanbai, wake the others up and have them bring hot water, quick!"

"Got it!"

Zanbai nodded and immediately woke his companions one by one, and they got to work.

Before long,

the thick layer of ice slowly melted away, bit by bit, and the frozen Chopper finally regained consciousness.

However, the effects of the Rumble Ball had worn off, and his enormous body rapidly shrank before he passed out.

Franky scooped Chopper up and headed for Dock One.

To rescue Luffy and the others, he would have to rely on the shipwrights of the Galley-La Shipbuilding Company, as well as the two giants, Oimo and Kashii.

Meanwhile,

Feng Lei escorted Luffy and the others to the harbor.

As soon as they were aboard the warship, Garp walked over and looked at Feng Lei.

"With your strength, what took you so long?"

"You should ask Admiral Aokiji that!"

Feng Lei turned his head and looked at Aokiji.

Aokiji was speechless.

Indeed,

if he hadn't intervened along the way, Feng Lei might have returned with Luffy and the others long ago.

"What happened?"

Garp's gaze moved between the two of them.

Then,

Aokiji had no choice but to tell him the truth. Recalling his fight with Feng Lei, he couldn't help exclaiming, "Teacher Garp, your disciple really is a monster!"

Garp heard that Feng Lei had fought Aokiji without falling behind.

Even Aokiji couldn't stop praising Feng Lei's strength.

At once,

a smug smile spread across Garp's face.

"Ahahaha!"

"Of course! He's my disciple, after all!"

Feng Lei seemed even stronger than he had been at the G-1 Branch.

At this rate,

it probably wouldn't be long before Feng Lei reached the level of an Admiral.

The thought that he had personally discovered and trained a Marine Admiral left Garp feeling refreshed and inexplicably happy.

Aokiji thought Garp's boasting was only natural.

"Teacher Garp, are you really going to arrest that grandson of yours?"

At those words,

Garp's laughter stopped at once.

Anger took its place!

"That brat Luffy..."

The mention of Luffy filled Garp with anger. He didn't know what kind of spell that Red-Haired brat had cast on him, but Luffy had gone off to become a pirate!

And if he was going to be one, fine, but now he'd been captured.

If he had followed Garp and become a Marine back then, how could there have been such aggravation?

Then there was Feng Lei.

He was talented, hardworking, and strong. Most importantly, he had become a Marine.

Compared to his grandson, it was enough to make Garp furious.

The more Garp thought about it, the angrier he became. He clenched his fists and stormed toward Luffy, who was being held nearby...