No one knew whether Garp's Dog Head Warship was simply too intimidating, or whether they had just been exceptionally lucky during this stretch of the journey.
In any case, for quite a long time afterward, their voyage was completely peaceful, and they encountered no trouble at all.
It was worth mentioning that Ortolan only remembered to ask about Mihawk on the third day after the warship left Polis Island. As it turned out, Garp had not noticed Mihawk at all and had no idea what had happened to him. He was probably fine. That guy would likely continue traveling the world and challenging Great Swordsmen, right?
Inside the warship's training room, Ortolan wrapped his fists in Haki and savagely pounded the training post before him. Ordinary training posts were made of wood, usually wrapped in cotton cloth, fur, and other soft padding for cushioning and protection.
This post, however, was clearly made of metal. Ortolan did not know what kind, but it definitely was not ordinary steel, because he could not even leave a fist mark on it.
And this was Garp's training post!
"That's right! If you want your Armament Haki to improve significantly, you have to keep pushing past your limits. You need to hit things tougher and harder to destroy than your own Haki!" Garp watched Ortolan punch with satisfaction, offering occasional guidance.
"Mr. Garp, how did you train your Haki to become so powerful?" After throwing more than a dozen punches, Ortolan picked up a medicated towel from the side and wiped the swollen flesh around his knuckles as he asked.
"Year after year, never slacking in training. If there's any crucial trick to it, it's conviction!" Garp thought for a moment before generously sharing his answer.
"Conviction?" Ortolan's eyes were filled with doubt.
"That's right, conviction! It might sound a little mystical, but a punch filled with conviction and an empty, casual punch have worlds apart in power. Still, conviction is not something that can be taught. You have to find it yourself. But there's no need to worry. This sea is vast, and every answer you seek can be found within her." Garp laughed heartily and patted Ortolan on the shoulder.
"I understand..." Ortolan replied before resuming his assault on the training post.
After watching for a while, Garp casually dragged over a chair and sat down. Then he pulled out a bag of snacks from his pocket. On closer inspection, it was senbei!
A large bag of senbei should have lasted someone quite a while as a snack, but with Garp, it was practically pig feed. Crunch, crunch, crunch—before Ortolan had even thrown fifty punches, Garp had already finished the whole bag.
The Marines soldiers on duty nearby seemed long accustomed to Garp's behavior. The moment he started eating, they pushed over a cart full of senbei, brewed a pot of green tea, and swiftly set it down beside him.
Then Ortolan watched Garp devour bag after bag like some ravenous beast.
After throwing another hundred or so punches, Ortolan stopped again. As he wiped his hands with the medicated towel, he could not help asking, "Mr. Garp, did you know my mother?"
"Charlotte Linlin?" Garp asked back, his mouth stuffed with senbei. Then he swallowed everything down and said, "Of course I knew her. I even beat her up when you were little... Ah, no, that's not right. She had already abandoned you by then, so you wouldn't have seen it."
"I mean, aside from that kind of hostile relationship?" Ortolan asked tentatively.
After thinking for a moment, Garp shook his head. "No, not really. But I heard the snacks at her Tea Party are excellent. I've always wanted to try them, but she's never invited me..."
Charlotte Linlin's Tea Parties were famous far and wide. If she sent you an invitation, you absolutely could not refuse, or the Big Mom Pirates would retaliate against you without mercy.
Later, as Charlotte Linlin's status on the seas continued to rise, her Tea Parties gradually became one of the sea's many legends.
But there was a very clear logic behind that. Charlotte Linlin would never send Tea Party invitations to people like Whitebeard, Kaido, or Red-Hair.
The reason was simple. What if they did not have time to attend? Should Charlotte Linlin retaliate or not?
If she did not retaliate, she would lose face. If she did, dealing with their strength would be rather difficult!
So Ortolan could completely understand why Charlotte Linlin had never invited Garp for tea. Even if he were not a Marine, she probably would not have invited him.
After grumbling regretfully for a while, Garp asked curiously, "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
"It's nothing. Seeing you eat senbei here reminded me of someone from my past," Ortolan said wistfully.
"Who?" Garp asked curiously.
"My older brother, Charlotte Katakuri. When I was developing the Goro Goro no Mi on Cake Island, he was just like you are now, except he ate donuts." Ortolan smiled.
If Garp's age had not been so unsuitable, just seeing the way he demolished senbei would have made Ortolan suspect that he carried Charlotte Family blood!
"From the sound of it, you seem to have a pretty good relationship with that Katakuri fellow?" Garp asked casually as he chewed on senbei.
"Mm. As for relationships... I do not have many friends. He is probably my only friend at the moment," Ortolan said after thinking for a while.
"A friend?" Garp mulled over the word, then laughed heartily. "You can't go saying things like that to other people in the future. You're going to become one of our Marine elites!"
"You don't mind?" Ortolan asked.
"This old man is fairly open-minded, and it's not like I don't have pirate friends!" Garp said carelessly.
"Roger?" Ortolan asked with a smile.
Garp did not shy away from his complicated relationship with Roger. He nodded openly. "More or less. But if I get the chance, this old man will definitely arrest him and send him to Impel Down to properly atone for his sins!"
After chatting about such idle matters for a while, Garp seemed to remember something and suddenly asked, "Right, if I remember correctly, you said Charlotte Linlin was treating your illness, didn't you? What illness do you have?"
"Mm. I have Familial Genetic Mental Illness." Ortolan slammed a fist into the training post and answered seriously.
Garp???
Garp picked up the green tea beside him and took two large gulps before looking at Ortolan. "If you don't mind, you can explain it to this old man in more detail..."
"Come to think of it, I never introduced this properly. I'm not a pure-blooded human..." Ortolan said.
"I could tell. You're from the Oni Tribe, like that Kaido fellow!" Garp said confidently.
Back when Ortolan had been unconscious, Garp had already checked that the horns on his head were not decorations. They had grown naturally, so Garp had always assumed Ortolan was from the Oni Tribe.
Considering Charlotte Linlin's bizarre tastes and ideas, that was perfectly normal. In fact, if Ortolan had not said his father was named Saronis, Garp might even have suspected he was the result of Charlotte Linlin and Kaido's bloodline!
"No. I'm from the Bull Species of the Mink Tribe." Ortolan directly shattered Garp's self-assured conclusion.
"Huh?" Garp stared at Ortolan in confusion, finding it hard to believe. There was not much fur on him at all!
Ortolan did not explain. Instead, he continued, "It might be a variation of her Food Addiction. In any case, when the full moon approaches, my temper and personality become extremely violent. Once the full moon arrives and I enter Sulong form, I completely lose my reason. I am controlled by a frenzied urge to destroy, slaughtering everything before me and destroying everything before me until the full moon ends."
A serious look appeared in Garp's eyes as he asked in a low voice, "That's no small problem. What medicine did she prescribe for you?"
"Violence!" Ortolan looked at Garp. "Violence stronger than I am in my frenzied state. Use that violence to beat me awake from the madness of the full moon. According to her theory, if I am awakened like this enough times, I should gradually be able to control this frenzied behavior and cure my illness."
"She's just a pirate. Does she know medicine too? What makes her so sure?" Garp asked skeptically.
He even suspected this was simply Charlotte Linlin's excuse and reason for keeping Ortolan by her side.
After a moment of silence, Ortolan said, "Experience. She said that back when she was aboard Rocks' ship, she nearly cured her Food Addiction this way..."
Garp fell silent as well. After a long while, he said somewhat awkwardly, "Don't worry, we Marines are violent too!"
Before you continue