Garp: Don't worry, we Marines are also very violent!

Whether it was because Garp's Dog Head Warship was too intimidating, or their luck on this journey was just that good, for a long stretch afterward, their voyage was smooth and uneventful, without any trouble at all.

One thing worth mentioning was that Ortolan only remembered to ask about Mihawk's situation on the third day after the warship left Polis Island. As it turned out, Garp hadn't even noticed Mihawk and had no idea how he was doing. He figured the guy was probably fine and would still be roaming the world challenging great swordsmen, right?

Inside the warship's training room, Ortolan was currently wrapping his fists in Armament Haki, slamming them hard against the post in front of him. Ordinary training posts were usually made of wood, wrapped in cotton cloth, fur, or other soft padding for cushioning and protection.

But this post was clearly made of metal. What kind of metal, Ortolan didn't know, but it definitely wasn't ordinary steel, because he couldn't even leave a fist print on it with a punch.

And this was Garp's training post!

"That's right, that's right! If you want to make significant progress in your Armament Haki, you have to keep pushing past your limits. You need to hit things harder and tougher to destroy than your own Haki!" Garp watched Ortolan's punches with satisfaction, occasionally offering pointers.

"Mr. Garp, how did you train your Haki to be this strong?" Ortolan asked after throwing another dozen or so punches, picking up a cloth soaked in medicine nearby to wipe the swollen flesh on his knuckles.

"Year after year, just diligent practice without rest. If there's any key secret to it, it's conviction!" Garp thought for a moment and generously revealed to Ortolan.

"Conviction?" Ortolan's eyes showed some confusion.

"That's right, conviction! It might sound a bit abstract, but a punch filled with conviction and an empty, careless punch have a world of difference in power. But conviction isn't something you can teach; you have to find it yourself. Don't worry about it, though. This sea is vast—every answer you're looking for, you can find from her." Garp laughed heartily and patted Ortolan on the shoulder.

"I understand..." Ortolan replied, then started hammering the training post again.

After watching for a while, Garp casually pulled up a stool, sat down, and pulled a bag of snacks from his pocket. On closer look, it was senbei!

A big bag of senbei, enough to last most people a long time as a snack, but in Garp's hands, it was like pig feed. He was chomping away noisily, and before Ortolan had even thrown fifty punches, Garp had already polished off the whole bag.

Not far away, the navy soldiers on duty there seemed long accustomed to Garp's behavior. By the time he started munching, they'd already wheeled over a cart of senbei, along with a pot of green tea, and set it all neatly beside Garp.

Then Ortolan watched Garp devour pack after pack like a glutton.

After throwing another hundred or so punches, Ortolan stopped again, wiping his hands with the medicated cloth, and couldn't help asking, "Mr. Garp, did you know my mother?"

"Charlotte Linlin?" Garp asked back with his mouth full of senbei, then swallowed hard and said, "Of course I know her. I even hit her when you were little... ah, no, you'd already been abandoned by then, so you wouldn't have seen that."

"I mean, aside from that adversarial relationship?" Ortolan tried again.

Garp thought for a moment and shook his head. "Not really, but I've heard her Tea Party snacks are pretty good. I've always wanted to try them, but she's never invited me..."

Charlotte Linlin's Tea Party was famous far and wide. If she sent you an invitation, you absolutely couldn't refuse, or you'd face relentless retaliation from the Big Mom Pirates.

Later, as Charlotte Linlin's status on the sea rose, her Tea Party gradually became one of the legends of the ocean.

But there was a clear logic to it: Charlotte Linlin would never send invitations to people like Whitebeard, Kaido, or Red-Hair.

The reason was simple: what if they didn't have time to come? Would Charlotte Linlin retaliate or not?

If she didn't, her reputation would suffer. If she did, the power dynamics made it awkward.

So when Garp said Charlotte Linlin had never invited him for tea, Ortolan understood completely. Even if you weren't a navy man, she probably wouldn't invite you either.

Muttering a bit regretfully, Garp asked curiously, "Why are you suddenly asking about all this?"

"Nothing much. Seeing you eat senbei like that just reminded me of an old acquaintance," Ortolan said with a sigh.

"Who?" Garp asked, intrigued.

"My brother, Charlotte Katakuri. Back when I was developing the Goro Goro no Mi on Cake Island, he was just like you, except he was eating donuts," Ortolan said with a smile.

If Garp's age weren't so off, just watching him devour senbei like that would make Ortolan wonder if he had Charlotte Family blood in him!

"From your tone, it sounds like you're pretty close with that Katakuri?" Garp asked while chewing.

"Yeah, if we're talking about relationships, I don't have many friends. He's probably my only friend right now," Ortolan said after a moment's thought.

"Friends, huh?" Garp mused, then laughed heartily. "You shouldn't say things like that to others from now on. You're going to be a navy elite!"

"And you don't mind?" Ortolan countered.

"I'm pretty open-minded, you know. Besides, I've had pirate friends too!" Garp said casually.

"Roger?" Ortolan said with a smile.

Garp didn't shy away from his complicated relationship with Roger and nodded frankly. "Something like that. But if I ever get the chance, I'll definitely catch him and send him to Impel Down to atone properly!"

After chatting about these idle matters for a while, Garp seemed to remember something and suddenly asked, "Oh, right, if I remember correctly, you said Charlotte Linlin helped treat your illness, didn't you? What illness did you have?"

"Yeah, I have Familial Genetic Mental Illness," Ortolan said, punching the post hard, his tone serious.

Garp: ???

Garp picked up the green tea beside him, took a couple of gulps, and looked at Ortolan. "If you don't mind, you can tell me more about it..."

"Come to think of it, I haven't mentioned this yet. I'm not actually pure-blooded human..." Ortolan said.

"I figured that out. You're from the Oni Tribe, just like Kaido!" Garp said with great confidence.

Back when Ortolan was unconscious, Garp had already verified that the horns on his head weren't decorations—they were naturally grown. So Garp had always assumed Ortolan was from the Oni Tribe.

Given Charlotte Linlin's eccentric tastes and ideas, it made perfect sense. In fact, if Ortolan hadn't said his father's name was Saronis, Garp would've suspected he was the offspring of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin!

"No, I'm from the Bull Species of the Mink Tribe," Ortolan said, shattering Garp's assumption.

"Huh?" Garp stared at Ortolan, momentarily stunned. You don't have any fur on you, do you?

Ortolan didn't explain further and continued, "It might have been due to her Food Addiction turning into something else. Anyway, around the time of the full moon, my temper and personality become extremely irritable. And once the full moon comes, I enter the Sulong form, completely losing my sanity. I'm consumed by a violent destructive urge, killing everything in sight, destroying everything in sight, until the full moon ends."

Garp's eyes turned serious, and he asked in a low voice, "That's no small problem. So, what kind of medicine did she give you?"

"Violence!" Ortolan looked at Garp and said, "A greater violence than my own when I go berserk. Using that violence, beating me awake from the full-moon frenzy. According to her theory, if I'm awakened this way enough times, I should gradually be able to control this frenzy and cure my condition."

"That guy's just a pirate—does she even know medicine? What makes her say that?" Garp asked skeptically.

He even thought this might be Charlotte Linlin's excuse and reason for wanting to keep Ortolan by her side.

Ortolan was silent for a moment, then spoke: "Experience. She said that back on the Rocks ship, she almost cured her Food Addiction that way..."

Garp fell silent too. After a long pause, he said with a slightly awkward tone, "Don't worry, the Navy's pretty violent too!"