Garp's Arrival, the Pirates Who Fear No Death

"Wow, such a feast! Aunt Bell-mère, is today a holiday?"

Nojiko's eyes widened, sparkling with excitement.

A meal this lavish was something they could only afford on holidays.

However, the weather had been too good lately, leading to a bumper crop of fruit that was both hard to sell and difficult to store, resulting in very little income.

"Yes, I earned some money today. A gentleman bought a lot of oranges."

Bell-mère, busy at the stove, turned around with a face full of smiles.

"Really?"

Nami walked over to Bell-mère in surprise, watching her fry two fish.

"Go on, put these on the table. We have a guest."

Bell-mère said with a beaming smile.

Not long after, Genzo arrived, naturally carrying some common gifts and food in his hands.

The four of them ate this meal very happily.

Of course, the highlight was watching Genzo flee in a panic after Bell-mère playfully invited him to stay the night once dinner was over.

Bell-mère and the two girls stood in a row, hands on their hips, laughing heartily.

In the nearby waters, Dunn had lowered his sails and was lying on his small boat, his Observation Haki enveloping the entire Cocoyasi Village, "seeing" everything that happened in Nami's home.

"Atonement, is it?"

Dunn whispered softly, then closed his eyes, letting the boat drift with the current.

At the 16th Branch Base, a massive Dog-Head Warship was docked at the pier.

Colonel Mouse, the base commander, was already waiting there with all his naval soldiers.

When they saw Garp walk off the ship while picking his nose, everyone snapped to attention.

"Vice Admiral Garp!"

The lined-up soldiers shouted in unison.

"Ahahaha, sorry for the trouble. I'm here on some business this time."

Garp said with a hearty laugh.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp, please, this way!"

Colonel Mouse said very respectfully. Having not yet begun his rampant extortion, Colonel Mouse perhaps still had a clear conscience at this moment.

"Bogard!"

Garp turned his head and called out.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Bogard stood on the warship and snapped a salute.

Garp nodded and then headed toward the branch base headquarters.

Although Mouse was curious why Bogard and the marines on the ship didn't disembark, he didn't dare to ask and could only follow obediently behind Garp.

Before long, in the base's reception room, Garp sat on the sofa, watching Mouse standing not far away.

Under Garp's scrutiny, Mouse looked nervous.

"Is the person not here?"

"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp. However, he didn't leave long ago, and he took a small boat. He shouldn't have gone too far; perhaps he will return soon."

Mouse naturally knew that Garp was asking about Dunn.

He had already had his men investigate thoroughly, so he answered immediately.

"Then do you know where he went or what he intends to do?"

Garp asked again.

"Well, Vice Admiral Garp!" Colonel Mouse said, his tone somewhat uncertain. "He has always called himself a Pirate Hunter. He caught two pirates when he came here this time, so perhaps he went out to hunt for more pirates to claim the bounties.

I had invited him before, but he... he said!!!"

Mouse stopped mid-sentence, not daring to continue.

"Does it have to do with the Celestial Dragon?"

Garp's expression remained unchanged; he had already guessed what made Mouse afraid to speak.

"Ye... yes, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Mouse nodded, inwardly shocked at how Garp knew.

As expected!

Garp sighed, his expression showing a hint of helplessness.

He did not think it likely that this objective would be achieved, and furthermore, such an invitation would inevitably feel like coercion, making the other party even more resentful toward the Marines.

Or rather, it was possible that it would produce the opposite effect.

"Vice Admiral Garp, would you like me to send men out to sea to search?"

Colonel Mouse looked at Garp's expression and asked after a moment of hesitation.

"No need. The sea is so vast, how would you even find him? Besides, even if you found him, you couldn't make him come back. Since he is a Pirate Hunter, he surely has to collect bounties after catching pirates."

Garp stood up after saying this.

"I will stay in the East Blue for a while, and the warship will remain here. I have other matters to attend to, so I will be leaving first. If he returns to collect a bounty, notify me."

Garp left immediately after speaking, leaving Colonel Mouse looking completely bewildered.

It seemed that Vice Admiral Garp was not as he had imagined; he did not appear to be very concerned about this matter.

Moreover, this Vice Admiral did not seem to care about the attitude of the Celestial Dragons either.

However, Colonel Mouse naturally dared not overthink it.

After all, Garp was a Vice Admiral from Headquarters, a Hero of the Marines, and the man who had personally captured the One Piece.

Perhaps a man like this had his own profound reasons for acting this way.

There were no profound reasons; upon returning, Garp directly deployed a small boat from the warship and left with the Marine who was steering it.

As for where he was going?

Naturally, he was returning to Foosha Village to visit his well-behaved grandson.

Of course, he might not be that well-behaved.

Dunn did not know about any of this, though he could imagine that his affairs might still be reported upward.

However, he did not pay much mind to it and continued doing his own thing.

He held a bounty poster and looked it over, then raised his head to look at the pirate ship charging toward him.

The twisted Jolly Roger on it was exactly the same as the one on the bounty poster in his hand.

"Thorpe the Vicious Dog, bounty of 2.2 million."

Sighing, Dunn raised his hand and swung his blade; a slash cut through the sea surface and struck the approaching pirate ship.

Crack.

The flying slash split half of the pirate ship open, causing the vessel to take on water and lose stability before breaking apart.

The pirates on board fell into the water one by one, thrashing about desperately.

Swish, swish.

A dozen more slashes followed, and the pirate ship was sliced into pieces.

"As expected, I'm still far from Hawkeye."

Dunn sighed after sheathing his sword.

Of course, he had only just become a Swordsman, and these slashes were only possible due to his powerful physique and the boost from his Haki; he could not yet match the strength of Hawkeye, who could split the sea with a casual swing.

But by unleashing several more slashes, even a small wooden ship could not withstand his attacks.

Some of the pirates who had fallen into the water were struggling, some were clutching fragments of the ship, and some were swimming toward him.

Among them was their captain, Thorpe the Vicious Dog.

This was a pirate who loved to bite people and commit massacres.

Watching the pirate swimming toward him, Dunn felt his mind wander.

It seemed that the weaker the pirates were, the more vicious they became.

Conversely, those who were truly strong might not care, but they would not stoop to such low-class behavior.

"You bastard!"

Thorpe the Vicious Dog was indeed the strongest among these pirates; he was the first to swim over, climb onto Dunn's boat with one hand, and then pull the Great Saw from his back, glaring fiercely at Dunn.

Does this guy not realize that I was the one who blew up their ship?

Looking at the man's furious expression, Dunn was very puzzled.

This pirate—was he not afraid of death?