Breaking the Calm, Garp's Return! (Two-in-One)

Chapter 13: Breaking the Calm, Garp's Return! (Two-in-One)

Rosinante giving up so easily had not only caught Tsugikuni Yoriichi off guard, but even Zephyr had not expected Sengoku's adopted son to throw in the towel so readily.

Zephyr had not met Rosinante many times before, but he had often heard Sengoku go on about how sensible his adopted son was, how resolute his will was, and how hard he worked to become an outstanding Marine.

But seeing Rosinante like this today, Zephyr secretly laughed to himself before his expression quickly darkened. He laughed because Sengoku spoiled his adopted son too much, while his face sank because he had always been a strict man when it came to training.

Even if Rosinante had not yet become a Marine, even if he was not a student at Zephyr's Marine Academy.

Before Tsugikuni Yoriichi could encourage Rosinante to continue, Zephyr directly rebuked him:

"Rosinante!"

"Get up!"

"Being a Marine isn't child's play. Once you're on the battlefield, you could die at any moment!"

"If you don't train hard, pirates will kill you when you go to war. Do you want Sengoku to bury his own son?!"

"You're Sengoku's adopted son, aren't you?! Don't act like a coward. Get up!"

Zephyr's sudden reprimand startled Rosinante, who was lying on the tatami. He immediately scrambled to his feet and hurriedly answered, "Y-Yes!"

"I'll continue right away!"

Zephyr was, after all, an admiral with immense authority within the Marine system. After hurriedly getting up, Rosinante grabbed his bamboo sword and, with a furious shout, charged at Tsugikuni Yoriichi again.

"Oh~"

"Now that's some spirit. See? You can do it."

Just as Zephyr's praise fell, Yoriichi sidestepped Rosinante's attack, then crouched low and struck Rosinante's ankle with the bamboo sword. Crying out in pain, Rosinante stumbled and fell flat onto the floor.

"It... it hurts!" Tsugikuni Yoriichi had put a little more force into the blow. Pain could stir Rosinante's anger, and anger would ignite his fighting spirit.

Sure enough, Rosinante gripped his bamboo sword tightly, gritted his teeth, and rose from the ground before charging at Tsugikuni Yoriichi once more.

For the entire morning, Rosinante sparred with Tsugikuni Yoriichi, with very little time to rest in between.

This kind of training did nothing for Yoriichi, but it was different for Rosinante.

Rosinante's willpower was actually very strong. He simply had a habit of slacking off, and Sengoku had always doted on this adopted son of his. Whenever Rosinante slacked off, Sengoku let him be.

As a result, over the years, over the years, Rosinante's strength had grown very, very slowly. Even after reaching adulthood, he was only so-so, no better than an ordinary Marine soldier.

If his Devil Fruit ability was excluded and only Doriki Value was counted, Rosinante at his peak probably only had a Doriki Value of around 20.

Now twelve years old, Rosinante was only slightly stronger than an ordinary child.

At lunchtime, once his muscles had cooled down, Rosinante felt sore all over. His hands trembled violently from exhaustion, and he could not even hold his spoon steadily at times.

"Hey, hey, hey..."

"Yoriichi, I've never gone through such harsh training before."

"I'm still growing. Won't training like this affect my development?!"

"I won't stop growing, right, Yoriichi?"

"Look at you. I think you're not tall because of all that training!"

Though eating with aching muscles was difficult, Rosinante's mouth did not stop moving for even a moment. From the instant he sat down to eat, the kid had not shut up.

""

"My height is average."

Yoriichi glanced sideways at Rosinante and replied. To be fair, Rosinante did have the standing to say that. Though he was only twelve, he was already nearly two meters tall.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi's height, on the other hand, was rather ordinary. He had only just reached 170 centimeters.

With Rosinante saying that, Yoriichi really did not know how to refute him.

"You're tall enough already. There's no use growing that tall."

Yoriichi said indistinctly as he shoveled rice into his mouth.

"No, no, no."

"I think growing taller is more important."

"I don't want to become a shortie."

Rosinante shook his head. Though Yoriichi knew he was not insulting him, hearing those words still made him feel uncomfortable.

This world was somewhat different. Humans were generally far taller than those in the world Yoriichi knew. People as tall as Rosinante were everywhere in the Marines. Even without considering the giant Marines, there were plenty of Marines close to two meters tall.

As Yoriichi and Rosinante ate and chatted, the dining hall door was suddenly pulled open after a while.

Riiip!

Zephyr entered the dining hall carrying a tray, and after he entered, a tall middle-aged man wearing a Justice coat also walked in.

The newcomer was carrying a tray as well, piled with all kinds of food high enough to obscure his face by several dozen centimeters.

Yoriichi and Rosinante both looked up at the person behind Zephyr, curiosity in their eyes.

"Yo~"

"Yoriichi, brat!"

Poking his head out, Garp grinned and called out to Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Then, ignoring Zephyr entirely, he plopped down in a seat and set his tray on the table.

"V-Vice Admiral Garp!"

"Hello, Vice Admiral Garp."

Rosinante seemed to know Garp and cried out in shock. Yoriichi also looked at Garp and politely greeted him.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Don't be so formal!"

"I heard Zephyr was cooking today, so I came to mooch a meal. Looks like my timing was perfect, hahahaha!"

Garp sat beside Rosinante and spoke as he took food off his tray. He seemed exceptionally pleased.

"It's all because of you. You showed up without a word, and I didn't prepare enough food."

Zephyr sat beside Yoriichi. Though there was a smile at the corner of his eyes, he complained aloud. The food on his tray was piled high as well, but after setting it down, he shared it with Yoriichi and Rosinante, leaving little for himself.

"Garp, weren't you tracking Roger? Why are you back so soon?"

"It's only been a little over ten days since you set sail. Not even a month."

"What, did you lose him again?"

Zephyr teased.

Within the Marines, Garp had always been an unconventional figure. Considering Garp's achievements, Kong had tried several times to promote him to admiral, but Garp had refused every time.

Garp, who had remained a vice admiral, had not been active in the New World like the other vice admirals. Instead, he had set his sights on the Roger Pirates in the East Blue. Unless something major happened at Headquarters, he spent his time pursuing Roger in the East Blue.

Whenever he encountered other pirates during his pursuit, he took care of them too.

It was precisely because of Garp's activity that pirate forces in the East Blue had always been the weakest among the Four Blues, and public order there was relatively the best.

Not long ago, however, the Roger Pirates had arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago before entering Fish-Man Island and heading to the New World.

Garp had pursued them at that time after receiving the news, but unexpectedly, he had returned so quickly.

"Tch!"

"You know what the New World's weather is like. I was about to catch them, but then a storm suddenly hit, and I lost them."

"The surveillance ships didn't spot Roger for days, so I came back first."

"And while I was at it, I came to see how you've trained this kid!"

As he spoke, Garp's gaze fell on Yoriichi. He gave him a quick once-over, then grabbed a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

"So you did lose him."

"You often lost him back in the East Blue. Now that they've changed ships at Water Seven, they must be even faster at running away."

"The New World's weather is unpredictable. At this rate, you'll never catch Roger in your life."

Zephyr spoke sarcastically as he ate.

"Well, don't worry about me. I'll catch him."

"He seems to have suddenly found a clear goal. His movements have become more frequent."

"I still don't know what he's after, but I think I'll find out soon enough."

While Garp and Zephyr chatted, Yoriichi listened intently. Hearing Garp say that, he roughly understood what Roger was searching for.

There was no need to think about it. It had to be the Poneglyphs.

Roger had been active in the East Blue all these years. His sudden actions were likely because he had learned that he had a terminal illness and wanted to fulfill his dream of traveling around the world.

Having already entered the New World, Roger had probably seen the Poneglyph at Fish-Man Island. His next goal should be to obtain all the Poneglyphs and reach Laugh Tale.

Just as Yoriichi was pondering this, Garp, who had only just sat down, suddenly stood and said to him:

"Kid, come on. Let me see whether you've improved."

"You're the one I brought into the Marines. I have to take responsibility for you."

"If you waste your talent, I'll have a real headache!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

Hearing this, Yoriichi came back to himself. When he looked at Garp, he suddenly noticed in surprise that all the food in front of Garp had already been completely wiped out!

He had clearly been chatting with Zephyr. He had finished all that food already?!

"Hey, stop spacing out. You're done eating too, right? Come on, let's walk it off."

Garp laughed loudly and, without giving Yoriichi a chance to say more, walked over, grabbed his arm, and headed toward the courtyard.

"Hey, Garp, wait."

Seeing Garp in such a rush, Zephyr wanted to stop him. It was normal for Garp to check whether Yoriichi had improved, but he should at least wait until everyone had finished eating! Just because Garp had finished did not mean everyone else had to stop eating!

But just as Zephyr reached out to grab Garp's shoulder, Garp raised a hand and blocked him.

What a willful man. Yoriichi sighed inwardly before saying to Zephyr:

"Teacher Zephyr, I've finished eating too. It's a good time to walk it off."

"It's fine."

As he spoke, Garp had already brought Yoriichi into the courtyard.

"Come on, attack me. Let me see how much you've improved."

Garp stood in the middle of the courtyard and crooked a finger at Yoriichi. Hearing this, Yoriichi turned and went to the nearby dojo, only returning to the courtyard after taking a bamboo sword. He stood before Garp.

On the corridor by the courtyard, Rosinante held a tray full of food in his arms. As he ate, he cheered Yoriichi on indistinctly, "Hey, Yoriichi, go for it."

"You'd better hold out for a while, hahahaha!"

Rosinante shouted, "Go for it," but his face was full of gloating.

"I'm starting."

Yoriichi did not look at Rosinante. After greeting Garp, he took a light breath and charged straight at him with his bamboo sword.

"Oh! A frontal assault?"

"Not bad. That's what a Marine should look like!"

Garp smiled and praised him.

As Garp spoke, Yoriichi had already reached him. His body dipped slightly as he thrust the bamboo sword upward toward Garp's chest.

"Oh! So fast!" Rosinante, watching from the side, had not even seen how Yoriichi swung his sword. By the time he saw the bamboo sword clearly, Garp had already caught it in one hand.

Garp, who had been smiling broadly moments ago, now frowned with an unhappy look on his face.

"Stop!"

"Why are you still using an attack like that?!"

"It's been almost twenty days since I brought you into the Marines, right?"

"With your physical ability, you should already be able to learn the Marine Six Styles. And you've got talent, so you should be able to master Haki quickly."

"Why are you still so weak?!"

Yoriichi had only attacked once before Garp called a halt. After giving Yoriichi a couple of looks, Garp turned to Zephyr and demanded:

"Hey, I left this kid to you."

"What have you been teaching him?!"

"Why hasn't this kid improved after more than half a month?"

Hearing that, Zephyr snorted and retorted, "How has he not improved? Isn't expanding the knowledge in his head improvement?"

"He's still young. Mastering knowledge is what matters most."

"As for the Marine Six Styles, it'll be fine if he learns them when he's a little older!"

Although Zephyr spoke loudly, Garp heard the guilt in his tone.

His eyes narrowing slightly, Garp immediately thought of something. He casually tossed the bamboo sword back to Yoriichi, walked to Zephyr's side, draped an arm around his shoulders, and asked quietly:

"Was it Kong's idea?"

To instantly see through the reason, Garp's mind truly worked fast. Unlike his grandson Luffy, Garp's style might have been reckless, but that did not mean he lacked brains.

"If you already know, why ask?!"

Zephyr snorted, his tone somewhat displeased.

Garp's guess was confirmed. He nodded slightly, looked at Tsugikuni Yoriichi, then after a moment, shook his head and sighed.

"This won't do. You can't raise a powerful Marine like this."

"The next time I set sail, I'm taking this kid with me!"

The moment Garp finished speaking, Zephyr immediately rejected it. "No! He's still too young. Besides, this kid hasn't officially become a Marine yet. You can't take him to sea."

"That's an order!"

But upon hearing that, Garp immediately raised his voice:

"Idiot! A man at this age can already sail the seas!"

"There are two brats on Roger's ship too. They're probably about his age."

"Pirates this age can go to sea, but our Marines can't?! Huh?!"

"An order? To hell with your order!"

"The next time I set sail, I'm taking this kid. If anyone has a problem with that, let them come talk to me themselves!"

"Hmph!"

After saying that, Garp snorted, turned, and strode quickly out of Zephyr's residence. Watching Garp's departing back, Zephyr, who had looked furious a moment ago, suddenly broke into a smile.

"Vice Admiral Garp really is easy to read!"

Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who had not spoken all this time, saw the smile on Zephyr's face and sighed.

Yoriichi had genuinely thought Zephyr and Garp were arguing, but when he saw the smile on Zephyr's face, he realized he had taken things too simply.

If Yoriichi was not mistaken, Garp had probably already been used as Zephyr's pawn.

"Hahahahaha!"

"This is for your own good!"

"You can't become a powerful Marine just by reading books!"

"That bastard came back at just the right time, hahahahaha!"