Garp

City of Water, Marine base.

At the harbor, a group of Marine soldiers stood in four rows, their bodies ramrod straight.

They waited by the shore for a Dog-Head Warship approaching from the distant horizon.

Sephiroth wore a recruit's uniform: black military boots, blue trousers, a white short-sleeved shirt, a blue neckerchief, and a white Marine cap. He stood in a row with the other nine recruits.

Three days earlier, he had taken down three Watson Pirates officers and received a bounty of 49.6 million Belly.

But...

At the time, he had not officially enlisted as a Marine soldier, so none of that could be converted into merit.

Thus, Sephiroth was still just a rookie.

Soon, a massive Dog-Head Warship entered the harbor and lowered a gangplank onto the dock.

A man wearing a white cape emblazoned with the word "Justice" and a dog-head hat stepped off the warship and stood before the crowd.

Behind him, a squad of Marines marched in neat formation, including a sword-bearing man in a white cape.

"Vice Admiral Garp, thank you for personally coming to receive the recruits!"

The bearded captain led the Marines in saluting Garp.

On the other side, Sephiroth and the other rookies copied them, raising their right hands with their palms facing backward in a clumsy salute.

No way, they sent a Vice Admiral personally just to pick up recruits? Are the Marines really that short on manpower?... Sephiroth muttered inwardly.

The bearded captain received no response. Instead, amid the grave silence, a bout of snoring rang out.

Garp: "(~﹃~)~zZ~zzZ!"

Everyone: "..."

"Vice Admiral Garp!?... Vice Admiral Garp!?"

The bearded captain cautiously raised his voice.

"You're so noisy!!! I heard you..."

Garp yawned first, then seemed to remember something. He immediately burst out laughing.

"HAHAHA! Where are my Water Water donuts?"

"They've already been prepared for you."

The bearded captain waved his hand, and two soldiers immediately carried over a large wooden crate filled with donuts.

"HAHAHA! Not bad, not bad! While I was on vacation in the East Blue, I kept thinking about Water Water donuts..."

As he spoke, Garp casually picked up a donut and stuck it in his mouth. He then tucked the large wooden crate under one arm, turned around, and quickly boarded the Dog-Head Warship.

Seeing everyone still standing there in a daze, he looked puzzled.

"Let's go! What are you standing around for?

Set sail! Back to G-3 Branch."

Everyone: (눈_눈)

Fine! So eating donuts was the real business, and picking up recruits was just something incidental...

At that moment, the towering, heroic image of Vice Admiral Garp—the "Marine Hero" they had once admired—instantly cracked apart and collapsed, becoming nothing more than that of a goofy old man.

"Recruits, when your name is called, bring your luggage and report to the warship!"

"Harris Byrne!"

"Here!"

"Cord Tapa!"

"Here!"

"Karl D. Sephiroth!"

"Here!"

Sephiroth answered, picked up his Autumn Leaf Blade and large suitcase, then quickly ran aboard the Dog-Head Warship.

Other than a few sets of clothes, the suitcase contained all his assets: 67.8 million Belly.

Most of it came from the bounty and gold coins he had received for killing pirates last time.

As for that Devil Fruit...

On a dark and windy night, he had secretly buried it beneath his villa.

He did not feel safe carrying the Devil Fruit with him or leaving it in a bank, so this was the only method he could use.

"Karl D. Sephiroth...?"

Leaning against the ship's rail and eating a donut, Garp paused upon hearing that name. He turned to look at the silver-haired youth, who had a longsword at his waist and a suitcase in hand as he jogged over to line up with the other recruits.

"On my way back from vacation in the East Blue, I heard some very interesting news.

They said there was a brat at our G-3 Branch named Sephiroth who hadn't even officially enlisted yet, but took down a pirate with a 35 million Belly bounty.

That person was you, right?"

The old man Garp stared at him with huge, bell-like eyes, making Sephiroth's scalp tingle.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Sephiroth nodded neither servilely nor arrogantly, his expression calm.

"Good! Good! Good! You've got a future, kid."

As he spoke, old man Garp extended his fan-sized right hand and slapped Sephiroth's back with loud thumps. The pain made the latter's eye twitch as he muttered inwardly.

This old geezer has no sense of restraint. Is he trying to slap me into internal injuries?

Garp: "(~﹃~)~zZ~zzZ!"

Sephiroth: "(-,-)"

Forget it. He's just a goofy old man. If I take him seriously, I lose!

When Garp's adjutant, Bogard, saw that Garp had fallen asleep, his expression remained utterly unchanged. Wearing a white Justice cape and carrying a longsword, he directly gave the order to set sail and return to Marine G-3 Branch.

All the recruits, including Sephiroth, were assigned to a large cabin. After each of them was given a bunk, they received orders to clean the ship.

Sephiroth was assigned to clean the deck. He collected a mop and bucket from the quartermaster, then began scrubbing the deck.

He had long expected that after becoming a Marine, he might be ordered around in all sorts of ways.

In this world, strength reigned supreme.

Those without strength could protect nothing, keep nothing, and did not even own their own lives.

Those with strength could do whatever they pleased. Take Red-Haired Shanks, for example. He stepped into the Summit War and said he wanted to mediate between the two sides, yet no one dared refuse him that respect.

Of course, it was not because he had eaten some Face-Face Fruit that made him so impressive. It was because his strength and influence were enough to leave the Marine higher-ups at the time unable to bear the consequences.

No need to go that far. Take this old geezer Garp beside him, for example. He was merely a Vice Admiral, yet he dared to disregard the current Marine Fleet Admiral, Steel Bone Kong, repeatedly refusing promotion to Admiral. As a result, one of the three Marine Admiral positions had remained vacant to this day, with only Sengoku and Zephyr serving as Admirals.

Later, his son became the leader of the revolutionaries, and his grandson became a great pirate, yet he still lived as freely and comfortably as ever. Even the Five Elders, wary of his strength and influence within the Marines, did not dare touch him lightly.

"(~﹃~) Ah! I actually fell asleep just now... What was I going to say again?"

Garp scratched his head in confusion, only to discover that he could not remember at all.

"Ah! Forget it, I'll keep eating donuts... Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"

With that, the old geezer resumed battling the donuts in front of him.

However...

A short while later.

Garp: "(~﹃~)~zZ"

Sephiroth: "..."