Garp grew more and more worked up as he spoke. "Roger was executed in Loguetown. I only found out now that Dragon was there too. Now that I've heard news of Dragon, I can't give up this chance. I just want to ask him why he left the Marines and even created a Self-Defense Army. Does he really intend to fight the Celestial Dragons?"
Mu Chen was equally shocked by the news. So Dragon really had once been a Marine. And what was this Self-Defense Army?
After thinking it over, Mu Chen vaguely recalled that the Self-Defense Army should have been the predecessor of the Revolutionary Army.
But that was not even the most explosive news. The bigger shock was Golden Lion Shiki. Golden Lion had not yet been thrown into Impel Down. It looked like he was coming to the Marines to avenge Roger.
In Mu Chen's memory, Golden Lion had rampaged through Marineford a week before Roger's execution, all to confirm whether Roger had truly been captured by the Marines.
But now, Roger had already been executed, and Golden Lion was coming for revenge.
Sengoku wore a helpless expression.
"Fine, I understand. Go quickly and come back quickly."
Sengoku understood that Dragon had always been a thorn in Garp's heart. He truly had no way to stop him from doing this.
Sengoku then left.
"Kid, are you done eavesdropping?"
Mu Chen, who had been hiding by the wall and wondering how he could slip away, was instantly embarrassed by Garp's sudden shout.
Mu Chen walked out from the corner with a smile on his face.
"Garp, how did you discover me?"
"Here to steal my senbei again, huh?"
Over the past few days, Mu Chen had come by every so often to steal Garp's senbei and had been caught several times. Because of that, Mu Chen and Garp had unknowingly grown quite close.
"Enough. Hurry up and leave. I'm setting out."
Mu Chen could tell that Garp was no longer in the mood to joke with him. His gaze and expression had become grave and sorrowful.
Seeing this, Mu Chen actually felt a little sorry for Garp. After all, his son would become a Revolutionary Army leader, his grandson a pirate, and another grandson would die before his very eyes.
"Garp, I think you should try to let it go."
Mu Chen felt that he needed to say something, lest Garp and Dragon's relationship later become like that of mortal enemies. That would truly be pitiful.
"There is no absolute right or wrong in this world."
"Kid, you're telling me to let it go? You heard it just now. My son is preparing to fight the Marines and the World Government. How am I supposed to let that go?"
Mu Chen understood that Garp was trying to protect his family in his own way. But what had happened had already happened. Dragon had already defected from the Marines and offended the World Government. There was no turning back.
Garp said nothing.
"Actually, I don't think Brother Dragon was wrong."
Garp stared at Mu Chen in astonishment.
"What?"
"He wasn't wrong?"
"Do you know what he has done?"
"He is fighting the World Government. Do you know what stands above the World Government?"
Mu Chen gave a cold laugh and said jokingly, "Kabuta, aren't you fighting the World Government too?"
"What?"
"Mu Chen, what are you talking about?"
"When have I ever fought the World Government?"
"Garp, didn't you refuse to become an admiral because you were resisting the World Government?"
"Isn't that what you truly think?"
After Mu Chen said that, Garp suddenly looked as though he wanted to say something but could not get the words out.
Mu Chen continued.
"Garp, the world is full of diversity. Wherever there is oppression, there will be resistance. Brother Dragon is resisting the World Government. Do you think he is wrong?"
"I don't. He is merely pursuing the justice in his heart. Aren't you the same?"
"By refusing to become an admiral, aren't you silently resisting as you pursue the justice in your own heart?"
Mu Chen's words left Garp speechless. Mu Chen was right. Wasn't refusing the position of admiral itself an act of resistance?
He did not want to become the World Government's dog. So Garp said, "The world has its own rules. Don't you know what the Celestial Dragons are like?"
"If they were not a pile of trash, why would people like Brother Dragon exist? And why would pirates appear?"
"Let me put it this way: if the people of the world had hope for a peaceful life, who would be stupid enough to become a pirate?"
"So many member nations squeeze their people dry just to pay the exorbitant Heavenly Tribute. How many of them truly act for their people?"
"Aren't they all exploiting the people to the bone?"
"Human lives are treated like dirt. Isn't the source of all this still the Celestial Dragons?"
Mu Chen's words struck straight at the heart of the matter, and the Heavenly Tribute was only one of the reasons.
Garp immediately recalled the God Valley Incident. By then, he had already seen the Celestial Dragons' true faces. To put it bluntly, the God Valley Incident had been nothing more than a game in which the Celestial Dragons slaughtered slaves. Yet he, Garp, had acted as the Celestial Dragons' bodyguard. Even he could not accept something like that, let alone Dragon, who had also been there. Dragon had only been in his teens then. As Garp's crewman, he witnessed that horrific scene, which led to him later defecting from the Marines. Could one say Dragon was wrong?
Garp suddenly felt that he had always been trapped in a dead end. And he had not expected a young man under twenty to see things so clearly.
Garp had figured it out now, but the next second, his expression turned solemn. He said to Mu Chen, "Mu Chen, stop talking. What you said today is dangerous. Do you understand?"
Mu Chen, however, looked completely unconcerned. "What danger? We only live once. Enjoy life while you can. Doing whatever I want is the life I seek."
"If the sky falls, the tall people will hold it up. What can a lowly Marine soldier like me do?"
Mu Chen snorted. "Besides, I have justice in my own heart too. If I can save someone, I will. If not, forget it. I go to work, slack off, and steal your senbei when I have nothing to do. Isn't that a pretty happy life?"
Before you continue