It was not until the sea breeze swept in, carrying the chill of the night, that he came back to his senses. He slipped the bracelet onto his wrist, then jumped onto his little wooden boat.
He raised the crude sail, and the boat slowly drifted toward the darkness in the distance with the current.
Meanwhile, Mu Chen had already appeared ten thousand meters up in the sky.
He took out his Den Den Mushi and redialed Garp's number.
The call was quickly answered, and Garp's impatient voice came through.
Leaning against a cloud, Mu Chen said casually, "You old bastard, did you settle that brat Ace? Did you get him to go back to Fengzhe Village with you?"
"Sorry. Kabuta said he couldn't catch that brat. He was slippery as hell—I looked away for one moment, and he ran off."
"What?"
As soon as he said that, Garp's furious roar came through the Den Den Mushi. "Aren't you a Marine admiral?"
"You can't even catch some snot-nosed brat? I'd say you let him go on purpose!"
"Well... hey, don't get mad. That kid's pretty strong now. Even if I brought him back, he'd just run away again. Rather than that, wouldn't it be better to let him go out and make his own way?"
"Make his own way? Do you know how many dangers he'll run into out there?"
Garp's voice was still full of anger, but there was a trace of worry in his tone. "The people who know who he is won't let him go."
"I know." Mu Chen's tone turned serious as well. "But I believe in him. He's far tougher than we imagined. If he really runs into danger, I'll get there immediately."
There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then Garp