"Ow!"
A sharp cry of pain rang out through the battered tavern.
The figure that had charged in like a little meatball slammed headfirst into Garp's thigh, which was harder than steel, then bounced away like a ball.
He rolled twice across the floor before landing on his butt amid the scattered wood chips.
It was none other than seven- or eight-year-old Monkey D. Luffy, wearing his iconic Straw Hat.
At this point, Luffy had yet to gain the scar on his face, and his eyes still shone with the innocence and recklessness unique to single-celled organisms.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Luffy clutched his reddened forehead and raised his head with a grimace.
When he saw Garp standing before him with a face as black as the bottom of a pot, the boy was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, he excitedly raised his little fist.
"Grandpa! You're back!"
Luffy had completely failed to notice the tense atmosphere in the tavern, and he utterly ignored the fire practically spewing from Garp's eyes.
Like a little loudspeaker, he shouted a line at the top of his lungs, full of pride—a line that sounded utterly rebellious to Garp.
"Grandpa! I've decided! I'm going to become the King of the Pirates!!!"
The air suddenly fell silent.
So silent that one could have heard a needle hit the floor.
Makino, hiding in the back kitchen, covered her face in despair. She knew little Luffy was about to get beaten again.
Sure enough.
The moment Garp heard the words "King of the Pirates," his fury, already stoked by the destruction of his rice crackers, instantly flared as if someone had poured a bucket of gasoline over it!
"You little brat! What nonsense are you spouting now?!"
Garp let out a thunderous roar.
His fan-sized hand clenched into a fist. Without even using Armament Haki, he delivered a perfectly standard, utterly merciless Love Fist straight down onto Luffy's head!
Bang!
"Ahhh—!"
Luffy let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
A massive red swelling the size of a fist instantly rose from the top of his head at a visible rate, with wisps of smoke curling off it.
"It hurts! It hurts so much! Grandpa, why did you hit me?! I'm a rubber man! How can it hurt?!"
Luffy rolled wildly across the ground in agony, tears streaming from his eyes.
"My fists are full of love!"
Garp blew on the heat rising from his fist and glared viciously at Luffy on the floor.
"You damn brat, I'm going to make you the strongest Marine soldier! King of the Pirates? Keep dreaming!"
While Luffy was being beaten, another boy slowly entered through the door.
He looked slightly older than Luffy, with freckles all over his face and a filthy vest on his body.
What stood out most were his eyes, filled with defiance and the fierce vigilance of a lone wolf.
Portgas D. Ace.
The biological son of the Pirate King, Roger.
Ace coldly watched Luffy's miserable beating with his arms crossed, leaning against the only half of the doorframe that remained. His eyes were full of disdain and indifference.
"Idiot."
He muttered the insult, seemingly utterly contemptuous of Luffy's suicidal behavior.
Lei En, seated in the corner by the bar, took in the entire scene.
He set down his knife and fork, looked at Luffy rolling around on the floor, then glanced at Ace posing grimly by the doorway.
The future Pirate King and the future captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division.
That was certainly quite the lineup.
Lei En stroked his chin as an extremely scheming gleam flashed deep in his eyes.
In the original story, these two had messed around with the mountain bandit Dadan on Mount Colubo. Though they had built up a decent foundation in physical combat, it had been an absolute waste of talent.
Luffy in particular had relied on protagonist plot armor to bulldoze his way through everything. Even his Haki had been crammed at the last minute.
What if I were the one teaching them...
A cruel smile curled across Lei En's lips, one that made even the system shudder.
Since I'm already in the East Blue, how can I let these two promising seedlings grow crooked?
Why not train them myself into brainless muscle-bound tyrannosaurs who only know how to solve problems with their fists and Haki—monsters capable of treating Admirals like punching bags?
This character-raising game sounded far more interesting than heading to the New World to fight.
Just as Lei En was making his calculations, Garp apparently had not vented enough yet.
He walked over to Luffy, grabbed him by the collar like a chick, and lifted him into the air.
"You little brat, it looks like my previous lessons weren't thorough enough! Today, I'm throwing you into the primeval forest to feed the tigers!"
Garp raised his fist, preparing to strike again.
Luffy flailed his arms and legs in terror, struggling desperately.
"No! Grandpa, I was wrong! Sister Makino, save me!"
Just as Garp's second Love Fist was about to fall—
"Wait."
A lazy yet unmistakably commanding voice suddenly rang out in the tavern.
Garp froze, then turned his head and looked suspiciously at Lei En, who had spoken.
"What? Have you changed your mind, kid? Finally realized you want to join the Marines with me?"
Garp thought Lei En had been awed by the imposing manner in which he had just disciplined his grandson.
"You're overthinking it, old man."
Lei En jumped down from his barstool and sauntered over to Garp.
He looked at Luffy dangling in midair, then at the wary Ace by the door, and shook his head with a faint smile.
"I just think, Old Man Garp, that your way of educating your grandson is far too crude and inefficient."
Lei En's exceptionally arrogant words made Garp's expression darken.
"What do you know? This is called iron-blooded education!"
Garp retorted indignantly. "That's how I was raised back then!"
"Give me a break. They're only alive because they're tough enough not to have been beaten to death by you."
Lei En shot back without the slightest courtesy, a certain madness glinting in his eyes.
He extended a finger and tapped Garp's chest with blatant provocation.
"I think that instead of letting a half-baked old man like you ruin their training..."
Lei En paused, and the scheming smile on his lips fully bloomed.
"Why not let me discipline them for you? I guarantee that in three years, I'll return two monsters capable of tearing Sea Kings apart with their bare hands."
Before you continue