Garp

Garp.

A Marine hero.

Though he was already old, his strength had not diminished by much. Even now, Garp still possessed Admiral-level power.

And he wanted to see him...

Rune smiled faintly. "Alright. I'll definitely be there within seven days."

No matter what Garp's intentions were, Rune had to go. Because Blackbeard Teach was there.

Unless he killed Teach, Rune would never be at ease.

Only by killing him completely could he peacefully recruit companions. Only then could he pursue great ambitions without worries holding him back.

Now that he had a chance to kill him, Rune naturally would not let it slip away.

Even if he had to face Garp.

But to Rune, Garp was not frightening. Whether it was Garp or Dragon, both had justice in their hearts and would not indiscriminately slaughter innocents. Even if he encountered such powerful people, he could still reason with them.

Besides, Garp knew very well what had happened at God Valley.

Rune had deliberately mentioned God Valley with this in mind. He knew about God Valley, yet had not killed those Marines even after being ambushed. If Garp learned that, he would probably think more highly of him.

Besides...

Even if none of that worked.

He still had Luffy.

There would not be any major problems.

And even in the worst-case scenario, if Garp truly disregarded his grandson's feelings...

Rune still had Kuma.

When the time came, he could have Kuma return to the Moby Dick and bring Whitebeard over.

Even Garp would not come away unscathed.

"You're going?"

The Transponder Snail's voice was loud, and Tashigi had already heard Garp's voice and come over. When she looked at Rune, there was a little more shame in her eyes.

What Akainu had done was truly disgraceful.

He had used civilians to set a trap to capture Rune's group. He had even attacked and killed civilians.

If Rune had been some utterly vicious criminal, that would have been one thing. But Tashigi knew, and she believed the Marines knew as well.

Rune had not done anything unforgivable. On the contrary, his crew killed vicious pirates more efficiently than the Marines did.

"Let's go. Hero Garp can't possibly set a trap for me like Akainu did, can he?"

Rune smiled faintly, then left the captain's quarters and looked at Kuma beside him.

"Kuma! Let's go!"

A massive paw-shaped bubble appeared over the Thousand Sunny, and the entire ship vanished in an instant. The next moment, it appeared in the waters near the island indicated by the Transponder Snail.

"Tashigi, Luffy, Yamato, you're coming ashore with me. Kuma, Bonney, the Thousand Sunny is in your hands."

"No problem!"

Bonney raised her hand and made an OK gesture. Bonney still looked like a child, and on the ship, she was somewhat like a mascot.

Rune returned Bonney's OK gesture, then took the lead in leaping onto the island. The moment he landed, he saw a child sneakily running over.

"Are you Lord Rune? Dad told us to tell you that there are Marines here, so don't come over..."

"It's alright."

Rune rubbed the child's head and smiled faintly. "Whether they're Marines or pirates, I'll protect all of you."

With that, Rune led Yamato, Tashigi, and Luffy into the town on the island.

From afar, Rune spotted the Marine hero, the legendary Vice Admiral Garp.

And Marshall D. Teach, shackled and locked inside a cage. Near the cage stood a hat-wearing Marine, one hand constantly resting on the sword at his waist. Rune thought for a moment. This guy seemed to be called Bogart.

Garp's adjutant.

But in Rune's memory, this man had never made a move, so he had no idea how strong he was.

"Grandpa?"

The moment Luffy saw Garp, he ran over with a shocked expression. Rune could not help rubbing his forehead. Hadn't they said before coming that they were meeting Garp?

Why get so worked up...

The moment Luffy ran over, Garp smashed him into the ground with a punch. Luffy's eyes widened as he clutched the lump on his head and stared at Garp.

These two grandpa and grandson really greeted each other like this...

Rune cleared his throat, then sat across from Garp. He smiled at Garp, vaguely feeling a certain pressure.

Garp had never eaten a Devil Fruit. All of his strength came from his body and Haki. Opponents like him were the hardest for Rune to fight.

After all, the Dark-Dark Fruit's power would be useless against him, while Rune would have to endure twice the pain. Moreover, Rune's Haki was no match for someone like Garp, whose Conqueror's Haki stood at the very peak of the world.

When he had fought Akainu before, Rune could still rely on his Devil Fruit abilities to tangle with him for a while. But against Garp, he would probably lose after taking only a few punches.

"You said this guy is Rocks's son?"

"Yes."

Rune looked at Teach in the cage. He had not expected the Marines to choose this approach. But on second thought, it made sense. Rocks's affairs could not be made public, or rather, the actions of the Celestial Dragons at God Valley could not be made public.

At the very least, the rank-and-file Marines could not be allowed to know.

Most Marines joined the organization with sincere hearts that wanted to protect civilians and uphold justice.

Even after witnessing the darkness, Garp had still chosen to remain in the Marines in order to protect those Marines who possessed such sincere hearts.

"He doesn't look like him."

Garp glanced at Teach. Although God Valley had happened decades ago, Garp's impression of the man named Rocks remained profound.

He was a formidable man whom even Garp and Roger working together had nearly failed to defeat. His deeds had truly earned him the title of King of the World.

But this Teach...

No matter how he looked at him, Garp could not connect such a treacherous, two-faced man with Rocks.

"If you only look at the left side of his face, doesn't he look rather similar to Rocks?"

Rune smiled, then looked at Garp.

"You didn't call me here just to let me kill him, did you?"

"If you want to kill him, it doesn't matter if you do it now. If Rocks were still alive, he might still have been an important figure. But now, even if you don't kill him, the World Government will secretly execute him."

Garp did not care about Teach's life or death at all. At most, he felt some regret for the Rocks of old. He looked at Rune, his expression gradually turning serious.

"Rather, you brat, how did you learn about God Valley? Did Whitebeard even tell you about these old affairs?"

Rune smiled. "If I said I saw it through my Observation Haki..."

"Ha ha ha."

Garp burst into laughter. "Brat, don't think you're the only one in the world with Observation Haki! I know far better than a brat like you what Observation Haki can and cannot do!"