Victory Assembly
"Were you forced onto the ship?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Do you want to join the Navy?"
"Mm-hmm."
One of Garp's subordinates, a swordsman, questioned the pink-haired child while helplessly turning to Garp and Aokiji, who were listening with their ears perked up. "Vice Admiral, Admiral, what should we do?"
"Please let me join! I never want to be bullied by pirates again!" Behind him, pirates were being hauled off the ship in chains, one after another. They would be locked in the ship's hold before being transported to a Navy branch for detention. Criminals like these were naturally not worthy of Impel Down. Usually, they would simply be given a date, fed a hearty meal, and hanged.
They had known, when they robbed civilians, that this day would come sooner or later. Every one of them looked ashen-faced.
Yet only this pink-haired boy was sobbing and claiming he had been coerced, saying he wanted to join the Navy. It was utterly absurd.
If he had run into commanders like Akainu or Dalmatian instead of Garp and Aokiji, he would have been executed on the spot long ago.
But after using Observation Haki to hear his thoughts, the two of them actually determined that he was truly innocent.
Then...
"Why not give him a chance?" Aokiji was cold on the outside but warm within. He had never been able to rest easy about a child like Nico Robin being hunted by the Navy for so many years, so he had followed behind her all along as her bodyguard. How could he possibly bring himself to harm a truly innocent, coerced child like Koby?
"Since you say so, then follow me." Garp naturally went along with it.
In the original story, Koby had only earned Garp's favor by risking his life to