Got Greedy

"Or was it simply my mistake?"

John wasn't entirely sure either.

After all, he had never heard Teach's voice before. Misjudging it was normal.

"Whatever. As a pirate, I can't leave empty-handed!"

Even if he had messed up, he had to get something out of it!

In the jungle

Dragon staggered to his feet with difficulty, blinking blankly, still unable to process what had just happened.

"I... didn't die?"

"Right! The children!"

Dragon had no time to think. He hurried toward the two infants who had rolled onto the ground.

Shamrock, who had originally been clutched in Maffy's hand, had also fallen because of John's attack.

Enduring the agonizing pain in his right shoulder, Dragon gathered both infants back into his arms. When he looked up, he saw a purple-haired man standing before him.

"You are..."

"Remember my name!"

John raised his hand and flicked Dragon hard on the forehead.

"'Captain John' is your lifesaver. You'll spend the rest of your life repaying me!"

"And those two red-haired brats—you'll have to find a chance to tell them someday that 'Captain John' saved them!"

"You three all owe me! Fah!"

After unloading on Dragon, John finally felt the knot in his chest loosen considerably. He leaped into the air and continued searching for Teach.

"Gah!"

Dragon bared his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath. That forehead flick hurt even more than the laser strike, almost on par with his father's fists.

"'Captain John,' huh? I never expected to be saved by a pirate."

Dragon's expression was incomparably complicated, but he quickly accepted reality. Holding the twin infants, he turned around and continued running.

In the town

"It's the Roger Pirates!"

"Rayleigh took Shakky! Stop him!"

"Take down Rayleigh and bring Shakky back!"

"Stop, you bastards! You'll hurt Shakky!"

"..."

After the Celestial Dragons evacuated, this place became a stage for the pirates' free-for-all. With the top prize, "Shakky," gone, they all turned their attention to "treasure" and "Devil Fruits."

Garp and his adjutant Bogard rushed into the battlefield, but for once, they did not go after the pirates or trouble Roger, who ran past them. Their attention was fixed entirely on the Den Den Mushi in Garp's palm.

"Hey! Sengoku! Did you know about this!?"

"...I only found out just now as well."

After a brief silence, Sengoku gave a helpless reply from the other end of the line.

As a Marine Admiral at the time, he had initially only received orders to dispatch personnel to protect the Celestial Dragons on their "school trip."

As for which officers to send and how many troops to deploy, he had not asked.

But now it seemed that those Marine officers sent to provide protection had long since become the Celestial Dragons' loyal hounds.

Otherwise, they should have reported the matter to Marine Headquarters while the God Valley civilians were being rounded up.

"Someone did pass information to the Marines before, but it was terribly confusing, and they vanished before they could finish speaking."

At the end, Sengoku added this.

He guessed that civilians had tried to send word to Marine Headquarters, only to be discovered and silenced by CP agents.

As a result, Marine Headquarters had not taken the message seriously and had simply ignored it.

"Garp, don't do anything reckless!"

Remembering his old friend's personality, Sengoku hurriedly warned him.

To put it bluntly, never mind that he and Marine Headquarters had only learned of this now—even if they had known beforehand, what could they have done?

This had nothing to do with military strength. The Marines existed to serve the World Government.

Everything had to begin from the World Government's position and interests.

The World Government was the greatest "justice"!

"We'll see."

Facing his friend's warning, Garp hung up with a dark expression.

His mind was not as quick as Sengoku's, nor did he understand the hierarchy of power between the military and the government.

He only felt profound disappointment toward those obedient hounds within the Marines.

Clang—

At that moment, an explosive clash of steel rang through the heavens. The towering mountain behind the town visibly split down the middle, cleaved in half by a single sword strike!

"That Haki... it's Rocks!"

Garp's eyes flashed as he hurried over.

He did not want to capture Rocks. He simply wanted to know who could fight Rocks to such a degree.

Or perhaps he was simply lost right now, instinctively wanting to do something to make up for it.

Meanwhile

John had also reached the town. His gaze swept over Roger and Garp, who were racing ahead one after the other, before his attention was caught by a winding creature soaring upward into the clouds off to the side.

"Moo!"

The deep yet piercing dragon's roar tore through the clouds and stone, spreading across the entire island alongside rolling thunder.

Zoan-type-Fish Fruit Zoan Dragon Form!

"Do Devil Fruits choose their owners?"

John thought of himself, and his expression became strangely unreadable.

In a sense, he was now the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit itself.

So who had chosen whom?

"Pah, pah, pah! This isn't the time to think about that."

John quickly moved, taking a wide semicircular route around Garp's right side.

Through his Mantra, he heard that Rocks was directly ahead of Garp's target. Beyond Rocks, at some distance away, there were two more voices.

They had to be Rocks's wife and child—Alice and Teach!

Rocks must have been holding off the God's Knights led by Figarland Garling, buying time for his wife and child to escape.

And what John needed to do was bypass Garp, Garling, and the others standing in the way, then find Alice and Teach behind them.

Then he would use Alice and Teach as bait to force Rocks to retreat at once!

"Logically, Rocks has already bought enough time. Why is he still lingering instead of leaving?"

While flying, John suddenly realized a serious problem.

"Could it be that Rocks got greedy?"

The more John thought about it, the more convinced he became.

Rocks had previously seen Imu in the Room of Flowers at Mary Geoise. When Imu possessed Saturn, Rocks had immediately recognized that distinctive presence.

Rocks had stayed not because he could not leave, but because he wanted to kill Imu at God Valley once and for all!

"He got greedy!"

Before long, John arrived behind the valley, near the shoreline.

He also saw a woman racing wildly while holding a curly-haired child...

Beyond the shoreline, rows of warships were anchored, their decks filled with panic-stricken Celestial Dragons.

"Excuse me, you two."

Alice had barely heard the voice when, in the blink of an eye, a purple-haired man appeared out of nowhere directly in front of her.

She recognized him. He was an officer in her husband's pirate crew.

But she did not relax. Instead, she became even more vigilant.

"'Captain John,' what do you want?"

"Me? I want to struggle and resist."

John gave Alice and Teach in her arms an apologetic smile.

Then purple currents surged forth, engulfing the mother and son.