Leaving Wano Country

While Sakazuki was still lost in thought—

"Purupuru—purupuru—"

The Den Den Mushi in Rock's pocket suddenly rang.

He picked it up. The next instant, its expression turned wildly exaggerated, its mouth gaping wide.

"Bwahahahaha!!!"

Garp's unmistakable, unrestrained laughter exploded from it, loud enough to make the air seem to tremble.

"Where've you been running off to, brat?!"

"Zephyr told me you left him on the island and took off by yourself!"

"You went off to have fun without me?!"

Rock couldn't help smiling. His tone was casual.

"Nothing like that."

"I took Sakazuki to deal with something."

"And on the way... we ran into Whitebeard."

There was a noticeable pause on the other end.

"Newgate?!"

"You didn't actually fight him, did you?"

"Hahaha, not yet."

Rock glanced at the still-smoking ruins in the distance, sounding as if he were discussing some trivial detour.

"What's up? You don't usually call me out of the blue."

"Did something happen at headquarters?"

Garp didn't dwell on it. His voice quickly regained its eager energy.

"An interesting young fella showed up at headquarters!"

"A Logia user—the Ice-Ice Fruit!"

"That kid's got fire in his belly!"

He laughed even harder.

"Zephyr wants you to come back and take a look."

"After all, just about every strong Logia user at headquarters has some connection to you now!"

Rock's gaze shifted slightly.

"The Ice-Ice Fruit."

He fell silent for a moment, matching it to a name he had long expected.

"Kuzan..."

Then he simply replied, "Got it. We'll be right back."

Garp's hearty laughter came through the Den Den Mushi once more, and the call ended.

Rock put it away and turned to Sakazuki, who stood ramrod straight. A knowing smile touched Rock's lips.

"The Ice-Ice Fruit."

"Looks like you'll have a good sparring partner."

Sakazuki's eyes