Garp

The next morning.

Brrrring, brrrring, brrrring~

"Carl, it's for you. Go answer it. It should be someone looking for you."

Carl opened his bleary eyes and saw the lecherous-looking Chrysanthemum Den Den Mushi. Without even thinking, he knew it had to be Kizaru.

"Hello, Admiral Kizaru. Mm-hmm, I understand. Then I'll just wait another day at Marine Headquarters. All right, all right, hanging up."

Carl hung up the phone and yawned before pulling Monica, who was wearing a camisole nightgown, into his arms.

"What happened? Are you heading out on a mission so soon?"

Boredly playing with Monica's curly hair, Carl sighed. "Yeah! But I can still rest for another day. We won't be leaving until tomorrow, so I can spend one more day with you."

Monica gave him a sweet smile and kissed him on the cheek, then felt something beginning to stir.

"You worked yourself all night yesterday. How are you still so energetic?"

Carl looked innocent. Who told you to insist on being the knight? Besides, under the dual enhancement of Still as a Virgin and Quick as a Rabbit, it wasn't like I was holding back, all right?

Training ground.

Zephyr looked at the empty field and smiled faintly. His students each had promising futures, and as their teacher, he was naturally happy for them.

"Hey, Zephyr! You're still as vigorous as ever! I heard you killed a pirate with a bounty of 300 million Beli a few days ago?"

Hearing that unrestrained voice, Zephyr couldn't help grinning. "You, on the other hand, have finished your vacation?"

Garp walked over with a hearty laugh and picked his nose. "It ended ages ago. I've just been busy hunting that Red-Haired bastard lately."

The two bumped fists, found seats, and sat down with their legs crossed.

"I heard you've trained another impressive disciple?"

Zephyr gave a faint grin. He hadn't intended to brag, but Garp had insisted on forcing the subject...

"Hahaha, how did you find out?"

Garp curled his lips. "I saw it while looking for senbei in Sengoku's office. It was that little guy named Carl, right?"

"That's right. He's the most talented member of the younger generation of Marines I've encountered in the past decade. Given enough time, he'll become a great man."

Hearing this, Garp looked at Zephyr in astonishment. "That high a rating? Is that kid a Logia too?"

Zephyr chuckled. He had guessed that Garp hadn't looked carefully. If he had, he wouldn't have asked such a question.

"No, he's a Paramecia."

Garp scratched his head. A Paramecia, just like his troublesome grandson.

Whenever he thought of Luffy, Garp grew furious. Damn that Red-Haired bastard! What kind of spell had he cast over Luffy? The boy was dead set on becoming a pirate. Even beating him half to death hadn't changed his mind.

"Not an ordinary Paramecia?"

"That's right. The Devil Fruit he ate is called the Holy Light Fruit. It can release Holy Light, which has the effects of healing and strengthening the body. Most importantly, it can also work on other people."

Garp was instantly dumbfounded. "What?! There's such an ability in the world?"

Garp had been a Marine his entire life and had seen countless Devil Fruit users, but he had never heard of an ability like this. It sounded like it was perfectly suited for the Marines.

"That's right! In previous training missions, several students would always die at the hands of pirates. But thanks to Carl, there were no student casualties during this training mission."

"And relying on Carl's healing and strengthening abilities, they annihilated two pirate crews. One student was even shot more than twenty times, yet Carl still managed to save him."

"You should understand how powerful his ability is now, right?"

Garp sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly asked, "Does this kid have somewhere to go now? If not, I could take him under my wing!"

"Hmph~" Zephyr gave a disdainful snort. "Too late! You can't imagine how sought-after Carl is!"

"Then who's he with now? Akainu?"

Zephyr shook his head. "No. Akainu invited him, but he refused. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be reporting to Kizaru."

"Kizaru?! Are you sure?"

Garp nearly fell out of his chair. He had assumed it would be either Akainu or Aokiji. Who could have expected it to be that inscrutable fellow, Kizaru?

"Ah~ It's a long story..."

Zephyr then told Garp about how Kizaru had discovered Carl's ability and everything that followed, enjoying Garp's astonished expression.

After who knew how long, Garp's curiosity about Carl grew stronger and stronger. He finally said, "Zephyr, why don't you call Carl over and let me take a look? I'd like to experience that Holy Light for myself!"

"I'll try..."

At Crescent Bay, Carl was strolling with Monica when he took out a Den Den Mushi and held it in front of him.

"Teacher Zephyr?"

"That's right, it's me. Are you still at Marine Headquarters? If you are, come to the training ground. Someone wants to meet you."

Carl paused. Since he had nothing else to do, he figured he might as well go.

"All right, Teacher Zephyr. I'll be right there."

After putting away the Den Den Mushi, Carl took Monica's hand. "Come on, we're going together!"

Monica hurriedly waved her hands. "Th-that doesn't seem appropriate!"

"Ah, what are you afraid of? Teacher Zephyr isn't going to eat you. Come on, come on!"

Training ground.

Sharp-eyed, Garp spotted a handsome, sunny young man walking in with his arm around a blonde girl and hurriedly asked, "Zephyr, is that Carl?"

"That's him."

"Teacher Zephyr... Uh, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Carl saw that it was indeed as he had expected. On the way there, he had vaguely guessed that the person who wanted to meet him was most likely the Marine hero, Garp. He had met nearly all the higher-ups in the Marines, and Garp was the only one he had heard of without ever meeting.

To be honest, he had always been rather curious about what kind of person the Marine hero Garp was. After all, what he heard about most often were Garp's exploits.

He had finally met the real man today. Just as he remembered, Garp was tall and powerfully built. Even with his head full of silver hair, he couldn't conceal his formidable presence. He truly embodied the saying that the older, the stranger.

"Hahahaha, I'm Garp indeed! Zephyr just finished bragging about your abilities to me!"

"Uh... Heh heh, Teacher Zephyr was too kind. I'm just an ordinary Marine."

Garp and Zephyr exchanged a smile. Garp stood up and patted Carl on the shoulder. "Kid, I won't waste any more words. Let me experience that Holy Light of yours, all right?"

"No problem."

Carl immediately condensed a sphere of Holy Light and merged it into Garp's body. Garp closed his eyes and carefully felt its effects.

After a long while, Garp slowly opened his eyes and looked at Carl with a complicated expression. He felt a faint wave of emotion. No wonder Zephyr valued Carl so highly. This was precisely the kind of ability the Marines needed.

"Carl, work hard! Don't let your ability go to waste."