The easygoing Luffy soon forgot all about how his attack had missed and went forward with Ace to help Garp up.
"Grandpa! Are you all right?!"
Ace grabbed the shackles on Garp's wrists and gave them a hard pull, using an advanced Armament Haki technique to free his hands.
"Ah... you shouldn't have come..."
Garp sighed quietly as he flexed his newly freed wrists.
"What are you talking about?! How could Luffy and I just watch you get executed?!"
Ace retorted indignantly.
Luffy picked his nose and chimed in with a look of disdain. "Exactly! Grandpa, how come you seem dumber now? Is it because they didn't give you enough food in prison?"
After all, to Luffy, being full and being hungry were two completely different states.
But immediately after thoughtlessly mocking Garp, he remembered how terrifying his grandfather was. He clutched his head with both hands and loudly begged for mercy. "Whoa! Sorry, Grandpa! I wasn't calling you an idiot!"
However, the "Fist of Love" Luffy expected never came. Instead, Ace shoved him aside.
Shhk!
A sharp dagger plunged deep into Ace's body, stunning everyone watching them, including those watching the live broadcast.
"Murufufu... what a shame. If Dragon had come instead, the reward the Five Elders promised would probably have been higher."
The Garp who had ambushed Ace rolled backward and transformed into an equally burly woman wearing heavy makeup, with a long nose that rivaled Usopp's. She glanced regretfully at the fallen Ace, but made no attempt to finish him off, decisively retreating instead.
Xie Wen, who had been curiously examining the round red nose he had just cut off Buggy, was also startled by this sudden turn...
When he saw how unexpectedly lax the Marines' preparations were, Xie Wen had certainly considered the possibility that the