Startled Upright on His Deathbed

The jeers that had been so grating moments before seemed to have been punched underground by Garp.

At the edge of the enormous crater, Lorne lay covered in blood, yet his back had not completely bowed.

No one dared laugh anymore.

"Did he... really knock Vice Admiral Garp back?"

"That's the hero of the Marines."

"If that punch had hit me instead, there wouldn't even be ashes left to find, right?"

"Forget you. Even a whole squad of us wouldn't have stood a chance."

Someone opened his mouth, still wanting to call him a beneficiary of connections.

But the words reached his throat, and he forcibly swallowed them back down.

Connections?

Whose well-connected recruit dared let Vice Admiral Garp pound him with punch after punch?

Who could get in through the back door and end up nearly beaten beneath Marineford?

Every word they had said before now felt like a slap, making their faces burn.

On the platform.

Sengoku gripped the Amplifying Den Den Mushi, his expression frighteningly dark.

He first glanced at the enormous crater in the central plaza, then at Garp, who was brushing off dust beside it.

"Garp!"

"You bastard!"

"Who told you to wreck the central plaza like this?!"

Garp looked down at his shredded cuffs, then at the still-smoking crater, and laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Wahahahaha!"

"I got a little carried away!"

"Carried away?!"

Sengoku nearly crushed the Den Den Mushi.

"This is a graduation assessment! You weren't supposed to demolish headquarters!"

Garp waved a hand.

"Don't be so petty, Sengoku."

"Look, the kid's still alive."

"And he fought beautifully!"

"Beautifully, my ass!"

The veins at Sengoku's temples throbbed violently.

Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses, his voice as languid as ever.

"Oh~ how frightening. Even Mr. Garp was knocked back a few steps."

Aokiji scratched his head and yawned.

"Ah la la... an ordinary recruit would've been in the infirmary after the first punch, wouldn't he?"

Akainu stood with his arms folded, his gaze resting on Lorne.

"To hold out this long against Vice Admiral Garp's fists and still manage a counterattack."

"This brat is indeed qualified to graduate."

Zephyr stood behind Sengoku, his mechanical arm tightening slightly.

Only when he saw Lorne's chest still rising and falling did he slowly release a breath.

"Sengoku."

"What?"

"Announce it."

Zephyr said gravely, "Keep dragging this out, and the medics really will rush up here and bite someone."

Sengoku forced down his anger and raised the Amplifying Den Den Mushi.

Across the central plaza, tens of thousands of Marines looked up at once.

The Elite Camp recruits hung their heads, none daring to shout recklessly anymore.

Sengoku's voice spread throughout the plaza.

"In this special graduation assessment."

"Recruit Lorne faced Headquarters Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp."

Everyone held their breath.

Sengoku glanced at the enormous crater, then at Garp, who was still brushing off dust, and his face twitched hard.

"The assessment result-"

"Lorne passes!"

Boom!

The plaza erupted instantly.

"He passed!"

"He really passed!"

"Graduating from the Elite Camp in just over a month?"

"And his opponent was Vice Admiral Garp!"

"Who still dares say he got in through connections? Go try it yourself!"

Several recruits who had shouted the loudest before turned white as paper.

Someone cursed under his breath.

"We're the real joke."

The person beside him hurriedly grabbed him.

"Shut up. Don't let him hear you."

"He's already unconscious."

"Did you forget those ears of his? He even caught Vice Admiral Garp's hand back in the crater!"

The man immediately clapped a hand over his mouth.

At the edge of the plaza, the medics finally broke through the wall of people.

"Quick! Stretcher!"

"Hemostatic kit!"

"Splints!"

"Don't step on the cracked ground! It's hollow underneath!"

More than a dozen medics rushed to Lorne's side.

The lead doctor had only just crouched down, his hand not yet touching Lorne's chest, when a blood-covered hand clamped around his wrist.

The doctor nearly jumped in fright.

"He's alive! He's still conscious!"

Lorne slowly raised his head, his face covered in blood, his beast ears drooping, his breathing as heavy as broken bellows.

"No... needles."

The doctor's eyes reddened with urgency.

"Your sternum is fractured, your internal organs are damaged, and you've lost a lot of blood. You need treatment immediately!"

"Cut the crap."

Lorne coughed up bloody froth and pushed the syringe away.

"I'm hungry."

The doctor froze.

"What?"

Bracing himself against the ground, Lorne forced himself upright.

The sound of broken bones scraping together made the surrounding recruits' scalps prickle.

But he merely wiped the blood from his face and repeated himself.

"I said I'm hungry."

"Hungry enough to swallow a Sea King."

The medics all stood dumbfounded.

"He wants to eat at a time like this?"

"Vice Admiral Garp just beat him into this state!"

"A normal person should go to the emergency room first!"

"Could a normal person take that many punches from Vice Admiral Garp?"

The doctor clutched the syringe, his face red with urgency.

"Lorne! You can't move around right now! Get on the stretcher first. We'll give you something for the pain, then treat your bones!"

Lorne looked down at the syringe, and his beast ears immediately stood upright.

"No needles."

"This is treatment!"

"No needles, even for treatment."

"Are you afraid of needles?"

"Bullshit."

Lorne glared at him.

"I just hate people sticking things into my flesh."

A medic beside him looked at the bloody holes all over his body, his mouth twitching hard.

"But Vice Admiral Garp just beat you half to death..."

Lorne turned to look at him.

"Those were fists."

The medic was baffled.

"What's the difference?"

Lorne answered with utter conviction.

"You can punch back. You can't needle back."

The doctor nearly fainted on the spot.

"What kind of twisted logic is that?!"

Garp finally lost it, throwing back his head in explosive laughter.

"Wahahahaha!"

"Good! Well said! That's my grandson!"

On the platform, Sengoku roared.

"Garp! Stop making things worse!"

Garp ignored him completely and strode over to Lorne.

The medics immediately blocked his way.

"Vice Admiral Garp! The patient needs emergency treatment!"

"Emergency treatment?"

Garp lowered his head and glanced at Lorne.

Lorne looked up at him too.

They stared at each other for a moment, then grinned at the same time.

Garp grabbed Lorne by the back of his collar and lifted him like a little animal.

"In his condition, a meal should pretty much do it."

The doctor was practically falling apart.

"That's not how medicine works!"

Lorne's limbs dangled, blood still dripping from his body.

"Hey! Old man, be gentle!"

"Aren't you hungry? I'm taking you to eat!"

"I can walk myself!"

"Take two steps now, and you'll fall into a crater."

"Don't underestimate me. I can still fight!"

"Then once you've eaten, I'll fight you again!"

"Get lost!"

Sengoku's expression changed.

"Garp! Put him down! He still needs an examination!"

Garp slung Lorne over his shoulder, turned, and ran.

"What examination? The food won't taste good once it gets cold!"

"Garp-!!!"

Sengoku's furious roar rang throughout headquarters.

Garp pushed off hard, charging out of the grounds with Lorne and leaving only a trail of wild laughter behind.

"Wahahahaha! The finest dining hall! Today, it's my treat!"

The wind smeared blood all over Lorne's face, and he let loose a torrent of curses.

"Your treat? Do you even have any money?!"

"Put it on Sengoku's tab!"

"Then I'm having a double portion!"

"That's the spirit!"

On the raised platform, Sengoku clutched his chest, nearly passing out.

Kizaru drawled.

"Oh~ Fleet Admiral Sengoku, today's bill is going to be terrifying."

Aokiji nodded.

"Oh my, Mr. Garp treats, Mr. Sengoku pays. A time-honored tradition."

Akainu said coldly, "Nonsense."

Zephyr looked in the direction Garp had gone and raised a hand to his forehead.

"That kid was hurt that badly, and he actually went along anyway."

Sengoku whipped his head around.

"Zephyr!"

"Hmm?"