At that same moment, in the waters near the entrance to the Grand Line.
A massive warship bearing a Dog-Head Figurehead cut through the waves.
On deck, a burly, silver-haired old man sat cross-legged, crunching noisily on a handful of senbei.
"Bogard! How much longer until headquarters?" Garp stuffed the last piece of senbei into his mouth and shouted indistinctly.
Beside him, his adjutant Bogard lowered the brim of his hat and glanced at the nautical chart. His tone was flat. "About two more hours, Vice Admiral Garp. If you hadn't insisted on taking a detour to buy donuts from that shop, we would have arrived an hour ago."
"Hahahaha! Donuts are a man's romance!" Garp laughed carelessly, then rubbed his hands together, looking as though he were about to show off a new toy. "I can't wait to see that fellow Zephyr. I wonder how that old face of his will twist when he sees the 'surprise' I've brought him!"
Remembering the commotion Lin Xuan had caused in Foosha Village, the amusement in Garp's eyes deepened.
Awakening all Three Types of Haki at sixteen, the talent to learn something after seeing it once, and the ruthlessness to risk his life just to grow stronger...
"That old fool Sengoku keeps going on about the Marines having no promising successors. This time, I've brought them a real monster!" Garp slapped his thigh, so pleased that he felt like humming.
Of course, he had no idea that the "surprise" he spoke of was currently thousands of meters in the air, fighting for his life against the legendary pirate who had once destroyed half of Marine Headquarters.
The warship sliced through the sea, leaving a white wake that pointed straight toward Marineford.
On the docks there, a squad of recruits stood in neat