"Damn it, that hurts! Who hit me?"
"Gramps?!"
When Luffy saw Garp's gloomy face clearly, he abruptly backed into the cold wall, rubbing his eyes hard in disbelief.
Huh?
Grandpa?
Usopp, Nami, and the others widened their eyes. Judging by the old man's uniform, he was a Marine, wasn't he?
"Luffy, who told you to secretly set out to sea and become a pirate? Looks like my words went in one ear and out the other."
Garp looked as though he hated that Luffy had failed to live up to expectations.
That rebellious son had been like this, that damned rebellious grandson had been like this, and now this little rebellious grandson was the same. Did they not know he was only trying to protect them?
Veins bulged across his neck, but the instant he saw Luffy's miserable state, the anger rising in his heart vanished.
"I told you I'm going to become the Pirate King."
Luffy muttered, but he was still happy to see Garp here. Instinctively, he wanted to rely on him, because he had reached the end of the road and had no other options.
Though he usually laughed things off, regret churned within him.
Because of him.
Nami and the others might never escape this place for the rest of their lives.
"Grandpa, did you come to rescue us?"
"No."
Watching Luffy come over and sit down, Garp answered cleanly and decisively.
Luffy's expectant face immediately fell, and his expression quickly turned disdainful.
Bang—
Garp's eyelid twitched, and he punched Luffy on the head again. In an instant, Luffy lay on the ground rolling back and forth with two steaming lumps on his head.
"That's the expression you make when you see your grandfather?"
Usopp and the others looked at one another, utterly at a loss. They could practically see each other's disbelief. How was Luffy's father the leader of a rebellion while his grandfather was a Marine?
If he could come to Impel Down and see Luffy whenever he wanted, his rank had to be pretty high, right?
"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Monkey D. Garp, Luffy's grandfather."
After teaching Luffy a lesson.
Garp scratched his head and introduced himself to Nami and the others, smiling warmly. "Since Luffy recognizes you as his companions, you must all be trustworthy. But this brat is a real headache. Getting involved with him means you've had terrible luck."
Nami and the others opened their mouths, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
There was nothing wrong with the first part, but the more they heard the latter half, the more insulting it sounded.
"That hurts."
"You bastard, Grandpa."
Luffy wailed, tears and snot pouring uncontrollably down his face. He was deeply dissatisfied with Garp kicking him while he was down. What did he mean, getting involved with him meant terrible luck?
Who mocked their own grandson like that?
"Do you have a problem with that?"
Seeing Luffy's unconvinced expression, Garp's face stretched long as a donkey's. He snorted coldly. "Look at the situation you're in. Since Impel Down was established, very few people have successfully pulled off a Prison Break. Every one of them was a top powerhouse who had dominated the seas."
"Tell me, how are you supposed to get out? And how are you supposed to save these companions of yours?"
"In the end, only two fates await you: either die here, or grow old and die here."
Faced with Garp's cold, merciless exposure of reality, Luffy's expression froze before turning ashen. Zoro and the others also fell silent.
"Grandpa, you're the Navy Hero. Can you get Zoro and the others out? I can stay here forever."
After struggling for a long time.
Luffy clenched his fists, like a deflated balloon, and looked at Garp almost pleadingly.
"No."
As always, Garp's answer was firm. At that moment, the light vanished from Luffy's eyes, and he lost all his usual spirit.
Sigh...
Garp fell silent for a moment. Seeing that Luffy had been discouraged enough, and finding no one spying with Observation Haki, he shifted his feet slightly and motioned for Nami and the others to gather around.
Though Nami and the others did not know what Garp intended to say, they instinctively moved closer. Usopp forcibly pulled over the despairing Luffy as well.
"If you want to get out, you can only rely on yourselves. Whether it takes ten years or twenty, you must persevere. Harsh environments often allow people to improve faster."
"Since you're already here, find a way to become stronger, then escape with your own strength instead of giving up hope so easily."
"On these seas, the only things you can rely on are each other and your own strength."
"So becoming stronger is your only way out."
"I'll remain in Impel Down for half a month and secretly teach you the Six Powers and Two types of Haki. This is your only chance to escape, or to achieve your dreams."
Garp gritted his teeth. In the end, he had gone against the justice in his heart.
When it came to his own grandson, he could not simply stand by and do nothing.
"Grandpa."
Luffy pressed his lips together. He did not know what to say.
Zoro, Nami, and the others clenched their teeth as well. Though they did not know what the Six Powers or Haki were, if they could offer hope of escape, they had to be immensely important and powerful.
"Pull yourselves together. From this moment on, every second is crucial to you."
"Understood."
Everyone nodded firmly. Amid the hopeless darkness, a glimmer of hope had suddenly appeared. No matter what, they had to seize it with all their might.
And so.
Garp began staying in Impel Down. Out of respect for Garp, Magellan did not make things difficult for the Straw Hat Pirates. Instead, he turned a blind eye.
As long as Garp did not violate the rules by forcibly taking Luffy away, many things were not really an issue. At the end of the day, the Straw Hat Pirates were not famous yet.
Their influence was practically nonexistent.
They had yet to go through the Enies Lobby incident and provoke the World Government, so their crimes were not serious. At most, they were imprisoned because they were pirates.
There were plenty of minor pirates with bounties of thirty million Berries in Impel Down.
Even if Garp used his authority to rescue the Straw Hat Pirates, he would at most be harshly reprimanded, and then the matter would be dropped.
After all, who would care about some insignificant nobody?
If not for his powerful father and absurdly formidable grandfather, what was Monkey D. Luffy worth?
It had to be said that Garp could truly harden his heart. He had chosen to use Impel Down's hellish environment to temper Luffy, perhaps even to correct Luffy's determination to become a pirate.
Behind it all lay painstaking care.
Flowers raised in a greenhouse could not withstand raging storms. Only by enduring pain that ordinary people could not bear could one break from the cocoon and become a butterfly.
It also fully showed that when making one's way in the world, whether in an ordinary world or a supernatural one, what mattered was strength and connections.
Garp knew full well how cruel this world was. Only the final victor could be called justice, and at present, the Celestial Dragons were the final victors.
This world existed to serve the Celestial Dragons.
For centuries, no one had managed to shatter the rule of the prevailing order.
The only thing he could do was join it and preserve as much hope and as many sparks as possible.
The Navy was merely aiding evil. His own hands, along with those of the other Marines, were stained with sin and innocent blood. Whether it was him or the other Marines, they all wanted to change things, but they were powerless.
Just as Dragon had said, the Navy had no true justice.
Garp knew this clearly, and so did everyone else.
The Celestial Dragons had a tradition. Every three years, they held a human hunting event. They would choose an island belonging to a non-member nation and hold a killing contest there, slaughtering all the natives before declaring the island property of the World Government.
The Navy's role in this was to protect the Celestial Dragons. How laughable was that?
Everyone was waiting for the legendary Sun God Nika.
Luffy.
From the moment you ate that fruit, destiny had already settled upon you...
My esteemed ancestors, how should the Ton-Ton Fruit be developed? Throw out your ideas so I can shamelessly copy them.