" The D. Clan carries too heavy a burden and bears too much responsibility. Roger was an ambitious man; he knew about the Void Century from 800 years ago."
I, on the other hand, am more of a conservative, only wanting to preserve some sparks of light. When people want to gain something, they inevitably lose something else; the strong are always lonely!
After finishing his sentence, the old man put the rice crackers he was holding back into the bag, seemingly losing interest in eating any more.
Vic didn't speak again. The old man's meaning was clear: what's done is done. He lost his parents but gained immense power in return. If he had been bound by familial ties, the outcome might have been very different!
Most people in this world are indeed like that, but he is different. When he came into this world, he knew that he had to become strong. He had a very clear goal and has been moving towards it.
The residents of Loguetown had long noticed the two's strange behavior, but the cloaks of justice on their backs had already identified them, so no one came to bother them; they just stood at a distance and pointed and whispered.
Many people recognized the Marine Garp the Hero, after all, he's a legendary figure who frequently appears in newspapers. Some were also curious about the Thunder Drum floating on the back of Vic's head. However, very few people recognized Vic himself; they were mostly young girls. Men aren't interested in men who are more handsome than themselves; only young girls like handsome men.
Vic had only intended to take a quick look and leave, but since the old man was there, he sat with him for a while and chatted. Afterward, the two returned to the warship together.
The warship set sail on the second day, dodging countless whirlpools, and pulled by the ocean currents, climbed up the Reverse Mountain from the East Blue Reverse Mountain entrance.
Although the Dog-Head Warship was large, it still appeared quite small in the uphill channel, like a tiny sesame seed compared to the entire Red Line.
Although many people had climbed the Reverse Mountain before, they still couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. Those who saw it for the first time got goosebumps all over and couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature.
Only Vic harbored doubts. He reasoned that if the entire Red Line was indeed circling the equator, it could have formed naturally. After all, a planet's rotation generates significant Mind Power, and the possibility of plate tectonics drifting and accumulating together was still one in ten thousand.
However, the Red Line does not encircle the equator, and this world has the existence of extraordinary powers like Devil Fruit, so Vic has always believed that the Red Line was created by human intervention.
Even the waterway leading to Reverse Mountain is artificially decorated. Who would be so bored as to go to such a dangerous place to do this? Is this encouraging others to go to the Grand Line? The World Government wouldn't do such a thing, so what other force could? This is something worth pondering!
It is unknown how long this situation has lasted, after all, the World Government has blocked 100 years of history, causing a gap in the entire history, and there are few records of history before 900 years ago.
Even so many archaeologists only found fragments of information, and in the end, they were all silenced by the World Government's Buster Call.
There are only two ways to learn about the past: one is through the World Government, which definitely has a lot of historical data from 900 years ago, but it is highly confidential and probably only accessible to people at the level of the Five Elders.
Another aspect is deciphering the Poneglyph. Joy Boy certainly recorded some history on it, but it's hard to say how much, given the limited space available for the stone.
The Poneglyph mainly record events that occurred during the Void Century, and we still need to find Robin to do that. Vic doesn't think the World Government will show him those top-secret histories, and even if he becomes Fleet Admiral, it's hopeless. Those are his foundation, and anyone who finds out will be silenced.
Laboon the whale wasn't at work today, so the warship didn't stop there and went straight through Twin Cape. Garp, however, kept his eyes fixed on Crocus's house.
Although Crocus did not appear, Vic's Observation Haki allowed him to see the people inside the house, and Crocus was also watching the Dog-Head Warship's movements through the wall.
The two old men stared at each other as if separated by a wall. Vic didn't know what their past was like, but they definitely knew each other and had interacted quite a bit in the past!
The warships descended from Reverse Mountain at an exceptionally high speed, and soon the Twin Cape lighthouse disappeared from view.
Once the warships reached the Grand Line, they couldn't sail as freely as they had in the East Blue, and their voyage slowed down. Although Garp kept clamoring to train Vic, his destructive power made it impossible to do so on a ship; there weren't even enough iron ships he could build.
He frequently destroyed warships during his pursuit of Roger, which might be one of the reasons he couldn't capture him—how could he capture Roger without even a ship?
Five days later, when the warship passed by a small uninhabited island, Garp took Vic aboard for special training. He also specifically instructed the others to stay on the warship. Although Rebecca and the others were eager to watch, they naturally obeyed the old man's orders, though their curiosity grew stronger.
"Grandpa! Is he finally coming?! Hurry up and teach me your special move!"
Vic's injuries healed a few days ago. He had been wanting to learn the old man's ultimate technique for countering Conqueror's Coating's Haki, but without Conqueror's Haki, he had to find other ways.
"I don't have such a special move. I can only let you adapt. You'll get used to it! Hahaha!"
The old man was also looking forward to the upcoming special training. He hadn't moved his hands and feet for several days and felt that his strength was not as good as before.
"What's the meaning?"
Vic was a bit confused. What's the point of training if you don't have any special moves? He had never known that the old man had Conqueror's Haki, although during the Paramount War, when Garp saw Luffy's Conqueror's Haki, he only said, "So it really is innate?"
While this indirectly suggests the possibility that he possesses Conqueror's Haki, it's not absolute. After all, it wasn't mentioned on his previous Vivre Card, and Vic had always assumed that the statement referred to his son Dragon.
While Garp possesses the potential for Conqueror's Haki, he hasn't Awakening due to his lack of ambition within the Navy, which is understandable. After all, it would be strange for Dragon, the leader of a major organization, not to have Conqueror's Haki.
I thought he'd finally learned some amazing skills, and they even had special training. Could it be that they just wanted to beat me up? Vic thought to himself, since the old man had been cracking his knuckles all this time, looking like he was ready for a fight at any moment.
Before Vic could figure out the crux of the problem, a blood-red hemisphere appeared centered on the old man, accompanied by thick black Inazuma.