Lafitte's plan to wait for Blackbeard to return and attack Garp was doomed to fail. Blackbeard had been ground to dust, and Vic had released the Den Den Mushi. He was destined to be unable to contact his main target today!
Once wasn't enough, he tried twice; twice wasn't enough, he tried three times. After the third time, Lafitte knew something was wrong. A layer of sweat broke out on his back. Blackbeard never had the habit of not answering the phone because he knew the importance and timeliness of intelligence. He wouldn't not answer unless there were special circumstances. Especially since he didn't answer after three calls, something must have happened!
"Can't get in touch? He's probably been killed. Blackbeard's strength isn't top-tier, and he's too opportunistic. He'll be doomed sooner or later, Lafitte! You'd better think about yourself. I keep my word!"
Garp's words were the final straw that broke the camel's back: becoming a pirate means risking your life!
Lafitte used to firmly believe that Blackbeard could become the Pirate King, but after Vic and Luffy rose to become queens, he became less convinced. In the end, schemes and tricks can't compare to absolute strength!
Furthermore, Vic is genuinely worried about his future because he treats Blackbeard as an enemy and is hunting him down. Now that he can't contact Blackbeard, he strongly suspects that Vic killed him!
On this vast ocean, Blackbeard's strength may not be top-tier, but there are only a handful of people who could kill him. Coupled with Van Augur's teleportation ability, they could definitely escape unless they were lured in with the determination to kill. But now, the result is that they can't make contact!
"I can agree to your demand to release the hostages, but how can you guarantee you won't attack me?"
Lafitte now only wants to survive, so releasing the hostages is the only option left. However, he's worried that the other party might change their mind, and he just wants a guarantee!
"Are Koby's handcuffs explosive?"
"Yes!"
"Then activate the explosive device inside before you leave. That way, I won't have time to harm you. Can you trust me then?"
Garp didn't take these guys seriously at all. He figured he could just let them go and catch them again later. But they were too cautious, so he had no choice but to resort to this tactic. Fortunately, the explosive handcuffs had a few seconds to trigger, which was enough time for him to rush over and destroy them!
" Mr. Garp! This is too dangerous!"
"Yeah! If something goes wrong, Koby's finished!"
Kujaku and Hibari were very worried. Those were explosive handcuffs, powerful enough to blow a person to smithereens. Moreover, the time to trigger the explosion was too short. Rescuing someone in this way was too risky. If something went wrong, Koby would be really doomed!
That's it! No need to say anything more!
"Bring those unconscious ones over and hand them over to him!"
Garp made the final decision. He knew that only by doing this would Lafitte be completely at ease, and he himself was confident that he could save Koby. It was a solution that could be accepted by both sides.
"No need, I'm not familiar with them!"
Lafitte didn't want to take Shiryu and the others with him. He couldn't take so many people by himself, especially since there was a huge Wolf among them. He couldn't take them even if he spent half his life!
Moreover, doing so wouldn't buy him any time to leave. If he were alone, he could simply spread his wings and fly away, ensuring that no one could stop him!
So after leaving those words, Lafitte immediately activated Koby's handcuffs and then flew away quickly!
"Ding ding ding ding..."
With a series of rapid clanging sounds, Garp left a blur in place, and in the next instant, his hands, brimming with Haki, were already gripping the handcuffs on Koby's back!
"Boom"
After a loud explosion, smoke and dust billowed up, but the smoke and dust were far away from where Garp and Koby were, indicating that Garp had thrown the handcuffs far away before they exploded.
Garp narrowed his eyes as he watched Lafitte fly away into the distance, but ultimately made no move. With his current God Realm level, soaring through the air was nothing to him. Given Lafitte's speed, it wouldn't take him long to catch up if he really wanted to!
But he's already said it, so he won't go back on his word. If he really can't swallow this insult, he'll just arrest him again next time!
Of course, another reason is that he can't reveal that he can fly. Vic had given him this very serious instruction, so he has never gone all out in his battles!
"Go to the warship and find a few suitable pairs of Seastone Handcuffs. Besides the officers, arrest as many other pirates as you can; they're all bad news!"
After Koby and the two girls exchanged pleasantries for a while, Garp gave the order: since Lafitte didn't Shiryu and the others anymore, he would just take them back. After all, these people were originally in Impel Down, so it was only right to return them to their rightful owners. However, this time Shiryu would go from being a guard to a prisoner!
" Mr. Garp! Everyone else is fine, but what about the Colossal Battleship Sanjuan? It's too huge! The warship can't fit it!"
"Notify headquarters and tell them to make arrangements. We've already rescued the people and captured the escapees from Impel Down. They can't just sit around doing nothing!"
Under the combined attack of Vic and Garp, the Blackbeard Pirates were completely wiped out from the sea. Apart from Lafitte, they were either dead or captured, and were completely removed from the pursuit of the One Piece!
" Vic! This isn't the way back, is it? Where are we going?"
Looking at the direction of the Log Pose, Olvia asked with some confusion, "After they dealt with Blackbeard and his men, they left Winner Island."
What needed to be resolved has been resolved, and what needed to be obtained has been obtained. The journey can be considered complete. The only regret is that I didn't get to see my daughter Robin. We were very close when we were on the outskirts of Wano Country!
"Let's go to Egghead, the Future Island. Vegapunk asked me for help before, and I agreed. Besides, a genius scientist like Vegapunk is a great help to our future. Remember the gravity bracelet? That was invented by Vegapunk!"
Vic had long wanted to bring Vegapunk to his side, whether to have him in the Revolutionary Army to invent advanced technology and weapons, or to have him join his pirate crew as a logistics provider, both would be excellent options.
Neither the Revolutionary Army nor Vegapunk himself is short of money now and can support Vegapunk's enormous expenses.
The Revolutionary Army, with the Gild Tesoro as their lifeblood, is no longer what it used to be. Meanwhile, Vic possesses a vast amount of gold that he has hardly used, enough to cover Vegapunk's research expenses.
Previously, Vegapunk wanted to use the World Government's money for his own research, but now the World Government is ready to discard him after using him—the timing is perfect!
"A request for help? Is it a pirate attack? Isn't that World Government territory? Why doesn't he ask the World Government for help?"
"Pirates? Ordinary pirates can't get close to Egghead. His genius brain can also be transformed into powerful force. As for why he doesn't go to the World Government? Because it's the World Government that wants to take action against him. Who told him to know too much!"
Although Vic has never seen Seraphim in person, he has seen traces left by Seraphim's attack on Amazon Lily, including laser cannons, swordsmanship, and Devil Fruit abilities. Combined with descriptions from those who witnessed it, he can deduce the Seraphim's strength!
These humanoid weapons, designed for battle, are not something ordinary pirates can easily mess with. And Egghead has Seraphim guarding him, whether to protect Vegapunk or to prevent him from escaping, it's unclear!
"What? The World Government is going to attack Vegapunk? Why? Aren't they in cahoots?"
I remember that Dr. Clover and Vegapunk were good friends. Dr. Clover would definitely not want to see his old friend in danger, so even though Vegapunk had joined the World Government, I was willing to go and save him!
Although Olvia spent her youth searching for the Poneglyph, she knew about the relationship between Dr. Clover and Vegapunk. However, Vegapunk later joined the World Government, and Ohara was destroyed!