Bang!
"Hahaha, Sengoku, you finally approved my leave request!"
Garp shoved open the door to Sengoku's office and strode in with a toothy grin.
"Garp!"
"I approved your leave request."
"But there's a problem I need you to resolve as soon as possible. Once it's done, you can go to Foosha Village for your vacation."
Although the sight of Garp's goofy grin gave Sengoku a headache, he patiently focused on settling the matter first.
"Tch, I knew there'd be a catch. You're roping me into more work before my vacation."
Garp picked his nose, then flicked his finger lightly. An unidentified black lump landed squarely on Sengoku's desk, where it stood out glaringly.
"Garp, you bastard! Clean up your booger right now!"
Unsurprisingly, Garp had sent Sengoku into a rage again. He even felt that the desk was no longer clean and planned to replace it with a new one.
"Sengoku, quit yammering and give me the mission so I can finish it and get back to Foosha Village. My grandson's been raising hell lately. I need to teach him what the Fist of Love feels like."
Hearing Garp agree to take the mission, Sengoku gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger. "A pirate has appeared in Loguetown in the East Blue. He's Her Kazi, captain of the Blond Hair Pirates."
"Aokiji has already reached Loguetown and is fighting Her Kazi, but neither has won."
"Your mission is to get there as quickly as possible and work with Aokiji to arrest Her Kazi before they cause widespread destruction. Put that pirate in Impel Down."
"Just hand the pirate over to Aokiji, and then you can return to Foosha Village for your vacation. I'll grant you a whole month of leave. That should be enough time to teach your grandson a lesson."
Although Garp was delighted to receive a month of leave, the pirate who had suddenly appeared and could fight Aokiji to a standstill interested him even more.
"Bwahahaha! A newly emerged pirate who can fight Aokiji to a draw? Then I've got to meet him myself."
With Roger gone all these years, Garp had found it difficult to find a reasonably strong pirate to spar with.
After all, most other pirates traveled in groups, and touching one meant stirring up the whole lot.
With the likes of Kaido, Big Mom, and Whitebeard, for instance, it wasn't as simple as defeating one person. It meant facing massive pirate crews numbering in the tens or even hundreds of thousands.
If they couldn't be wiped out completely in one go, it was better not to deal with them at all.
Their loyal underlings would wreak havoc everywhere without restraint, while the ambitious ones would seize the opportunity to rise to power.
With a pirate emperor at the helm, at least the delicate balance at sea could be maintained.
That was also why Sengoku had been under so much pressure when confronting the Whitebeard Pirates in the original story.
He had not only needed to deal with the pirates, but also to get the World Government to approve his decision.
The Celestial Dragons didn't care whether ordinary people lived or died. As long as the balance at sea could be maintained and they could continue ruling the world, they would not eradicate the pirates completely.
And if those leaderless pirates ran rampant, the finances of the other affiliated nations would suffer, and the money collected by the World Government would shrink drastically as well.
This time, Garp not only had a fight waiting for him, but also a month's vacation as an added reward. He felt brimming with motivation.
"Sengoku, fill out another leave request for me. I'm setting off right now."
Garp left the Fleet Admiral's office in high spirits and headed straight for his dog-head fleet.
On the way, he had already contacted Bogard through a Den Den Mushi and told him to prepare to set sail as quickly as possible.
This time, Sengoku didn't keep bickering with Garp. He hadn't intended to make Garp write the request anyway. Every moment of delay meant more danger for the civilians in Loguetown.
Seeing that Sengoku was still frowning deeply, Tsuru reassured him. "Don't worry, Sengoku."
"You know how strong Garp is. With him and Aokiji working together, I can't think of any pirate currently at sea who could withstand their combined assault."
Sengoku nodded. He understood all that. His concern wasn't whether Garp and Aokiji could arrest Kazu.
There was no suspense about that. The master and apprentice would undoubtedly win.
What worried him was that the seas were growing increasingly restless. Today, an Admiral-level pirate had inexplicably emerged in the East Blue. Did that mean unknown monsters were hiding in the South Blue, West Blue, and North Blue as well?
That was very bad for the balance at sea, and the pressure on the Navy would rise sharply too.
If only those powerful fighters hidden among the populace could be recruited into the Navy. Sengoku couldn't help indulging in some wishful thinking.
He knew that the World Government would never agree to let the Navy grow that powerful.
After all, only a Navy that was never full but never starved to death made the most obedient hound for the World Government.
Garp acted swiftly and decisively, bringing the Dog-Head Warship up to maximum speed.
He even served as a propeller himself, repeatedly swinging his iron fists at the stern. The blasts from his punches struck the open sea, propelling the warship rapidly forward.
After years of Garp's training, the soldiers aboard had long since learned to remain as steady as mountains.
Even if the warship flew through the air, they could keep their footing firmly on its deck.
While Garp raced toward his destination, Rear Admiral Gedalota also received a call from headquarters. He urgently diverted from the harbor where he had originally intended to land and circled around to evacuate the civilians from the rear instead.
Bang!
Bang!
Thud!
Kazu and Aokiji were still fighting fiercely. At first, Kazu had relied on his absurd mobility to thoroughly show Aokiji up.
But he discovered that Aokiji was far too tanky. It would be difficult to settle the fight in a short time.
Using his Devil Fruit ability continuously at high intensity would only consume more stamina.
He could originally have fought fiercely for five days and five nights, but using his Devil Fruit ability at such intensity would make even two days a major hurdle.
There were different kinds of fierce battles, too. If they mixed probing attacks with bursts of power and recovered stamina as they fought, even ten days and ten nights wasn't impossible.
Going straight into a normal combat state would shorten that to several days and nights. Whitebeard and Roger, for instance, had often fought that way when they were young.
They would fight for three days and three nights, and once they'd had their fill, that was enough. Then they would go straight to drinking and feasting.
As for a fighting style that sustained extreme bursts of power regardless of the cost, such as Luffy's, the battle would usually be settled within a day.
Kazu now planned to change his approach. He hadn't learned Conqueror's Haki coating yet, so defeating Aokiji in a short time was clearly impossible.
With both of them relying on their monstrous physiques and Devil Fruit abilities, they would most likely be unable to settle the fight.
He might as well use his Devil Fruit ability only occasionally and clash more through swordsmanship and martial arts.
Not only would that hone his swordsmanship, but it would also let him quickly accumulate combat experience.
After all, an Admiral-level sparring partner wasn't something he could find whenever he wanted.