"I don't have that much time to bother a rookie brat."
Aeridar spread his hands. "The Straw Hat brat was the one who provoked me first. He caused a ruckus on my territory and stole a lot of my gold, at least several hundred million Berries' worth."
He then pointed at the indignant Enel behind him, chuckling. "The key thing is, he stole the gold from his palace."
"Uh…"
Garp scratched his head for a moment.
Damn it, I'm in the wrong here.
Aside from the fact that his grandson was a pirate, and it was normal for a Seven Warlord of the Sea member to subdue him, Luffy's actions of causing trouble on someone else's turf and stealing hundreds of millions of Berries' worth of gold meant that the resulting pursuit was not in the least excessive.
However, this pirate was none other than his own grandson, which put Garp in an awkward position.
"Hahahaha! Golden Ring boy, you make a fortune every day! You're the richest man in the world! A mere few hundred million Berries in gold is just a drop in the bucket!" Garp laughed heartily, slapping Aeridar on the shoulder with a force that could kill a tiger. "At most, I'll visit your place a few more times and patronize your business, hahahaha!"
"Garp-san, the gold is a small matter," Aeridar said with a faint, calm smile. "At most, I'll just send a brother to steal something from your G-3 Branch base later on."
"Uh…" Garp was speechless, unable to say a word for a while.
Send someone to steal from my G-3 Branch? I'll beat the guy who tries to steal to death!
"When I saw the surname 'Monkey D.,' I knew he was your grandson, Dragon's son. So, the gold itself doesn't matter. However, causing trouble on a territory protected by my flag is something that can't just be glossed over, Garp-san," Aeridar said flatly. "I originally only sent one brother over to teach them a lesson, so they'd know there are people stronger than them. But the gold the Straw Hats stole belonged to Enel's residence, which made him extremely angry, so he came over on his own accord."
"Tch, Garp old man, this matter… is not over!" With Aeridar's backing, combined with his own arrogant, cruel, and tyrannical nature, Enel glared at Garp with a look of hostility, completely undaunted.
"Lightning brat," Garp's eyes narrowed.
"That's enough, Enel. I'll send you double the gold later. Go back for now," Aeridar said with a hint of exasperation.
"Hmph. Does this God covet a mere bit of gold?" Enel said with dissatisfaction. "It's simply that no one takes anything from this God!"
Despite his words, he pouted and glared at Luffy's crew behind him. Then, a flash of lightning appeared on his body, and he turned into a bolt of thunder, instantly soaring into the sky and vanishing into the distance.
"Phew… What a troublesome brat!" Seeing Enel leave, Garp let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he couldn't win. In terms of strength, Garp was far above Enel, even in his True God of Thunder state. But what was the point of winning? The opponent could turn into lightning and escape at the speed of light. How could a pure hand-to-hand combatant like him catch up? And what could he do to him? If he left a huge mess in Water 7, Garp would be the one to suffer the fallout.
While Garp didn't care about rank or punishment, he would feel terrible if the citizens of Water 7 were affected.
Garp sighed in relief. The Straw Hat crew and the Marines present also felt a wave of exhaustion and relief—it had been too terrifying.
However, seeing such a powerful and arrogant Enel being called away by this young man in just a few words, the crowd was still not completely at ease.
"Straw Hat Luffy, we meet again," Aeridar walked past Garp and approached Luffy. He smiled faintly. "Consider the matter of the gold a congratulation for your bounty being the same as mine once was. I'll count it as a gift to you…"
"Really? You're such a good guy!" Before Aeridar could finish, Luffy believed him and bowed gratefully.
"You truly are a good person! Thank you!" Nami's eyes lit up, literally turning into symbols of money.
"Hahahaha! I knew you were generous, brat!" Garp laughed heartily, patting Aeridar on the shoulder with a force that could crush him.
"Uh…"
Aeridar's mouth twitched unnaturally. These guys, and this rotten old bastard, are you trying to kill me?! Or are you getting revenge for Enel's earlier actions?
"Hmph. But you caused trouble on my territory, so you still need to pay a price," Aeridar said with a look of displeasure. "I've stationed Backan at the Sabaody Archipelago. If you can evade him or defeat him, this matter will be considered closed. Don't worry, he won't kill you, but he will teach you a lesson. Once the lesson is over, the matter is closed."
At this, Garp stopped laughing and frowned, asking, "Golden Ring boy, is that really necessary? Can't you give this old man some face?"
"Garp-san, this is me giving you face," Aeridar said seriously. "You should know what happens to people who offend me. He is a pirate, so this matter should be concluded in a pirate's way."
"Good! I agree!" Before Garp could say anything, Luffy loudly accepted, his face showing a look of conviction. "I'm a pirate, the man who will become the Pirate King. It should be settled in the way of pirates!"
Hearing Luffy's words, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates silently offered their support.
Garp remained silent for a moment, then gave a wry smile and said nothing more.
This was the path Luffy had chosen. No matter how difficult, he had to grit his teeth and follow it. Furthermore, being allowed to live meant the other party had already shown him great courtesy.
Because causing trouble on an island under someone's flag was essentially a challenge and a declaration of war, something no pirate would tolerate. It completely signified an antagonistic relationship between the two pirate crews. To achieve this result meant the other party had made a significant concession.
"Admirable courage," Aeridar said with a faint smile, offering no further comment.
The Pirate King? What the heck is that?
Oh, right, I think he's a guy who was executed by the Marines!
Hmmm, what's the use of becoming the Pirate King? Can he truly command all the pirates in the world?
No, I certainly won't listen to any Pirate King's command. So, what's the point? A boring dream.
"Hmm, though this might sound a bit hurtful, I still want to ask: You shouldn't have been able to defeat Rob Lucci of CP9, so how did you escape?" Aeridar suddenly asked curiously.
Based on the information Aeridar possessed, Rob Lucci had already mastered two kinds of Haki and was definitely not someone a rookie-era Luffy could contend with. So why did events still seem to have played out as in the original story?
Hearing Aeridar's question, Luffy wilted, becoming somewhat dejected. "I didn't beat him. It's just that a lot of cannonballs suddenly flew over and blew up the area where we were fighting, so we took the chance to escape."