With Lin Mo's understanding of Garp,
This guy would never casually invite someone to join the Navy.
Unless the person he invited had extraordinary potential,
Which Garp was keen to cultivate.
It was only the first time the two of them had met today.
They had barely exchanged any words.
So what was there to think about?
Why would Garp even suggest it?
Lin Mo replied directly, "I'm not considering it, I refuse."
"Hahaha," Garp laughed heartily.
"You're not thinking about joining Shanks' pirate crew, are you?"
Shanks?
Lin Mo looked at him in surprise.
How did he know about his connection with Shanks?
Could it be that Shanks told him about it during that phone call?
No, Lin Mo dismissed that possibility.
With Shanks' personality, he wouldn't have done something like that.
So, it was likely that this old fox had figured it out on his own.
No wonder it's Garp...
Lin Mo didn't directly respond to Garp's question.
He casually replied, "I'm just a traveler."
"Eh?" Garp was momentarily stunned, then slapped the table and laughed.
"Hahaha, you little brat—what kind of traveler are you? You have no future at all.
Being in the Navy would be great! I have two grandsons, one a little younger than you, and one around your age.
You three should join me in the Navy and together we'll uphold order and justice on the seas!"
The two grandsons Garp mentioned were Luffy, his biological grandson,
And Ace, the son of the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger, whose true identity few knew about.
Garp had always hoped that Luffy and Ace would one day become Navy officers,
But both ended up becoming notorious pirates, much to Garp's frustration.
In any case, no matter what Garp said, Lin Mo wasn't going to change his mind.
"Not interested."
Lin Mo placed his meal payment on the table
And directly walked towards the spiral staircase leading to the second floor.
Just then, a few chefs with plates came walking toward him.
Seeing Lin Mo heading upstairs, they immediately stopped him.
"Little brat, you're going the wrong way. The main door is over there."
"Upstairs is the kitchen and private rooms.
No outsiders are allowed. If you want more food, just call for it."
Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to argue with them.
He decided to try out his Shunpo (Instant Step).
In the time it took those two chefs to speak, he had already swiftly darted past them.
The chefs didn't even realize what had happened, as Lin Mo's figure had already vanished.
"Huh? Where did that brat go?" one of the chefs asked in surprise.
The other chef shook his head.
"I don't know. He was just here, then suddenly disappeared..."
Garp had been watching closely the whole time.
After all, he hadn't witnessed Lin Mo's abilities firsthand and still had doubts.
But after seeing Lin Mo's footwork, his interest was piqued, and he slowed down his pace of eating dessert.
This was the first time Garp had seen such a unique foot technique—
It could really boost someone's speed like that.
This kid was truly something.
"More and more interesting," Garp grinned, continuing to eat his dessert.
Within seconds, Lin Mo arrived outside the room where Zeff was writing his ledger.
Sensing the aura outside the door, Zeff glanced up,
Only to find a kid he had never seen before.
"You brat, this isn't the place for you. Go back to the restaurant downstairs."
Zeff said, before lowering his head again to continue writing.
After a while, seeing that Lin Mo still hadn't left,
Zeff slammed his pen onto the desk, his voice turning impatient.
"Hey, don't you understand what I said?"
As Zeff spoke, his two braids of mustache wiggled, giving a very comical appearance.
Before founding the Baratie,
Zeff had been a cruel and ruthless pirate.
After nearly starving to death with Sanji, they were saved and decided to open a restaurant on the seas.
Since then, he had become less cruel, but still had a bad temper.
Lin Mo silently stared at him, not saying anything.
Then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Sanji, from far away, saw Lin Mo outside Zeff's room.
"That's one of the customers from the restaurant. What's he doing here?" Sanji was puzzled, but didn't think much about it. He sped up, and as he reached the door, he was about to push past Lin Mo when his hand didn't even touch him.
Lin Mo moved aside quickly, dodging him.
"Strange guy," Sanji muttered softly, then shouted toward Zeff inside the room,
"Old man! When are you going to teach me how to cook? I don't want to keep doing odd jobs!"
Zeff glared at Sanji, then stood up and walked toward him.
"You little brat!" Zeff kicked Sanji with his prosthetic right leg, sending him flying.
"With your attitude, what makes you think you're worthy to ask me for that? Go back to doing odd jobs!"
Zeff's prosthetic leg was lost when he saved Sanji before.
"Damn it!" Sanji climbed up from the floor where he had been sent flying, dissatisfied.
"You always say that—when am I ever going to be worthy to learn cooking?"
"Hey!" Zeff didn't answer Sanji's question, but turned his attention to Lin Mo,
And without hesitation, kicked at him.
"Enough with the antics! Go back to the restaurant!"
Just as Zeff's prosthetic leg was about to strike Lin Mo,
Lin Mo immediately used Shunpo to easily dodge the attack.
Zeff's face flashed with surprise as he immediately chased after Lin Mo, launching another series of attacks.
Lin Mo kept dodging, his Shunpo just enough to avoid the attacks.
With only level 1 Shunpo, it was enough to barely evade the attacks,
But if Zeff went all out, he might actually land a hit.
Zeff was known as "Red-legged Zeff,"
And his leg techniques were incredibly powerful.
"Oh? Little brat, you've got some skills!" Zeff squinted his eyes, his aura slightly expanding as he increased his speed.
Lin Mo hadn't wanted to fight,
But being forced into this situation,
He wasn't about to stay in a passive position.
When he saw he couldn't dodge Zeff's next attack,
Lin Mo's gaze shifted slightly as he applied Armament Haki to his hand.
He grabbed Zeff's rapidly attacking prosthetic leg,
Then, following the direction of Zeff's attack, he spun him around forcefully and threw him into the wall.
With a loud crash,
Zeff smashed through a wooden panel and tumbled into his own room.
Sanji, not far away, stared wide-eyed, unable to believe his eyes.
"No way! That old man was actually beaten by a kid my age?"
"Damn it!" Zeff's face turned sour as he climbed up from the pile of wood debris, glaring at Lin Mo.
"You little brat, you broke my ship!"
Lin Mo shrugged casually.
"Self-defense. Not my problem."
Zeff, still angry, shouted,
"What self-defense? You broke my ship, you'll have to pay for it!"
Lin Mo, unfazed, asked,
"How much?"
Zeff squinted his eyes and without hesitation, said,
"Ten thousand Berries!"