Kozuki Oden's unexpected return only added to Garp's irritation. He was already annoyed at letting Roger and the others slip away, and now this made it worse.
He had never met anyone as much of an eyesore as Kozuki Oden. People who didn't know when to quit or lacked a sense of proportion were the type Garp despised most, though ironically, he was the same kind of person himself.
Garp's voice rang loud and impatient, and as he glared at Oden and Marco, his fists clenched, a dangerous aura radiating from his whole body.
The look in his eyes made it clear: he was ready to throw a punch at the slightest provocation.
Marco, young and relatively inexperienced, had never been spoken to like this before. As a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, he was used to others addressing him with respect, even fear.
Though Marco wasn't an arrogant person by nature, being surrounded by that kind of atmosphere gave him a certain sense of superiority when dealing with outsiders.
"Marine, what are you saying?!"
"You're the ones who attacked first!"
"If you want to fight, then fight! We're the Whitebeard Pirates! We've never feared anyone!"
"My old man is Whitebeard!"
Riled up by Garp's tone, Marco roared in defiance.
From his point of view, he truly felt wronged. He was only carrying out orders to find Kozuki Oden. When he encountered Garp and Yoriichi, he had no intention of clashing.
Who could've expected that red-haired Marine to attack out of nowhere? If not for Marco's unique Devil Fruit powers, that first slash might have seriously injured him.
And now, these two Marines seemed unwilling to let things go, and the older one even spoke of the Whitebeard Pirates with disdain.
In his righteous indignation, Marco conveniently forgot one simple fact: he was a pirate, and the two before him were Marines.
With a furious cry, Marco spread his wings and shot into the air. Rising over ten meters, he suddenly pivoted and dove at Garp, talons transformed into the deadly claws of a phoenix, aimed at Garp's chest.
Garp didn't dodge or flinch. Instead, he looked up with a grin.
"Where did Whitebeard find such a brat?"
As he spoke, Marco's claws slammed into his chest.
A dull thud echoed as Marco's momentum came to a jarring halt.
Beneath Garp's feet, cracks spread through the earth like a spiderweb, but Garp himself stood unfazed. His suit wasn't even ruffled.
Garp lifted his head and smiled. In one swift motion, he grabbed Marco's claw, raised his arm high, and swung Marco around like a whip, slamming him into the ground.
Boom!
A massive crash shook the area, leaving a bird-shaped crater in the earth at Garp's feet.
But Garp wasn't done. Still holding Marco's claw, he swung him up and smashed him down again.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Over and over, until his irritation had finally ebbed. With a final, dismissive toss, Garp flung Marco aside as if discarding trash.
The attack had come so fast that Oden, who'd been about to help, could only watch as Marco was hurled away.
Without a second thought, Oden leapt after him, catching Marco mid-air. The force of impact carried them both down the mountain, crashing into the earth below.
Boom!
The sound echoed from the base of the mountain moments later.
Garp dusted off his hands, grinning with satisfaction.
"Hahaha! That felt good!"
"Yoriichi, remember this. When you meet brats who don't know their place, you gotta teach them a good, hard lesson!"
"Come on, let's head to the port and meet up with Sengoku. Been a while since I saw Whitebeard. Let's see how he's doing!"
As Garp strode downhill, Yoriichi glanced toward where Marco and Oden had fallen, then gave Garp a curious look.
"Teach brats a hard lesson, huh? Garp, you better not give me grief if I do that one day. I'll remember your words."
Garp blinked in confusion. "Why would I give you grief?"
Yoriichi just smiled. "Nothing."
"You're a weird kid," Garp muttered, but let it drop as they made their leisurely way down the mountain.
They weren't in any rush. Garp, apparently unconcerned about the port's situation, even took the time to point out edible plants along the path, looking far too relaxed given the pressure Sengoku must have been under.
Meanwhile, Marco and Oden had arrived at the base of the mountain faster than Roger's group.
When Roger, Shanks, Buggy, and the animal duo came down, they found Marco and Oden just pulling themselves out of the dirt.
For Oden, the fall was nothing. He emerged from the crater full of energy.
Marco, on the other hand, was covered in dirt, his body cloaked in blue flames as his injuries rapidly healed.
Garp had shown restraint. Without using Haki, he'd merely broken a dozen or so of Marco's bones, nothing the phoenix couldn't fix in a few minutes.
Of course, if Marco hadn't been who he was, he'd probably be dead by now.
Roger waved cheerfully.
"Well, that was fast! What a good guy that Garp is, giving you two a lift!"
"Hahaha! I knew I could trust him!"
Roger's laughter rang out, clearly amused by the whole scene. His Haki had told him everything that happened, and far from angry, he joked about it.
Marco, still aching, slumped to the ground.
"That damn middle-aged man... and that kid... who are they?! These Marines don't play fair!"
Roger roared with laughter. "Fair? You're a pirate, asking for fairness? From Garp?!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Marco stared, wide-eyed. "Garp?! That was Garp, the Marine hero?!"
He'd heard the name, of course, but this was the first time he'd met a Marine of such high rank in person.
"And that red-haired Marine kid? Who was that?"
"Vice Admiral Yoriichi," Shanks answered before Roger could. "The one who took Shiki's arm."
The feat had become Yoriichi's signature, and Marco's eyes widened in recognition.
"So it was him?!"
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