"It really is you, old man!"
Shanu burst into laughter. "Seriously? The Marines Headquarters actually sent you personally just to arrest me?"
He had only entered the Grand Line two months ago.
This was Roger-level treatment!
"No choice. Over in the New World right now, Kaido and Whitebeard are fighting up a storm. Manpower is tight. So even though I was on vacation, they dragged me over… oh wait. That's classified military info. I shouldn't be telling you this."
"But you already told him, Vice Admiral Garp!!" the marines nearby roared.
"Bwahahaha!"
Garp scratched his head. "Ah, slipped out! Don't worry, it'll be in the newspapers in two days anyway!" His expression suddenly turned serious. "Shanu, I came this time on behalf of the World Government to discuss the matter of the Shichibukai."
"The Shichibukai, huh?"
Shanu touched his chin. "So they want to recruit me? Even the World Government is taking action?"
"That's right! Hahaha! After beating two Shichibukai in a row, even the Five Elders are restless. Anyway, as long as you agree, your bounty will be canceled immediately, and you'll enjoy, ugh, why are there so many pages in this file, annoying… whatever. Let's talk in person instead!"
"Meeting face-to-face is fine. But I assume you're coming alone, old man?"
Shanu paused. "Don't let me show up and suddenly see you standing there with some shady sunglasses-wearing uncle behind you."
"Hah? Of course not!"
"Alright then, I'll stop the ship and wait for you. Let me check the map… current coordinates should be, "
Click.
The line cut off.
In the restaurant, everyone stared at Shanu.
"Bro… we're actually staying here and waiting for the Marines?"
Nami was the first to panic. "You can't trust them so easily! What if it's a trap?!"
"Relax."
Shanu sat back down calmly and continued eating. "Anyone else I might worry about, but that old man's words can be trusted."
"Agreed." Smoker nodded. "Vice Admiral Garp really is that kind of man. Even facing enemies, he wouldn't pull something like that."
"You may have left the Marines, but you still admire him," Robin commented with a blink.
"A hero of the Marines has dominated the seas for decades. Any kid who dreamed of joining the Marines grew up hearing his stories," Smoker sighed.
Shame not every Marine top brass is like him.
"Captain said it's fine, so stop overthinking!"
Nami was about to argue again, but Zeff interrupted with a laugh, banging his ladle:
"Back to eating! Don't waste breakfast!"
The Curtainfall dropped anchor.
After finishing his meal, Shanu was originally lying lazily under a parasol. He glanced at the sea and suddenly raised his head.
"Hey, Nojiko."
From the lookout tower, Nojiko quickly leaned out.
"What is it, bro?"
"Freeze this side and make a wide ice field. The bigger the better."
He pointed to the starboard side.
"Huh?"
Nojiko was confused.
"You've never met that old man, so you don't understand his personality."
Shanu chuckled. "No matter what happens with this Shichibukai thing, after so many years apart, he'll definitely want to fight me. And you don't want us smashing up the Curtainfall's deck, right?"
Fight on the deck?
Nojiko imagined it for a moment and instantly shivered. After two months aboard, she had grown attached to the ship. She didn't want it destroyed.
"Got it, bro."
She put down the telescope and jumped straight off.
Headfirst, falling.
Right before she hit the seawater, she took a deep breath, thrust both palms forward, and released her cold aura,
"Glacial Age!!"
In an instant, a freezing current surged outward!
Crack! Crack! The stormy sea froze into a vast white ice field.
Shanu blinked.
Wait, Glacial what?
That move's name sounded a little familiar.
Wonder how Aokiji would feel if he saw this…
"How's that, bro?"
Nojiko clapped her hands happily. "Around a hundred thousand square meters. Enough?"
"Plenty."
He gave a thumbs-up and leaped down onto the ice.
The ice was different from Aokiji's, thick snow covered it, crackling underfoot.
"A perfect battlefield."
Shanu grinned and looked into the distance.
"All that's left is to wait for the old man to show up…"
An hour later.
On the horizon appeared the silhouette of a dog-headed Marine ship.
On deck, Garp sat cross-legged on the railing, chewing a sack of rice crackers he stole from Sengoku's office.
Beside him, Bogard spoke helplessly:
"Vice Admiral Garp, we'll arrive soon. Shouldn't you prepare the documents?"
"Bwahahaha! What's the rush? Negotiations should start with hospitality, not paperwork, hm?"
He squinted at the massive ice field ahead.
"Strange. Aokiji's ability? No… it's different."
"It should be the Snow-Snow Fruit."
Bogard replied quietly.
"The user is Nojiko, Shanu's sister. Also, according to intel, his crew has two other Logia users. Their strength can't be underestimated."
Can't be underestimated? That wasn't even close.
Bogard couldn't help thinking:
The kid he once met in the Goa Kingdom mountains was now one of the world's major powers.
Three Logia users under him!
Other than the Marines and the Four Emperors, who else could afford that?
"Is that so?"
Garp dusted off crumbs. "I don't care about that… but it looks like he prepared the battlefield ahead of time! Bwahahaha! Great minds think alike!"
Think alike?
Bogard froze.
A moment later he realized, and panicked:
"Vice Admiral Garp!! Remember your mission!! No charging in recklessly!"
"Relax, relax." Garp grinned. "You've followed me long enough. You know I've got a plan."
"Report!"
"Vice Admiral Garp! Curtainfall spotted ahead! And someone on the ice! It's the one with the 540 million bounty, Shanu!"
"Ahh, I see him."
Garp grinned.
With his keen eyesight he not only saw the figure on the ice,
He saw Shanu relaxing under a parasol, drinking beer, lazily waving the bottle in greeting.
"You brat! I've been busting my ass hunting for you, and you're enjoying vacation?!"
Garp leapt off the ship.
No Geppo, just pure monstrous leg strength launching him hundreds of meters into the air, then crashing down,
BOOM!!!
The ice exploded open, a massive crater forming.
Garp vanished into the hole.
Shanu blinked and turned to Nojiko.
"Uh, that's the weak part around the edges…"
Nojiko blushed. "The center's ten meters thick. The edge is like two or three. Should I go patch it?"
Shanu waved a hand. "Forget it. We'll be fighting in the center any, "
Before he finished,
Bubbling, splashing
"Bwahahaha! This ice is way too thin!"
Garp's head popped out of the water, half-eaten cracker in his mouth, hair plastered under the dog-hat.
"Hey! Brat! Pull me up!"
Shanu stared two seconds.
"…fix the hole."
"…Oh."
Crack crack crack
Just as the ice thickened, Garp leapt out drenched.
"Murder! This little girl almost froze me!"
Shanu tossed him a beer and pointed to the seat.
"Sit. I don't know if you came to negotiate or do circus tricks."
Seriously.
Beautiful scenery. Vast frozen sea. Two old acquaintances share drinks after years apart.
Perfect atmosphere.
And now look at it.
Completely ruined.
"Negotiation? That's the small stuff!"
Garp chugged half the bottle and slammed it down.
"What's more important is, "
SWOOSH!
A Haki-infused fist suddenly appeared in front of Shanu.
"Let me see how much you've grown!!"
Shanu dodged with Observation Haki. The fist exploded the chair and cracked the ice for tens of meters.
"Hey! Aren't we supposed to negotiate first?!"
"Bwahahaha! We can talk after punching!"
"You're even more impatient than me, old fossil!"
Shanu cursed, but battle intent burned in his eyes.
Fine.
He wanted this fight anyway. He wanted to see how far he had climbed since then. His right arm turned jet-black with Armament Haki. He punched back.
BOOM!!!
Shockwaves blasted outward, shattering the ice plain and rocking the Marine ship violently.
Bogard just sighed:
"As expected… it still ended up like this."
The two clashed, Rokushiki, Haki, and raw strength exploding wildly.
After a brutal exchange, Shanu drove a fist into Garp's chest.
"Rokushiki Secret Art, Gold Ripple Dash!"
Garp's Tekkai/Haki shattered and he was blasted hundreds of meters, crashing into the Marine ship.
Gasps.
Even Garp's Tekkai/Haki couldn't stop it?
Bogard remained composed.
He had seen this scenario years ago.
"Vice Admiral Garp," he muttered.
"It's obvious he's far stronger than before. If you don't start fighting seriously, you'll be completely overwhelmed."