"Believe me or don't," Garp snorted. "You'll know once you meet the brat yourself."
He had fully expected Zephyr's disbelief.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he might not have believed it either.
Zephyr's reaction?
Was normal.
But—
Zephyr swept his gaze around the room.
Sengoku.
Tsuru.
Kong.
Not a single one of them refuted Garp's words.
In fact…
Their expressions looked almost like they were already in agreement.
Zephyr's eyelids twitched.
"Oi…"
"You people can't be serious."
"You're not actually buying into Garp's nonsense, are you?"
"A four-year-old mastering Conqueror's Haki?"
"You might as well tell me he can split the sea with a sneeze while you're at it."
"And mastering Conqueror's Haki is one thing—but on top of that you're saying he's fully mastered Rokushiki and Life Return?"
"You're expecting me to believe a four-year-old did all that?"
Even if the kid had started training in the womb, this would be insane.
"Honestly, have all of you gone mad?" Zephyr muttered.
"We haven't seen him with our own eyes," Sengoku admitted, "that's true."
"But I believe Garp."
He spoke calmly.
But that calm—
Was precisely what made Zephyr uneasy.
"You believe him? Without seeing any proof?" Zephyr demanded.
This wasn't a small lie.
This was "rewrite-the-records-of-history" level.
"Relax," Garp said, waving an arm. "You don't have to take my word for it."
"Go ask Kuzan."
"Eh?" Zephyr blinked. "Kuzan?"
The name gave him pause.
His faith in his own skepticism wavered a little.
If Kuzan had seen it too…
Then this wasn't just Garp running his mouth.
There was no way Garp could bribe Kuzan into playing along with a stupid joke like this.
"Don't tell me…"
"It's actually real?" Zephyr thought, heart skipping a beat.
But he quickly shook his head.
No.
Impossible.
The world didn't produce monsters like that.
Not in reality.
That was the kind of thing you only saw in myths.
"There's something else I should mention," Garp added casually.
"Since you're still looking at me like I've grown a second head."
"In case you think I'm exaggerating."
Everyone in the room turned to him.
Garp grinned.
"My grandson only started learning Rokushiki half an hour before he'd fully mastered it."
"And as for Life Return…"
"I never taught him that at all."
"He figured it out on his own in less than half a month."
"…?"
The words dropped like a depth charge.
Zephyr just froze.
His mind blanked for a second.
"…The hell did you just say?"
"Half an hour to master Rokushiki?"
"Less than half a month to comprehend Life Return from scratch without a teacher?"
"What kind of monster is that supposed to be?!"
His voice actually jumped a pitch.
He, Black Arm Zephyr, one of the pillars of the Marines—
Had completely lost his cool.
Behind him, even Sengoku and Tsuru went momentarily slack-jawed.
Half an hour.
They'd known Kai was strong.
Knew he'd mastered Rokushiki.
Knew he'd used Life Return.
But this was the first time they'd heard the timeline.
And that—
Was something else entirely.
"Half an hour?" Tsuru repeated softly.
For once, even her steady composure faltered.
Sengoku's beard practically bristled out of his face.
"Garp," he said hoarsely, "you're absolutely sure?"
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Garp rolled his eyes. "I saw it with my own eyes."
"And it's not just me."
"Everyone on that warship."
"All few hundred of them."
"They're all witnesses."
"You really think I could make all of them lie for me?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
It felt like even the air had frozen.
After a long moment—
Kong exhaled slowly.
"To be frank…" he said, "I'd assumed you'd been quietly teaching him Rokushiki for years."
"I never expected…"
"That you had only just introduced it to him."
"Nor that he'd fully mastered it in half an hour."
"It's… staggering."
"Unprecedented."
"Truly unprecedented in the entire history of the Marines."
The others nodded inwardly.
Their thoughts were all nearly identical.
"This brat…"
"Defies common sense."
"Zephyr," Garp said suddenly, clapping the still-stunned admiral on the shoulder, "my grandson is a genius. That much is not up for debate."
"Try not to judge him by normal standards."
"If you do…"
"Your worldview is going to fall apart sooner or later."
"In fact…"
"You might end up questioning your entire life."
He snickered.
"Anyway, I've said what I needed to say."
"My grandson is in your hands now."
"Make sure he learns how to use the two types of Haki."
"Everything else…"
"I won't meddle in."
Still chuckling, Garp shoved his hands into his pockets and sauntered out of the Fleet Admiral's office as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Leaving behind—
A room full of shell-shocked high-ranking officers.
Sengoku stared after him for a long while before finally letting out a long breath.
"To be honest," he said, "I hadn't expected it to be this extreme."
"We already knew about the Conqueror's Haki and Rokushiki."
"But half an hour for the Six Powers…"
"That's beyond anything I've ever heard of."
"In all our history…"
"There's never been someone like that."
"Even Kuzan," Zephyr said slowly, finally regaining some of his composure, "that kid…"
"He took nearly half a year to master Rokushiki."
"And that was already considered frighteningly fast."
"To compare that to Garp's grandson…"
"There is no comparison."
"One takes six months…"
"The other takes half an hour…"
"How are they even in the same category?"
"Kuzan might not even be qualified to carry the boy's shoes."
The more he said it out loud, the more surreal it felt.
After a while—
Kong cleared his throat, breaking the strange tension in the room.
"We can't base our judgment of a person's talent on just this single feat," he said.
"Remarkable as it is."
"So…"
"Zephyr."
"I'll leave the final assessment to you."
"See for yourself whether Garp's grandson is truly as monstrous as he claims."
"Whether this is all real…"
"Or just the doting fantasies of an overbearing grandfather."
"This matter is important," Kong added, fixing Zephyr with a steady look. "Can I trust you to handle it?"
Zephyr straightened.
His eyes were sharp again.
"Of course," he said.
"I'll take a few days."
"I'll observe him personally."
"I'll push him."
"Then I'll bring you a clear, definitive answer."
He paused.
"Because frankly…"
"I refuse to believe such a terrifying talent truly exists in this world."
"But if he does…"
"Then I want to be the first to see it with my own eyes."
Somewhere deep inside—
The teacher in him…
Was already burning with a fierce curiosity.
He wanted to meet that child Garp had described.
To see whether this so-called monster—
Could really live up to the legend.
Or perhaps—
Surpass it.
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