As Garp's "questioning" continued, a theory began to take root in Li Ke's mind.
The air in the harbor seemed to thicken as the two ships drew level. Li Ke watched the exchange with held breath, his mind racing to analyze the surreal scene unfolding before him. He was convinced that Garp had likely—no, almost certainly—recognized Roger the very instant their eyes met. To anyone else, the sight of the executed Pirate King standing vibrantly alive on a common deck would have been dismissed as a trick of the light, a lingering hallucination, or perhaps just a remarkably dedicated cosplayer.
But Garp was not anyone else.
The Vice Admiral wasn't just hurling insults; he was weaponizing them. The casual, disrespectful way he flicked a booger toward Roger's head was a calculated blow that only an old friend or a bitter rival would dare. It was a test of temper that shattered any doubt in Li Ke's mind: Garp knew exactly who he was looking at.
What was truly staggering was Garp's utter lack of hesitation. He hadn't wasted a single second pondering the metaphysics of how a dead man was walking the earth again. He simply skipped the "impossible" hurdles of logic and accepted the visceral reality standing in front of him. Had it been any other Marine Admiral—even the disciplined Sengoku—they would have been paralyzed by doubt, lost in a whirlwind of questions and tactical caution. But Garp was the man who had raised a monster of pure instinct like Luffy. His own intuition was off the charts, bypassing the brain to speak directly to his gut.
Roger, clearly, had realized this as well. He could feel Garp's gaze peeling back his disguise, sniffing out his desperate desire to keep the "Pirate King" from resurfacing and plunging the world into a new era of blood. The old Marine was being this insufferably arrogant specifically because he held the ultimate high ground; he knew Roger couldn't retaliate with his signature Haki or his legendary blade without blowing his own cover and destroying the quiet life he was trying to build with Rouge.
When Roger finally forced himself to speak, the sound was a discordant note. His voice was audibly trembling, vibrating with the effort of holding back a world-shaking power.
"Y-yes... that's right..."
Li Ke stole a glance at Roger's face, and the expression he saw was a masterpiece of pure agony. It was the absolute, dictionary definition of "reluctant." Every word ever used to describe suppressed rage, the feeling of being held hostage by a cruel circumstance, and the bitter sting of utter humiliation was etched into Roger's contorted features.
In isolation, Garp's barbs about being a "bill-dodger" or an "idiot" didn't have much inherent "attack power." If a common citizen had shouted those things from the docks, Roger would have probably just let out a boisterous roar of laughter and moved on. But coming from Garp—the man who had chased him across the globe, the man who had shared his greatest secrets, and the man who currently held his legacy in his hands—those words cut deeper than any supreme-grade sword ever could.
Li Ke noticed that the hand Roger had resting on the ship's railing had already crushed and embedded itself several inches into the solid wood.
"Gahahahahaha!! See! I told you! How could this possibly be that idiotic bastard, that low-life degenerate Roger who probably spent his time peeping on widows in the bath?!"
Garp roared with laughter, his heart filled with an immense, petty satisfaction as he watched Roger's face. Seeing the Pirate King fuming in silence—too afraid to even open his mouth to argue back—was the highlight of Garp's decade.
He had been waiting to hurl those specific insults for a long, long time.
"Your acting is terrible, sir," his right-hand man, Bogard, muttered, pulling his hat lower to hide his own exasperation. He didn't even know how to describe the way his old superior's eyes were crinkling with pure, unadulterated mischief.
Roger's eye was twitching uncontrollably, and the railing beneath his grip began to splinter and crack. At that moment, a young Marine pointed straight at Roger's contorted face and shouted:
"You're definitely lying! Look! Your face is terrifying! You have to be lying!"
That was the final straw. Roger's expression twisted into something truly ghoulish as he reached his breaking point.
Li Ke braced himself, already mentally preparing to dive into the sea to fish Robin out once the Haki shockwaves started flying. But before the explosion could happen, Garp spoke again.
He clamped a hand onto the loudmouthed Marine's head, silencing him instantly, and looked toward Roger with a face of sudden, uncharacteristic calm.
"Impossible. Like I said, the Pirate King is dead."
He gave the Marine's head a firm, instructive rap with his knuckle, his gaze locking onto Roger's.
"The real Pirate King would never admit to being a moron, a bastard, and a son-of-a-bitch... right, kid?"
Roger let out a long, weary sigh and pulled the brim of his hat down to shadow his eyes.
"Right."
"So, say it. Say that Roger is an irresponsible, bastard son-of-a-bitch, a shameless scoundrel, and an idiot who only brings trouble to others! Otherwise, based on that face of yours alone, I'll have to toss you into the deepest level of Impel Down."
Garp's face was still wearing a grin, but the look in his eyes was dead serious.
Roger shook his head and looked Garp straight in the eye. The contorted, angry mask vanished, replaced by a calm clarity.
"Roger... is an irresponsible, bastard son-of-a-bitch! A shameless scoundrel! A total beast and a fraud! An absolute idiot who only ever brought trouble to people!!"
Under normal circumstances—even facing the threat of death—Roger would never have uttered such words. But standing before Garp, he said them willingly, almost gratefully.
Because Garp had saved his son.
Li Ke was the one who had broken the news to them: the famous "Fire Fist" Ace, currently making waves across the sea, was their child.
Garp let out a short, satisfied laugh.
"Good! Glad you know it! So, brat! Change your look! The Pirate King isn't someone worth admiring. Go home and look after your son! Alright, men, as you were! A spineless fellow like that couldn't possibly be the Pirate King. He's just a look-alike."
With that, he gave his subordinate's head one last rub and continued his stroll toward the bow of the warship.
But just as the two vessels were about to pass each other completely, Garp suddenly called out one last question.
"Where are you lot headed, anyway?"
Roger paused to think, then turned his gaze toward Li Ke.
Li Ke didn't hesitate; he shouted the answer across the water.
"Cocoyasi Village!"
Li Ke's plan was simple: let Garp handle the "clean-up."
While he harbored a deep-seated dislike for the World Government, he had zero intention of playing the hero or pushing the wheels of history for the sake of the locals. His objective remained laser-focused on his personal interests—specifically, women. By looping Garp in, he could minimize friction with the local authorities and avoid unwanted bounties.
After all, he had grown quite fond of the ingredients in this world. If he could establish a stable transport route, he could keep Erina supplied with exotic delicacies, making it even harder for her to ever leave his side. He wasn't building a commercial empire for the sake of wealth—money meant little to him—he was doing it for the stability and expansion of his harem. Being able to consistently provide high-quality, legendary ingredients was a ultimate "cheat code" for the Shokugeki no Soma world.
"Cocoyasi Village?" Garp muttered the name to himself.
He remembered the place; it fell under the jurisdiction of Captain Nezumi. As far as he knew, there had never been anything remarkable reported from that sector.
Why would Roger—or a group traveling with him—be heading there?
Despite his confusion, Garp didn't hesitate. He shot a glance at his adjutant, Bogard, who gave a subtle, practiced nod in return.
It wouldn't be long before this warship, which was supposed to be returning to Marine Headquarters, would suffer a "sudden steering failure." By pure "coincidence," they would be forced to drift toward Cocoyasi Village to await repairs and rescue.
The timing would align perfectly with Roger's arrival at Cocoyasi Village. On the surface, everything looked like a series of random events, and no one would suspect a thing. But for now, they just needed to finish their supplies.
While everyone else was preoccupied with their own schemes, a young girl out on this vast ocean was facing some trouble of her own today.
"The Buggy Pirates, huh?"
The girl looked over her intelligence reports. They indicated that Buggy's crew was about to pass through a small town. Given their reputation for brutality, they certainly wouldn't leave the place unscathed. Therefore...
"Alright. I'll just have to steal their treasure then," she decided.
She didn't show even a hint of nervousness about such a dangerous undertaking. She had been doing this for a long time, and no matter how harrowing the obstacles, she had always come out on top.
"I'll have enough money soon. Big sister, Bell-mère... Nami is going to save everyone very soon!"
Clinging to that hopeful thought, the girl named Nami drifted into a deep sleep on her small boat.
But...
She couldn't shake the strange feeling that something terrifying was watching her. Even more bizarrely, she felt a dull, phantom pain deep in her lower abdomen.