Meanwhile—
Da Hong had just arrived beneath the city wall, and even he looked a little confused.
But clearly, he wasn't the type to care about minor details like that.
After glancing around, he immediately looked up at the wall and said in a crisp, simple tone:
"Open the gate."
"Huh?"
The soldiers on the wall, still baffled by the sudden appearance of Gray Terminal beneath the city, thought they had misheard.
Only when one of them looked toward the gate did they realize that, at some point, a rabbit had appeared below it.
"…Was it that rabbit talking just now?"
After confirming there was no one else around, the soldier blinked blankly.
"Open the gate!"
Da Hong raised his head again.
"I'm going into the city."
"????"
The soldiers on the wall instantly filled with question marks.
A long moment passed before the lead soldier finally snapped back to his senses and stammered,
"A rabbit… really can talk!"
Seeing that the soldiers still weren't opening the gate, Da Hong's brows slowly drew together.
At the same time, his fist silently clenched.
Then he raised three fingers and declared with absolute force:
"I'll count to three."
"Three."
Before the soldiers could even react, Da Hong vanished.
The next time he appeared, he was already standing before the tightly shut city gate.
BOOM—
A violent explosion rang out.
The sealed gate groaned under the impact.
"Damn it! What's wrong with that rabbit?! He's smashing the gate without warning!"
"Quick! Report this to the captain of the guard!"
The huge impact finally jolted the soldiers on the wall back to their senses.
Below, Da Hong raised his fist again.
Just then, Droopy walked over and said flatly,
"Da Hong, you're too extreme."
"If you keep charging around like this, you'll only bring trouble to the boss."
"Boss?" Da Hong turned his head toward him.
"What kind of look is that?" Droopy blinked. "Isn't Kairo our master?"
"He's your master."
Da Hong curled his lip.
"With me, he's the boss."
"Fair enough."
Droopy spread his hands with effortless elegance.
"But you don't want to bring trouble to the boss either, do you? After all, he doesn't like fighting and killing."
"It's fine. I can handle it."
Da Hong ignored the advice and punched forward cleanly.
BOOM—
With another thunderous blast, the heavy gate shattered apart.
Without the slightest hesitation, Da Hong lifted his chin and strode inside.
Droopy could only shake his head helplessly and follow after him.
Up on the wall—
None of the soldiers had expected such a thick gate to be destroyed in just two punches.
They were so stunned that, for a moment, they forgot even to call for reinforcements.
At the Same Time — High Town, Goa Kingdom
In High Town of the Goa Kingdom, the captain of the kingdom guard stood tense with a large group of soldiers stationed at various points.
Normally, High Town was the district where the nobles of the kingdom lived. Ordinary outsiders almost never entered, so there was no need for such a heavy guard presence.
But today, High Town had received two extremely important guests.
One was Saint Charlos's representative from the Holy Land, Saint Charlmack.
The other was Vice Admiral Garp from Marine Headquarters.
If it had merely been two distinguished visitors, the kingdom would have simply hosted a grand banquet in their honor.
The real problem was this:
The Marine Vice Admiral clearly had no respect for the Celestial Dragon from the Holy Land.
The moment Garp happened to run into Saint Charlmack in High Town, not only did he fail to bow respectfully—
He outright called him trash.
That single word hit High Town like a bomb.
The royal family members accompanying the Celestial Dragon nearly died of fright on the spot, while Saint Charlmack himself flew into a rage.
Fortunately, Garp seemed to have no intention of continuing the argument. After tossing out that insult, he simply walked into a shoe store.
"Captain Simon…"
One of the kingdom soldiers walking behind the Celestial Dragon's escort glanced nervously toward the shoe store Garp had entered, then lowered his voice and asked,
"Just who is this Garp? He actually dared to insult a Celestial Dragon! I was scared to death just now. It's my first time ever seeing someone curse a World Noble to his face!"
The man walking in front of him was a tall middle-aged officer named Simon, the highest-ranking commander of the Goa Kingdom's guard.
He was responsible for everything from palace affairs to sections of the city's outer defenses.
Simon looked back at the soldier. Truthfully, even he had broken into a cold sweat during the earlier scene.
He wasn't surprised by the arrival of Saint Charlmack.
After all, every nation affiliated with the World Government had to send a tribute of treasure each year to the World Nobles living in Mary Geoise.
For years now, Saint Charlmack had been the one overseeing the collection of Heavenly Tribute from World Government member nations in the East Blue. Since it was about time for tribute collection again, his arrival in Goa Kingdom made perfect sense.
What Simon had never expected, however, was for Vice Admiral Garp to suddenly show up here as well.
As captain of the kingdom guard, Simon naturally knew Garp's name well—a terrifying man who had sailed the seas for decades and struck fear into countless pirates.
Under normal circumstances, a World Noble leaving Mary Geoise wouldn't require Marine protection, because every Celestial Dragon traveled with CP0 bodyguards.
Which meant Garp's presence in Goa Kingdom had nothing to do with protecting Saint Charlmack.
"You seriously don't know who Garp is?"
Before Simon could answer, another soldier nearby lowered his voice and snapped,
"You're really walking a dangerous road, brother. Garp is a legend who came out of our own Goa Kingdom. He's a current Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral—a true Marine hero who's been famous across the Four Blues and the Grand Line for decades!"
"Even if he's a hero, the one he just insulted was Saint Charlmack—a World Noble! How could he dare do that?!"
"Don't forget—if a Celestial Dragon is attacked, then not just a Vice Admiral, even a Marine Headquarters Admiral has to rush to the rescue immediately!"
Hearing the soldiers whispering behind him, Simon frowned and hissed quietly,
"Shut up, all of you! Do you want Saint Charlmack to get even angrier?"
Buru buru—
The moment Simon finished speaking, the Den Den Mushi in his coat began to ring.
"Captain, this is bad! Gray Terminal's gate has been… breached!"
Simon's pupils shrank.
"What happened? Pirates?"
"N-no!"
"It's a rabbit!"
"And there's a Droopy dog with it! Also… they can talk!"
"A rabbit and a Droopy dog?"
Simon stared as if he had heard nonsense.
"Two animals broke through the gate? What are you people even doing? Capture them immediately!"
"We can't, Captain!"
The voice on the other end sounded utterly desperate.
"That rabbit is too violent! Every soldier who tried to stop him got sent flying with a single punch! And bullets don't work on him at all—he can even bounce them back!"
"Damn it!"
At that, Simon could no longer remain seated.
"Where are they now?"
"They just entered Central Street!"
Simon wasted no further time. He spun around toward his soldiers and barked:
"All men, move at once to Central Street!"
"Target: one talking rabbit and one talking Droopy dog!"
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