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"Mr. Da Hong, are you satisfied?"
Seeing Da Hong's reaction, Vice Admiral Garp asked cautiously.
Da Hong nodded and quickly closed the box, looking almost worried that Garp might suddenly change his mind and take the sneakers back.
"Ahahaha! Good, good!"
Garp laughed heartily again.
"In that case… our misunderstanding is completely cleared up, right?"
After receiving the premium red canvas sneakers, Da Hong's anger had already vanished.
But he didn't nod.
Instead, he simply turned around.
"Droopy. Let's go."
Seeing this, Garp quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Da Hong's attitude was still cold, this was already a good start.
With the misunderstanding resolved, the next time he approached Kairo's ship, there wouldn't be another unpleasant confrontation.
That meant he could slowly get closer to Kairo and learn more about this strange group.
And if possible—
Convince them to join the Marines.
After all, Kairo himself possessed powerful Conqueror's Haki, while Da Hong in his berserk state had beaten Garp so badly that he couldn't fight back.
And Droopy had demonstrated abilities similar to instant teleportation.
If such a powerful group was left alone to roam freely across the seas, they might one day stand against the Marines.
That was something Garp didn't want to see.
And far away at Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku would want it even less.
So even if he couldn't recruit them—
He still needed to avoid turning them into enemies.
Watching the rabbit and dog walk away down the street, Garp kept smiling and waved.
"Take care, you two! Come visit again sometime!"
"Garp. What exactly did you just do?"
A cold voice suddenly rang out.
A figure flashed forward.
A middle-aged man in a white suit and duckbill cap appeared in front of Garp.
He was the CP0 agent who had been accompanying Saint Charloss earlier.
"You actually let that rabbit go."
The CP0 agent glanced toward the end of the street where Da Hong had disappeared and said coldly:
"As a Marine Vice Admiral, not protecting a World Government member state is bad enough. But letting criminals leave freely? Vice Admiral Garp, you're getting more reckless by the day. Aren't you afraid the Five Elders will hold you accountable?"
"Just a CP0 agent… and you dare lecture me?"
Garp tilted his head toward the man.
"Kid, I'm not letting that rabbit go."
"I'm saving the Goa Kingdom—and the precious noble you're groveling before."
"…What do you mean?"
The CP0 agent's pupils shrank.
"I'll give you a piece of advice," Garp said as he stepped closer.
"That rabbit, that dog, and their captain are guests of Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"We're trying to recruit them into the Marines."
"If you ruin Sengoku's plan and cause an uncontrollable situation…"
"You won't be able to bear the consequences."
He paused.
"Of course, I won't make things difficult for you either."
"Go back and tell your master that no monster invaded Central Street."
"As for the soldiers and Captain Simon who got sent flying—just say I temporarily transferred them for an urgent mission."
At that moment—
Purururu…
The Den Den Mushi in the CP0 agent's coat suddenly began ringing.
"Gniyals! Return immediately and protect His Excellency!"
The voice from the Den Den Mushi sounded extremely urgent.
Then several bloodcurdling screams suddenly echoed through the line.
Immediately afterward—
Charloss's voice came through.
"You dare not kneel before a Celestial Dragon?! Kneel! I command you to kneel immediately!"
"Not good!"
Hearing that, the CP0 agent's face turned pale.
Without another word, he turned and sprinted toward High Town.
"What's going on?"
Garp had heard the voices too, but he didn't yet know what had happened.
He did recognize Saint Charloss.
The man had been sent from Mary Geoise to collect the Heavenly Tribute from several East Blue kingdoms.
He belonged to one of the nineteen Celestial Dragon families.
Over the years, traveling frequently between Mary Geoise and East Blue, Garp had inevitably encountered him several times.
And frankly—
Garp hated the Charloss family.
The Charloss currently visiting Goa Kingdom was just as insufferable as the infamous Saint Charloss who frequently traveled between Sabaody Archipelago and Pangaea Castle.
Whenever Garp saw them, he couldn't resist calling them trash.
"Vice Admiral Garp… could it be that Mr. Da Hong got lost and accidentally ran into Saint Charloss in High Town?"
The aide standing beside him had also heard the Den Den Mushi.
His face turned completely pale.
"We were the ones who let them go… If they do something to Saint Charloss… then we…"
"Don't talk nonsense," Garp replied.
"How could they get lost? Don't forget that Droopy teleported an entire ship from Loguetown to Foosha Village with pinpoint accuracy. Do you really think they'd get lost on Central Street?"
But even as he said it—
A small doubt crept into Garp's mind.
"…It couldn't actually be them, right?"
Meanwhile — High Town
The ones who had accidentally wandered into High Town were indeed Da Hong and Droopy.
After leaving Central Street, they reached a fork in the road.
The two of them had decided the direction with a quick game of rock-paper-scissors.
If Da Hong won—they would go left.
If Droopy won—they would go right.
Da Hong won.
So the rabbit confidently led Droopy left.
Unfortunately—
That path led straight into High Town.
And just as they entered, they encountered Saint Charloss and the Goa Kingdom entourage returning to the royal palace.
Standing atop the back of a slave, Charloss looked down arrogantly at the rabbit and dog who had suddenly appeared in front of him.
Holding a pistol, he pointed it directly at Da Hong.
Seeing that the two creatures not only ignored him—
But even knocked two of his bodyguards flying before calmly walking toward him—
Charloss felt his Celestial Dragon authority being challenged.
Without hesitation—
He pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet shot forward and struck Da Hong in the middle of the forehead.
"…?"
Da Hong frowned slightly.
He casually caught the bullet between his fingers.
Then he turned his head toward Droopy with an expression that clearly said:
This isn't my fault. That fat pig asked for it.
Even Droopy—who rarely showed emotion—looked at Charloss with clear disgust.
For Droopy, the rule had always been simple:
If you don't provoke me, I won't provoke you.
But if someone crossed the line—
Then they would experience the terror of being dominated by a Conceptual God.
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