The little boat drifted forward, leaving gentle ripples across the sea.
"Goodbye, Mr. Kairos!"
Bell-mère stood at the harbor with a cigarette in her mouth, calling out to him in her usual bold, open manner.
Kairos gave a small nod in return.
Then he glanced back toward the port.
Only Bell-mère's family had come to see him off.
Genzo wasn't there.
Maybe he drank too much and still hadn't woken up?
Kairos recalled the sight of Genzo being carried home the night before, dead drunk and mumbling nonsense.
He couldn't help laughing softly.
Genzo really was an interesting man.
He looked stiff and old-fashioned, but deep down, he was sincere to the core.
Letting the thought pass, Kairos wrapped his small boat in Qi.
The boat immediately accelerated, gliding toward the vast open sea.
"Mr. Kairos—!"
Just then, a shout suddenly came from the shore.
Kairos looked up.
It was a villager he didn't recognize.
"Mr. Kairos!"
Then more voices followed.
One after another, they joined together into a wave of sound.
It grew louder and louder.
"Thank you for saving us!"
"Thank you for saving us!"
More and more villagers from Cocoyasi Village came running out from inland. They gathered at the harbor, faced Kairos, and bowed deeply in unison.
At the very front of the crowd—
Genzo was standing there, waving at him with a bright, genuine smile on his face.
The promise he had made to himself…
he had kept it.
…
East Blue was vast.
As one of the Four Blues, its expanse was nearly impossible to measure.
Vice Admiral Onigumo was currently escorting the surviving remnants of the Krieg Pirates toward Impel Down.
His inspection tour of East Blue was coming to an end. It was time for him to return.
And on the way back—
he ran into someone he knew.
A Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
The Hero of the Marines.
Monkey D. Garp.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what brings you to East Blue?" Onigumo asked after welcoming him aboard his ship. The two stood side by side as he voiced the question.
"I'm on break," Garp replied with a wide grin. "Thought I'd head back home for a bit. And while I'm at it, I'll go see my grandson."
Onigumo nodded in understanding.
Then Garp rubbed his chin and asked casually, "By the way, while you were in East Blue, did you hear anything about a young man going around challenging strong fighters? About twenty years old or so."
Originally, Garp had come to East Blue simply to visit Luffy, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.
But along the way, he had heard all kinds of rumors about a mysterious powerhouse stirring up the sea.
East Blue was his home sea.
There was no one more familiar with it than him.
And yet, Garp had never heard of a battle-crazed expert like that before.
Naturally, his curiosity had been piqued.
"I know him," Onigumo said, his expression turning thoughtful. "I even crossed blades with him myself."
"Oh?" Interest immediately appeared on Garp's face. "And how did that turn out?"
"I lost."
Those three simple words came quietly from Onigumo's mouth—
and left Garp visibly shaken.
"You lost to him?" Garp's eyes widened in disbelief. "Was it some kind of bad matchup? Did his ability happen to counter yours?"
In Garp's mind, someone like Kairos reaching Rear Admiral level would already have been impressive.
He never imagined Onigumo would actually be defeated by him.
Garp knew Onigumo's strength well. Even among Vice Admirals, he stood near the top.
That was why Garp's first thought was that Kairos' abilities must have specifically countered him.
"No." Onigumo narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice calm. "I lost to him in swordsmanship."
Even now, when he closed his eyes, he could still see that brilliant streak of lightning Kairos had cut through the battlefield.
The radiance of that thunder-fast slash—
he suspected he would never truly forget it for the rest of his life.
Onigumo's gaze shifted as he continued, and this time his next words startled Garp even more.
"If he fought with killing intent from the start… his combat strength might reach Admiral level."
"Admiral…" Garp drew in a sharp breath.
This time, he was genuinely shocked.
East Blue was known as the weakest sea.
And now a fighter with the potential to stand at Admiral level was about to emerge from it?
How could that not move him?
"How much do you know about him?" Garp asked, lowering his voice as he stared out at the rolling sea.
Kairos' strength had already made him consider recruiting the young man into the Marines.
"I only know his name is Kairos," Onigumo said with a sigh. "But I do have his Den Den Mushi number."
"Wait. Kairos?"
The moment Garp heard the first half of that sentence, he froze.
A strange look surfaced in his eyes.
"What is it?" Onigumo noticed the change immediately. "You know him?"
"Describe what he looks like," Garp said quickly.
Onigumo blinked, then gave a full description of Kairos' appearance.
After hearing it, Garp let out a long breath.
"…So it really is him."
His expression turned increasingly peculiar.
Now it was Onigumo's turn to be surprised.
"You really know him?"
"That kid…" Garp looked at Onigumo, but what he was really recalling were the things Luffy used to say back in Foosha Village. "He once saved Shanks in Foosha Village."
"Shanks?!"
Onigumo went completely blank.
His mouth hung open for several long seconds.
Even the harsh lines of his face softened under the force of his shock.
Of course he knew that name.
Red-Haired Shanks—
captain of the Red Hair Pirates,
a notorious powerhouse in the New World,
a pirate strong enough to challenge for one of the Four Emperors' thrones.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.