9 Chapter 9: It's a brand new world

"Welcome back Vice-Admiral Garp."

A marine officer, who was standing on the docs spoke to Garp.

"Hello Brannew. How mad is he?"

"Oh, the fleet admiral is not mad, sir. He's beyond furious."

Garp sighed.

"Gee, I guess I'm in for an earful."

"It's much more than that sir. The fleet admiral swore some words that send chills down my spine. Some of them I had never heard and had to look them up."

"Shit."

"Oi, Kid. Don't disembark. I won't be gone long."

Rick was not happy with this order but complied.

"Sir. Yes, sir".

Rick went back to the ship while Garp and Brannew walked away talking.

" So… Who's the kid?"

"Him? He's my newest recruit.

"Hmm. Vice-admiral Garp, you do remember that kidnapping is illegal, right?"

Garp was getting annoyed.

"I didn't take the kid. He came himself to enroll at LogueTown."

Brannew was surprised.

"Really?He must be what… around 10?"

" Yes he is." laughed Garp.

Then a sudden realisation hit him and he froze in place.

"SHIT!"

Brannew was alarmed, for Garp to make such a panic face,during times where piracy was on the all time high, he feared for the worst.

" What is it sir ?"

"I forgot the kid's birthday !"

"The what now, sir?" Brannew thought he misheard.

"The kid is ten now! I forgot his birthday! It was the same day of Roger's execution, how could I forget? No wonder the brat has been mad at me for the past two months. I even sent him patrolling the streets instead of giving him a day off. Shit, shit shit."

"Wait you were serious, sir? You really recruited that child?" He was bewildered, he thought Garp was messing with him, apparently not.

"Of course I am, this child has much more talent than anyone I have seen before and I'm not even talking about his devil fruit's power. It's on the same level as Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi!"

Brannew.exe encountered an error, the program closed.

"WHAAAAAT?!"

Looking at Garp's panicked face, Brannew was in a daze.

' How could such a monster be born in East Blue! The weakest sea ! That does not make any sense! And he ate a devil fruit as powerful as Whitebeard?'

Brannew shuddered. Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi allows him to level up mountains and seas alike. It's one of the most dangerous devil fruits ever recorded. And a no name kid was holding a power that rivals that?

"Sir, I would advise you to not tell Fleet Admiral Sengoku about the child, at least not now."

"Why do you think I left him on the ship when I heard how pissed Sengoku is?! With the world going Crazy Sengoku would take the child and send him to its death in anger, to clean the mess Roger created !"

"You should tell him right after your mission. With success in your pocket Fleet Admiral Sengoku would not be as much… emotional."

"That's a good idea. Thanks Brannew."

Garp slapped Brannew's shoulders twice making him wince.

'Garp and his stupid strengh.'

"By the way, do you know what a 10 years old kid wants for his birthday?"

" I… I don't know… a good sword maybe?"

~~~~~

Four hours after leaving Rick on the Ship, Garp came back.

"Oi kid, tell the crew we're leaving."

"Yes, sir!"

Rick was about to follow the order he was given whe Garp spoke to him again.

"And kid?"

"Yes, sir?"

Garp handed him a cap.

"Here, I know I'm a bit late, but happy birthday".

Rick was dumbfounded and looked at Garp.

'What do you want me to do with that ?'

"That's the cap of the fleet admiral, he even signed it for you, but if you don't want it that's fine I'll give it back to him".

Garp didn't even finish his sentence that Rick was as fast as lightning.

He was soon holding the cap in his hands, holding it delicately as if it was the most fragile thing in the world.

His eyes were full of sparkling stars.

'Holy shit! The cap of Sengoku the buddha. One of the greatest heroes of the marine corps. And it's MINE now! MINE MINE MINE.'

Rick excitedly put it on his head, turned to Garp and said:

" Thanks Grandpa! " without a care in the world.

Garp froze.

Every single one of the marine crew smirked as secretly as they could.

Garp quickly reacted seeing the reaction of his men.

"Oi, who are you calling Grandpa, brat!"

Rick, realizing his mistake, tried some damage control.

" I said thank you sir!"

"Now, don't you go and lie brat!"

"I didn't lie, Sir. Maybe you're getting old and misheard me sir."

"What?"

Rick knew he went too far and ran away before Garp gave him another "training session".

" Sorry sir, got chores to do!"

He disappeared inside the ship.

Garp looked mad, and went to the front of the ship to look at the sea showing his back to everyone.

No one said anything but all could see the ear to ear smile and the tears falling down the cheeks of the Vice-Admiral. If you focus enough you could hear him having a little laugh.

*Hehehe*

No marine present had any other thought than this one:

'They really are two idiots.'

~~~~~~

"Vice-Admiral Garp, the island is in sight" .

Garp stood up from his chair and looked at the horizon. He could see the destination of their mission.

"Okay listen up. We're here to rescue some noble princess captured by pirates. I want you to prioritize their safety first above all else. As for the pirate, they are trash, their captain is a no name guy with a 30Million bounty on his head, the rest of the crew is nothing no mention. Subdue or kill them, I don't care, only the hostages matter, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

For the first time since he met him, Rick saw Garp as people imagine him to be: a hero of the marine. One who protects the weaks and brings justice to those who deserve it.

For the first time, Rick was in admiration of Vice-Admiral Garp.

A whisper escape his lips

"So cool…"

Few of the marines heard it but all who did had a little smile.

Garp included.

" Kid, be ready, it's not only your first fight as a marine but your first real fight. Be brave, have faith in your training and everything will go well!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

" Everyone, don't let your guard down! And no matter what, come back Alive.

""""Sir! Yes Sir!""""

"Now GO!"

Thirty marines landed on the small island and started the rescue.

Rick was elated!

'Finally after more than two years since coming here, I finally have the chance to gain Karma points. It's been so long that I almost forgot about why I'm in this world.' (Author's note: I almost did too…)

"Time to work! ~~"

He was getting ahead of everyone, glee on his face. There was no way he would let others steal his precious points. He will get them all! No exception.

Rick had to move fast, even though his body was well trained he was still just a kid. He may look like ten be he was still 6 years old! Adults will catch up with him soon. He had 10 to 15 minutes at best.

He quickly arrived at the pirates hideout.

Two of them were on guard duty.

He charged at them, and applied high gravity on their bodies.

As they were attracted to the ground, Rick elbowed the closest to him in the head and kicked the second one in the head too.

The two pirates were knocked out without even knowing what happened.

" Two down, everybody else to go."

Rick entered the hideout and moved forward before entering what looked like a hall. He saw 5 men relaxing, drinking and playing cards.

3 more were sexually assaulting a woman, while a second laid next to her on the floor, not moving.

By having a good look, he could tell that the pirates already had their fun with her.

Anger was beginning to build inside of him but he didn't lose control of his emotions.

He needed to take care of the group of 5 first. He hoped that by knocking them out loudly at least one of the other 3 would check on them giving him the opportunity to take him out too.

The biggest problem for Rick at the moment was distance.

He was too far to apply his gravity zone on the group.

He then took a calculated risk. He lowered his posture so he could sneak as close as possible for his power to work.

Rick took a deep breath, and moved.

The plan was succeeding without an itch and five meters before he could use his ability he heard a loud voice scream:

"Hey! Who the fuck are you?"

The voice came from a man passing a door on his side that he could not have seen from the position he was in before launching his assault.

'Shit!'

He reacted fast, attracting the man to the wall next to him.

The pirate hit his head against the stone and fell to the ground, blood flowing in large quantities on the floor.

In his panic Rick applied to much gravity, hurting the man more that it should have been. He didn't know the man's status. Was he dead ? Dying? Just knock out?

'Now is not the time stupid, his mates are coming'

And coming they were.

They heard their friend's yell and a big hit sound.

That sobered them up immediately.

Two of the fights fired their gun at him.

Rick used his gravity zone to make the bullets attracted to the ground, then rushed into the group.

One of the three came to fight in close combat while the last two aimed their gun at him. The two first one were reloading their weapons.

He pushed back the man charging him with great force, towards his mates right behind him.

He didn't stop his own charge and was finally in range.

He used his gravity to pull them to the ground, then up to the ceiling, then to the ground again with great force. The five of them were down to the count.

'Only three remaining'

When he turned around in their direction he was face to face with a sword falling down on him.