Chapter 41
# A.N -- Guys there was some error in Smoker's ranks, but now I have corrected it. Smoker has yet to be promoted to Vice Admiral his current rank is Commodore. Enjoy Guys #
At the same time, at the harbor, located next to the Doghead battleship.
An aged man dressed in a white Marine coat, with short gray-white hair and a scar at the corner of his eye, was digging his nose while disdainfully saying,
"Really, that guy Sengoku insists on us to go back, acting all high and mighty."
Several officers, also wearing white Marine coats, were slightly embarrassed and scratched their heads, not daring to say a word.
At that moment, a lazy voice suddenly came from the Doghead battleship, saying, "It's all because someone said over the Den Den Mushi, 'Truly my grandson,' that got Fleet Admiral Sengoku irritated, right?"
Upon hearing this, the man with the gray-white hair was startled and then abruptly turned around, shouting towards the deck, "You annoying brat, why are you still here, Aokiji?!"
On the deck, Aokiji was lounging in a chair, wearing an eye mask, and leisurely replied, "Riding a bike back is too troublesome. Well, anyway, you're going back too."
Garp wanted to say something, but at that moment, a Marine officer next to him suddenly spoke up, "Vice Admiral Garp, it seems someone is coming towards us.
Garp was taken aback and instinctively asked, "Huh? Who?"
The surrounding Marine officers sweated and wiped their foreheads, saying, "It's Commodore Smoker, who was recently promoted to Rear Admiral."
Garp fell into contemplation, seeming to have some impression of this person.
Shortly after, Smoker arrived in front of Garp and greeted him, saying, "Vice Admiral Garp."
"Oh, it's you! Smoker. What brings you here?"
"Uh..." Upon hearing this response, Smoker was slightly stunned for a moment but quickly nodded.
"Do you have a moment? I wanted to ask you about the 'Gale Emperor Pirates.'"
"Snore... snore..."
As soon as Smoker finished speaking, a snoring sound echoed.
Raising his head abruptly, Smoker noticed that Garp, at some point, had fallen asleep and was even blowing bubbles of snot.
This left Smoker dumbfounded, unsure of how to proceed.
And the Marines who had followed Garp for so long couldn't help but exclaim when they saw him fall asleep again, "He fell asleep again?!"
Seemingly startled by everyone's exclamation, Garp's snot bubbles burst, and he woke up, looking around in confusion. "Huh?! What's going on? Did something happen?"
Smoker, positioned in front, sighed in embarrassment. "Vice Admiral Garp..."
"Oh! I remember now. Where were you?"
"I want to ask you, do you know about the 'Gale Emperor Pirates'?" Smoker quickly asked, not giving Garp a chance to fall asleep again.
Upon hearing Smoker's words, Garp visibly paused, and the smile on his face inadvertently diminished slightly.
"The Gale... Emperor? It's been a long time since I've heard that name."
Stirred by a name that evoked memories, Garp's thoughts involuntarily sank into reminiscence.
But soon, he regained his smile and spoke again. "Who is it? Who would name themselves that?"
"A guy named Carnes," Smoker replied truthfully.
The moment Smoker uttered that name, the smile on Garp's face instantly froze.
"You mean... Carnes?!" Garp doubted whether he had misheard and confirmed with Smoker.
Seeing Garp's reaction to hearing that name, not only Smoker's expression changed slightly, but even the surrounding Marines looked at each other, puzzled.
"Carnes? Who is that?"
"Judging from Vice Admiral Garp's reaction, does he know him?"
"Carnes? I know that guy. His news has been in the newspapers recently. He's a notorious pirate with a bounty of 417 million berries", a marine officer said.
...
Ignoring the discussions among the surrounding Marines, Garp's gaze remained fixed on Smoker, his thoughts turbulent.
"Is it him?! Is he still alive? No... that can't be right. He should be dead!"
"If he's not dead, why hasn't there been any news of him for so many years? Why does he only appear now?"
"But if it's not him, then this Gale Emperor..."
Garp's thoughts fluctuated.
Smoker provided an answer. "Yes, it's a pirate who claims to be Carnes. Do you know him?"
Garp remained silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know him. Where did you meet him? What does he look like?"
Smoker thought for a moment. "Near the territorial waters of the branch headquarters.
As for his appearance, he's a young man, very young, with great strength. He carries a silver-white longsword at his waist..."
Smoker paused and then took out a wanted poster from his pocket, handing it to Garp. "This is him."
Taking the wanted poster handed by Smoker, Garp's face suddenly changed upon seeing the person depicted in the image.
His eyes trembled uncontrollably, and an expression of disbelief filled his face.
"This... This can't be possible!"
"Is it really him?! He's not dead?!" Astonished thoughts flooded his mind.
Quickly regaining his composure, Garp immediately negated the idea in his mind.
"No... that's not right! He shouldn't still be this young. He should be as old as me by now. The young man in this portrait isn't him..."
However, as soon as Garp's negating thoughts arose, Smoker added with a hint of self-deprecation,
"My battleship encountered him at sea, and we even fought. Don't make fun of me, Vice Admiral Garp, but I couldn't even handle a single round against him."
"Not a single person on our entire battleship managed to last a round against him before being defeated."
"I came to you this time because he told me, 'If you ever meet Garp, give him my regards.' So, I thought, maybe you know him."
Upon hearing these words, Garp suddenly lifted his head.
His eyes trembled violently like an earthquake, and on Garp's face, the expression of astonishment couldn't be concealed.
"You're saying... he asked you to give me his regards??
.
.
.
.
Please give this story some much needed POWER STONES and REVIEWS.
✌patreon.com/Anfractuous✌
If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to Advance Chapters.