Garp looked at Hals.
“Luffy and the others have gone somewhere. You should come with me to Marine Headquarters.”
“Okay, Grandpa.”
Hals had an inkling that his grandfather was doing this on purpose, but it didn’t matter; Hals wanted to learn the Six Styles.
However, he could only use them after transforming into a dragon, as his current Doriki value was too low.
He wondered how the food at Marine Headquarters was.
After walking for a while, Garp seemed to get hungry or have a craving and pulled out a bag of rice crackers, starting to eat them.
“Want some?”
Marine rice crackers, endorsed by Garp, quality guaranteed, delicious, best with tea.
Several phrases popped into Hals’ head.
Looking at the rice crackers in Garp’s hand, Hals suddenly thought of a strange question.
“Grandpa.”
“What is it, Hals?”
Hals’ expression was serious, with the head of the Blue Sapphire Pirates’ captain tied to his waist, still dripping blood despite being cleaned. It looked rather eerie.
“You don’t pick your nose anymore, right? Considering you just did and then ate the rice cracker…”
Garp: “…………”
You seriously asked me that?
“Negative emotions from Garp +15000”
“Negative emotions from Garp…”
“Don’t pick!”
Garp shouted, seemingly angry, but the negative emotion wasn’t that much, so he was more speechless than angry.
“Oh~”
Hals immediately backed down, took a few rice crackers, and ate them.
“Delicious~”
It wasn’t flattery; they really were good. Hals decided that rice crackers weren’t just ordinary biscuits; despite having tasted many kinds of food on Blue Star, these were exceptionally tasty. Hals liked both sweet and salty foods, especially sweets.
His favorite sweets included cream cake, crème brûlée, pudding, and turtle jelly—soft, moist foods. He didn’t like dry stuff much, but these rice crackers were as good as the food Makino cooked the other day.
Seeing Hals’ genuine enjoyment, Garp smiled, no longer angry.
“Not bad, this is my grandson.”
Garp patted Hals on the shoulder with the hand that hadn’t touched the rice crackers.
Hals recalled the time when that hand had picked his nose.
Hals wasn’t overly obsessed with cleanliness, but having such things touch him felt weird.
The two walked and chatted, mainly about Hals’ life with Luffy and the others. Garp just smiled, listening to his grandson’s stories. At this moment, the old man didn’t seem like the feared Iron Fist Garp but more like an ordinary grandpa listening to his grandson.
Leaving Windmill Village, they reached Garp’s warship. Hals boarded it.
There was no one Hals recognized on the warship, not even the swordsman who taught Koby and Helmeppo.
Even if they were there, Hals wouldn’t know them.
Garp spent his days eating donuts, and rice crackers, drinking tea, and sleeping.
Hals spent his days training, eating, training, and eating.
However, Hals didn’t eat as much as Garp.
Still, his grandson ate a lot, making Garp happy.
“Haha, good boy, eat more. As expected of my grandson.”
Garp’s hand landed heavily on Hals’ shoulder.
Hals, with a big piece of Sea King meat in his mouth, couldn’t speak and nearly choked.
Hals quickly grabbed a bottle of juice and poured it into his mouth. After a while, he recovered.
Garp scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
The crew on the warship treated Hals well, considering he was Garp’s grandson—the grandson of the man hailed as a Marine hero. Hals had changed his last name to Monkey D., leaving his previous surname behind.
Initially, the crew doubted Hals, seeing him either hiding in his room or eating.
Until one day, a Sea King approached the warship.
Hals, bored, went out for some fresh air.
He saw the Sea King.
It was a medium-sized Sea King.
The Sea King became their meal for the day and many days after.
Everyone admired Hals, who jumped, transformed into a dragon mid-air, and used water magic to control the water, turning it into a huge spear that pierced the Sea King’s body.
They were impressed.
Hals had already explained his Devil Fruit powers to Garp, including his immunity to water, seawater, and even Seastone, having tested it. He only told Garp and asked him to keep it a secret, as an ability user completely immune to water would attract much attention.
Garp agreed, not wanting any strange scientists to experiment on his grandson.
His fruit power was likely immune to seawater because of the system, which still had its uses.
System: “……………”
Ah—!
Groundhog scream.
So you thought I was useless before?
Hals now had five million negative emotion points.
This was partly due to Whitebeard.
After lunch, Hals took out a new newspaper.
The headline was shocking.
“Whitebeard, the End of the Strongest Man”
People wondered if Whitebeard had died.
They read on.
Due to illness, Whitebeard had been sneezing during a fight with Kaido, hitting Kaido in the face.
There was even a picture of Kaido with snot on his face, though it wasn’t in color.
Despite Kaido escaping, the fact that Whitebeard sneezed during a fight showed how weak he had become.
In this world, strong people didn’t feel cold unless in extreme environments.
Whitebeard could spend a whole night in the cold wind without catching a cold, but others might.
Whitebeard’s illness worsened, indicating he would face more challenges.
The culprit, Hals, didn’t realize he had caused so much trouble alone.
“Hahaha, Whitebeard caught a cold. That old guy is really getting weaker.”
Garp laughed at the newspaper, tears falling from his eyes.
Hals sensed a bit of sadness in Garp.
After all, they were from the same era. Was an old rival nearing his end?
“Negative emotions from Whitebeard +20000”
“Negative emotions from Whitebeard +22000”
“Negative emotions from Whitebeard +24000”
“Negative emotions from Whitebeard +26000”
Thanks for the tip, old man Whitebeard.
The shop has been updated.
A new potion appeared called [Strength Potion].
The [Strength Potion] was a dark red liquid in a bottle with a bicep logo.
The previous [Energy Potion] was orange, with a big meat bone logo.
Drinking the [Strength Potion] increased Doriki by 1.
This number was significant because an average Marine soldier had a Doriki of only 10.
Hals didn’t know what an average Marine soldier was like but knew that training at Marine Headquarters was intense.
Running 200 laps around the field daily, climbing ropes between distant buildings 100 times, doing 2000 push-ups in an hour, or face 100 more laps as punishment.
They also had sparring sessions daily, not stopping until someone fainted.
This was the Marine Headquarters’ training regimen.
Just drinking the potion would increase Doriki by 1, with no side effects.
There were also new body cultivation and meditation techniques available.
However, these required Hals’ body and soul stats to reach 50 before purchase.
As for the price.
It just said, “Can’t afford.”
Hals: “……………”
If I can’t afford it, fine, but why say it like that?
The [Paralysis Potion] cost 1000 negative emotion points, the [Energy Potion] 5000, and the [Strength Potion] 10000.
The negative emotion points seemed plentiful, but they weren’t enough.
Hals felt troubled.
Sitting quietly in his room, he drank a [Strength Potion] to calm down.
The [Strength Potion] tasted good, like cola, with a fizzy sensation despite lacking bubbles.
His heart felt a warm flow, changing his body.
Hals grew stronger.
But it only increased his Doriki by 1.
Far from enough.
Hals understood.
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