Chapter 42: The Eccentric Old Man
The man who appeared before Ian was Garp, hands in his pockets, a navy coat draped over his back like a cape. It seemed that Marine Headquarters officers of colonel rank and above all enjoyed wearing their coats as capes; when the sea breeze blew, the trailing corners and sleeves fluttered in the wind, looking quite striking.
Garp wore his iconic dog-head hat, with a few strands of messy gray-white hair peeking out from underneath. There was a scar at the corner of his left eyebrow, but he didn’t look fierce at all. He grinned widely, his neat teeth gleaming. Though he stood before Ian, his gaze was fixed on the Lord of the Coast not far away. “This seems to be a sea beast unique to the East Blue, huh? I wonder what it tastes like?”
With that, he suddenly punched his left palm with his right fist and said to Ian, “How about we have a barbecue party?”
“…” Ian was still shocked by his sudden appearance. Hearing this, he had no idea how to react.
Beside him, Colonel Schroder sighed helplessly, “Vice Admiral, please maintain some dignity!”
“Ahahaha, just kidding, just kidding!” Garp laughed, patting his dog head (hat?), “And it looks like that thing has no meat left to eat…”
The joke was fake, but the last part was real, right? Ian silently complained to himself.
Garp then asked Ian seriously, “Kid, who are you? What’s your name?”
“I’m Ian, a pirate hunter!” Ian replied. “Thanks for saving me!”
He now understood why he had only heard the sound of cannonballs flying earlier, but not the sound of cannons firing. It must have been Garp, that monster of an old man, who did it. Throwing cannonballs by hand—no one else could pull that off.
“You set sail alone?” Garp asked curiously. “How did you run into this guy?”
“This guy” naturally referred to the Lord of the Coast. Ian felt helpless as he explained the situation to Garp.
After hearing the story, Garp burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face.
Colonel Schroder covered his forehead and said, “Vice Admiral, please maintain some dignity!”
When Garp finally stopped laughing, he patted Ian on the shoulder and said, “Kid, you underestimate the sea too much. The East Blue is already tame. If you were on the Grand Line, you’d encounter far worse things. This ocean is harsh on humans!”
“So…” Garp said seriously to Ian, “Join the Marines!”
“…” Ian didn’t know how to respond. The ocean being harsh on humans had nothing to do with joining the Marines!
This way of recruiting people was way too forced, wasn’t it!?
Colonel Schroder continued to cover his face, “Vice Admiral, please maintain some dignity!”
“Bullshit! If a man goes to sea, what else would he be but a Marine?” Garp glared at Schroder.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Schroder gave up arguing with him.
Ian had now witnessed Garp’s personality firsthand. Just as the rumors said, he was completely eccentric. It was impossible for a normal person to keep up with his train of thought.
Shaking his head, Ian said, “I need money, so for now, I have to stay a pirate hunter.”
“Kid, what do you need money for?” Garp asked curiously. “The Marines pay a salary too!”
“I need at least several billion Berries. How many years of Marine salary would it take to earn that much?” Ian spread his hands and asked in return.
Garp’s eyes nearly popped out. “What do you need so much money for?”
“To save someone and buy a Devil Fruit,” Ian said, telling half the truth. He knew that buying Devil Fruits on the black market was unreliable, but it was a good excuse. After all, his system required massive amounts of money, and this could cover that.
Garp listened and then asked Schroder, “Do pirate hunters make good money?”
“If they’re strong, yes,” Schroder nodded. “But the risks are high. If a big pirate targets you, it’s dangerous.”
Garp thought for a long time, then suddenly slapped his fist into his palm and said, “Ah! How about we become pirate hunters too! I’m not afraid of being targeted by big pirates!”
This time, not just Schroder, but the entire crew of Marines standing nearby all shouted at him in unison, “Vice Admiral! Please don’t make such jokes!”
It seemed Garp’s eccentric personality had deeply traumatized his subordinates…
“Fine, fine, if we’re not doing it, then we’re not doing it. No need to yell at me like that,” Garp said gloomily, picking his ear with his pinky. He turned to Ian and said, “From the moment you came aboard, I felt like that hat of yours looked familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”
He sat down on the deck, cross-legged, resting his chin on his hand. “Hmm, where have I seen it? Let me think carefully.”
With that, he ignored Ian and furrowed his brow in thought.
The entire ship fell silent, waiting for him to remember. Ian looked around, unsure how to describe this bizarre scene.
After a while, Garp suddenly slapped his fist into his palm. Just as Ian and the Marines thought he had remembered, Garp said, “Ah! I really can’t remember! Forget it, I won’t think about it. Kid, do you want some tea?”
Ian face-planted onto the deck!
When he looked up, he saw Garp had somehow pulled out a tea set from nowhere and was already leisurely brewing tea.
He was actually serious!
Turning around, Ian looked at Colonel Schroder with sympathy: Dealing with a boss like this must be tough, right?
Schroder nodded helplessly: Do you even need to ask?
As they completed their silent exchange with their eyes, Garp had already pulled out a plate of crackers and asked Ian, “By the way, do you eat crackers? I love crackers!”
Seeing Garp’s hopeful expression, as if he wanted someone to join him for tea and crackers, Ian couldn’t refuse. He sat down and had tea with Garp.
Back at the Isshin Dojo in Shimotsuki Village, Ian often had tea with Master Koushirou. But Koushirou was more traditional, with stricter tea ceremony rules, unlike Garp, who just grabbed a cup and brewed it casually. Yet, for some reason, Ian found Garp’s tea more enjoyable.
It wasn’t because Garp’s tea was better. Despite his eccentric personality, Ian felt the old man was quite friendly. Though he was a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, he didn’t try to maintain any authority in front of a nobody like Ian. Instead, he acted like a neighborly old man, making Ian feel at ease.
In other words, he was approachable. Yes, that was Garp’s unique style.
As they drank tea, Ian noticed Garp had started thinking again, arms crossed. Not sure what he was pondering, Ian didn’t ask and just kept drinking. He was thirsty anyway after half a day at sea.
Then, after a moment, Garp spoke up. Rubbing his chin, he asked Ian, “Kid, you said you’re a pirate hunter?”
Ian nodded. “Yeah, didn’t I just say that?”
“If you can take down a sea beast that big, you must be pretty strong, right?” Garp said, then suddenly pointed at Ian and turned to Schroder. “Beat him up!”
“Pfft!” Ian had just taken a sip of tea and spat it all over Garp’s face in shock. “What did you say!?”
But before Ian could recover from his surprise, Schroder had already lunged at him. With a swift side kick, he drove his powerful leg straight into Ian’s face!
Boom! Ian was sent flying, crashing into the warship’s cabin wall, which cracked under the impact. The force of that kick was immense!
Getting up, Ian felt his left face go numb, with a metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He might be bleeding.
He glared darkly at Schroder, never expecting him to attack without warning.
Though Garp’s men often complained about his eccentric personality, they deeply respected Vice Admiral Garp. The moment they heard his order, even though Ian had been drinking tea with Garp like a guest just a second ago, Schroder didn’t hesitate to attack. Seeing Ian get up, Schroder charged again.
Ian drew the longsword from his back and met Schroder head-on. He didn’t know why Garp had ordered an attack, but taking a beating without fighting back wasn’t Ian’s style.
With the passive detection of his Evil Eye skill, Ian sensed that Garp’s aura was a deep, rich red—clearly someone he couldn’t beat. Schroder’s aura was also red, but much lighter. Ian wanted to test the level of an enemy who posed a threat to him, so he immediately unleashed his maximum speed.
In an instant, both of them closed the distance to striking range. Ian swung his blade, unleashing a seven-strike slash in one motion!
Schroder immediately recognized the danger of this move. He stopped abruptly, clenched his fists, and planted his feet in a horse stance.
“Iron Body!”
With Schroder’s shout, Ian’s blade struck him. Since they were on a Marine ship, killing Schroder would mean Ian couldn’t escape, so he used the blade’s edge and didn’t aim for vital points.
But when his sword hit Schroder, it produced a series of clanging sounds, accompanied by a strong recoil. It didn’t feel like cutting into a human body at all.
Looking closer, Ian saw that aside from some torn clothing, Schroder was completely unharmed!
“Ahahaha!” Garp wiped the tea off his face and burst into laughter again. “Kid, don’t underestimate Schroder. He’s my direct intelligence officer, a Headquarters Colonel from CP5. You’d better be careful when fighting him!”
Iron Body? One of the Six Powers? Ian looked at Schroder in surprise. That metallic sound… Could the Iron Body technique really make a body as hard as steel?