NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13: Chapter 13
"GARP! What is this I'm hearing about a grandson of yours running around capturing bandits?!" At Marine HQ, Fleet Admiral Sengoku yelled at Garp, who was sitting back, eating rice crackers.
Hearing those words, Garp immediately spat out his food. He didn't even need to think twice to know exactly who Sengoku was talking about.
"GARP!" Sengoku shouted again, clearly furious. Keeping the existence of his grandkids a secret was something he couldn't overlook. But Garp was the Hero of the Marines. There was nothing Sengoku could do to him… But his grandkids?
"Hurry up and bring him in," Sengoku ordered, speaking into a Transponder Snail—a strange, living communication snail used throughout the world. "Kong may have done nothing wrong, but he isn't allowed to walk around freely."
Thousands of miles away, aboard a Marine ship, the captain slowly turned his attention toward Kong. Kong was casually counting the stacks of money he'd been given, ignoring the silent exchange happening around him.
The captain glanced at his men and gave them a subtle nod, signaling for them to change course, toward Marine HQ. But the very next second, A sudden, overwhelming pressure exploded from Kong.
A wave of invisible force surged outward, crashing over the ship like a storm. Every single Marine onboard collapsed instantly. The ship itself groaned and cracked, the sheer force splintering the wood. The chair Kong had been sitting on shattered beneath him, forcing Kong to have to stand.
Long ago, Kong had accidentally unleashed this pressure as a kid—back when he saw Luffy in Shanks' arms, seemingly dead. At the time, he hadn't understood what it was. But the next time it happened, he realized something.
Right after using it a second time, he could use it freely. After all, to him, it was like he had practiced it 100 times over. At first, Kong couldn't control who it affected, unleashing it in wild bursts. But over time, he refined it, learning to target specific people while sparing others.
Now, with the ship silent except for the creaking wood and rolling waves, Kong casually took a seat, and sat back, grabbing the Transponder Snail which the captain was speaking into.
He smirked and spoke into it. "Yo, this is Monkey D. Kong, the next Pirate King.
"KONG! You little brat, what the hell are you doing?!" Garp's furious voice erupted from the Transponder Snail.
Kong chuckled. "Heh, I'm a pirate now, old man… so of course, I want some treasure. Five million per Marine. Since there are twelve of them here, that's sixty million for all their heads."
Garp's rage spiked, but Kong wasn't done. "I'll keep them as workers on my new pirate ship," he added with a laugh. "You know where to call me when you need me!"
"By the way, you wouldn't believe the craziest thing that just happened," Kong continued casually as if he wasn't currently hijacking a Marine ship. "So, me and Luffy were on a boat, right? And before we even got anywhere, we got sucked into a whirlpool. Almost died as soon as we left the island!"
He laughed. On the other end, Garp sat in stunned silence. Sengoku, who had been listening in, pinched the bridge of his nose, already knowing this family was nothing but trouble.
"So, anyway," Kong went on, "I'm thinking of challenging those guys known as the Emperors of the Sea… would I still be able to collect their bounty after?"
"I'm thinking of going after the strongest man, Whitebeard… but Kaido looks way more badass if you ask me," Kong mused.
"Actually," Kong continued, "do you think they'd join my crew if I beat them up first? Yeah… that sounds like a plan. I should just go around, beating people up left and right and have them join my pirate crew."
Garp and Sengoku froze. Because for a split second, those words gave them both a horrifying flashback To a man who had successfully done exactly that.
"Anyways, I should get going. I have to train and stuff," Kong said casually before ending the call. Sengoku turned to look at Garp, only to find the old Marine slumped over, staring blankly at nothing as if his very soul had left his body.
That was all Sengoku needed to see. This kid is too dangerous to let run free.
Meanwhile, Kong stretched, cracking his neck. "Now, I guess I should think of a pirate flag… Eh, I'll worry about it when I get my own crew later down the line."
With that settled, he focused on something more immediate. Absorbing all of the Marines' weapons into his body, he followed up by doing the same with every last belly he could find on the ship, storing it all away inside himself.
Once everything was secured, he woke the Marines up. The groggy soldiers stirred, blinking in confusion, only to freeze when they saw Kong casually watching them.
"Alright, you're all hostages," Kong announced, his tone almost bored. "Just for the time being, of course. I'm sure the Marines will pay for your freedom."
He clapped his hands together. "Until then, I just need you guys to help steer my ship."
"What do you want?" the captain asked, his voice uneasy as he eyed Kong, who now held all of their weapons.
"Nothing much," Kong said lazily, leaning against the railing. "Just take me where I need to go. No talking to the Marines unless I'm right there, and no funny business."
He stretched, letting out a yawn. "Other than that, you all get to keep your lives and leave peacefully when I eventually have to run from the old man."
"Anyway," Kong continued, shifting gears, "I need to find my brother, so… you guys have a map of the East Blue?"
The captain hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was help this lunatic, but resisting didn't seem like a good idea either. After a moment, one of the Marines reluctantly brought over a map. Kong took it without a word and began studying it carefully.
'This is Foosha Village… We headed this way before running into a whirlpool…' Kong traced his path on the map, his eyes narrowing in thought.
'That means Luffy should be on one of these nearby islands…' But knowing Luffy, there was one place he was most likely to visit. He'd want to see where the Pirate King died. Kong's gaze locked onto an island labeled Polestar Islands.
"What's the importance of Polestar Islands?" he asked, noting how close it was to the Grand Line.
The Marine captain didn't hesitate to answer.
"Almost all East Blue ships, especially pirate ships, stop there to resupply before heading into the Grand Line," he explained. "Loguetown, which is on the island, is in a prime location—right near Reverse Mountain, just out of sight of the Red Line."
As he spoke, his eyes brightened. Because he realized exactly who could be found on that island.
"That look in your eyes tells me someone there is powerful…" Kong mused, his smirk widening. "You don't want me to throw you overboard and just keep the few I need to manage this ship, right?" The captain froze.
Kong chuckled. "Smart." Then, with a shrug, he leaned back. "Whatever. Let's head over there."
He kept a casual posture, but his eyes flicked between the map and compass, making sure they weren't taking him somewhere else. The Marines, realizing they had no other choice, stayed on course. And so, by the next day… They arrived at Loguetown. Not knowing that Kong couldn't even read the compass without getting lost.