Luffy, how can you become the Pirate King if you don't work hard!

Even though you only get extra practice because you're slacking off and sleeping, can you really stop slacking off? Absolutely not.

[Warning, punishment countdown... 10, 9...]

The lingering drowsiness was accompanied by a sharp warning sound, the slight stimulation jolting him awake completely.

He then realized he was sleeping on the grass, with Vivi curled up beside him, clinging to his arm. She seemed to be sleeping soundly, muttering something in her sleep.

"No more... I don't want to eat anymore..."

Luffy: "......."

Did you actually sleep outside all night?

Luffy rubbed his still throbbing temples, thinking that he would be thoroughly questioned by Nami and the others when he got back.

He made the slightest movement, and Weiwei woke up. She seemed to be sleeping very lightly, or rather, she wasn't sleeping soundly at all.

After what happened last night, Vivi's heart skipped a beat, her cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly let go of Luffy's arms, sitting up in a flustered manner.

Chapter 229 Garp: No one knows my grandson better than me.

"Last night..." Luffy had just started to speak.

"I don't know anything! You didn't remember anything!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Weiwei immediately stood up and interrupted him with rapid speech. In the morning sunlight, the tips of her ears were bright red.

Her overtly suspicious behavior only made Luffy more confused.

Why do I feel so excited? Did something happen after I fell asleep?

Luffy looked at Vivi now, still in that alluring outfit from last night—stockings, high heels, shorts, and a loose white shirt. The morning light outlined her slender figure, and she did look very beautiful.

Compared to that, Luffy's gaze fell on Vivi's lips, and he couldn't help but ask:

Why do your lips look a little swollen?

The lips did look fuller than usual, with an unnatural redness and swelling.

Upon hearing this, Weiwei, like a startled rabbit, quickly covered her mouth, her eyes darting around, her voice coming through her fingers, tinged with embarrassment and annoyance:

"You're mistaken! This is from a mosquito bite I got last night! Yes, it's from a mosquito!"

Luffy: "......"

That's such a lame excuse. What kind of mosquito could bite like that?

Meanwhile, in a certain sea area not far from the City of Seven Waters, a dog-headed warship carrying a bone in its mouth was slowly sailing on the calm sea.

A small white round table was placed in the center of the deck, where Garp was eating senbei while talking on a Den Den Mushi.

The Den Den Mushi (snail phone) mimicked the furious expression of the Sengoku period marshal, spitting as it spoke:

"Garp! You old bastard, you've acted on your own again! Do you even know what's going on with your grandson?! A bounty of 660 million, plus destroying Enies Lobby and openly declaring war on the World Government, you must now..."

Click.

The Den Den Mushi was abruptly disconnected. Garp dusted off the senbei crumbs on his hands, stood up, and picked at his ears, as if he hadn't heard anything at all.

"Pfft, hahaha, that bastard Sengoku is really making a fuss over nothing. Don't I know Luffy, that brat?"

Garp burst into laughter, casually tossing the Den Den Mushi onto the table. "Why didn't you believe me when I said he was in Water Seven? He definitely sneaked back, Bogart."

He summoned the hook-nosed man who had been standing by his side and shouted, "Turn to Water Seven! Ignore orders from headquarters!"

"Please don't speak so loudly, Vice Admiral Garp."

Bogart's hat brim was pulled low, obscuring half his face, and his voice was calm and even, "Disobeying orders would have a bad influence on the soldiers if they heard about it."

"Whatever, hahaha."

Garp laughed heartily and patted Bogart on the shoulder forcefully. "If anyone hears this, just tell everyone to forget about it!"

"You old geezer, you're still so unreliable."

A steady voice sounded from the side.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Smoker leaned against the ship's railing, two cigars dangling from his mouth, his face displaying an expression of utter indifference to Garp's behavior.

Garp glanced over, a smirk playing on his lips: "Seriously, those guys at headquarters sent you to keep an eye on me? Hmph, I won't go easy on that brat Luffy."

He said that, but his eyes didn't reveal much determination to make the arrest.

Smoker curled his lip and exhaled a puff of smoke: "Don't joke around, old man. I can't control what you do. I just want to fight Straw Hat Boy again."

He has been holding a grudge ever since he was defeated by Luffy in Loguetown.

......

After tidying themselves up a bit, Luffy and Vivi sneaked back to the abandoned shipyard where the Going Merry was docked, intending to change Vivi's clothes into normal attire before returning to Dock One.

The main reason was that Luffy made Vivi change her high heels and sheer white stockings into more everyday shoes and socks, although Vivi's resentful little look when she changed her shoes was a bit too much for him.

As soon as they returned to Dock 1, they saw Nami standing at the door with her arms crossed, staring at them with hostility, especially Luffy.

"Oh, you two are back?"

Nami asked with a forced smile, "Where did you go last night?"

Luffy's heart skipped a beat, but he tried his best to remain calm and said righteously, "Training."

He even symbolically clenched his fist to show non-existent sweat.

"What about Vivi?"

Nami's gaze shifted to Vivi, whose cheeks were still slightly flushed.

Vivi took a deep breath, trying to make her expression look natural and calm, and her voice as steady as possible: "I'm watching Luffy train."

She dared not look Nami in the eye, for fear that she would discover her secret.

The two looked like they had rehearsed their statements in perfect unison, which infuriated Nami, but she couldn't find any concrete evidence against them.

Even though she suspected that the two of them, a man and a woman, had gone out alone in the middle of the night and were up to no good, they insisted that they were exercising, and she really didn't know what to do for the time being.

I'll exercise late at night, do you believe me?

But when Nami thought about how Luffy used to train almost all night... she fell silent.

On the contrary, Robin, who was standing a few steps behind Nami, kept staring at the two of them with a half-smile, as if she knew everything.

That gaze sent chills down Luffy and Vivi's spines, as if all their secrets had been laid bare.

Luffy quickly changed the subject, looking around and asking, "Where is everyone? Where did they all go?"

Nami snorted irritably, letting them off the hook for the time being, and said, "Go on, everyone. Everyone has something to do."

Usopp and Franky went to the new ship to supervise its construction; Usopp was, after all, a half-baked shipwright.

Zoro said he was going for a walk, and Chopper, worried about him, went along to avoid the absurd situation of Zoro getting lost.

It seems that Merry was taken to town by Nika to play.

Sanji got a lot of money from Nami to replenish supplies, as Water Seven, a place with developed commerce and trade, is a good place to buy supplies.

Speaking of money, Nami felt a pang of heartache again and couldn't help but glare at Luffy. "Because the new ship is a big ship, it can carry a lot of supplies. We don't have to worry about going hungry after a few days at sea like before."

Luffy completely agrees with this.

"That's great. We can store a lot of meat."

"Who do you think is to blame for this? It's all because of your bottomless belly! Do you know how much more money we're going to have to spend?!"

Nami couldn't resist stepping forward and grabbing his incredibly elastic cheek.

Luffy could only vaguely beg for mercy.

Outside the No. 1 dock, a large crowd had gathered, mostly reporters carrying cameras and microphones.

"Hey, you reporters, don't interfere with our work!"

"Is the Straw Hat Pirates here? Witnesses say they saw their boat!"

"I was just saying the Pirate King is here!" Barry roared angrily, a cigar dangling from his lips. "Where did you get this ridiculous news from?!"

Chapter 230 Garp's Silence Was Deafening

That being said, Barry was genuinely impressed by these guys' keen sense of smell.

How could they smell the Straw Hat crew's return when they were so well hidden?

"Something's wrong! Foreman Barry, look!"

A boatman hurried up from the back, pointed to a large group of people approaching in the distance, and said in a tense voice:

"The navy is here!"

The reporters' eyes lit up.

"The Straw Hat crew is here after all!"

"The navy has mobilized on a large scale; something big has happened!"

"Quick, take a picture! This is big news!"

What a nuisance! Barry hates these reporters the most.

"Look at that person!"

A sharp-eyed reporter glanced at the leader of the naval force behind them and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

The man had gray hair, but his posture was as straight as a mountain, and he walked with the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger, exuding an aura of dominance over the world.

The reporter looked on incredulously and then turned his gaze to the edge of the harbor in the distance. Sure enough, he saw a huge warship quietly moored, with a giant dog head statue holding a bone in its mouth on its bow.

"It's Vice Admiral Garp from the Marine Headquarters!"