As someone who had been hypnotized...
Morgan felt no fear toward Garp.
And when he saw that Garp had actually fallen asleep, he suddenly exploded with force.
Whether it was the quality of the handcuffs or sheer brute strength—no one could say—but somehow, he really broke free.
In the blink of an eye, he lunged forward. The axe in his hand came down with a heavy swing.
Blood splattered instantly. The legendary Navy hero—Vice Admiral Garp—
Collapsed.
Everyone at the scene was stunned. It was as if time froze.
No one reacted for a long moment.
Then, when someone finally snapped out of their daze, they saw Morgan leap into the sea with a loud splash.
Dozens of marines, rifles in hand, rushed to the edge and began firing wildly into the water.
If Luo Lan had been present to witness this scene—
He'd probably mock them again for their complete lack of common sense.
In any case, after all the chaos and gunfire, everyone was left at a complete loss.
Vice Admiral Garp had been taken down—his condition unknown.
Morgan had escaped.
How in the world were they supposed to explain this to Marine Headquarters?
—
At the warship's gangway…
A military doctor, drenched in sweat, was trying to bandage Garp's wounds.
But just then, when everyone thought he was down for the count—
Garp suddenly sat up.
"Hmm? Did I accidentally fall asleep again?"
"Sorry about that. I've been sleep-deprived lately—puhahaha!"
"Eh? Did someone draw red graffiti on me while I was asleep?"
"Oh right, where's that guy Sengoku asked me to escort? Why isn't he—"
…
…
Everyone's jaws hit the floor at the same time.
What else could they say? He truly lived up to the title of Navy Hero.
In a way, this was seriously impressive.
The marines couldn't help but grumble internally.
None of them realized yet that this event would soon spiral out of control.
So much so...
That Morgan, who disappeared without a trace, would later earn a new moniker:
Axe Emperor Morgan.
Even Morgans himself once wrote a gossip column comparing the "Axe Emperor" to the Four Emperors.
He called Morgan…
The Fifth Hidden Emperor of the Sea!
Some even claimed he was the strongest among them.
After all—he chopped Garp down in one strike.
So let's ask the other Four Emperors...
Could any of you do that?
---
Meanwhile, Luo Lan had no idea about the bizarre mess that happened back at Branch 153.
He and his team were still sweeping the surrounding waters, clearing out pirates.
Inside the bridge of the warship Hina—
"Hina is speechless. What's up with the pirates in East Blue?"
"Fitness Pirates..."
"Hot Dance Pirates…"
"And that one group… what were they called again? The Always Sleepy Pirates?"
"They're all just weird beyond belief!"
Hina shook her head in disbelief.
Sure, the Grand Line had its fair share of eccentric pirate crews too.
But the ones she'd seen over the last three days?
They made those Grand Line weirdos look like saints.
It was as if most of these so-called pirates weren't serious about being pirates at all. They just picked random names, slapped together a pirate flag, and set sail.
Basically, they were just messing around!
No wonder East Blue's marines were so useless, and the number of pirates was so high. And yet…
It remained one of the wealthiest regions under World Government control.
Now it all made sense.
Luo Lan couldn't help but sigh too.
Honestly, apart from the bounty-heads, most pirate crews they'd run into were just like that.
In many people's eyes, becoming a man meant heading out to sea, and being a pirate represented true freedom.
For some reason, that mindset was incredibly popular in East Blue.
Thus, the birth of all these bizarre pirate crews.
Take the Fitness Pirates for example—they were just a bunch of gym instructors. After capturing them and doing some quick questioning...
Turns out they occasionally set sail under the Fitness Pirates name, mainly to fish and take sea trips together.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Over the last three days, Luo Lan had taken down over 50 pirate crews. And more than ten of them were just like that.
No wonder Hina was rolling her eyes non-stop.
"Captain, we've spotted another pirate ship," a marine operating the drone station suddenly reported.
"But…"
"But what?"
"I've transferred the drone feed to the main screen. Captain, you'd better see for yourself…"
The large screen on the bridge changed to the drone's aerial view.
From the sails alone, it was clearly a pirate ship.
It looked lively, but they weren't holding a banquet or attacking others.
Instead, there was a guy on deck wielding two swords—and even biting down on a third—slashing wildly at the rest of the crew.
"Infighting?" Hina raised a brow and glanced at Luo Lan.
But the moment she turned to look—
She noticed the expression on Luo Lan's face.
Excitement?
No—pure enthusiasm.
Was this guy really getting this hyped up over some pirate infighting?
Hina was completely baffled.
But she was right—Luo Lan was genuinely thrilled.
Because he had already recognized the swordsman in the footage.
That man wielding three swords was none other than:
Roronoa Zoro—the Pirate Hunter.
That's right—the one with main supporting character plot armor, destined to become the world's greatest swordsman.
Zoro might not be the main character, but he wasn't just a side character either.
He was a major supporting lead.
And Luo Lan wasn't about to let someone like that slip through his fingers.
He had to recruit him into the 157th Branch!
If Zoro agreed, great. If not—well, he'd knock him out and bring him back by force!
Luo Lan was burning with excitement.
"Hina, I'm going in personally. Keep scanning the rest of the sea for other ships."
"You're going? Is that guy really that special?"
"Absolutely. He's not a pirate—he's a future world-class swordsman who's guaranteed to take Mihawk's throne. What do you think?"
"WHAT?!"
Hina's eyes went wide.
Mihawk?
The world's strongest swordsman?
The man who stood head and shoulders above all others in the sword world?
It's rumored he could even fight the Four Emperors or Navy Admirals.
And Luo Lan was saying that the guy on screen would definitely surpass him?
That was insane—utterly insane!
But before she could say anything else…
Luo Lan had already vanished from the bridge.
---
On the pirate ship—
Zoro stood over a pile of defeated enemies, sheathed his three swords, and pulled out a stack of bounty posters.
He flipped through them carefully.
"The captain's bounty is 2 million berries?"
"Seriously? What were the Marines thinking, offering 2 million for someone this weak?"
He shook his head.
Oh well—didn't matter. As a bounty hunter, he just needed to get paid.
Especially since he hadn't had any jobs for a while and was starting to starve.
But what he didn't notice—
Was that the bottom of the wanted poster didn't say "Dead or Alive."
It said...
ONLY ALIVE!
---
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