Chapter 176: A Sixty-year-old Man Gets Beaten By A Mob—is It The Corruption Of Morality Or The Distortion Of Humanity?
“Pa~”
Garp’s snot bubble burst, and Garp jolted awake.
“Ah, sorry, I accidentally fell asleep.” Garp rubbed his nose, stood up, and said insincerely.
“What do you mean fell asleep? You were clearly knocked out.” Luffy exposed him without any mercy.
Garp casually punched Luffy’s head, then said to the Navy soldiers surrounding him: “Why are you all crowding around this old man? If you’re free, go help this old man’s fellow villagers with work.”
“Yes, Vice Admiral Garp.” Bogard replied, leading the Navy soldiers into Windmill Village.
The people of Windmill Village were already very familiar with these Navy soldiers under Garp and greeted them warmly and kindly.
“You’re very strong, stronger than Roger. This old man is no match for you. I still don’t know your name?” Garp said to Meng Huaifeng, his expression turning serious.
Even possibly stronger than the World Government’s trump card, but they play with mechanisms—immortal and unkillable, forcibly converting.
Without finding a way to counter it, no amount of strength would be useful, right?
People can’t imagine things beyond their cognition, and Garp couldn’t imagine how much stronger Meng Huaifeng could be than Roger.
“Stellar Train Nameless, Meng Huaifeng.” Meng Huaifeng introduced himself.
“With strength like yours, how come I’ve never heard of you before?” Garp said.
“We just arrived here.” Meng Huaifeng replied ambiguously.
“So you’re just setting out to sea. Then what is a Pioneer?” Garp nodded and continued asking.
“Nameless are Pioneers, but Pioneers are not just Nameless. Pioneers are those who dare to explore unknown worlds, looking forward to exciting and thrilling adventure journeys…” Meng Huaifeng explained to Garp.
“Isn’t that pretty much the same as Pirates?” Garp scratched his head.
“Far from it. Pioneers don’t burn, kill, or plunder; instead, they help when they see injustice.” Meng Huaifeng corrected.
“Oh, there is indeed a small portion of Pirates like that.” Garp nodded in realization.
But that small portion still got wanted posters and were labeled as Pirates, because the ones they drew their swords against, besides fellow Pirates, were often corrupt nobles.
Offend the nobles and expect things to go well?
What awaited them was naturally a full suite of wanted posters and pursuits.
When encountering such Pirate crews, Garp would often just go through the motions, all thunder and no rain.
“Huai Feng, little brother, your concept of Pioneers is great, but it won’t last long on the Grand Line. This old man can tell you have a sense of justice. Listen to this old man’s advice: join the Navy. Sure, there will be some constraints, but with your strength, as long as you don’t cross a few bottom lines, you can completely ignore them, just like this old man.” Garp advised earnestly and sincerely invited.
“Maybe you’re right, Uncle Garp, but we can’t possibly join the Navy. Thanks for your kind offer.” Meng Huaifeng smiled and refused.
Garp sighed helplessly. Young people are just hot-blooded and stubborn.
But with his strength, even if labeled a Pirate, he wouldn’t be in any real danger, so Garp stopped persuading.
But Luffy was different.
“What Pioneer? Become a Navy soldier for your grandfather, you brat!” Garp was about to punch Luffy again.
“Pa.”
Meng Huaifeng caught Garp’s fist and encouraged Luffy: “Joining the Navy has no future. Don’t listen to your grandfather; just become a Pioneer.”
“Yeah! I’ll definitely become a Pioneer!” Luffy hid behind Meng Huaifeng, making all sorts of faces at Garp.
“Navy!”
“Pioneer.”
“Navy.”
“Pioneer.”
“This old man is gonna lose it.”
Garp gradually grew irritable, and the tension between the two rose once more.
Meng Huaifeng shook his fist, but Garp didn’t care if he could win or not—he’d strike first.
This time, Meng Huaifeng had no interest in a passionate brawl. With the Power of Preservation upon him, he deflected Garp’s Iron Fist with one hand and knocked Garp out with the other in an instant.
Don’t be fooled by how many powerhouses in this world can destroy nations and sink islands, but the countries here are too small—one island per country, and there aren’t many truly large islands, not even as big as a modern metropolis.
So the peak powerhouses in this world who can destroy nations and sink islands are only on par with Intermediate Pathfinders.
And Meng Huaifeng had long surpassed that level.
“Wow, Big Brother Huai Feng is too awesome! I want to become a Pioneer and freely pioneer and adventure on this vast sea!” Luffy cheered, truly bringing the house down with laughter.
This time Garp didn’t fall asleep; he woke from unconsciousness in less than a minute.
“What a monster.” Garp muttered, looking at Meng Huaifeng.
“Uncle Garp, trust me—Luffy becoming a Pioneer absolutely has a bright future.” Meng Huaifeng patted Garp’s shoulder.
Luffy becoming a Pioneer would likely lead him to step onto the Pioneer Destiny, while joining the Navy would be a real waste.
“Hmph, this old man can’t beat you anyway. Fine, this old man has other matters; I’m off.” Garp turned away with a dark expression, heading to check on his other grandson first.
Once you’re gone, I’ll correct that brat. I don’t believe you’ll stay here forever.
“Big Brother Huai Feng, tell me more about Pioneering.” Luffy said expectantly.
“The world has the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. Pioneering can tolerate the unknown but will never yield to the unknowable…”
“The result of Pioneering is important, but the process is even more so…”
……
“Where did you put your stuff?”
Ace watched A Xing pick up a bunch of things that then vanished in an instant and finally couldn’t hold back from asking.
If they had something this convenient, they could take everything at once and avoid all the back-and-forth hassle.
“In the Train Ticket.” A Xing pointed to the Train Ticket hanging on her clothes.
“Where did you get this thing…” Ace started to ask, but Sabo quickly covered his mouth. Could you just casually ask about such a treasure?
“Ace, so you’re here. Finally found you.” Garp’s voice rang out.
“Grandfather, you’re back?” Ace said with some surprise.
Garp glanced at A Xing, his gaze lingering on the Train Ticket on her that was the same as Meng Huaifeng’s.
“Are you that monster kid Meng Huaifeng’s companion?” Garp asked.
“Yeah, I’m A Xing. Who are you?” A Xing asked.
“This old man is Navy Vice Admiral Garp, grandfather of Luffy and Ace. Haha, let this old man test the mettle of that monster kid’s companion.” Garp said with interest, striding toward A Xing.
He wanted to see just how much potential this team had.
A Xing clearly sensed that Garp’s body strength was even more freakish than Shanks’s. She upped her own strength a bit and knocked the unprepared Garp out with a single bat swing.
Before passing out, Garp was utterly baffled.
Something’s off—even if I didn’t go all out, tanking a hit from Roger or Whitebeard would at most leave me lightly injured.
How did I run into two people today who can knock me out in one hit?
Is the world changing too fast?
“Gulp.”
Ace swallowed hard. Knocking out those thugs with one bat each was one thing, but knocking out Grandfather with just one…
Ace and Sabo exchanged a glance, then ‘thud’—they knelt before A Xing.
“Big Sister, we want to learn the baseball bat!”
“Sure, watch closely. This move is called: Rules are meant to be broken…” A Xing taught her ultimate move without reservation.
Though this move needed Destruction Power to maximize its might, substituting other energy worked fine, and even pure physical exertion was full of technique.
Ace and Sabo’s eyes lit up—one wanted to break Pirate rules, the other noble rules. This move fit their ideas perfectly.
The steel pipes in their hands whistled through the air. They hadn’t awakened Haki yet, so energy usage could only be memorized for now.
As for physical exertion, it was far stronger than their previous street brawl moves, greatly boosting their attack power.
……
A sixty-something-year-old man getting beaten round-robin by the Train Crew—is it humanity’s distortion or morality’s downfall?
The Train Crew said they didn’t want to, but Garp seemed possessed, challenging them one by one just like Shanks.
Shanks was a young guy, so the Train Crew had no pressure beating him.
But this sixty-something-year-old man…
But they had no choice—he had a fiery temper. If they didn’t hit him, he’d hit them. They couldn’t just take the beating without fighting back, right?
Fortunately, though the sixty-something-year-old had half-white hair, his body was still sturdy.
After a full round of beatings, he was fine, and Dan Heng even healed him with Cloud Chant Technique.
Not only was he unharmed, his strength seemed to have improved a bit more.
One monster might not beat the World Government’s shadowy figure, but eight or nine…
Garp’s heart burned hot: “Everyone, why not overthrow the World Government? The Navy will fully support you!”
Sengoku and Zephyr are good friends, and the new three Admirals are Zephyr’s students—they respect me and are full of justice.
Garp figured that showing enough strength would surely convince them.
“Sorry, Mister Garp, the Stellar Train does not interfere with a planet’s internal civilization processes.” Himeko shook her head and refused.
“Why? Don’t you know how corrupt the World Government really is?” Garp asked.
“Regime change is a very common and normal phenomenon in civilization processes and should only be resolved by you yourselves.” Yan said.
Angels also have rules against interfering in civilization’s normal processes; Yan was long used to such things and fully understood the Train Crew’s rule.
“Even if we help you overthrow the World Government, then what? Heroes rise, vying for the throne of world king, sparking a war engulfing the entire world? You’ve said yourself that no order is worse than bad order.”
“The Navy’s strength is decent, but under World Government control, it’s not strong enough to suppress Pirates. If those Pirates become the new world king, it probably won’t be much better. We can’t keep cleaning up your big Pirates for you, right?”
“Even if the Navy wins and gains world management rights, you’re just a military organization with varied understandings of justice—can you really manage this world well?” Meng Huaifeng asked.
“Well… why not just become the new world king yourselves?” Garp said.
“We won’t stay in this world forever; we’ll leave before long. And if Train Crews meddled this much in every world, the Star Generals would be like puppets on strings, and this universe would be an exquisite tomb.” Meng Huaifeng shook his head.
If Train Crews managed worlds, influenced by cognition, they’d guide every different world toward similarity, stripping the universe of diversity and making it monotonous.
They dismantle civilization’s shackles but refuse to become new chains.
No overthrowing regimes, no imposing will, no eternal guardianship.
The Train Crew are not gods, merely messengers of hope—teaching each race to gather firewood and light fires in the darkness is the true essence of「 Pioneering」.
“You need a real organization to replace the World Government, not relying on those Pirates.” Meng Huaifeng reminded.
Garp suddenly recalled his son Dragon and the Revolutionary Army he founded.
So he was the one on the right path.
“We’ve been on this island for three days; it’s time for us to set off.” Himeko stood up and said.
The Train Crew left the room, leaving Garp lost in thought.
From initial excitement to the Train Crew’s refusal, Garp’s mind was a mess—he wasn’t one for deep thinking anyway.
After a long while, Garp took out a Den Den Mushi.
“Old man?” The Den Den Mushi mimicked Dragon’s face and asked doubtfully.
“A group left Windmill Village—they’re Stellar Train Nameless, Pioneers. You should go find them.” Garp said with a complex tone.
“What’s so special about them?”
“Didn’t you found the Revolutionary Army? Maybe you can get some inspiration from them. It’d be even better if you could recruit them, though it’s probably impossible.”
“…Thanks, Father.”
March 7th felt a bit heavy-hearted and whispered to Meng Huaifeng: “We’re really not helping at all?”
“We definitely won’t interfere in political struggles. But we can do good deeds and help when we see injustice.” Meng Huaifeng said with a light smile.
“What does that mean? What’s the connection?” March 7th was puzzled.
“You’ll see soon enough.” Meng Huaifeng said.
The Train Crew arrived at the dock.
Himeko handed a blueprint to Meng Huaifeng: “This is the ship’s blueprint—just build it like this.”
Meng Huaifeng unfolded the blueprint: it was a medium-sized sailboat styled like this world’s, but with an energy furnace and propeller at the bottom.
Hmm, basically a modern yacht wrapped in retro skin.
Besides that, there were some uncoordinated, somewhat abrupt devices and facilities.
If he guessed right, the others had added a few touches.
Meng Huaifeng released a large amount of timber, hemp rope, and scrap cloth; A Xing also released the scrap iron she’d collected.
Aether Editing!
The pile of materials quickly edited into a sailboat over forty meters long.
A Xing eagerly dashed to the bow in one leap, flung her trench coat, and shouted: “Lads, hoist the sails, set sail!”
The deck under A Xing’s feet cracked instantly, and whoosh—she fell into the sea.
“Oops, A Xing, what’s the rush? I haven’t finished editing yet.” Meng Huaifeng slapped his thigh anxiously.
A Xing climbed back ashore, puffed up: “Guess I believe you?”
“I believe you.” Meng Huaifeng nodded emphatically.
“Believe you my ass! Don’t run!” A Xing headbutted toward Meng Huaifeng.
Meng Huaifeng dodged behind March 7th.
“Hey, hey~” March 7th shifted left and right but kept getting sandwiched between them.
“Behold my Blessing!”
March 7th hurriedly applied a layer of Six Phases Ice to herself.
“Clang!”
A Xing’s head smashed into the ice wall in front of March 7th.
“Alright, enough playing. Get on the boat.” Himeko said with a light laugh.
“Wait! I want to become a Pioneer too—take me out to sea with you!” Luffy’s anxious voice came from afar.
The Train Crew turned to look: Luffy gripped a post with both hands, stretching his arms long like rubber bands, then ‘whoosh’—it launched him flying over.
He stretched too far and pulled too hard; he’d likely land in the sea.
Meng Huaifeng leaped up, caught Luffy, and set him down.
“Take me with you! I can be an intern first—mop the decks, wash clothes, clean the deck, anything!” Luffy said expectantly.
