One After Another

"No way! I want to become the Pirate King, the freest person in the world!"

Luffy flatly refused Dalmatian's offer to surrender, which didn't surprise the veteran Marine Vice Admiral. In fact, Dalmatian would never have said such a thing if it weren't for Garp's sake.

Since Luffy rejected his proposal, it naturally means that Dalmatian no longer needs to care about Garp's feelings.

"What a pity, you made the wrong choice! So, Straw Hat Pirates, your journey ends here!"

Dalmatian's face turned serious, and a powerful Haki enveloped his fist.

Luffy tilted his head slightly:

"It seems that Uncle Dog's strength is indeed quite remarkable..."

As he spoke, faint black Inazuma already enveloped Luffy's fist, and the terrifying aura instantly caused all the marines to take a few steps back.

Dalmatian, who had been maintaining a cool and aloof demeanor, immediately lost her composure. Her eyes bulged, her mouth gaped open, and she screamed:

"Hah! Hah! Hah! Conqueror's Haki... Conqueror's Haki Infusion! How is this possible?!"

"Gum-Gum, rocket launcher!"

Luffy swung his fist out. Although he didn't add Gear Second or Gear Third abilities, the mere Conqueror's Haki Infusion was already considered super-powerful for Marine Vice Admiral.

Dalmatian crossed his arms and used all his strength to block Luffy's Gum-Gum Rocket. Then he let out a miserable groan and flew out like Smoker before, spitting out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.

"Vice Admiral Dalmatian!"

A group of navy men were so frightened that their hair and eyes flew out. They grabbed the blood-spitting Vice Admiral Dalmatian and scattered like birds and beasts. In an instant, the entire Loguetown became extremely quiet, and even the ordinary residents disappeared without a trace.

That's Marine Vice Admiral! One punch and he's coughing up blood. Heaven knows what level of monster that Straw Hat kid is!

Luffy looked somewhat bewildered. He glanced at his fist. In the meantime, he had fought against many Marines in the East Blue, but most of the time he had only used ordinary Haki or his Devil Fruit abilities.

Luffy has never used his true trump cards, Conqueror's Haki Infusion, advanced applications of Observation Haki and Armament Haki, Devil Fruit Awakening power of his Devil Fruit.

It wasn't out of any desire to train himself; it was simply because even with just these skills, he was already virtually invincible in the entire East Blue.

Furthermore, he always holds back in battle and doesn't take the lives of the Marines, which is why Dalmatian misjudged Luffy's strength.

If he had actually shown those abilities, there would probably already be Marine Admirals, or Admiral candidates, or naval staff officers causing trouble for Luffy!

Even now, some troublesome figures are heading towards Loguetown.

"Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, let's go get a big meal!"

Luffy easily defeated the Marines, and after a moment of Luffy, he nonchalantly invited his crewmates to go out for a big meal.

Zoro and Sanji exchanged a glance, then simultaneously wrapped their arms around Luffy's neck, squeezing him like a duck with its neck outstretched.

"What just happened?! Captain, shouldn't you explain?!"

"What the hell is Conqueror's Haki Infusion? How come I've never seen you, Captain Idiot, use it?"

Luffy frantically broke free from his two crew members' grasp, then put his hands on his hips and began to explain:

"Conqueror's Haki Infusion is Conqueror's Haki Infusion. Just like Armament Haki, it's the ability to Conqueror's Haki coating and transform it into an invisible armor!"

"As for why I didn't tell you? You don't have Conqueror's Haki, so you can't cultivate it even if you wanted to!"

Like a Versailles revelation, Luffy's blunt truth left the Green Algae Head swordsman and the lecherous chef speechless with frustration. Conqueror's Haki is indeed a matter of personal talent, and clearly, neither of them possessed the ability to refute it.

"Hey, woman, why don't you run away?"

After a brief moment of frustration, Zoro raised his head again. His goal was to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, not to become the Pirate King. If he didn't have the qualifications to be a king, so be it; having the qualifications to be a swordsman was enough.

Only when he looked up did he realize that among the navy personnel who should have fled, there was still a somewhat timid bespectacled girl standing in front of them, holding a Good Grade Sword and looking like she was about to cry.

Even the seriously injured Smoker and Dalmatian were carried away by a group of marines while struggling, but this girl in front of them, although she looked like she was about to die, still dared to stand firmly in front of them - well, her legs were trembling a little, but at least she was still standing.

"You... you villain! I will not stand by and watch this Famous Sword fall into your hands!"

Tashigi's words were full of righteous indignation; if it weren't for her almost tearful expression, she would have looked quite imposing.

"Huh?! What nonsense are you spouting?! You think you can?"

Zoro looked completely bewildered, and his serious and fierce expression almost brought tears to Tashigi's eyes.

"Hey, you Green Algae Head, what are you doing?! Can't you see you've scared this beautiful lady?"

"Huh?! Curly-eyebrow idiot! I was scared by your infatuation, wasn't I?!"

Luffy picked his nose, wearing slippers and looking like a street urchin, and walked right past Tashigi. The two crew members behind him started arguing and cursing, and then started fighting. Seeing that there was only one female Marine left in front of him, Usopp immediately recovered and was fully restored, and followed behind Luffy.

Tashigi spent half a day trying to mentally prepare herself, but a group of pirates didn't even glance at her. She was truly frustrated and embarrassed. Finally, she gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, raised Shigure in her hand, aimed it at Zoro, and slashed at him with a scream.

Zoro, who was playfully fighting with Sanji, was also completely bewildered. Of the four of them, why did you come looking for me? Logically speaking, shouldn't a woman like this be causing trouble for the perverted chef?

There's no way Zoro can do it. Although he's not like Sanji who would never hit a woman, he's still a bit of a chauvinist. Not to mention that Tashigi looks like his childhood friend, so even if he were asked to hit her, he wouldn't be able to do it!

As for Tashigi, she didn't think that much. As a swordswoman who vowed to take back the Famous Sword from all villains, she naturally recognized the Wado Ichimonji in Zoro's hand at a glance, so Zoro was her first target.

The Straw Hat Pirates, except for Usopp who might be a bit flustered by Tashigi after being brought closer, can easily deal with this Marine sergeant with a wave of their hand.

However, neither Zoro nor Sanji would actually hurt Tashigi. Seeing Tashigi rushing over, the two immediately stopped their playful fight.

Then Zoro lightly swung his sword—it really was a light swung; in his mind, he hadn't used even a tenth of his strength, nor had he employed any Haki or Flying Slashes.

With a snap, Tashigi screamed and staggered back more than ten steps, her Shigure flying out of her hand, and even her glasses falling off.

"Huh?! My glasses?! Where are my glasses?!"

After losing her eyes, Tashigi, who was severely nearsighted, was essentially blind. Watching Tashigi frantically searching for her glasses on the ground, Zoro sighed inwardly. How could she possibly be Kuina in this state? He had been overthinking things.

"Miss, are you looking for your glasses? Your glasses are right here!"

Sanji rushed over immediately and picked up Tashigi's glasses that had fallen to the ground, but unfortunately both lenses were already broken.

Tashigi picked up her glasses, completely failing to recognize Sanji, and bowed in thanks:

"Thank you so much, you're such a kind person!"

"Oh, not at all! May I ask your name, beautiful lady? How old are you? Are you married...?"

Just as Tashigi was still at a loss, Zoro walked over and grabbed Sanji by the back of his collar:

"Stop being stupid, you idiot! The captain's already far away!"

"Zoro, are you looking for trouble?!"

The two bickered and then left. Zoro's feelings were somewhat complicated, while Sanji, though infatuated, only talked about it and was quickly distracted.

Only Tashigi, who was dazed and searching for her weapon because her glasses were broken, remained at the scene.

It took Tashigi more than ten minutes to finally find her Good Grade Sword, Shigure, with the help of a kind Big Mom.

"Honestly, I'm completely useless, aren't I?"

Holding her weapon, Tashigi looked distressed and expressed her feelings to a large tree.

"Although I know that I definitely can't beat an opponent that even Vice Admiral Dalmatian and Captain Smoker couldn't defeat, it would still be too humiliating to be let off the hook by them!"

"If this continues, when will we ever be able to realize our wish of taking all the Famous Swords back from the hands of villains?"

"Young lady, I know you're feeling down right now, but could you please stop seeing me as a pillar of support?"

A slightly helpless voice slowly rang out, and Garp scratched his head uncomfortably.

He had only thought that sailing was too slow, so he swam ahead to find his grandson who was a pirate. Who knew that after he got ashore, this grumbling, crazy little girl would treat him like a big tree and start pouring out her heart?

"Ahhh!?!? Hugs! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!!!"

Hearing the tree speak, Tashigi suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly said a couple of things before trying to leave. However, she accidentally bumped into the wall and tripped over her own Good Grade Sword, Shigure, falling flat on her back.

"What an interesting little girl..."

Garp rubbed his slightly prickly chin and said with a smile, while also recalling what the navy girl had just said to him, her "big tree".

"That's strange, I don't remember ever Luffy that brat Luffy any Haki!"

"Hmm, could it be that he figured it out on his own? Is that stupid kid that smart enough to even comprehend Conqueror's Haki Infusion?"

Garp scratched his head. He didn't doubt his grandson's talent. It wasn't impossible for Luffy to master Haki, or even Conqueror's Haki Infusion, without any instruction.

But you need to encounter an equally matched opponent! You can't develop a lot of Haki just by crushing noobs, let alone suddenly grasp it.

However, after only a brief thought, Garp dismissed all of this. Even if the old man's intelligence was better than Luffy's, it wasn't by much. Such complicated matters were not worth his time.

The two black iron fists collided, producing a clanging sound like metal striking metal, and a smile appeared on Garp's face:

"Well done! The entire Marine Base in the East Blue has been breached. You truly are worthy of being Garp's grandson!"

"But you actually ran off to sea to become a pirate... Looks like Grandpa will have to give you some more loving education!"

As he finished speaking, Garp clenched his fist and walked toward the town.

Less than two minutes after Garp left, amidst gusts of wind, a man wearing a green trench coat and with crisscrossing marks on his face appeared at the same spot.

"Father... did the old man come here too? Is it because of Luffy?"

"I thought that I had already easily defeated the Marine Vice Admiral, and I just needed to quietly watch Luffy sail... I didn't expect the old man to personally take action. It seems that I really have to help Luffy."

Although his son's strength suddenly increased dramatically and he even learned Conqueror's Haki Infusion, if he were to encounter his father with such strength, all he could say was, "Your grandfather is still your grandfather."

After all, it's Iron Fist Garp, a monster who can chase the Pirate King around. The Roger Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates back then were different. Although they rarely did evil, they would not back down when they encountered the Marines.

Unlike the Straw Hat Pirates, who mostly only attack the Marines when there is no other way to avoid them, the Roger Pirates would directly attack the Marines when they encountered them.

In this situation, the fact that Garp could chase Roger away shows that his strength was definitely no less than Roger's, and perhaps even greater.

Even though Luffy was accelerated to maturity, compared to the timeline when Awakening his Devil Fruit and defeated Kaido, he is still a little weaker. This is because he lacked a true life-or-death battle, resulting in his foundation not being very stable.

If Luffy, with that kind of strength, weren't to hold back against Garp, Luffy 'd probably be dragged back to his doom.

Garp's thought process has always been rather peculiar. Even his son, Dragon, couldn't guess what Garp would do... Go with the flow and let Luffy? Or directly capture Luffy and bring him into the Marines? It seems like anything is possible.

This is why the dragon was worried and decided to come and check it out.