A Spar with Garp

Under Garp's satisfied gaze, Buggy and his two subordinates quickly donned the Marines' Justice Cloaks.

The large characters for justice fluttered in the wind behind Buggy's back, leaving Garen with a perpetually baffled expression.

"Big news, big news!"

"A Pirate King crew member has actually been moved by Marine hero Garp and decided to turn from darkness to the light by becoming a Marine?"

Overwhelmed by one bombshell after another, Wallace was beside himself with excitement. Seizing the opportunity, he snapped a flurry of pictures of the clown Buggy in his Marine cloak.

Taking photos was not enough. With an expression of near-religious devotion, Wallace moved close to Buggy and began interviewing him face-to-face.

At this point, Garen and the other two had already had their civilian status verified, so no Marine soldiers stopped the enthusiastic reporter from conducting his interview.

"Oh? A reporter?"

Buggy looked utterly composed, with none of the panic and agonized struggle he had displayed just minutes earlier.

"That's right."

Buggy adjusted the slightly crooked Justice Cloak on his shoulders and struck an inscrutable pose for the camera.

"I did want to become a Marine long ago."

"It was precisely because my heart leaned toward justice, and because I could not bear to bring more disaster upon the world, that I remained hidden in the East Blue without taking action."

"Otherwise..."

Wallace's eyes lit up. Tactfully, he helped Buggy finish the sentence.

"Otherwise, with your status as a Pirate King crew member, if you had remained on the Grand Line..."

"There would probably be another Emperor of the Sea in this world, one who would shake the world to its core!"

"Exactly, exactly."

Buggy nodded in satisfaction before speaking in a grave tone.

"Shanks' ideological level is still just a little below mine."

"Blindly bringing chaos to the world is not the sight Captain Roger would have wanted to see!"

"Lord Buggy truly possesses extraordinary bearing!"

Wallace wrote down Buggy's words while lavishing praise upon him without restraint.

"But..."

Wallace's excited expression suddenly froze. "Why did you bombard our ship earlier?"

"Well..."

An awkward smile immediately appeared on Buggy's face, only for him to regain the indifference of a reclusive master moments later.

"That was merely a misunderstanding."

"I thought you were the evil Steel Cutlass Pirates, so I resolutely chose to strike down evil and eliminate wickedness!"

The more Buggy spoke, the more immersed he became in the act. Even his ridiculous red nose could not stop his thoughts from spiraling ever further.

"Later, when I realized I had mistakenly harmed innocent people, I restrained myself from using my full strength."

"Letting that young knight slash me twice was also my way of repaying the earlier grievance."

"So that was it!"

Wallace recorded Buggy's words with a solemn face, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Hahahaha!"

Buggy crossed his arms over his chest and laughed smugly.

"That's right, this is the bearing of a great general possessed by me—Lord Buggy, partner of justice!"

Watching these two like-minded fools, Nami could not stop the corner of her mouth from twitching.

After only one day, Nami once again felt the urge to measure how much water was inside that reporter's brain.

Meanwhile...

Having successfully recruited Buggy as a subordinate, the greatly gratified Garp finally had the time to turn his attention to Garen.

"Young knight!"

Garp walked over to Garen and said eagerly,

"Your ability seems rather interesting. Want to spar with me?"

"Spar?!"

The first to cry out in shock were the surrounding Marine soldiers. They had never expected to have a chance to watch Vice Admiral Garp fight from such close range.

Smoker, meanwhile, quietly gave Garen a sympathetic look.

At Marine Headquarters, Garp, who also served as an instructor, had always enjoyed sparring with talented and capable young officers.

Garp used this to show those young people the broader world and let those favored prodigies understand that there was always someone stronger.

As a result, almost no young person who had sparred with Garp had ever walked out of the training grounds standing.

"Spare with you?"

Garen unconsciously used honorific language toward the old man before him, whose presence and power far exceeded anything he had imagined.

"Forget it. I'd still like to live a couple more years."

"Kid, don't say something so discouraging!"

Garp heavily patted Garen on the shoulder and encouraged him,

"You defeated Smoker in three moves. The East Blue hasn't seen a young man like you in many years."

"Besides, it's only a spar. Why be so timid?"

"This..."

Garen hesitated.

But in the end, he could not suppress his urge to personally experience peak-level strength, and he accepted Garp's rather outrageous proposal.

"Fine, I accept!"

"But you have to stop before it goes too far!"

Garen gave the reminder seriously. He was somewhat afraid that Garp might get overly excited and punch him to death.

"Of course!"

Garp smiled kindly. "I'm very measured when I make a move!"

The news that an unknown knight from the East Blue, possessing the strength of a "Marine Headquarters admiral," would spar against Marine hero Iron Fist Garp instantly set the entire warship ablaze with excitement.

The clown Buggy, who had briefly become the center of attention because of his status as a Pirate King crew member, was immediately overshadowed again by Garen, who had crushed a Logia colonel and slashed a Pirate King crew member.

The Marine soldiers excitedly formed a large circle on the deck, all eyes fixed on Garp and Garen.

Wallace also temporarily abandoned the clown Buggy, squeezing past the crowd with his camera and claiming an excellent viewing position.

Wallace had barely steadied himself and casually taken two photos when the crowd behind him shifted, barely making room for a sword-wielding young woman.

She was Tashigi, a Marine Headquarters sergeant. As a female swordswoman, she was extremely interested in the swordsmanship of Garen, this unknown "great swordsman."

"Begin!"

Garp stood casually before Garen with his arms crossed, giving him a slightly encouraging look.

"Young knight, you make the first move."

As he spoke, a trace of anticipation quietly appeared in Garp's eyes.

He wanted to personally experience the unusual ability of this young junior before him.

"Yes!"

Garen agreed without hesitation.

He also knew that if he did not strike first, he might never get another chance to do so.

"Fatal Strike!"

The greatsword in Garen's hand suddenly lit up.

"Oh?"

The interest on Garp's face grew even stronger.

The light on that greatsword...

For some inexplicable reason, made him feel "justice" and "light."

It was clearly only a sword glow, yet it could faintly influence a person's subjective feelings. Even the widely experienced Garp could not help but be slightly moved.

Yet Garp remained where he stood, as though waiting for Garen's next attack.

Garen did not hesitate. Raising his greatsword, he charged at Garp and swung a plain, unadorned slash at his target.

Too slow...

The sword technique was crude as well...

His earlier victory over Smoker had indeed been far too lucky.

Facing the greatsword slashing toward him, Garp was not only completely unruffled, but even calmly made a more comprehensive and objective assessment of Garen's strength within those few short moments.

Only when the blade was about to cleave down through the air did Garp finally react.

Without using any technique, Garp merely relied on his body's instincts and casually sidestepped.

Against a junior whose strength differed from his so greatly, Garp did not need to waste any thought to easily evade the attack.

Then, in that split second.

Garp's eyes narrowed—

His powerful Observation Haki suddenly sensed danger in that instant.

The blade he had already evaded unexpectedly changed direction and accelerated along his dodging trajectory in an instant, nearly falling upon his shoulder in the very next moment.

But Garp was, after all, a powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the world. Even with only the slightest margin, he could seize that fleeting opportunity.

"Shave!"

Garp's explosively powerful legs stamped the ground in rapid succession using a special method of exerting force, causing his body to move at extreme speed like an afterimage.

At that moment, he had become serious.

Not a single person present, including the attacking Garen and even the powerful Smoker, could clearly see Garp's shifting form.

A hurricane suddenly erupted from the flat deck, making it difficult for even the nearby Marine soldiers to open their eyes.

Garp's figure instantly appeared more than ten meters away along with the gale, while Garen remained somewhat dazed in place, still holding the pose of his completed sword swing.

Everything had happened too quickly. Garen could not even determine whether his previous attack had worked.

But Garp was even more stunned.

He touched his shoulder in disbelief.

His shoulder was fine, bearing only a shallow bloody mark that had barely broken the skin.

However, the Justice Cloak and suit sleeve there had already been cut open by the greatsword, leaving a large gash that made him look rather disheveled.

"I still failed to evade his attack?"

Garp finally showed an astonished expression.

The surrounding spectators erupted into an uproar.

"Vice Admiral Garp was actually injured?!"

Wallace instinctively recorded the shocking scene with his camera while muttering blankly to himself,

"Could he really possess the strength of a Headquarters admiral?"

Regarding this matter of the Justice Cloak, some people have always complained that only colonel-ranked officers can wear cloaks, so the clown Buggy should not be wearing one.

First, I have not found any officially verified material supporting that claim.

Second, in Nami's animated character special, when Bell-mère brought Nami back to her hometown, she was wearing a Justice Cloak.

Although its back was not shown, the anime clearly showed that the style of that coat was a Justice Cloak.

Could it be that Bell-mère actually possessed colonel-level strength, only to lose to Arlong because her meridians were blocked and her martial arts had been completely crippled?

Therefore, I believe it is simply a ceremonial uniform issued to everyone, though ordinary soldiers do not wear it in battle. After all, that cloak does not even have buttons. If you are not strong enough, you cannot fight while wearing that thing anyway.

Finally, if anyone insists on nitpicking, please provide definitive official evidence.

Even then, I... still wouldn't change it. (; -_-)