Garen's one-click equipment retrieval function was a rule-level ability established by the system.
No one could stop the Greatsword from flying back into his hand.
Faced with the flying greatsword, Nami did not let go. Steel Cutlass did not let go. Neither did Garp.
So the first two got to experience what it meant to be human kites, while the latter suffered even more miserably:
When the greatsword let out a resonant hum, Garp's tower-like, burly body was instantly dragged along by the greatsword trying to return to its owner.
In that instant, Garp realized just how terrifying this force was. He instinctively tried to steady his footing and resist the sudden brute force head-on.
But the only result of that was—
Garp plowed a broad, deep trench through the tough, sturdy wooden deck like a human iron plow.
After being put through that, the weaker Nami and Steel Cutlass no longer had the strength to hold onto the sword.
But Garp was Garp. Though he was completely at a disadvantage in this contest of strength, he still stubbornly clutched the greatsword's hilt.
With someone else still gripping the hilt, the Greatsword naturally could not return successfully to its owner.
Thus, in that instant, the Greatsword activated an even more violent flight mode.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the Marines, the Greatsword dragging Garp suddenly accelerated—
Faster by far than Garp's "Shave," the flying sword kicked up a majestic sonic boom cloud in an instant, then circled Garen at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
The unimaginable acceleration brought irresistible centrifugal force. Garp finally could not hold on any longer, releasing the hilt before being viciously flung away by the flying sword like a hurled meteor hammer.
After a string of explosive crashes—
Garp, having measured the width of the warship with his body, had already fallen into the vast sea.
The splashing water rose like a towering wave, its crest nearly reaching the upper deck dozens of meters above.
Meanwhile, the Greatsword silently came to a bizarre halt, then obediently returned to Garen's side and lay soundlessly in his palm.
"So powerful?"
Even Garen was startled by the effect of his one-click equipment retrieval.
Before seeing this, Garen had doubted whether he could successfully summon the Greatsword back from the hands of a top-tier expert like Garp.
Now, it seemed the effect was almost too good.
Nami's mouth twitched even more violently. Her little scheme of stealing Garen's Greatsword to get rich vanished in an instant before that horrifying sight.
"This..."
Among the stunned Marines, the analysts who had been enthusiastically discussing things moments ago were especially excited:
"This is definitely the strength of a Marine Headquarters admiral!"
"Vice Admiral Garp won't be all right, will he?"
Witnessing such a shocking scene, some Marines actually began worrying about that legendary Marine figure for the first time in their lives.
"Ha ha ha!"
Garp's hearty laughter already rang out beside them.
Trailing a spray of white waves, he leaped from the sea back onto the deck.
Without caring about his bedraggled appearance after being soaked by seawater, Garp sincerely praised Garen again:
"What an interesting ability!"
"Even I couldn't keep hold of that sword!"
"Of course."
Maintaining the calm, unruffled demeanor befitting a knight, Garen said lightly:
"A true knight will never lose—"
Bang!
Before he could finish—
Garen faithfully reenacted Garp's previous trajectory, smashing a sizable impact crater into the warship's upper deck before crashing heavily onto the lower cannon deck.
Meanwhile, Garp casually waved his still-smoking iron fist and stood laughing where Garen had just been.
The repair costs for the Marine Headquarters warship instantly rose to a whole new level.
"Why did you suddenly hit me?!"
Garen quickly jumped out of the crater "completely unharmed," covered in fresh nails and wood splinters, and angrily questioned Garp, who was waving his iron fist.
"Hm?"
Garp answered seriously, "We're sparring, aren't we?"
"Isn't it only natural for me to attack you?"
"This..."
Garen had no response. He could only look at his Health Bar, which had inexplicably lost nearly half, with lingering fear—
This was not sparring. This was practically beating up a child!
"Good thing I have a data-based body that's always at full condition."
Garen thought to himself uneasily, Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't be able to stand right now...
"You... you can still stand?"
Garp frankly revealed his true intentions, looking at the "unscathed" Garen in surprise.
"I thought I had controlled my strength pretty well. Looks like I still underestimated you."
Although Garp still had reservations about Garen's Knight of Justice theories, he had seen all of Garen's strange abilities.
A younger man who possessed such extraordinary power was worthy of Garp's appreciation.
And for young people he appreciated, Garp preferred to temper them with his "Fist of Love," letting them feel his expectations and regard through a head full of lumps.
That was Garp's usual method of education. Young people could not be allowed to get too full of themselves.
"Uh?"
Garen immediately got a bad feeling.
"It seems your limit is far beyond this."
"I'll have to put in a little more effort!"
Garp said with a grin.
Garen's scalp went numb, and a chill ran down his spine:
This data-based body showed no visible injuries no matter how much it was hit. Once Old Man Garp tested out that "limit," Garen would be ready to shop for an urn.
"Wait!"
Garen hurriedly tried to stop him, while swiftly using a lifesaving skill:
"Courage!"
With the forty percent damage reduction buff applied, Garen still did not feel safe. He quickly followed it with another skill:
"Mirror Image!"
And Garp truly was a man of action. He had already charged at Garen with a fierce punch.
Unlike last time, Garp's fist was now coated in pitch-black Armament Haki. Clearly, he was taking this much more seriously than before.
Only after hiding in the void-like state of invisibility did Garen finally relax a little.
Yet Garp's charge toward Garen's decoy came to an abrupt stop. An iron fist wrapped in black Armament Haki halted just in front of the false duplicate, while the gale generated by the punch continued howling forward.
Garen's heart lurched again.
"No wonder Smoker got caught by it just now."
With an approving smile, Garp said:
"With such a strange concealment technique, Observation Haki has to be trained to a certain level to see through it!"
Then—
Bang!
Garen's body created another human-shaped crater on the warship, one that would give the Marine logistics department a headache.
And the one hit was Garen's real body, still in its invisible state.
He had been discovered?
Was it Observation Haki?
Garp's built-in true sight caught Garen off guard, making him experience the sensation of being a drilling missile once again.
Lying amid the familiar wreckage of the deck, Garen looked at his Health Bar in horror:
Even with Courage's forty percent damage reduction buff, Garp's serious punch had nearly emptied his Health Bar.
If he had not activated his skills and buffs, he might have become the first unlucky person in history to die at the hands of a Marine hero during a sparring match.
Although his body could still move freely, Garen had learned his lesson this time—
He lay in the crater with a "pained expression," quietly playing dead.
A moment later, Garp slowly walked over to the crater, his smoking iron fist still clenched.
The pained expression on Garen's face immediately became even more vivid.
"You..."
Garp said in surprise:
"Your aura isn't disturbed at all."
"That punch still couldn't hurt you?"
Garp looked at Garen even more strangely, the curiosity on his face growing stronger:
"Fine, then."
Armament Haki once again wrapped around Garp's fist, as large as a casserole. The black sheen was even denser than it had been on his previous punch:
"I'll test your limits again!"
Garen's face went dark.
Before you continue