The time rewound to a little earlier.
"There really is a body this tough! I didn't believe them before."
Inside a room in a research institute, a group of lab-coated researchers clicked their tongues in amazement. "He's almost as tough as that Lunarian kid."
They struggled to drill into the arm of the man strapped to the operating table.
"No! We can't drill through it at all. Why not get Vice Admiral Garp to help again, like before? Without Haki, breaking through his skin is too difficult!"
"Can't we just pick another spot? Not every part of him is that tough. Take off his pants."
"Trash, stop right now!"
The man bound to the enormous custom-made metal operating table—Roa's beloved big brother, Kaido—had both hands and feet restrained by shackles of high-purity Seastone. Even a monster like him was left weak and powerless.
All he could do was curse at them. "How long are you going to humiliate me? If you don't stop, once I get free, I'll grind your bones to dust!!"
"Get free? That day will never come, Kaido."
A scientist with a mask covering his face disdainfully patted Kaido's cheek. "Vice Admiral Garp is stationed here. Once we've collected all your data, he'll throw you into Impel Down to rot. Do you know Impel Down? An iron-walled fortress no one has ever escaped from in over seven hundred years."
Before Kaido could say anything—
"Oh! The needle finally went in!"
Kaido's face instantly flushed crimson, and he nearly ground his teeth to pieces. "Bastard!!!"
Roa, you little brat, hurry up and get here!
I'm suffering the ultimate humiliation!
He had calculated everything from the start.
He still lacked the strength to defeat that old lunatic Garp.
By the time he realized Garp was coming for him, it was already too late to run.
So he had simply told his men to contact Roa.
Once that brat arrived, everything would be fine.
If they joined forces, they could take on that old lunatic!
But he had never calculated that he would suffer something like this after being captured!
To Kaido, these scientists were more terrifying than ten thousand Garps!
In another room of the research institute—
The man known as the Hero was crunching on rice crackers while speaking indistinctly through the Den Den Mushi beside him. "How many days has it been already, Big Brother Kong? That brat still hasn't shown himself. How much longer do I have to wait?"
"It seems their relationship isn't as close as we imagined."
The Fleet Admiral's voice came from the Den Den Mushi. "Once the research on Kaido is complete, bring him back first. As for that brat, we'll deal with him once we have news of him."
"Wahahahaha! So I can finally take a vacation?"
The Marine Hero burst into laughter. "But the Celestial Dragons are too petty. Didn't that kid just kill a few Celestial Dragons?"
"Garp!"
The Fleet Admiral's voice suddenly sharpened. "That is not something you should say!"
"Haha, right, I shouldn't say that. Forget I said anything!"
Iron Fist Garp continued grinning foolishly.
"Garp, remember this: the Marines are first and foremost a military force!"
The Fleet Admiral earnestly advised him, "Our duty is to serve the Government, and then to protect the Affiliated Nations!"
Vice Admiral Garp only laughed.
Neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Alright, Big Brother Kong, have that Sengoku guy save all the rice crackers for me—"
The Hero's laughter abruptly stopped as he instantly raised his head.
"Garp?"
The Fleet Admiral on the other end of the Den Den Mushi sensed that something was wrong.
"He's here! I just don't know if it's that brat! We'll talk later, Big Brother Kong!"
Garp casually hung up, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to move.
But—
Rumble!!
The research institute suddenly began to shake.
The ceiling swayed violently, and cracks spread across the walls.
"What?"
Even the Marine Hero looked confused.
An earthquake?
At a time like this?
At the same time, in the laboratory where Kaido was held—
"Worororororo! He's finally here! Prepare to die, trash!"
Roa fell from the sky.
He had already transformed into his beast-man form. His black wings folded behind him as he descended like a meteor.
As he dropped lower, his power activated!
The island below suddenly began to tremble.
The mountains shook like jelly, while the ground rose and fell like the surface of water.
The earthquake had arrived!
If it were a huge island, Roa's current power naturally wouldn't be enough.
But for an island this small, there was no problem!
Roads split apart, the harbor churned with waves, and numerous research buildings began to collapse.
In an instant, the entire island descended into chaos.
Screams and cries immediately filled the air.
Roa took a deep breath and spoke in delight. "That's the feeling! Now I'm not afraid of anything!"
"Brat!!"
The roof of a crumbling research building below suddenly exploded, and a figure shot toward him like a cannonball.
Black hair, a black suit, and terrifyingly long black lightning trailing from his pitch-black right fist.
He really was here!
When I said I wasn't afraid of anything, that was a lie. Could you not come after me?
Roa's descent abruptly halted. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and unleashed a roar at the man flying toward him.
Its name was Roar of the Tiger King!
Sound waves infused with Conqueror's Haki became a white beam, sending rings of ripples through the air.
"Fist Bone Galaxy!!"
Roa fired a laser, while Garp threw a nuclear explosion with one punch!
The violent Haki shockwave was unstoppable. Though Roa's sound wave was immensely powerful, it shattered at first contact.
The unstoppable shockwave slammed into—
A massive rock.
"What?"
Garp froze.
Where had such a huge rock come from in the sky?
Shattered stones scattered everywhere as the unstoppable shockwave pulverized the first rock, then crashed into a second one.
"Whew, that power is ridiculous. It punched through two meteors in one go?"
Roa had already used the moment the meteors blocked the attack to pull away and evade. "Good thing I reacted quickly."
"That brat's ability?"
Garp stood suspended in the air by kicking off the air itself, his face full of disbelief.
An ability that created rocks out of thin air?
Whatever. Once he caught this brat, he could ask all he wanted!
Geppo!
The Marine Hero kicked through the air and pursued Roa at a terrifying speed.
But—
"Stop getting in the way, Hero Garp."
Roa calmly raised a hand and pointed toward the harbor. "Are you sure you shouldn't deal with that first?"
Garp instinctively looked back, and his pupils instantly shrank.
In the sky, enormous meteors rained down toward the harbor—where warships were docked and the Marines' temporary quarters stood along the shore.
"You little brat! Just you wait!!"
While shouting threats, Garp dashed away like lightning.
He could move that fast?
Roa clicked his tongue. This was in midair!
What absurd Geppo!
But I've got him handled!
Saying I was afraid earlier was the lie. If I said I wasn't afraid, then I wasn't afraid.
As everyone knew, hostages plus threats were the true T0 of this version!
Then—
Roa crashed heavily into a patch of ruins and casually grabbed a lab-coated researcher with a bloodied head.
The researcher tried to put on a brave front, but in the next second, he was crying and snotting in terror.
"Where is my most respected Big Brother Kaido?"
"Over there! He's over there!"
The lab-coated researcher trembled in terror. His raised hand shook so violently that Roa nearly couldn't tell where he was pointing.
Wasn't that where Garp had come from?
"Thanks."
Roa casually tossed the man away, then leaped high into the air and crashed onto the roof of that research building like a mortar shell.
The already unstable building immediately collapsed completely.
"Ah, that fragile? Does the Marines have their own Inspector Smith too? I suggest a thorough investigation."
Standing atop the ruins, Roa muttered to himself before shouting at the top of his lungs, "Big Brother Kaido, I'm here to save you! Say something!"
Before Big Brother Kaido could answer, a voice came from beneath his feet. "Excuse me, could you please not stand on me?"
"Huh?"
Roa looked down.
The building debris beneath his feet began to weather away, turning into yellow sand that scattered through the air.
Desertification!
"Cough, cough, cough!"
A violent coughing fit rang out amid the flying sand. "What's going on? Where did all this sand come from?"
Roa had already clearly seen the person beneath the rubble.
He was bound to a metal operating table, with dark skin, snow-white hair, a pair of black wings on his back, and flames burning behind his head.
Oh? That was outrageous. He had even found an unexpected bonus?
"What's your name?"
Roa asked.
"Me? Abel."
Before you continue