~
"Pirates!"
"Protect Saint Shaya!"
Just as Shaya was about to give the order for the warship to sail at full speed toward Baterilla Island...
A sudden commotion erupted outside Shaya's luxurious cabin.
"Ha! More new slaves have taken the bait."
"Come on, Stussy! Let's go take a look."
Hearing the shouts outside, Shaya set down the medical book in his hands, pushed open the cabin door with a smile, and headed outside.
"What a troublesome little Celestial Dragon!"
Seeing that Shaya was not only unafraid upon hearing that pirates had arrived, but was actually eager to try his hand, Stussy could not help complaining inwardly before hurrying after him.
Stussy did not dare let this little ancestor from the Figarland family suffer even the slightest injury! If anything happened to Shaya during the voyage, they would all be held accountable by the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.
At that point, aside from Garp, who was protected by the Marines, possessed top-tier strength, and could simply walk away, everyone else aboard the warship would likely face nothing but death.
Meanwhile, when Shaya emerged from his cabin and stepped onto the deck of the World Government warship, Garp, who should have been protecting him, had already vanished...
Not far from Shaya's warship, four or five pirate ships flying the same flag were surrounding and attacking a massive merchant vessel that practically radiated the scent of easy prey.
At that moment, flames had already risen from the merchant ship, while cries of agony and the pirates' rampant laughter rang out without end...
"Iron Fist Impact!"
Just as the merchant ship was about to be completely plundered by the pirates!
An overwhelmingly imposing figure suddenly descended from the sky! He swung his iron fist toward the pirate ships surrounding the merchant vessel...
"Boom!"
Jet-black Haki trailed threads like lightning as an invisible shockwave burst from the man's fist. In an instant, it sent countless ripples through the air, and one pirate ship after another was immediately blasted into fragments by the devastating impact!
The sudden attack left all the pirates looting the merchant ship frozen in place. Staring at their vanished ships with confusion in their eyes, they asked, "That's strange, where did our ships go? Those huge pirate ships... how did they suddenly disappear?! Did we run into Sea Kings?"
Perhaps because Garp had moved too quickly, the pirates had not reacted at all. They even thought their pirate ships had been attacked by Sea Kings.
"Ha ha ha! Pirates as meek as lambs! Your nemesis has arrived!"
Just as the pirates were baffled, a loud roar suddenly rang out from the sky!
A powerfully built middle-aged man over two meters tall, with graying sideburns, descended from the air and landed on the merchant ship's deck. Standing before the pirates, he threw back his head and laughed arrogantly.
"Y-you're..."
The moment the pirates saw him, their pupils shrank.
Their faces were filled with shock and fear.
"The Hero of the Marines, Garp?!"
The more knowledgeable pirates immediately called out the man's name.
"That's right, it's me!"
The instant Garp finished speaking, he turned into a streak of lightning and charged straight at the pirates.
"Damn it! Why is the Hero of the Marines in the South Blue?!"
"Shouldn't he be in the New World, chasing Pirate King Roger everywhere?"
"Or back in his hometown, the East Blue?"
"What is someone from the East Blue doing in our South Blue?"
"Damn it! Run! This guy isn't someone small fry like us can handle..."
Pirates who had sailed the seas for so long without being crushed by the Marines had at least some knowledge. At the very least, they read the newspapers distributed daily by the World Economic Journal! Naturally, they knew of the Hero of the Marines Garp's reputation and strength...
The moment the pirates saw Garp, they had no intention of fighting! All they wanted was to flee immediately. After all, their enemy was the Hero of the Marines who had driven the legendary Pirate King Roger into desperate straits time and again! He was the face of the Marines' and World Government's military strength.
However, Garp gave the pirates no chance to escape. Like a game character beating up little kids, he knocked them down one punch at a time! Any pirate touched by the wind from Garp's fists immediately collapsed unconscious!
"Bastard! I'm a man with a seventy-million bounty! Don't underestimate me!"
Perhaps Garp's relentless pursuit had enraged them. The pirate captain, a hulking man nearly three meters tall, charged at Garp with a spiked club in hand!
"Captain's making a move!"
"It's the captain! We're saved!"
The pirate crew members immediately relaxed when they saw their captain step forward, and proud smiles appeared on their faces. Their captain was a powerful man who had once fought a Marine branch rear admiral head-on and escaped unscathed.
"Ah!"
However, before the ordinary crew members could think any further...
A shrill scream immediately echoed across the merchant ship!
The man who claimed a seventy-million bounty and had once fought a Marine branch rear admiral to a draw was knocked to the ground by Garp with a single punch after just one exchange!
Even the jaw he was so proud of had been shattered...
"Not good! The captain's Iron Jaw has been smashed! Run..."
As the pirate captain was knocked down by Garp, the pirates aboard the entire ship scattered like monkeys fleeing a fallen tree. Some jumped overboard, while others surrendered...
However, although the pirates used every trick they could to escape, it was utterly meaningless before a master like Garp, who had trained Rokushiki to its peak.
In only a short while, all 327 pirates aboard the merchant ship were captured. This included the captains of the five pirate ships, the great pirate known as the South Blue Admiral, Brian Rhodes, who carried a bounty of 78.58 million...
"He's too powerful! As expected of Vice Admiral Garp. Even a man with a seventy-million bounty was instantly defeated!"
"Of course! This is the legendary Hero of the Marines, the World Government's highest combat power."
"Even that legendary man with a bounty of five billion, Goldo Roger, who supposedly circled the world once and was known as the Pirate King, was nearly captured by him!"
On the merchant ship, the sailors who had finally caught their breath after Garp's arrival stared wide-eyed at him as he shattered Brian's jaw with a single punch, discussing it nonstop.
"Hello, Mr. Garp! I'm the captain of this vessel..."
"Thank you for helping our merchant ship. We almost lost our lives."
Not long after Garp defeated the pirates who had attacked the merchant vessel...
The merchant ship's captain immediately crawled out from the cargo hold where he had been hiding!
With a smile on his face, he approached Garp and grinned ingratiatingly at him!
Garp's title as the Hero of the Marines was extremely well-known throughout the Four Seas. If they could use this chance to befriend Garp, it would be good for their merchant group as well.
Before you continue