"What is there to be afraid of!"
He faced Garp's clenched Iron Fist and clenched teeth.
Gawain placed his hands on the table and slowly stood up.
Gawain casually took off his coat, and as Hancock nervously took it from him, Gawain unexpectedly reached for the buttons on his own coat.
Not long after, Gawain, wearing only military trousers and shirtless, handed all his clothes to Hancock.
In the past, if Hancock had seen Gawain shirtless, revealing his sexy muscles...
Hancock would probably blush and have stars in her eyes on the spot.
But now, there was no trace of pink in Hancock's eyes. As she anxiously tidied her clothes, she whispered to Gawain.
"My lord, Garp is dragging his heavily injured body and seems to be seeking death, but even so, you must treat him with utmost care!"
After all, even if a guy like him is truly on the verge of death, he's perfectly capable of taking down at least one of the Shichibukai!
After saying that, Hancock took Gawain's clothes and went to the side.
Meanwhile, Gawain was disassembling his belt, and he handed the sword sheath hanging from it, along with the Rokumei Kotetsu, to Gion.
Sadly accepting the large knife, Gion bowed slightly to Gawain.
"My lord, Garp- chan has probably been holding these words in for far too long."
He's acting strangely today, please be lenient with him...
"Hey, shut up, little bunny!!!"
Before Gion could finish speaking, Garp stopped her.
"What kind of look is that, huh?"
You probably don't think I'm bound to lose to Gawain, do you?
Hahaha, I have never been one to give others anything. Even if someone wants to use my reputation as a gift, they'll have to see if they're qualified to inherit it all!
Gawain, use all your skills and let this old man witness the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which hasn't appeared on the sea for hundreds of years!
If even if you use your full strength you still don't deserve it, then I'd rather beat you to death on the spot than, as they think, weakly beg for death to atone for past mistakes!!!
As soon as he finished speaking, Garp swung his left hand fiercely.
"Hey guys, get out a space for Gawain and me!"
Otherwise, I'll have to flip your table!
As Garp spoke, Gawain gently raised his right hand.
"Everyone, please clear the way and give Garp and me some space!"
Also, Uta!
Gawain suddenly shouted Uta's name, which made Uta look at Gawain nervously.
Meeting Uta's attentive gaze, Gawain smiled and continued.
"Sing me a battle song, the one you sang to Whitebeard back then!"
Back then, we were facing Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man!
At that time, I could only stand aside and watch you fight each other!
Now, I am facing the world's strongest marine.
But this time, I finally have the ability to participate!
At this point, Gawain tightened his belt more securely, then stepped forward and stood directly opposite Garp, who was poised to attack.
Garp is 2.72 meters tall, Gawain is 2.34 meters tall. The height difference between the two is like that between Yao Ming and Kobe, not to a huge extent!
Gawain raised his head slightly, looking into Garp's eyes which were filled with countless words, Gawain raised his fists, making the exact same gesture as Garp in the past!
As he prepared, Gawain shouted to those around him.
"Let's end tonight's banquet with one of Uta's battle songs and a battle between me and Garp."
"Good!!!"
The instant Gawain finished speaking, Garp suddenly threw a punch. His moves were always complex yet simple. With just one punch, when Gawain actually faced it, he couldn't find a chance to dodge at all!
Or rather, just because Gawain certainly had a chance to dodge, while others didn't, doesn't mean that Garp could catch up with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
Others can't dodge Garp's punches because they're inherently slower than Garp. Given Garp inherent slowness, who can escape Garp's attacks?
But Gawain, or rather, the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit Devil Fruit User, the Glint- Devil Fruit User, and the Teleportation Devil Fruit User.
As long as the three of them weren't wearing the Seastone Shackles, there were very few attacks in the world they couldn't escape!
But at this moment, facing Garp who has come to challenge him despite his severe injuries, will Gawain really back down?
Amidst everyone's tense gazes, Gawain made no attempt to dodge. He simply raised his right elbow and used the tip of his elbow, which was desperately protected by Armament Haki, to collide fiercely with Garp's Iron Fist!
Boom!!!
With just one collision, the deck of the Treasure Tree Adam, where the two were located, directly spread out a cracked area of more than twenty meters.
The massive tremor caused the Dark Bird Ship to sink slightly, and the undulating sensation pushed everyone around them even further away from the two of them!
Faced with Garp's fist, Gawain was instantly forced back, taking two steps before finally regaining his footing.
Even with the protection of Armament Haki, Gawain felt as if his right elbow was broken, even though his elbow was harder than his fist!
But there was no time to think about that now. The moment Gawain regained his footing, he immediately jumped up slightly and suddenly reached out his left hand to grab Garp's hair!
Seemingly understanding the significance of Gawain's action, Garp, relieved, neither dodged nor avoided, allowing Gawain to grab his hair while he reached out his right hand and pinched Gawain's left shoulder.
That's right, what followed was the bloodiest fistfight, Gawain didn't use any of his Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities at all.
He simply grabbed Garp's hair and relentlessly punched Garp's face!
In contrast, Garp unleashed his merciless Iron Fist. As Gawain pounded on him, Garp neither dodged nor evaded, relentlessly punching Gawain's head again and again!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
In less than ten seconds, Gawain and Garp unleashed no less than eighty punches. After these punches landed, Gawain's head immediately split open, and blood gushed out as if it were free!
However, Garp didn't fare any better. After all, having undergone the dual training of the Press-Press Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Gawain's raw strength was by no means inferior to any of the Shichibukai.
On the other side, Garp, who was facing Gawain's fist, also had his eyeballs covered in blood!
Neither of them spoke; both Gawain and Garp were waiting for the other to reach their limit.
Gawain felt he had the advantage; Garp was already seriously injured, and he was younger Garp.
Garp also felt he had an advantage, because in this pure battle, Rocks didn't defeat him, Roger didn't defeat him, Whitebeard didn't defeat him, and no one had ever completely defeated him!
Ten seconds was just the beginning. At some point, Gawain completely let go of Garp's hair.
He was already using both fists like a madman!
On the other side, the moment Gawain used both hands, Garp released his grip on Gawain's left shoulder. As if by unspoken agreement, the two even dodged each other's arms so that they could each smash their fists into the other's torso!
A duel, a battle?
Everyone thought they would witness a spectacular war, a thrilling battle of wits and courage between those without superpowers and top-tier Logia!
But at this moment, neither Hancock, nor Gion, nor Rayleigh and Zephyr expected that they would witness such a horrific scene!
Unbeknownst to them, the frenzied beating between Gawain and Garp was strikingly similar to the fight between two other people.
If there were a time traveler among them, that time traveler would definitely think that Gawain and Garp looked exactly like Adam fighting Zeus!
Blood splattered from both of them, and Nami suddenly jolted awake.
She felt a sharp pain on her face, and then her whole body flew backward uncontrollably.
The instant she took flight, the person closest to her reached out and caught her.
I placed her on the ground and looked at her; Nami was already unconscious.
After handing Nami over to the Nojiko, he smiled and explained with a worried expression.
"The blood from the adult being knocked away by Garp splattered onto Nami's face. The child doesn't have Observation Haki, so she couldn't dodge it!"
After explaining, Yixiao quickly looked back at the battle, and without realizing it, he gripped the Gravity Blade with his right hand!
Beside him, Gion gritted her teeth and spoke, word by word.
"They're both insane, but neither of them is allowed to die tonight!"
"That's right!"
Rayleigh stood in the distance, his hands already stained black.
Normally, Gawain and Garp would have heard the murmurs from the crowd, but at this moment, to be honest...
Gawain is no longer visible.
On the other side, Garp and Gawain, like everyone else, had their eyes filled with blood and completely obscured by an overwhelming sense of dizziness.
With their eyes closed, they continued their movements using Observation Haki, the sound of their punches like drums and the impact like an earthquake, even causing Uta, who was about to sing a war song on stage, to freeze and stop.
She's a professional singer; unless there are extremely special circumstances, she would never stop singing.
But at this moment, seeing Garp and Gawain completely covered in blood, Uta trembled with tension!
She clenched her small fists and said to herself in disbelief.
Why did they fight to this extent? I thought... I thought...?
"I thought they'd just have a friendly spar like before, why did they have to fight like this?!"
In another direction, Sanji asked the same question as Uta. The difference was that no one could explain it to Uta, who was standing in the center of the stage, but someone could explain it to the confused Sanji!
Beside Sanji, Zeff slammed his mouth shut, then spoke to Sanji in a trembling voice.
"How could you understand, kid? This is the romance of the sea, and the romance of us old men!"
Garp probably really wants to lose a match. He probably feels that once the news of him raising the son of the Pirate King gets out, he's no longer fit to be the spiritual leader of the Navy!
Therefore, even without Gawain, Garp would still relinquish his title as the strongest; that's the persistence of the older generation!
However, after acquiring Gawain, Garp felt that entrusting the Gawain was more appropriate!
When faced with Garp's invitation and gifts, Gawain did not stand in his high position to look down upon him, but instead tragically buried Garp's last bit of passion in his youthful and vigorous physique and powerful Devil Fruit ability!
Gawain knew that Garp was already severely injured, and that Garp only had one chance left to fight, but the more he knew, the less he wanted to wear Garp down by delaying tactics!
He gave Garp his dignity, and he also gave the heavily injured Garp a chance to fight with all his might!
No wonder even Rayleigh submitted to Gawain. Since he has such charisma and is willing to give others such respect, who can't he control?
As soon as he finished speaking, Zeff excitedly grabbed Sanji's arm.
"Kid, watch closely, it's been a full six minutes already!"
Garp and Gawain have almost reached their respective limits!
At this point, although their punches were still powerful and heavy, they were actually almost completely incapable of thinking!
And it is precisely at times like these that the fist they raise represents the culmination of a lifetime of hard work!
Watch carefully and try to learn some of what I teach you. Everyone in the New World has the potential to do this.
But the instincts they developed were the keys to becoming the World's Strongest!
Watch closely!!!
At this point, Zeff completely ignored Sanji, not even bothering to blink.
He was terrified that if he blinked, he would miss a brilliant moment that would announce the final outcome!
At this moment, almost 70% of Gawain's muscles were torn apart, and he even unconsciously used his Mind's Eye Observation Haki, which is to say, he used the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Garp, on the other hand, staggered and fell as if he could no longer stand, but the more he did so, the more advantageous he became in this pure fight.
With seventy years of combat experience, Garp was so experienced that even when Gawain instinctively used his abilities, he was almost no match for him.
Up to this point, Gawain's only advantage is that he's younger than Garp!
As for the injuries, Garp was already seriously injured, but Gawain was also seriously injured at this moment.
Gawain hasn't reached the level of a monster yet; he hasn't jumped over that wall yet!
But so what? On this vast ocean, who dares to say they are more determined Gawain?
Although Gawain wasn't born in a chaotic era, upon reflection, he is someone who could find purpose in a comfortable life and strive for that purpose day after day for over a decade.
Is the resolve of someone who is completely unmoved by a life of comfort truly less than that of someone who has emerged from the flames of war?
For a moment, for some reason, Gawain's instincts kicked in!
In that instant, as he nearly lost consciousness, he completely forgot all the lessons everyone had taught him over the past ten months.
Suddenly, some instincts he had almost forgotten rushed into his mind!
At that moment, he closed his eyes and lunged at Garp again, then hugged Garp tightly!
A moment later, with a thud, Garp was tackled and slammed to the ground by Gawain, who suddenly sprang up.
"Why?"
"This is?"
"Is this the work of street thugs?"
Almost everyone around couldn't help but start discussing it.
Because Gawain and Garp were already rolling around on the ground!
Gawain relentlessly entangled with Garp, desperately searching for a suitable position on the ground. After fighting to the bitter end while standing, his instincts led him to choose the ground!
Surprisingly, this move actually had a tiny bit of effect against Garp, because Garp, or rather, people in the Pirate World...
They never had any concept of "ground"!
Think back carefully, everyone. Even in dire situations, is there ever a single scene in One Piece where the character is locked in a ground-based armbar?
No!
Because there are so many abilities in this world, people only focus on how to develop their strengths to the greatest extent, and very few people study the ground-based approach in such depth!
And so, with their last bit of strength, Gawain and Garp rolled around on the deck for nearly eight minutes.
During those eight minutes, Garp kept looking for opportunities, and when the time was right, he used his Iron Fist to smash Gawain's face.
Gawain, too, was looking for an opportunity, but he was looking for a more suitable one to lock down Garp!
For a full eight minutes, their actions completely stained the shattered deck near them with blood.
Eight minutes later, Gawain finally managed to climb up behind Garp and grabbed Garp by the neck with his arm!
At this point, a decision had to be made between the two. Garp desperately tried to control his body, even sacrificing his Seimei Kikan to flip his hands and feet over.
Gawain, relying on his Mantra, finally cracked Garp's strategy.
He just kept strangling Garp's neck tightly, not stopping even as blood and foam kept spitting from his mouth!