Locking in Victory

"I'll be the first to gauge your strength, kid." Garp laughed heartily and threw a punch at Richard.

Whatever secrets this guy was hiding, they could slowly question him after capturing him.

Richard responded calmly. He liked fighting Steel Fist Style fighters like this now.

As the water flowed, Richard reached out and brushed aside Garp's incoming fist.

Their arms never made direct contact, with a layer of water between them. Through that layer of water, Richard easily deflected Garp's force.

Garp had extensive combat experience. Going with the momentum, he twisted his body and spun around with a side back kick.

Richard remained unhurried, like an old man in a park.

He raised his hand again and blocked it.

He was fighting Garp for no other reason than to gain insight into Water's Round Softness.

He was not seeking a quick victory. As long as Garp was willing, he could keep him company all day.

Water's Round Softness was a divine technique of material defense. The reason Water Element deities in the Coiling Dragon World excelled at defense was largely due to this Profound Mystery.

Yet Water's Round Softness was far more than a defensive technique.

Had no one heard that softness could overcome hardness? Its offensive methods were simply different, emphasizing using four ounces to move a thousand pounds and borrowing an opponent's strength against them.

Richard felt that the principles of Tai Chi explained this perfectly.

Thus began a battle unlike anything the One Piece world had ever seen.

Garp swore this was the most disgusting opponent he had ever fought. He would rather go back and battle Rocks for three hundred rounds than fight this kid again.

The kid truly deserved to be called a Sui Sui no Mi user. Even his fighting style resembled water. No matter how heavy Garp's attacks were, they were always gently neutralized, and sometimes the force even rebounded back at him.

Yet the kid never took the initiative to attack. He simply waited to borrow Garp's strength.

After one battle, Garp was already panting, while this guy had not even broken a sweat.

Today had really opened his eyes. There was actually such a bizarre martial arts school in the world.

He could not even stop fighting if he wanted to. When he tried to call it off, this guy actually ran over and gave him another two punches.

Was that not infuriating?

And so, Richard dragged Garp into a friendly spar.

The more he fought, the more he felt it. That flash of inspiration finally emerged in his mind.

Not long afterward, Xia Mi returned alone, so clean that she did not look like she had just fought an intense battle. There was no sign of Akainu.

The Marines sensed that something was wrong.

Could Sakazuki have lost?

How was that possible? He was a Marine Admiral, one of the strongest fighters in the world.

Besides, how long had it been? Had it even been five minutes? What could anyone accomplish in that time? It was not even enough for a warm-up.

But there really was no movement in the distance anymore.

Could Sakazuki have encountered some emergency and left in a hurry?

The three of them could only comfort themselves like that. Yet they all knew it was nothing more than self-deception.

Even if Sakazuki had to leave, he would never do so without saying anything. More importantly, the battle was not over. There was no way he would run off halfway through it. Even if Marine Headquarters had been destroyed, he would finish this battle before returning.

No matter what, Xia Mi's return placed enormous psychological pressure on the Marines present.

The situation really did not look good.

Fortunately, Xia Mi had no intention of interfering with the battle.

She merely looked speechlessly at her brother, whose bruised and swollen face made him seem a full size larger.

She even reached out with interest and poked him.

The pain made Fenrir bare his teeth.

Then she ignored him, sat down on a stone chair, and stared blankly into space.

For a thick-skinned Dragon King, injuries like these did not even count as superficial wounds.

A few more hours passed before the Marine warships finally arrived.

Xia Mi could not be bothered to move again.

"Erii, go deal with them," she said.

"Okay, okay." Everyone else was busy, and Erii felt that she ought to find something to do as well.

Erii came to the sea and used Words of Power: Judgment. With one sword strike per ship, she sank the entire fleet.

Without using Spirit Speech, she truly would have found it difficult to do so. At her current level, she did not have many ways to deal with such large targets.

"Bastard!" More than ten field-grade and company-grade officers proficient in the Six Styles' Geppo leaped into the air, crossed the coastline, and charged toward Erii.

They swore to capture Erii, the one who had inflicted such grievous losses upon them.

Erii had not expected so many people to be capable of short-distance flight.

Her hope of finishing quickly and calling it a day was dashed.

Erii had no choice but to work harder. These people all looked quite strong, and relying only on close combat might backfire.

So, while her opponents were still in the air, Erii used magic modified by Xia Mi.

The Dragon World had no such thing as magical elements, but with spiritual power and elemental Authority, Xia Mi had modified certain spells that could imitate the effects of some Spirit Speeches.

Erii had learned most of them. As someone with the White King Bloodline, Erii naturally possessed powerful spiritual power and Authority over the elements. Learning these spells was not effortless, but it was not especially difficult either.

And the Pirate World happened to have the concept of elements as well. Though it differed from the Dragon World, the spells could still be used.

For example, the Fireball Technique Erii was casting now.

With a thought, she linked her spiritual power to the concept of the fire element, and dozens of densely packed fireballs flew toward the Marines in the air.

It felt even easier than it had in the Dragon World. Even the power had improved slightly.

The most active law in the Pirate World was undoubtedly the Law of Water, but the corresponding Law of Fire Element was also quite active.

Too many powerful people in this world could create flame-related abilities.

Setting aside her doubts, she controlled the flight paths of the dozens of large fireballs.

The weaker Marine officers immediately found themselves overwhelmed. Before long, more than half of them were struck by the fireballs and fell into the sea.

Although the remaining few blocked the fireballs through various methods, Erii had already prepared her next spell.

A fierce wind swept through the air, throwing the remaining people off balance. Then Erii's next Water Element spell—Water Cannon—sent them flying away.

Feeling that she had finished her work, Erii skipped back. Now she could slack off with a clear conscience.

The two vice admirals, who had spared a fraction of their attention to monitor that side, truly felt like they were about to collapse.

They had thought that once the headquarters fleet arrived, the pressure on them would lessen. They had not expected the fleet to be wiped out just like that.

How many people aboard had survived was still unknown. They were all Marine Headquarters elites. This was unquestionably a devastating loss.

Even the officers who had come as reinforcements had been effortlessly dealt with by that little girl.

They had never expected this tiny team of six to consist entirely of experts. Even the weakest among them could fight them to a draw.

Then what had they come here for? To deliver themselves on a platter?

Even Garp could not help but sigh. What an absurd team. They were even stronger than a Four Emperors crew.

Where had such a group of people come from?

The powerful figures in this world were known quantities. Though the sea was vast and boundless, was it not far too abnormal for so many young experts to suddenly appear at once? After returning, he had to make Sengoku investigate thoroughly.

However, reality was far crueler than he imagined.

Richard had no intention of letting them return at all. He would lock them up first and wait until they had dealt with the Celestial Dragons.

That way, when they fought the World Government's elites, they would not also have to deal with these Marines.