Speed and Strength

This was a large circle with a diameter of about twenty meters.

Frost clung to the ground.

A thin layer of ice had formed on the grass.

Linley Barek, during his fifteenth challenge against Garp, finally unleashed his brand-new Hero Skill:

Icebound Domain!

As long as Linley fought within the frost-covered area, his movement speed, attack speed, and self-healing capabilities would be greatly enhanced.

However, this move required a continuous drain of Linley's internal Energy Value. Therefore, while maintaining the "Icebound Domain" state, Linley could only fight at full power for a maximum of 180 seconds.

That is, three minutes!

Cold white mist continuously billowed from Linley's mouth. His battle with Garp immediately escalated into a white-hot frenzy!

Under the enhancement of the Icebound Domain, Linley's speed reached an almost unbelievable level.

He weaved around Garp, searching for an opening, attempting to knock him out of the circle with his attacks!

In an instant, Garp was surrounded by what seemed like a frost storm.

Witnessing this scene, the Marines present put down their bowls and chopsticks, unable to resist getting closer to watch.

Linley's current speed had reached, and even surpassed, the "Soru" from the Marine Six Powers!

The Marines were all curious, wondering how Vice Admiral Garp would respond to such astonishing speed.

However, as they got closer, they discovered that Garp had his arms crossed, his eyes closed, and he was emitting soft snores.

"He actually fell asleep standing up!!!"

The Marines couldn't help but cover their foreheads, utterly speechless.

Only that Marine Hero could fall asleep in such an environment!

Suddenly, Garp jolted awake from his slumber and extended his right hand.

At the same moment, Linley appeared beside Garp and threw a punch, only for it to be caught directly by Garp's right hand!

Garp yawned and laughed heartily, "I waited so long for you that I fell asleep!"

Before he finished speaking, Garp's left hand clenched into a fist, black Armament Haki enveloping it as he threw a punch at Linley.

"Don't you dare underestimate Haki, you brat!"

Bang!

Linley was sent flying again with a punch. However, this time, he didn't fall to the ground. He recovered in mid-air, spun around, and slammed his foot on the ground, charging again.

Bang! Bang!

Two heavy punches, left and right, landed on Garp's body. Garp, however, grinned and retaliated with his own Haki-infused fists.

Boom!

It was a muffled sound like a drumbeat.

Linley felt a dull ache in his chest, a sense of suffocation washing over him, but he showed no intention of stopping his assault.

Linley planted his feet on the ground, knees slightly bent to stabilize himself, fists clenched. Under the enhancement of the Icebound Domain, he launched a fierce barrage of attacks on Garp.

It was a complete abandonment of defense, Linley's fastest and most ferocious barrage of punches yet!

Rain-like fists struck Garp's sturdy body, but not only did they fail to push him back even half a step, they instead brought an excited smile to Garp's face.

As expected of someone Zephyr took an interest in, his talent is truly exceptional!

"Brat, if I win today, you're going to go train your Haki for a few years, understand!"

Under Linley's onslaught, Garp slowly raised his arms, his fists slowly clenching, black Armament Haki coating them.

Then, his right fist came down, smashing into Linley's face.

Bang!

Linley's face was smashed to the side, but the direction of his pupils remained unchanged, fixedly staring at Garp.

White mist puffed from his mouth.

"I have my own path, Old Man Garp!"

This statement instantly reminded Garp of his own troublesome sons.

One had joined the Revolutionary Army, and the other two insisted on becoming pirates.

They all said similar things, declaring they would forge their own paths.

A strange emotion suddenly welled up in Garp's heart.

Was it the warmth of feeling Linley was like family?

No, absolutely not!

It was quite the opposite—

Annoyance!

Garp was extremely displeased right now!

"Waaah, this is infuriating!"

Garp roared suddenly, bellowing, "Why aren't you all listening to me!"

The Marines around him felt their hair stand on end.

"You all"? "Each and every one of you"?

Besides Linley and them, there seemed to be no one else on this island.

It's over, it's over, Vice Admiral Garp is angry with us. It must be because we haven't been training hard enough!

With that thought, the Marines quickly swallowed their dinner and prepared to head into the forest to continue training, though they were still reluctant to miss the duel between Vice Admiral Garp and Linley.

As the Marines wrestled with their indecision.

On the other side, Garp's displeasure had reached its peak!

If I tell you to be a Marine, be a Marine. If I tell you to train Haki, train Haki. Do you think I'd harm you!

Garp stared at Linley, veins bulging on his forehead.

"You brat, if you're not convinced, I'll beat you until you are!"

As he spoke, Garp's fist, clad in Armament Haki, smashed towards Linley.

"I will make you willingly go and train Haki!"

Bang!

Another heavy blow landed on Linley's abdomen.

But at the same time, Linley's attack hadn't stopped at all, not even showing the slightest sign of slowing down!

Garp's Iron Fist repeatedly smashed towards Linley.

In contrast, for every Iron Fist Garp threw, Linley could counter with five or six punches using his speed.

The surrounding Marines stopped their advance towards the forest, each one deeply shocked by the scene before them.

In terms of the sheer number of punches, Linley was clearly winning!

However, each of Garp's heavy blows was enough to negate several of Linley's attacks!

From the Marines' perspective, both Linley's speed and Garp's power were far beyond their comprehension!

"Could that Linley be on par with Vice Admiral Garp?" one Marine exclaimed in amazement.

"Idiot, don't you have eyes?"

Smoker shook his head and lit another cigar. "For Vice Admiral Garp, this is just a pre-meal warm-up."

The Marines looked again upon hearing this.

Indeed.

Although they were evenly matched in terms of strength and speed, Linley was clearly giving it his all, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his body covered in bruises of all sizes.

Garp, on the other hand, hadn't even taken a single step back, and was even grinning happily!

He was starting to understand Zephyr now.

It had been a long time since he'd met someone who dared to brawl with him so exhilaratingly. What an interesting kid!

However...

"Go and train Haki obediently, brat!"

Garp roared, preparing to end the fight.

He could clearly feel the surrounding frost gradually thinning, and Linley's speed was also beginning to slow.

"He must be reaching his limit!"

Garp calculated silently.

That astonishing speed could probably be maintained for three minutes. What an incredible move!

"This is the end!"

Garp suddenly pulled his right fist back to his waist, then threw a straight punch, intending to completely overwhelm Linley!

But this was precisely the moment Linley had been waiting for!

"This is the end!"

Linley shouted the same words.

Immediately after, Linley suddenly sidestepped, using the last few seconds of his Icebound Domain to evade Garp's straight punch, and then—

He unleashed a kick.

Hero Form: Lee Sin the Blind Monk.

Hero Skill: Dragon's Rage!

Bang!

That sudden kick was something even Garp hadn't anticipated.

He instinctively used his arm to block the kick, which felt like a cannon blast.

However, by the time he reacted, he realized half of his foot had already stepped outside the circle he had drawn.

After a long silence, Garp looked at Linley, who had fallen backward, and uttered two words.

"Beautiful."