Bang!
After a dull thud, Lynn kicked Garp out of the ring with a sudden strike of his own.
The surrounding Marines all froze at the sight.
Gulp!
No one knew who had swallowed first.
In an instant, the stagnant atmosphere was broken.
"Vice Admiral Garp... was kicked out of the ring?"
The Marines began discussing it among themselves.
More than ten days ago, they had all heard Garp lay down the rules—
The moment Lynn was capable of knocking Garp out of the ring would be the moment he awakened Haki!
But the current situation was clearly somewhat different.
Lynn had managed to kick Garp out of the ring, but he had relied not on Haki, but on a newly developed Devil Fruit ability!
"Hmph, so he used his Devil Fruit ability to make up for his lack of Haki?"
Not far away, Smoker frowned and muttered, "But if that's the case, the weakness should be obvious..."
The focus returned to Garp.
He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at Lynn, who lay flat on his back.
Lynn was gasping heavily. Their fierce exchange had left him badly injured, to the point where he could not even move.
Yet Lynn was in exceptionally high spirits.
He grinned and burst into laughter. "I did it!"
Garp could only shake his head helplessly at the sight.
"What an impatient little brat!"
With Garp's seasoned eye, he could easily see exactly what Lynn had done.
Lynn Barek had used his own Devil Fruit ability to find a personal "substitute" for Haki.
As for Observation Haki, Lynn had combined his combat experience with superhuman reflexes. Together with the speed boost granted by Icebound Domain, this gave him perceptive abilities comparable to Observation Haki.
As for Armament Haki, Garp still needed to conduct a few tests.
He asked Lynn, "Hey, brat, can you still use that move?"
Lynn understood what Garp meant and nodded with difficulty. "After enough rest, I can probably use it for a few seconds."
Garp immediately called to the nearby Marines, "Smoker, come here!"
Though puzzled, Smoker put out his cigar, then walked over to Garp and Lynn and gave Garp a military salute.
"The most important feature of Armament Haki is that it allows its user to grasp the true body of a Logia Devil Fruit User."
Garp said to Lynn, "He ate the Smoke-Smoke Fruit and is a Smoke Person. Brat, if you can grab him, show me!"
Only then did Smoker understand why Garp had called him over.
Just as he had thought before, it was not impossible to replace Haki with a powerful Devil Fruit ability. However, doing so came with a fatal flaw: it lacked a way to counter Logia Devil Fruit Users.
Without the aid of Armament Haki, ordinary attacks were utterly powerless against an Elementalized body!
"Can a Devil Fruit ability really replace Armament Haki?"
Under Smoker's astonished gaze, Lynn nodded. Then, with great difficulty, he sat up and said:
"Let's begin."
Smoker immediately Elementalized his arm, and wisps of white smoke rose into the air.
The pride he held as a Logia user made it difficult for him to believe this. "Lynn Barek, if you can do it, then give it a try!"
Suddenly, as though in answer to Smoker's words, the surrounding air dropped several degrees in an instant, and frost began spreading again.
"This move really takes a lot out of me..."
Lynn gave a weak grin, then reached out and grabbed Smoker's Elementalized arm.
Smoker's eyes widened in shock, because he could clearly feel Lynn touching his real body!
In other words, Lynn's move had, to some extent, already replaced Armament Haki!
"But... why?" Smoker asked in confusion.
"Perhaps it is a trait of his Devil Fruit ability."
Garp explained, "Mythical Zoan fruits are simply too rare. We still know far too little about this category of Devil Fruits."
At that moment, Smoker could never have imagined that years later, the Dark-Dark Fruit that would stir the entire world had not only the power to seize the true bodies of Logia users, but even a terrifying ability comparable to Seastone!
"But one thing is certain..."
Garp looked at Lynn and grinned. "Brat, you've graduated!"
Upon hearing that, Lynn finally relaxed and collapsed onto the ground.
Laughter rang out all around them.
It had taken exactly fifteen days.
He, Lynn Barek, had finally obtained on this Uninhabited Island a power comparable to both Observation Haki and Armament Haki!
"Then, to celebrate my graduation—"
Lynn grinned and shouted, "Let's have a barbecue party on the grassland tonight!"
"..."
Silence fell.
The Marines looked toward Garp. Only after he nodded in agreement did they erupt into thunderous cheers.
"Yeah!"
Lynn was an easygoing person who quickly became familiar with others.
At first, the Marines had been highly wary of this notorious criminal with a bounty of 100 million Berries.
But after spending this time with him, especially after Lynn had saved several Marines from the jaws of wild beasts, they gradually accepted him.
And after witnessing Lynn's battle with Garp firsthand, their attitude toward him gained an added measure of respect for his strength!
Thus, that night's banquet was exceptionally lively.
Lynn wolfed down roasted crocodile meat, replenishing the Energy Value that had been completely drained from his body.
Although some people wanted to drink, they were still in the middle of training. So everyone used water in place of alcohol to celebrate the birth of Lynn's new move.
Seeing this, Smoker could only smoke one cigar after another and complain:
"Tch, have these people forgotten he's still a wanted criminal?"
Garp laughed loudly upon hearing that. "Hahahaha! Smoke brat, you're as rigid as your teacher Zephyr!"
The banquet lasted until midnight.
After a brief rest, the morning sun rose.
Another day of hellish special training began for the Marines.
Last night's banquet had merely been a small interlude. For these elite Marine recruits, becoming stronger remained their most important goal!
The only ones who still seemed to be sleeping were Garp and Lynn.
The latter was because his injuries from yesterday had been too severe. Even with monstrous self-healing abilities, the exhaustion in his body would not simply vanish, so he needed more rest.
As for Garp, he had a different reason.
The adjutant jogged over to Garp and said softly:
"Vice Admiral Garp, you have remained on this island for too long. A great many documents requiring your approval have piled up, and Staff Officer Tsuru has already begun urging you."
"Snore... snore..."
Garp's eyes remained tightly shut as he snored.
"Vice Admiral Garp, the ship sent by the branch is already waiting for you. Please come with me and handle your work."
"Snore... snore..."
Garp rolled over.
"Vice Admiral Garp, you still have many matters to handle. You cannot rest yet."
"Snore... snore..."
Garp scratched his stomach.
"Vice Admiral Garp, you're pretending to sleep, aren't you?"
"..."
This time, Garp could no longer keep pretending.
He rubbed his head, slowly rose from the ground, and let out a huge yawn.
"Ah, ah, this old man was injured yesterday. I need several days of rest now!"
"Vice Admiral Garp, you only suffered a few scrapes yesterday."
"..."
Garp had no answer.
No wonder she was the adjutant Little Tsuru had arranged for this old man!
She had this old man completely figured out!
Helplessly, Garp could only leave behind a handwritten note saying "Continue training." He then boarded the ship specially sent from the branch to collect him together with the adjutant.
Thus, training on the Uninhabited Island continued, only without Garp and the adjutant.
Garp's warship, along with the small boat Lynn had borrowed from Makino, remained docked at the crude harbor of the Uninhabited Island, bobbing with the waves.
Soon, three days passed.
Lynn grew bored.
Without Garp around, Lynn could only hunt the wild beasts in the forest.
But after comprehending Icebound Domain and Dragon's Tail Sweep, none of the island's wild beasts could threaten Lynn anymore.
Day after day of hunting and barbecuing soon left Lynn sick of the food.
He missed Foosha Village and Makino's cooking.
At that moment, a Marine reminded Lynn that Garp's warship had a Log Pose pointing toward Foosha Village, as well as a Den Den Mushi connected to Makino's bar.
Lynn ran over excitedly, intending to call Makino and have her prepare a huge amount of food before rowing his small boat back to Foosha Village for a change of pace.
Pururururu... Pururururu...
Click!
The Den Den Mushi connected quickly.
"Hello, Makino, miss me? I brought back local specialties from the island for you. Make me something tasty!"
Yet a man's voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
"Hehehehe, Lynn Barek? We've been waiting for you for a long time!"
"..."
Lynn's expression instantly darkened.
"Who are you?"
Please recommend and save this, pretty please!
P.S. Haki will come. Haki really will come. Haki is coming soon. It's still too early now; things have to happen step by step.
P.P.S. A small bug regarding Garp and the Dark-Dark Fruit has been corrected.
Before you continue