Teach: I'm fighting Garp?

Bane felt right at home at the Loguetown Marine base. When he walked through the entrance, the guards didn't give him any trouble at all; they efficiently registered him and didn't even bother assigning an escort, letting him stroll into the base with ease.

It was safe to say that the two hundred million Belly he had spent here previously was money well spent—everyone treated him like one of their own.

Bane soon arrived at Smoker's office door and knocked, receiving a response from within.

Bane shoved the door open and greeted them cheerfully, "Surprise! Uh, wait?"

Inside the office, Smoker was at his desk polishing his Seastone jitte, while sitting on the guest sofa was a figure Bane hadn't expected to see: the Hero of the Marines, Garp!

Garp was busy stuffing Senbei into his mouth with zero regard for his image.

Upon seeing Bane, both he and Smoker wore expressions of utter shock!

"Why are you here!?" Smoker stood up abruptly, exclaiming in surprise.

Seeing his agitated state, Bane found it a bit odd. While his arrival might have been a surprise, there was no need to be this excited, right?

"I'm preparing to leave the East Blue, so I stopped by to say goodbye and see if you had a spare Log Pose lying around? Let me borrow one," Bane explained.

"Damn it!" Garp slammed his Senbei onto the table. "Quick, Smoker, sound the alarm! Emergency evacuation for the citizens of Loguetown!"

This sudden turn of events left Bane bewildered. "What on earth is going on?"

"The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist, is in Loguetown. We were planning to surround him tonight, but your appearance is bound to disrupt the deployment," Smoker said, looking incredibly pained.

Indeed, when Ace and Marshall D. Teach landed in Loguetown, Smoker had discovered it immediately. Loguetown was his turf; he had boasted for years that he had never let a single pirate escape, and that wasn't just talk—he had eyes and ears all over the town.

Ace was a rather flashy individual, and with the Whitebeard mark tattooed on his back, he was spotted and reported to Smoker the moment he stepped ashore.

Bane's arrival should have been reported too, but before he could even disembark, he had run into Tashigi. The others had noticed the interaction and assumed Tashigi had already handled it, so they didn't report him. Consequently, Smoker only learned of Bane's presence once he walked right into his office.

"We suspected that Fire Fist would come looking for me to dig for information about you. He really did show up in Loguetown, and now that you're here too, it's highly likely he's already spotted you. He might just come knocking on our door," Smoker explained.

As he spoke, he picked up a Den Den Mushi, intending to clear out the town to prevent any collateral damage to the civilians.

But before he could even make the call, a roar echoed from outside the window.

"Fire Fist!!!"

Without a doubt, it was the voice of Ace. The next second, surging flames coalesced into a fist of fire, striking with such force that it pierced the gates of the Loguetown Marine base. The scorching flames surged inward for nearly a hundred meters, forming a tunnel of fire.

"That brat is just as reckless as ever!" Garp cursed, his expression darkening as he watched the scene.

To be honest, if it were just Bane and Smoker facing Ace and Marshall D. Teach in Loguetown, it would have been a difficult situation; Bane might have even had to consider making a run for it.

But now, with the Marine legend Garp by his side—and looking as if he had been waiting for them all along—Bane felt significantly more at ease.

This time, they might actually be able to take down Ace and Marshall D. Teach!

Soon, two figures emerged from the flames: the leader, Ace, and behind him, the relatively unknown Marshall D. Teach.

"Be careful, the guy behind Ace is named Marshall D. Teach. He's incredibly strong—he once fought Shanks to a standstill!" Fearing Garp might underestimate him, Bane immediately offered a warning.

Originally, Garp and Smoker's attention had been entirely on Ace, but Bane's words instantly shifted their focus to the unassuming Marshall D. Teach.

"Fought Shanks to a standstill!?" Garp looked surprised, his tone laced with skepticism.

"That's right. The scar over Shanks' eye was left by that guy," Bane confirmed immediately.

Garp believed him then, his brow furrowing. "I thought he was just some small fry, but it turns out he's a dangerous one. You two better watch out for him!"

Ace and Marshall D. Teach had no idea Garp was here. After all, the newspapers had reported that Garp had parted ways with Smoker at the Branch 153 base. When Ace saw the news, he assumed his grandfather had gone off to find Luffy.

He never imagined that the old man was playing a double game, coming to the East Blue specifically to capture him!

After stepping out of the fire tunnel, Ace shouted arrogantly, "Bane, I know you're in there! I saw you go in. You bastard, you killed Thatch with your cowardly tricks—get out here!"

Inside the office, Bane looked at Smoker and asked, "Is he always this arrogant? Being a pirate and acting this brazenly inside a Marine base?"

Smoker shrugged. "How should I know? I'm not exactly close with him. Right, Vice Admiral Garp?"

Garp's face flushed, a flicker of anger in his eyes. "I'm going to go teach this brat a lesson right now!"

The moment the words left his lips, Garp pushed off the ground with such force that the tiled floor of Smoker's office shattered with a loud crack.

Smoker watched with a pained expression, but before he could even speak, Garp's sturdy frame smashed through the window with a bang, launching him out like a cannonball.

"Ace!!!" Garp roared from the air.

His shout startled both Ace and Marshall D. Teach.

Ace looked up at Garp in the sky with a face full of horror, screaming, "Grandpa!? Why are you here!?"

Marshall D. Teach was equally stunned. Damn it, how did this turn into a hellish start so suddenly?

I have to fight Garp!?

Garp gathered his strength in mid-air, his Haki blooming and drawing lightning from the sky. His eyes glowed red as he bellowed, "Why am I here? To teach you a lesson for being such an unruly brat!"

With that roar, a massive wave of presence and Haki instantly enveloped the entire town of Loguetown. The terrifying pressure was so intense that even Bane felt like he couldn't breathe.

"This is...!?" Bane watched as Garp's Haki descended like the heavens themselves, the vast, ocean-like power converging entirely onto his fist.

Smoker's face turned green as he watched. He rushed to the shattered window, shouting, "Hey, Vice Admiral Garp, this is a Marine—"

But before he could finish, Garp's domineering fist had already struck out through the air!

"Fist Bone Impact!"

Bane felt a flash of light, as if the sky itself had been rendered blindingly bright. Then, the terrifying Haki condensed into an overwhelming shockwave that seemed to pierce the very heavens, crashing down from Garp toward the Loguetown Marine base.

At first, Bane saw the look of terror on the faces of Ace and Marshall D. Teach as they were engulfed by the shockwave. Then, he saw the buildings within the base being shredded and blown away as if by a hurricane. Finally, the overwhelming Haki shockwave reached him.

In the next instant, before Bane could even curse Garp, he and Smoker were swept up by the shockwave. With a thunderous boom, they were slammed into the wall, and the office building was completely obliterated.

With just a single strike, it was as if a massive earthquake had hit Loguetown, turning the entire Marine base and several surrounding streets into ruins.