Teach: Cursing Grandson, Beating Father?

With a single blow, the entire naval base was reduced to ruins.

Beneath a pile of rubble, a hand suddenly thrust out. Bane scrambled to clear away the surrounding stones, eventually dragging himself out from the debris, his head covered in blood and his body riddled with wounds.

"Cough, cough." Bane coughed twice, spitting out more tainted blood.

As a user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, Bane was technically a Logia user, yet he could not turn into his element. Even if he could, it would have been useless against the overwhelming, all-encompassing power of Garp's Haki.

To make matters worse, the side effect of the Dark-Dark Fruit meant Bane suffered double the pain, and at this moment, he felt as though every inch of his body was screaming in agony.

However, the trade-off for his inability to turn into an element was an advantage other Logia users lacked: his wounds were slowly being absorbed and healed by the Dark-Dark Fruit.

Even now, black smoke drifted from the smaller lacerations on his body, and this smoke was actively knitting his flesh back together.

Furthermore, as an E-rank ability user, Bane's natural healing factor was far superior to that of an ordinary person. His physical fitness had improved significantly over this period, so while he looked wretched and miserable, he would be fully recovered given a little time.

Less than two minutes after he had crawled out, movement stirred in the ruins twenty or thirty meters away. Smoker emerged, his face covered in grime and his body marked by shallow, bleeding cuts, though he was generally fine—nothing more than superficial injuries.

"That old man!" Smoker looked at the ruined naval base, his expression a mix of frustration and despair.

Bane spoke with clear understanding: "Garp held the initiative and the advantage from the start. He already knew Teach was powerful, so he couldn't afford to hold back. He had to go all out; otherwise, if this turned into a protracted battle, the resulting damage and consequences would be ten times worse than what we see now."

Indeed, when Bane was first swept up in Garp's onslaught, he had been cursing the man.

But as he climbed out of the ruins, he realized why Garp had acted that way.

The reason was exactly what he had just told Smoker: Garp wasn't acting recklessly; he had made up his mind the moment he struck.

Meanwhile, in the center of the ruins, Garp stood tall, draped in his naval justice coat. Clad in a grey-white suit, his massive, imposing frame radiated a grim, oppressive aura.

Shaking off his coat, Garp locked his gaze onto a specific patch of rubble. Through his Observation Haki, he could sense that Ace and the man called Teach were beneath it.

Sure enough, a second later, the ruins exploded with flames, and Ace emerged from the fire.

Compared to Smoker and Bane, Ace looked far more wretched. His aura was withered, his chest caved in where his ribs had likely fractured, and blood sprayed from his nostrils with every breath, while more leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Clearly, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates had taken a heavy hit from Garp's ultimate move.

Not long after Ace stood up, Teach crawled out of the ruins in a sorry state. Though he was injured and his breathing was ragged, he was in much better condition than Ace.

Seeing this, a look of gravity crossed Garp's eyes. The kid named Bane hadn't lied—this Teach was a dangerous character!

During that last punch, Teach had used his Haki to mitigate much of the impact. His reaction speed had been faster than Ace's, and the density of his Haki was even greater!

Yet, this was a man he had never heard of before, a man with a zero-berry bounty in the Whitebeard Pirates. Such a person was either someone who hated the spotlight, or someone with a dark, calculating mind.

Garp suspected Teach was the latter.

Clenching his fist, Garp wreathed it once more in terrifying Haki. "I failed to guide you into becoming a marine all those years ago," Garp said in a low voice. "Looking back, I was too lenient with you. Ace, your ridiculous pirate journey ends here!"

Watching the wild Haki swirling around Garp's hand, Ace took a deep breath. "Grandpa, I never said I wanted to be a marine. Stop trying to force your own ideas onto others!"

"I know how stubborn you are, so I won't waste any more words trying to convince you, Ace!" A fierce light erupted in Garp's eyes. He pushed off the ground, and the already shattered earth disintegrated further under the force of his step.

Like a humanoid tyrannosaur, Garp charged straight toward Ace and Teach.

In that instant, flames ignited around Ace. He used his Observation Haki to lock onto Garp, but he couldn't keep up—Garp wasn't moving in a straight line, but rather closing the distance with rapid, irregular, zigzagging movements.

Whether with his eyes or his Observation Haki, Ace struggled to track Garp's trajectory.

In the blink of an eye, Garp appeared directly between Teach and Ace.

Ace raised his hands in a defensive stance, hoping to minimize the impact of the iron fist, but to his surprise, Garp's target wasn't him—it was Teach!

Teach was stunned. What the hell, you old geezer? You're busy scolding your grandson for being disobedient, so why are you attacking me?!

However, Teach's reaction was lightning-fast. He flicked his sleeve, and a hook-claw instantly attached to the back of his hand. He reinforced the weapon with powerful Armament Haki and blocked.

Bang! Garp's punch was parried by Teach. Beside them, Ace looked on in shock. Is Teach really this strong? He can block the old man's iron fist head-on?

"Old man, I'm gonna—" Teach started to curse, but Garp's combat experience was vast. He hadn't underestimated Teach for a second, treating him as a formidable enemy from the very start.

Even though Teach thought he had been careful, he had been arrogant. This was a flaw in his character: rashness and conceit.

He had assumed that if Garp couldn't take him down in one hit, he would turn his attention to Ace, but Garp was locked onto him with lethal intent.

"Got you!" As Teach parried the punch, Garp shifted his technique. His fist transformed into a claw, locking firmly onto Teach's wrist.

A surge of immense power erupted from Garp's hand. Teach couldn't resist, and Garp hoisted him bodily off the ground.

"Ocean Floor Drop!!!" Garp roared, swinging Teach around and slamming him directly toward Ace.

Ace reacted quickly, igniting a pillar of fire and turning into his element to fly into the air, narrowly avoiding the collision. But while he escaped, Teach was not so lucky. He slammed into the ground, shattering the earth and creating a deep, craterous abyss. Teach plummeted into the depths.

"Flame Ring: Fire Pillar!" Seizing the opportunity, Ace thrust his arms out, unleashing a surging pillar of fire that shot toward Garp.

Just then, an element of darkness erupted.

"Black Annihilation: Raging Tide!"

The rising darkness surged toward the flames, swallowing and extinguishing them instantly.

Ace looked on in shock, but before he could process it, a powerful gravitational pull suddenly dragged him from the air, drawing him toward the source of the darkness.