Fist Pressure on Hero Garp!

Kahn suddenly vanished from where he stood.

It was not the Navy Six Powers' "Shave," but speed so pure and fast that the naked eye could not catch it.

Alarm bells rang in Garp's mind. The instincts he had honed over years on the brink of life and death made him throw a punch.

Dense Armament Haki wrapped around his fist, distorting even the surrounding space.

Kahn appeared directly in front of Garp, his right fist raised high.

"Take this punch properly!"

The golden energy within Kahn's body compressed frantically at that moment.

A dark golden sheen surfaced across his skin.

It was the natural reaction of Kryptonian cells under immense pressure.

Their fists collided once more.

This time—

There was no sound.

It was as if every sound wave had been swallowed by some terrifying force in that instant.

Then—

A translucent shockwave swept outward from the two of them, covering several hundred meters.

The surrounding trees, as fragile as stalks of wheat, were snapped cleanly in half.

The three brats who had been watching from afar were blown straight away.

Luffy rolled several times across the grass before Sabo reached out and caught him.

Ace lay flat on the ground, gripping a thick tree root with all his strength.

His eyes were filled with shock.

Was this what a clash between top-tier powerhouses looked like?

Could a human really emit such pressure that even breathing felt like a luxury?

At the center of the clearing—

Garp's feet had sunk into the rock.

Veins bulged across his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He desperately resisted Kahn's relentless waves of brute force.

This was too absurd.

There was no technique at all in this brat's punches, only physical force refined to the absolute extreme.

Garp could feel his bones groaning.

He realized that if he did not use Conqueror's Coating, he might actually lose.

The realization seemed absurd to him, yet what he felt more than anything was a helplessness he had never experienced before.

He was not so old yet, but a nine-year-old child had actually driven him into a corner.

"Old man..."

Garp gritted his teeth, the Armament Haki on his fist darkening to a purplish black.

He considered whether he should force himself past that boundary.

Just then, Kahn withdrew his strength on his own.

Like a feather, he lightly leaped back several dozen meters.

Stopping the kinetic force that had erupted to its limit so abruptly displayed an utterly terrifying degree of bodily control.

The pressure on Garp vanished all at once, and he nearly stumbled from the inertia.

He stood at the bottom of the crater, breathing heavily.

Bogart hurried over and looked at Garp with concern.

Garp waved a hand, signaling that he was fine.

He looked at the radiant Kahn in the distance, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

"You little brat..."

Garp gave a bitter laugh.

He finally realized that he had still underestimated this child all along.

Last year's Kahn had merely shown him the potential to become an admiral.

But this year's Kahn showed him a new order capable of dominating an era.

The kind of terror that could contend against top-tier Haki with nothing but the body, without any technique at all.

"Old man, if you don't train harder, you really won't be able to catch my punches when I come back next time."

Kahn pulled out a rice cracker from his pocket and crunched away at it.

He had swiped it from the bag Garp had dropped during the commotion.

Garp glared at Kahn. He wanted to curse him out, but in the end, it only turned into a long sigh.

He turned to look at Luffy and Ace, who were sitting in a hollow beneath a tree.

Compared to Kahn, who had completely gone off the rails, these two grandsons were much easier on the eyes.

At least they were still human.

"Grandpa! I want to learn that kind of punch that can crack the ground too!"

Luffy bounced around over there as he shouted.

There was not a trace of fear on his face, only the most primal longing for strength.

Ace silently got to his feet and walked to the center of their recent battlefield.

He looked at the bottomless crater, and his gaze became firmer than ever.

The gap.

It was a gap so vast it could drive one to despair.

But he, Portgas D. Ace, would never admit defeat just like that.

Even if his opponent was that monster, Kahn.

Garp rubbed Luffy's head with enough force to press half of him into the ground.

"Want to learn? Run ten thousand laps first!"

Garp's voice was somewhat hoarse, but it remained booming.

He looked toward Kahn, his eyes turning more serious.

"Listen carefully, you little brat."

"You absolutely cannot reveal that kind of power in front of ordinary people."

"If those old monsters out at sea learn of your existence, they'll go mad."

Especially that person seated upon the Empty Throne.

If the Five Elders learned that Roger's child possessed talent of this level—

They would spare no cost, deploying a Buster Call or even more terrifying weapons.

Even if the entire East Blue had to be erased, they would eliminate this hidden danger.

Kahn merely shrugged noncommittally.

"What does it have to do with me whether they go mad or not?"

"If they're unhappy about it, they can come find me."

"I was just worrying about where to find enough solar chargers."

There was an arrogance in Kahn's words that ran deep into his bones.

It was the pride of a Kryptonian.

On this planet, apart from that great thing hanging in the sky, nothing could make him lower his head.

Garp looked at Kahn and opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

He knew he could not persuade this grandson.

This brat was even more stubborn and freewheeling than Roger.

"Bogart, bring all the meat from the ship down."

Garp turned around and walked back with a somewhat lonely air.

"No training today. I need a few drinks to calm my nerves."

He really had been frightened.

Nine years old.

And the boy had already nearly reached his limit.

In a few more years, who on this sea would still be able to restrain him?

Kahn sat atop a rock, watching the old man's slightly stooped back.

He knew his performance just now had indeed been a little too shocking.

But he did not care.

In this chaotic world, concealing one's strength might let one live longer.

But only displaying absolute power could grant true freedom.

He turned to look at the Sun, which had climbed directly overhead.

The sunlight was blinding, yet it shone warmly upon him.

The golden energy inside him began to stir again.

The small amount of strength he had spent had been completely replenished in just a few minutes.

That feeling of endless power truly was intoxicating.

"One Piece, admirals, Four Emperors..."

Kahn softly murmured those titles.

In his eyes, these so-called powerhouses were merely stepping stones on his path to godhood.

Luffy sat nearby, wolfing down freshly roasted sea beast meat, his face smeared with grease.

Sabo held a notebook and recorded the combat movements he had just witnessed.

Ace faced a large tree, frantically practicing his punches.

Kahn watched them.

As long as he was here—

The tragedy known as the "Paramount War" would never happen.

Whether it was Akainu or Blackbeard—

As long as they dared reach out—

Kahn would show them what the wrath of a star truly meant.

The scorching heat in the air gradually intensified.

On this inconspicuous barren mountain, the nine-year-old boy had already gained the power to shake the foundations of the world.

Yet the people of the sea knew nothing of it.

Only the old lion known as the Hero sat in a tavern at the foot of the mountain, pouring cup after cup of strong liquor down his throat.

His eyes were filled with concern and anticipation for the future.

It was the sound of a new era breaking through the earth.

Dull, powerful, and unstoppable.

Kahn stood and spread his arms to welcome the harshest sunlight.

He was an anomaly in these seas.

And he was also these seas' ultimate ender.

"Get a little stronger."

He muttered to himself.

"At the very least, I need to be able to punch through the Red Line in one blow."

A goal that sounded like madness.

For Kahn as he was now—

It seemed to be only a matter of time.