"Remember Hina."
Below the stage, Shu and the others looked worried. After holding on for over a hundred exchanges, Hina was already full of openings.
After half an hour of battle, Hina was drenched in sweat, her pretty face pale, blood already seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing Hina in such a miserable state, no one knew why, but it ignited the protective instincts of the hot-blooded men below. One after another, they pointed at Momonga and cursed him out.
"Momonga, are you even a man? How could you bully Hina like this?"
"Momonga, I was wrong about you! You crude brute who doesn't know how to treat women gently!"
"Stop it, Momonga! What are your hands doing? Taking advantage of Hina?"
"Don't let me draw you, or I'll beat you to death!"
Amid the shouting and cursing, the trainees below grabbed chairs and glared furiously at Momonga.
Onstage, Momonga's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. If he wasn't mistaken, quite a few of his good friends were cursing him too!
Where the hell had their friendship gone?
Damn it.
This couldn't go on. He had to end the fight quickly, or the consequences would be unimaginable.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Momonga's face. He no longer intended to drag things out. He sent out a slash, and while Hina was blocking it, used Soru to appear at her right side and kicked her off the arena.
With a muffled groan, Hina fell to the ground in a miserable state.
"Hina, are you all right?" Shu, Gion, and the others hurried over, helping Hina up.
"I'm fine." Hina was dejected, drenched in sweat, and clearly not in good spirits.
"Momonga, go to hell!"
"We strongly demand that the referee declare Momonga defeated!"
"Agreed!"
All sorts of random things were thrown at Momonga, making him tremble with rage.
If he could, Momonga wanted to say three words to everyone: "Fuck your mother."
In the end, the referee still declared Momonga the winner. But instead of cheers, all he received was contempt.
As a result, Momonga's expression never relaxed for the rest of the event. His face remained tense and frighteningly dark.
He knew he had provoked public outrage.
But this was a competition. Wasn't he supposed to go all out? He had won through his own strength, so why was everyone treating him like a criminal? As if they wanted to drag him off and execute him for ten minutes?
"Ahem, next match."
The major serving as referee coughed, suppressing all the boos before starting the next match.
This battle was Shu's turn. His opponent was Hōshō, but after lasting for more than an hour, he still lost.
The seventh match was Very Good's. To everyone's surprise, he actually defeated his opponent.
Everyone received a bye in the eighth match.
The ninth match was Smoker's battle, and his opponent was Chaton. It truly was fate. The two had clashed before, and no real winner had been decided. This time, they had the perfect chance to settle it.
Bang!
Their fists collided, both covered in Armament Haki. The entire arena shook. Smoker flipped backward while Chaton retreated several steps.
White Fist.
A smoke fist as large as a house shot toward Chaton like a cannonball.
Accompanied by a deafening, muffled boom, white smoke spread across the entire arena, obscuring everyone's view.
Then came constant crashes. Collisions echoed continuously from within the smoke, and no one knew what was happening inside.
After ten minutes, the smoke filling the arena seemed to come alive and began to condense, revealing everything within.
Smoker's face was deathly pale. Both his hands had transformed into giant smoke hands, pinning Chaton down so tightly that he could not move.
Above Smoker's back, smoke condensed into a spear aimed directly at Chaton.
"Do you surrender?"
Seeing this, everyone knew that Chaton had lost.
"I lost." Though deeply unwilling, Chaton knew he had been defeated this round.
With the battle over, Smoker had never felt better.
"Well done." Shu and the others punched Smoker lightly, happy for him.
"Ye Chen's idea was better. Thanks."
Smoker grinned. Without Ye Chen's guidance, how could he have developed his smoke abilities to such a degree?
"It was your own hard work."
Smoker's outstanding performance made Kong and the others nod. Sure enough, even the weakest Logia could not be that weak. More importantly, Smoker had developed his ability quite well.
"Next match."
The tenth match was Vergo against Hōshō. The two stood on the arena, Vergo expressionless while Hōshō clenched his fists, his face somewhat grim.
Last time, he had lost due to carelessness. This time, he would definitely get it back.
Both were pure hand-to-hand fighters, so from the very beginning, the battle was exhilarating, far more dazzling than the previous matches.
As the battle gradually intensified, the expressions of Kong and the others in the elevated seats turned serious.
"These two have pretty good physical skills."
Garp narrowed his eyes, focusing especially on Vergo.
For now, Vergo was being pressed hard by Hōshō. Yet Kong and the others were all watching Vergo, because they saw far more than what appeared on the surface.
"Zephyr, if I remember correctly, the weighted gear you made last time for this Vergo weighs eight tons, right?"
Sengoku watched with interest as Vergo struggled to defend against Hōshō's attacks.
"That's right." Zephyr smiled as he watched Vergo, who was at a disadvantage onstage, his eyes full of approval.
"This kid has great potential. Carrying eight tons and still remaining steady under his opponent's assault."
"He has what it takes to become strong."
At that moment, Garp turned serious as he watched Vergo.
"Keep watching." Kong smiled. The stronger these youngsters became, the stronger the Marines' future would be.
After holding on for half an hour, Vergo finally could no longer defend himself. If he did not remove his weights, he could not win this match.
The moment he removed the weights, the ground below the stage collapsed directly, forming a crater and kicking up dust. The noisy venue instantly fell silent.
This monster had been fighting Hōshō while wearing weights?
Holy shit!
Freed from the weights, Vergo jumped in place a few times and moved his body, feeling lighter than ever.
Across from him, Hōshō's face immediately turned ugly. One look at those weights told him they were heavier than the ones from five months ago. Was this guy insane?
"I'll give you one chance. Surrender."
After loosening up, Vergo looked coldly and indifferently at Hōshō.
"Hmph. I was careless in our last fight. This time, don't even think about defeating me."
Hōshō snorted. He would never allow himself to surrender before even fighting. But what he did not know was that Vergo's usual training was several times harsher than his.
Diligence makes up for deficiency was no empty phrase!
Boom!
The ground exploded as Vergo vanished from where he stood and appeared before Hōshō. His right hand clenched into a fist, black Armament Haki covering it as explosive power radiated from it.
Hōshō's hairs stood on end. Vergo was too fast. The next moment, blood sprayed out, and a streak of light flew straight off the arena toward the elevated seats.
At the same time, Garp silently vanished from his chair and appeared in midair, catching Hōshō, whose seven orifices were bleeding. Garp's expression turned serious.
The entire venue fell silent once more. Some people stood with their mouths hanging open, utterly dumbfounded.
What had just happened? There had only been a roar beside their ears, then Vergo appeared in front of Hōshō. Next, Hōshō vomited blood and was sent flying?
What had happened in between?
Holding Hōshō, who kept coughing blood, Garp looked at the expressionless Vergo on the arena. A glint flashed through his eyes. This kid was absolutely a superb prospect for training in physical skills.
"Kid, if you run into any problems with physical skills in the future, come find me."
After saying that, Garp gave Vergo no chance to reply. He vanished from the air and reappeared among the medical team waiting in the distance, where he set Hōshō down.
Garp's words instantly ignited the pin-drop-silent venue. That was Marine Hero Garp! Countless trainees looked enviously at Vergo as he jumped down from the arena and was surrounded by Hina and the others.
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