Vice Admiral Garp

Morning light had been scorched by the flames of war until it looked like molten iron about to drip. The sea boiled, tore apart, and roared.

At that moment, two monstrous factions on the Grand Line collided head-on.

"Hahahaha!! Garp!! Come again!!!"

Roger's face was still twisted at the strange angle Garp's punch had left it in, yet his fighting spirit only grew wilder.

He raised Ace high and charged forward once more.

"Captain! Don't try to overpower him!! You can't withstand his fists!!!"

Rayleigh roared as he flashed forward, the gleam of his sword slicing through the air like a cold moon.

But Roger only answered with a laugh. "That's the best part--!!!"

The two of them attacked Garp from both sides!

Across from them, Garp's fists were black as iron, his Armament Haki seeming to solidify around them.

He bared his teeth in a grin, his gaze beastly. "Come on! Even if both of you attack together, it'll make no difference!!!"

"Boom!! Boom!! Boom--!!!"

Every collision of fist and blade blasted huge craters into the sea, sending pillars of water soaring into the sky!

The spray was shredded by Haki in midair, falling like a rain of shattered crystal.

Elsewhere, the Roger Pirates and the Marines clashed at close quarters, and the battle was just as brutal!

"Charge!! Brothers!!!"

Gaban swung his twin axes like two spinning storms. Amid the howling axe winds, the Marines were forced back again and again!

"Don't let them get near Vice Admiral Garp!!!"

At that moment, the sound of steady footsteps approached.

A stern man in a beige suit, his eyes hidden beneath the brim of his hat, drew his blade.

Bogard—Garp's most trusted adjutant, a man of both composure and killing intent.

"Whirling Axe: Sky Splitter!!!"

"Drawslash: Flash!!!"

The instant axe light and sword light collided, the air itself seemed to be violently torn apart!

"Hiss--!!!"

The force of their clash split the sea into two rolling streams of water!

The screams and roars of pirates and Marines mixed together. Seagulls scattered across the sky in terror, not daring to come close.

The fierce battle continued. After more than a dozen brutal exchanges, both Roger and Rayleigh were visibly panting.

Roger's chest rose and fell. The bruise on his face was still tilted at a comical angle, but his laughter only became more unrestrained.

"Hahahaha!!! Garp! You're still as tough as ever!!!"

Rayleigh wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and called to Roger, "Roger, we can't keep dragging this out... Marine reinforcements are coming."

Blood ran from Garp's shoulder, and a clear sword wound marked his abdomen, yet he still grinned. "Trying to run? Dream on!! Today, I'm stuffing both of you into prison!!!"

"Boom--!!!"

Their next clash unleashed towering waves. Forced back several steps by their combined assault, Garp used Geppo and stomped deep whirlpools into the sea.

Seeing this, Rayleigh immediately shouted, "Gaban! Retreat!!!"

"Got it!!!"

Gaban knocked Bogard away with a single axe strike. Sparks flew beneath Bogard's feet as he skidded across the deck, but he could not stop him.

Gaban then leaped back onto the ship and roared, "Raise the sails--!!!"

"Buzz--!!!"

As Roger and Rayleigh jumped back onto the deck, the hull built from the Treasure Tree Adam shook as though it had come alive. The next instant, the Oro Jackson surged forward like a sea dragon tearing through the ocean!

It was so fast that even the waves could not slap against the deck in time.

"This speed?!!"

"It's that monster ship Tom built!!!"

Even Garp, who had pursued them with Geppo, rarely widened his eyes in such shock.

In just a few seconds, the Roger Pirates vanished from sight like a gale.

The smoke and dust from the explosions still lingered over the sea, while the ocean wind carried the stench of gunpowder and salty spray fiercely onto the deck.

"Thud--!!!"

Garp fell from the sky onto the warship with the dog head figurehead using Geppo. The moment he landed, he smashed a crater half a meter deep into the deck, sending splinters flying everywhere.

The surrounding Marines staggered from the impact. Garp straightened up, looked over the bloodstains and fallen soldiers around him, and deeply furrowed his brow.

"The injuries are serious... We can't keep chasing them."

He lowered his fists. Blood still seeped from the wound on his shoulder, but he seemed not to feel it at all.

Bogard stepped over the shattered planks and came to his side. His beige suit was soaked by seawater, and his hat brim was pulled low, concealing his expression.

Calmly, he sheathed his long sword at his waist. "Vice Admiral Garp... He got away again."

Garp took a deep breath, but the breath he had just recovered was once again disrupted by surging rage. "Damn Roger--!!!"

"Every time he can't win, he turns around and runs! He runs faster than Sea Kings!!!"

As he spoke, he even swung an arm, seeming ready to throw out another Fist Bone Meteor Shower.

Bogard said, "Vice Admiral Garp, please calm down..."

"I am calm!!!"

Despite his angry shouting, Garp turned swiftly and steadily. "Medical unit! Treat the wounded immediately!"

"Secure the damaged parts of the deck at once! Don't let seawater flood in!"

"Artillery crews, check the ammunition! Prepare the spare sails too!"

As Garp's orders rang out one after another, the Marines moved quickly, restoring the discipline expected of Marine Headquarters' elite.

The shouts of the rescue teams, the groans of the Marines, the creaking of broken boards... all the chaotic sounds after battle were gradually brought under orderly command.

Only after confirming that every wounded man had been carried to the ship's doctor did Garp clap his hands heavily, as if exhaling the aftershock of the great battle in one breath.

"Whew--finally done."

Then, he suddenly turned his back and casually spoke to the empty sea.

"Kid, you've been watching for quite a while, haven't you~"

Bogard had been counting the wounded when he sharply raised his head at those words.

"?!!"

He instantly half-turned, his right hand firmly gripping the hilt of his sword. His entire body was like a sharp blade about to leave its sheath.

"Who?!! Show yourself!!!"

The sea wind howled across the deck, blowing over the scorched marks left by battle. The atmosphere tightened to the extreme.

Yet Garp grinned as though he had long been waiting for this very moment.

The next instant--

"Crack!!!"

A blinding bolt of lightning tore down from the sky, arcs of electricity exploding through the air!

Rock landed on the deck with both feet. As the lightning faded, his hands remained in his pockets, and a faint smile rested on his lips.

"You noticed faster than I expected, Vice Admiral Garp."

Bogard's pupils contracted, his voice even more urgent than before. "Vice Admiral Garp! That is... a lightning ability!!!"

The air instantly tensed to its limit.

Garp's brow twitched as he properly examined the boy before him.

"...Lightning?"

His expression shifted from confusion, to scrutiny, to shock in less than a second.

Then, as though struck by lightning himself, he roared.

"Hey, hey, hey!! Don't tell me you're that Lightning Boy Sengoku's bastard has been searching the whole world for?!"

"The brat who gave Hachinosu such a headache and pissed Rocks off so badly he nearly burst a blood vessel?!"

Bogard turned his head, his eyes full of shock. "He's... this young?!"

Garp pointed toward the direction where the Oro Jackson had vanished, his voice rough.

"I sensed it before the fight even started! A lightning presence slipped past from that bastard Roger's ship!

"So it was you, kid, secretly watching the show from the sky?!"

Rock was not angered by the scolding. He merely smiled faintly.

"Nice to meet you, Vice Admiral Garp."

He raised a hand and introduced himself with polite ease. "My name is Rock."

Garp fell silent for half a second. Then his fist slowly clenched, and his mouth slowly curled into a grin--

Not anger, but the excitement of a hunter.

"Rock, is it..."

He revealed a wild smile that seemed capable of making the sea tremble.

"Good kid..."