Vice Admiral Garp

Morning light was 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 collided head-on upon the Grand Line.

"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 more ferocious.

He raised Ace high and charged forward once more.

"Captain! Don't take him head-on!! You can't withstand his fists!!!"

Rayleigh roared as he flashed forward, the sword light in his hand slicing through the air like a cold moon.

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

The two attacked Garp from the left and right!

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

He grinned savagely, his eyes like a beast's. "Come on! It makes no difference even if both of you attack together!!!"

"BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM--!!!"

Every collision of fist and blade blasted enormous craters into the sea, sending towering pillars of water skyward!

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

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

"Charge!! Brothers!!!"

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

"Don't let them get close to Vice Admiral Garp!!!"

At that moment, steady footsteps sounded.

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, possessing both composure and killing intent.

"Whirling Axe: Sky Splitter!!!"

"Drawslash: Flash!!!"

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

"HISSS--!!!"

The sea was cleaved into two rolling trails of water by the force of their impact!

Pirates and Marines screamed and roared together. The seagulls scattered across the sky in terror, not daring to come near.

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

Roger's chest rose and fell. The bruise on his face still sat at that ridiculous angle, yet his laughter grew ever wilder.

"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 drag this out any longer... Marine reinforcements are coming."

Garp's shoulder was bleeding, and a clear sword wound marked his abdomen, but he still grinned. "Trying to run? Dream on!! Today, I'll stuff both of you into prison!!!"

"BOOM--!!!"

Their next clash exploded into massive waves. Forced back several steps by their combined assault, Garp used Geppo, stamping deep whirlpools into the sea.

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

"Got it!!!"

Gaban knocked Bogard away with one axe swing. 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--!!!"

"HUM--!!!"

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

It was so fast that even the waves had no time to slap against the deck.

"That speed?!!"

"That's the monster ship Tom built!!!"

Even Garp, who had chased after them with Geppo, widened his eyes in rare astonishment.

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

The smoke from the explosions lingering over the sea had yet to disperse. The sea wind carried the stench of gunpowder and salty spray as it slammed into the deck.

"THUD--!!!"

Garp dropped from the sky onto the dog-headed warship using Geppo. The instant he landed, he smashed a crater half a meter deep into the deck, splintering wood in every direction.

The surrounding Marines staggered several steps from the impact. Garp straightened and looked around at the bloodstains and fallen soldiers, his brow deeply furrowed.

"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 broken planks and came to his side. His beige suit was soaked by seawater, and the brim of his hat was pulled low, concealing his expression.

He calmly sheathed his long sword at his waist. "Vice Admiral Garp... He got away again."

Garp drew a deep breath, but the breathing he had only just steadied surged out of control again from rage. "Damn Roger--!!!"

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

As he spoke, he waved his arm as though he wanted to throw out another Fist Bone Meteor Shower.

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

"I'm perfectly calm!!!"

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

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

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

As Garp's commands rang out one after another, the Marines swiftly sprang into action, restoring the discipline expected of Marine Headquarters' elite.

The shouts of the rescue teams, the groans of wounded Marines, the cracking of planks... All the post-battle noise was gradually brought into order under the command.

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

"Whew--finally done."

However, 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 abruptly looked up 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 past the scorched marks left by battle. The atmosphere tightened to its limit.

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

The next instant—

"CRACK!!!"

A blinding bolt of lightning tore down from the sky, and electric arcs exploded through the air!

Rock landed on the deck with both feet. As the lightning faded, he stood with his hands in his pockets and a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

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

Bogard's pupils constricted, and his voice became more urgent than before. "Vice Admiral Garp! This is... a lightning ability!!!"

The air instantly tightened to the extreme.

Garp's brow twitched as he gave the boy before him a serious look.

"...Lightning?"

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

Suddenly, he shouted as if struck by lightning.

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

"That brat who gave Hachinosu such a headache and made Rocks so furious he nearly burst a blood vessel?!"

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

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

"I sensed it before the battle even started! There was a lightning aura slipping away from that bastard Roger's ship!

So you little brat were 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 the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward—

Not in anger, but with the excitement of a hunter.

"Rock, huh..."

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

"Good kid..."