Pirate: I Became a Legend by Seeing Proficiency

But for Dongze, that was bad news. Roger had taken the same path he had, leaving him nowhere to go.

"Damn it!"

Dongze's physical training had already put him far ahead of most people. But against someone who practiced his punches on mountains, he had no confidence at all.

If Garp caught up and discovered the girl in his arms, Dongze might not be able to leave.

It wasn't just that he liked her. He also needed her ability to decipher Poneglyphs, so he couldn't hand her over.

He knew Garp the Hero from the anime, but what Garp truly believed was another matter.

Dongze couldn't gamble on it. If he lost, he might win himself a one-way ticket to Impel Down. Until he knew where Garp stood, running was his best option.

Fortunately, he had maxed out Shave and Geppo long ago. Otherwise, the man behind him might already have caught him.

"Mr. Dongze, who's that behind us?"

The two sides were still far apart. Robin couldn't make out the man's face, only hear his voice, so she asked out of curiosity.

Dongze didn't slow down. Catching the air off guard, he stomped on it twice more and shot forward.

"Garp," he said.

Robin went pale. "The Marine hero Garp? The legendary Marine who chased Pirate King Roger across the world?"

As the two of them began to descend, Dongze caught the air off guard again and gave it two quick kicks.

"Mm!"

"Kid! Stop right there!"

The voice rang out again.

Sensing the man behind him suddenly accelerate, Dongze's expression changed.

"Holy shit! You shameless old bastard! You can still go faster? You've got to be kidding me!"

At that moment, Dongze's feet turned black as he coated them in Armament Haki.

This time, he didn't catch the air off guard. He stomped it mercilessly.

His speed surged again. He shot forward like a bullet, so fast he was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Seeing the brat ahead speed up once more, Garp was stunned. He was already using Armament Haki.

He had practically trampled the air behind him to pieces.

Each pocket of displaced air had become a little whirlwind. How could this kid still get faster?

After a couple more strides, Garp caught on. The brat ahead of him must have mastered Armament Haki too. That was how he had accelerated again.

Garp's eyes lit up. Harry had told him the kid was still a teenager. Talent like that was rare.

Garp stopped holding back. Going all out, he surged forward even faster.

Sensing Garp behind him, Dongze nearly jumped out of his skin.

"You can go faster? You old dog! You're wearing a dog hat, and you look the part! Any faster and you'll get a speeding ticket!"

Dongze had no choice but to go all out too. But he was carrying someone, and the gap began to narrow bit by bit.

More time passed. No matter how Dongze ran, Garp stayed hard on his heels. Two figures flashed through the sky like lightning. If they'd had headlights, it could have been a high-speed chase.

Between them, they had turned a straightforward escape into a race for their lives.

"Kid! You're carrying someone, too! Let's see where you can run now!"

Garp's voice rang out again when they were a thousand meters apart.

He could almost see victory in sight.

The kid was finally about to fall into his hands. Just imagining Sengoku's eyes bulging made him feel as good as cracking open an ice-cold soda on a sweltering day.

Hearing Garp, Robin glanced at the fine beads of sweat forming on Dongze's forehead. Her eyes shifted away. "Sir, why don't you put me down? Garp's right. If this keeps up, neither of us will get away!"

Dongze froze, then looked at the girl whose face was buried against his chest. A rueful smile tugged at his lips.

If I put you down, why would I need to run? I'm just a Pirate Hunter. And I kept the whole business of beating up Crocodile so quiet that he'd never tell anyone about it.

Garp's a Marine. He wouldn't do anything to me! But you're different. You're an actual pirate! If that old man gets carried away, he could toss you straight into Impel Down!

Dongze didn't tell Robin any of that. After all the days they'd spent together, he wouldn't abandon her unless he had no other choice.

"Don't be silly! You don't even weigh as much as my weapon. Putting you down wouldn't make much difference!"

Robin's cheeks reddened. She fell silent and tucked herself closer against Dongze, trying to reduce the wind resistance.

Dongze narrowed his eyes. At this rate, Garp would catch him before long. He needed another way out.

His thoughts raced, and a name suddenly came to mind.

"Iron Palm Water-Walking!"

With no time to hesitate, Dongze gritted his teeth. As the figure behind him drew closer, he gradually lowered his altitude without slowing down.

Garp narrowed his eyes. Had the brat given up?

Before he could laugh, a huge wave exploded from the sea, rising dozens of meters into the air.

It raced into the distance without losing speed. Garp stared for a moment. What kind of move was that?

But it didn't slow him down. He kept charging straight after Dongze.

Water offered far more resistance than air, and the distance shrank again. Before long, only five hundred meters separated them.

Garp could now vaguely make out the person in Dongze's arms.

"Well, kid, you sure know how to enjoy yourself! Couldn't leave without bringing a beauty along!"

Dongze didn't answer this time. His teeth clenched, he fixed the corner of his eye on the panel.

Urgency welled up inside him.

If his Golden Finger failed him now, he'd be in serious trouble.

Fortunately, the Golden Finger didn't disappoint. After Dongze had run two kilometers across the sea, Water-Walking finally lit up.

Only it wasn't called Water-Walking. It was Water-Walking.

Water-Walking: 100/100000.

In that brief span, Garp closed another two hundred meters. Only three hundred meters remained.

Dongze gritted his teeth. He had no time to test what Water-Walking could do; he activated it at once.

"Water-Walking!"

An invisible force enveloped Dongze. His body grew lighter, and the water beneath his feet no longer felt soft. It felt as solid as level ground.

The force pushing back against his feet suddenly more than tripled.

Dongze's speed shot up. A white line streaked across the sea, and he was gone.

Behind him, Garp stared in disbelief.

"What the hell..."

"Is that guy a Fish-Man?"

Garp Confronted: A Fight Dongze Couldn't Escape

It was another clear, sunny day.

The sea breeze carried a damp chill. On an unnamed island, Dongze opened his bleary eyes.

Remembering everything that had happened yesterday, he cursed under his breath.

If Water-Walking hadn't come through at the end, he might have been finished.

He glanced at the panel. Water-Walking's proficiency was now maxed out.

He had old Garp to thank for that. It was the first skill he had ever maxed out in a single day.

It was ridiculous.

Garp was so old, yet his stamina was terrifying.

Even after Dongze had opened up a lead, Garp had kept him going for an entire day. Dongze had no idea how the old man kept tracking him. By the time Garp finally stopped, Dongze's feet were cramping!

He had almost run himself into the ground.

But he hadn't relaxed for long when he saw Robin approaching with a burly old man. Dongze couldn't help smiling bitterly.

"Not running this time, kid?"

Dongze sprang to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Why bother? You've already got this foolish girl, Vice Admiral Garp!"

Robin froze. She hadn't recognized Garp. She had only seen a seemingly pitiful old man all by himself. Of course, if there was one thing to say about Robin, it was that she had peculiar tastes. Somehow, she had taken pity on a towering, broad-shouldered old man. So she had brought him along, never imagining he was Garp the Hero, a Marine legend.

"Dongze! He's Garp?"

Robin went blank. The fruit she had gathered fell from her arms, but she didn't notice. She had gone looking for food and found Garp on the island, his clothes torn and his face covered in dust. Thinking he was stranded, she had taken pity on him and brought him back.

She had unwittingly brought them the very man who had chased them yesterday. In the pirate world, kindness could sometimes get a person killed.

Garp glanced at Robin, unconcerned.

"She isn't my target! Just a young girl. If this were fifty years earlier, maybe I'd have been interested!"

Dongze gave a dry laugh. He didn't believe Garp had failed to see through Robin's disguise. With Observation Haki at that level, even a blind man could see through people.

Fujitora, one of the future Three Admirals, was a blind swordsman, and he got around just fine.

"Really? She has another name, you know."

Garp narrowed his eyes. "What, the little girl isn't called Xiao Yi?"

"She has another name. Nico Robin. The sole survivor of Ohara."

Dongze's words plunged the island into silence.

After a long while, Garp spoke in a low voice.

"Kid, you didn't have to say that."

"Would keeping quiet have fooled you?"

Garp turned and studied Robin carefully.

"If her hair and eyes were a different color, she'd be the spitting image of Nico Olvia," he said with a sigh.

"I regret what happened back then, too."

"As a Marine, there are things I've had to compromise on. Kuzan told me about what happened to you back then."

"In the end, Ohara crossed a line the World Government wouldn't allow anyone to cross. Its destruction was inevitable. The world isn't fair. My years in the Marines have taught me that much."

"That's why I've never wanted a promotion to Admiral. I'd like to beat those scum senseless myself, but we stand on different sides."

Robin trembled as she listened. She hadn't expected such words from a man who looked so rough.

He neither denied nor concealed what the Marines had done. He acknowledged it outright. Was that what made him a Marine hero?

The painful memories returned. Fire and smoke filled her mind. Ohara cried out amid the flames, and everyone on the island died under the Buster Call. Her mother, her friends, her teachers—none had been spared.

For Robin, it was a nightmare, a thorn buried deep in her heart. Every memory of it tore her open again.

Before she knew it, tears streamed down Robin's face. She demanded an answer from Garp, the man who represented the Marines: "Then why did you kill all those innocent people?!"

She no longer cared what might happen to her. She only wanted to know why.

"All we wanted was to uncover the lost history! Why did the Marines have to kill everyone?"

"Why..."

"Little girl, hasn't this brat told you?"

Garp glanced at Dongze, who stood there ready to watch the spectacle, and decided to drag him into it.

Oh, so the kid wants to laugh at me? Even Sengoku wouldn't dare. I'm not letting you sit back and enjoy this!

"Hey, this is Marine business! What would a kid like me know? Don't try to change the subject!"