The moment Lorne finished speaking, the cannonball hurtling through the air traced an extremely abrupt curve.
The black iron ball had been heading straight for the little wooden boat, but an instant before it reached its target, its trajectory veered wildly off course.
Boom!
The cannonball slammed into the sea less than three meters to the left of the wooden boat, blasting up a towering column of water over ten meters across.
Several more explosions followed in rapid succession.
Boom, boom, boom!
The cannonballs Garp threw landed one after another, yet precisely avoided the little boat that looked ready to capsize, all crashing into the empty waters around it.
Walls of water shot skyward, blocking the view, while tremendous shock waves drove the seawater into violent, spreading ripples.
Ace's little wooden boat pitched wildly atop the waves, like a dead leaf struggling in a storm, liable to capsize at any moment.
"Aaaah! Have you lost your mind, old man?!"
Ace clung desperately to the gunwale, soaked to the skin, screaming amid the spray.
Despite the violent rocking, the crude little boat miraculously remained intact.
Garp stood at the bow of the Fearless, his previously taut right arm trembling slightly as his large, callused hands slowly dropped to his sides.
He blew two heavy breaths through his nostrils, a barely perceptible loneliness seeping through his angry expression.
"Tch. I'm getting old. My aim's gotten this bad."
Garp muttered, then plopped down on a wooden crate on deck and pulled a bag of donuts from inside his clothes.
He chewed large mouthfuls of food and stopped looking at the figure out at sea.
Standing by the railing, Lorne smiled as he watched the little boat stubbornly continue toward the open sea after the columns of water subsided.
"Old man, if you want