The warship steamed ahead at full speed, cutting through the waves.
Foosha Village, Mount Colubo, Ace, and Luffy were all left behind.
Lorne stood by the stern railing. The salty, damp sea breeze tousled the black hair over his forehead, and his unusual beast ears twitched slightly in the wind, catching every sound of the sea.
For the first time, the boundless blue made him feel how vast the world was.
"Crunch... crunch..."
The sound of someone chewing rice crackers came from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.
Garp had appeared behind him at some point, his mouth stuffed with snacks. "What are you thinking about, kid?" he asked indistinctly. "Already missing those two brats?"
"I was just wondering," Lorne said without turning, his gaze still fixed on the distant horizon, "whether the strong fighters at Marine Headquarters can give me a satisfying fight."
"Bwahahahaha!" Garp swallowed the remaining rice crackers in one mouthful and clapped Lorne hard on the back, producing a heavy thud. "Don't worry! There's no shortage of monsters over there! But..."
His tone shifted, and his eyes sharpened.
"With those half-baked skills of yours, you've still got a long way to go!"
Garp walked to the middle of the deck, spread his feet slightly, and beckoned to Lorne. "Come here."
Lorne raised an eyebrow and walked over.
"You've got the most outrageous physical foundation I've ever seen. That recovery of yours is downright monstrous." Garp looked Lorne up and down, a hint of excitement in his voice. "But your fighting style is too crude! You just charge around on brute strength. That might work against pirates in the East Blue, but on the Grand Line, you won't even know what killed you!"
"So what?" Lorne grinned. "As long as my fists are hard enough, no one can stay standing in front of me."
"Well said! But your fists aren't hard enough yet!"
Garp abruptly stopped smiling, and his entire presence changed!
He used no Haki, yet a mountainlike weight of pressure enveloped the entire deck. The Marine soldiers working nearby felt their breath catch, their movements slowing a beat.
"Watch closely, kid!"
Garp casually punched the empty space in front of him.
There was no earth-shaking display, no shrill scream of tearing air.
It was just an ordinary punch.
But Lorne's beast ears shot upright. He clearly "heard" the deck beneath Garp's feet groan under the strain the instant he punched. Every muscle, bone, and sheet of fascia in his body twisted together like a rope, sending power straight from the soles of his feet to his knuckles before finally producing a dull boom in the air!
Boom!
It was as though a depth charge had exploded on the distant seabed. The sound wasn't loud, yet it made their hearts tremble.
"What..." A young Marine soldier stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Nothing happened, did it?"
The veteran beside him pressed a hand down on his head and said in a low voice, "Shut up, brat! Take a good look at the deck beneath Mr. Garp's feet!"
The young soldier looked where he was told and immediately sucked in a breath.
The thick wooden deck around Garp's feet was covered in fine, spiderweb-like cracks!
"He can do that... with physical strength alone?" The soldier's voice trembled.
His adjutant, Bogard, stood to one side with his sword cradled in his arms. His face remained expressionless, but a trace of gravity flashed deep in his eyes.
"I call this punch 'Fist Bone.'" Garp withdrew his fist and looked at the solemn-faced Lorne as he explained, "Concentrate all the strength in your body into a single point, making your fist as hard as bone! That's a true iron fist!"
"Your Iron Body is pretty good, but it's a passive defensive move. For a truly strong fighter, the best defense is offense!"
Lorne said nothing. He walked to where Garp had stood, copied his stance, bent his knees slightly, took a deep breath, and threw a sudden punch!
Whoosh!
The wind from his fist howled with a fierce, overbearing force.
In sheer spectacle, it was even greater than Garp's punch.
But Garp only shook his head. "All show. Your strength is too scattered. You're only using your arm and shoulder, instead of 'ramming' with your whole body!"
"Your Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki haven't awakened yet, so it's too early to teach you Haki." Garp stroked his chin. "But your body's tough enough to start learning my Fist Bone series. You'll only be learning the moves for now, but with your monstrous recovery, you'll get twice the results for half the effort!"
"Again!"
"Wrong! You're turning your waist too slowly!"
"Root your feet! The power travels up from the ground!"
Thud!
Garp sent Lorne flying with a kick. Lorne flipped in midair and landed steadily, without the slightest discouragement on his face. Instead, he wore a fierce grin tinged with excitement.
"Again!"
The rest of the voyage became exceptionally "lively."
Every day before dawn, Garp would punch Lorne awake with his Fist of Love, then put him through merciless sparring on deck.
Every day, the Marine soldiers watched Garp beat Lorne in all manner of positions, the cracks of breaking bones ringing out incessantly.
But what horrified them most was that, no matter how badly he was injured the day before, Lorne would appear on deck the next morning full of life and charge in for another beating.
"That guy... is he really human?"
"Yesterday, I saw Mr. Garp twist his arm like a pretzel with my own eyes, and now there's not a thing wrong with it..."
"A monster! He's definitely a monster!"
Bogard's gaze grew deeper as he watched Lorne face Garp's heavy punches, going from utterly overwhelmed at first to gradually managing effective blocks and even attempting counterattacks.
"His rate of growth... is astonishing."
It was another day of being sent flying by a punch.
Lorne lay on the deck, his chest heaving, every bone in his body feeling as though it had come apart.
Battlefield Valor's passive effect was working at full speed. Beneath his flesh, his broken ribs made faint cracking sounds as they healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Tsk. Still not enough." Lorne frowned.
Although this level of tempering allowed him to quickly master the way Fist Bone generated power, the improvement to his physique was starting to slow.
He needed greater pressure!
"Old man," Lorne said, springing to his feet and addressing Garp, who was drinking tea, "I'm going for a swim in the sea."
"Pfft-" Garp spat out a mouthful of tea. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm going for a swim in the sea." As Lorne spoke, he stripped off his tattered shirt, revealing a lean, muscular torso covered in old scars and fresh bruises. "There's more resistance in the water. It's better for training."
At those words, every Marine aboard looked at him as though he were insane.
"Has he lost his mind? This is the Grand Line!"
"The sea is crawling with Sea Kings. Isn't he just going down there to die?"
"Vice Admiral! Stop him!"
Garp wiped the tea from the corner of his mouth. Rather than stop him, he burst into booming laughter. "Bwahahaha! Interesting! Just what I'd expect from the grandson I picked! You've got guts!"
He crossed his legs and said leisurely, "Go on! If a Sea King eats you, that'll just mean that's all you amounted to!"
With permission granted, Lorne grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
He walked to the ship's rail and, under everyone's shocked gaze, leaped overboard!
Splash!
Before you continue