Water splashed everywhere.
Lorne's figure was instantly swallowed by the azure sea.
"Madman... he's a complete and utter madman..." a Marine soldier muttered.
Everyone crowded along the rail, watching the sea nervously.
Yet the sight they had imagined, of Lorne struggling and crying for help, never came.
A few seconds later, a black dot surfaced a hundred meters ahead of the warship, then began swimming around it at an unbelievably fast speed!
He was so fast that he even left a white wake behind him!
"Is... is he swimming?"
"How is he... faster than the ship?!"
"Is he treating the ocean like a training ground?! Does this guy have unlimited stamina?!"
The Marines on deck had gone completely numb.
Watching that figure swimming freely through the sea, they felt their understanding of the world being crushed over and over.
Underwater, Lorne felt the tremendous resistance pressing in from every direction. Every stroke of his arms, every kick of his legs, required him to engage the muscles throughout his body.
This feeling... was incredible!
He could even feel his muscle fibers continually tearing under the immense water pressure and intense exercise, then instantly rebuilding under the effects of "Battlefield Valor," becoming even tougher!
Like a true sea fish, he freely released his excess energy in the water.
However, all that commotion finally attracted the attention of the true masters of the ocean depths.
"Bogard! Below the port side! A huge shadow is approaching fast!" the lookout cried in terror.
He did not need to say it. Everyone on deck had already seen it.
A shadow even larger than the warship emerged from the depths, charging toward Lorne's position at an astonishing speed!
Its terrifying size sent a chill across everyone's scalp.
It was a large Sea King!
"Lorne! Come back!"
"Quick! Pull him up with a rope!"
"It's too late!"
Garp also put down his teacup and rose, his gaze sharpening slightly.
It was not that he was worried Lorne would die. He simply wanted to see how this lawless brat would handle the situation.
In the seawater, Lorne's beast ears suddenly twitched.
He stopped moving, suspended in the water.
A will mingling savagery and hunger locked firmly onto him from below.
"Finally, a decent punching bag."
Not only was Lorne completely unafraid, but his lips curled into an arrogant grin.
He spun around to face the enormous shadow drawing ever closer, bent his legs slightly, and assumed the opening stance of "Fist Bone."
An enormous head shot out of the darkness below, opening a gaping maw large enough to swallow a small boat!
Sharp fangs gleamed coldly in the light refracted through the seawater!
Now!
A sharp gleam flashed in Lorne's eyes!
He poured everything he had learned from Garp over the past several days, all the strength in his body, and his innate arrogance and fighting spirit into his right fist!
Every muscle in his body tensed in an instant. Power condensed to its utmost flowed through him, finally converging on his knuckles!
"Fist Bone: Star-Piercing Charge!"
He unleashed a punch!
There were no dazzling effects to this punch, yet it carried an unyielding resolve to press forward!
His fist trailed a long white stream of bubbles through the water, like a meteor shooting upstream, and struck the Sea King's enormous lower jaw with perfect precision!
Thud-!!!
An utterly muffled boom, as though it came from the depths of the soul, erupted underwater!
Centered on Lorne's fist and the Sea King's lower jaw, the seawater compressed in an instant, forming a visible ring of white shock waves that spread violently outward!
The Marines aboard the warship felt the deck shake violently beneath their feet, as though something had slammed hard into the entire ship from below!
"Wh-what happened?"
"Was that an earthquake?"
The sight underwater was even more horrifying.
The overbearing Sea King's enormous body suddenly stiffened, its charge coming to an abrupt halt.
Its lantern-sized eyes instantly lost their luster and rolled back.
One punch.
It had taken only one punch.
This enormous creature, capable of easily capsizing ships, had simply gone stiff and... passed out.
With no control over it, its massive body began slowly sinking into the depths.
"Hey, don't think you're getting away!"
Lorne grabbed the Sea King's whiskers, the muscles in both arms bulging and his veins standing out!
"Get... up here!"
He roared, driving through his waist and abdomen as he forcibly dragged the massive creature, weighing tens of thousands of tons, toward the surface!
Splash-!
An enormous shadow broke through the surface.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of every Marine aboard, Lorne hauled the Sea King's huge head out of the water by its whiskers with one hand, then swung it through the air like a hammer throw!
"What are you all staring at? Give me a hand!"
Lorne shouted and swung his arm with all his strength!
Boom!!!
He forcibly hauled the enormous Sea King out of the sea and slammed it onto the warship's broad deck, making the entire vessel tilt violently.
A deathly silence hung over the deck.
Everyone stared openmouthed at the unconscious Sea King on deck, then at Lorne, who had leaped out of the sea and was shaking the water from his hair. Their minds went blank.
"He... he caught a Sea King... for dinner?" an officer stammered.
"Am... am I dreaming? Can someone knock a large Sea King unconscious in the ocean with their bare hands?"
"Just what... is this kid's strength made of?"
"A monster... a real monster..."
Even Bogard's lips could not help twitching. He looked at Lorne as though he were some rare treasure. "To unleash such terrifying penetrating power... underwater. Mr. Garp, where did you find such a... freak of nature?"
Garp was already grinning from ear to ear. He slapped Bogard on the shoulder so hard that he nearly drove the master swordsman into the deck.
"Gahahahaha! Well? My grandson's pretty good, isn't he!"
Ignoring everyone's shock, Lorne walked over to the Sea King and kicked its enormous head. Then he waved his large hand and shouted at the cooks, who were still standing in a daze:
"Extra food!"
Those two words struck like a thunderclap, instantly setting everyone off!
After a brief silence, thunderous cheers and whistles erupted across the deck!
"Whoooooa! Extra food!!"
"Sea King hot pot! Sea King barbecue!"
"Lorne! You're so damn cool!"
The way the Marines looked at Lorne had completely changed.
It was heartfelt reverence and admiration for the strong!
In the days that followed, Lorne honed his "Fist Bone" technique under Garp's iron fists while jumping into the sea every day, using its various creatures as punching bags to sharpen his practical combat skills.
Through repeated cycles of extreme tearing and accelerated regeneration, his body evolved at a terrifying speed.
Because of him, the food aboard also became more plentiful than ever.
With him training as the ship sailed on, the days flew by.
Until one morning.
As Lorne hauled another Giant Octopus out of the sea for "extra food" and tossed it onto the deck, the lookout suddenly shouted, his voice cracking with excitement.
"Ahead! Headquarters in sight!"
"Marine Headquarters-Marineford! We're here!!!"
Lorne paused, then raised his head and looked in the direction everyone was pointing.
At the distant meeting of sea and sky, a fortress of unimaginable size slowly came into view.
A crescent-shaped harbor, towering walls, and that gate symbolizing the world's greatest fighting power...
The "Gate of Justice."
Before you continue