Too Beautiful to Imagine

Garp stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"That rotten temper of yours is exactly like mine when I was young!"

He stood up and brushed the bits of grass off his backside.

"Fine, I'll take care of the second condition for you. Anything else?"

"Third." Lorne stood up too and looked Garp straight in the eyes. "Give me one day off every month. I want to go back to the East Blue to see my mom."

The smile faded from Garp's face.

"That one..." He paused. "You have my word."

Lorne nodded.

"Then that settles it."

"Wait." Garp suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the furry Beast Ears on Lorne's head. "I have a condition of my own."

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go!"

"From today on, you have to call me Grandpa!"

"In your dreams!"

Bam!

Another iron fist brimming with love.

Lorne crouched on the ground, clutching his head as a third huge lump rose at light speed.

"Well? Going to say it?"

"No! Not even if you beat me to death!"

"Then I'll keep beating you until you do!"

Bam!

"...Old..."

"Hmm?" Garp's fist stopped in midair.

"Old bastard!"

Bam!

The next day.

The sun had barely poked its head above the horizon when Lorne was kicked out of his hammock.

"Get up! Training time!"

Garp's booming voice worked better than the warship's reveille bugle.

Cursing under his breath, Lorne climbed off the floor, rubbed his bleary eyes, and followed Garp onto the deck.

The soldiers had repaired the deck overnight after it had been smashed to pieces yesterday. The new planks still smelled of pine.

"Same thing as yesterday." Garp rolled his wrists, his joints crackling loudly. "I beat you, and you stay on your feet. If you fall, get yourself back up!"

"Hmph. Bring it on."

Lorne took his stance, guarding his chest with both fists.

After taking a beating all day, he really had figured out a trick or two.

He just had to adjust the angle of his body slightly at the instant a punch landed, letting the fist veer away from his vital spots.

That way, he could not only reduce the damage but also convert as much of the impact as possible into Grit!

"What are you thinking about? Spacing out?"

Garp's fist was already in his face.

Bam!

Lorne twisted sharply the instant the punch landed. Garp's fist slid past his ribs, most of its force dissipated by his abdominal muscles, with only a small portion of the impact driving into his body.

But even that small amount of force brought a trace of bloody froth to the corner of his mouth.

"Oh?" Garp raised an eyebrow. "Learned to dissipate force, have you?"

Lorne had no time to reply, because the second punch was already upon him.

Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam-!

Garp's fists moved too fast to follow, one punch after another hammering down in a furious storm!

Amid that rain of fists, Lorne used every part of his body to "catch" each punch head-on.

The Grit Gauge inside him was skyrocketing!

"Haymaker!"

Seizing a tiny opening between two of Garp's punches, Lorne drove his right fist forward, wrapped in dazzling golden light!

Garp merely raised his hand and caught it with effortless ease.

Golden light exploded in his palm, and the violent blast of air ripped several nearby deck planks clean off.

"A little stronger than yesterday." Holding Lorne's fist, Garp offered his assessment. "But you're still a long way off."

He let go, then swung his leg around and kicked Lorne in the stomach.

Lorne doubled over like a shrimp and flew backward, rolling several times across the deck.

He pushed himself up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and charged again with a fierce look in his eyes.

Bam!

Sent flying.

Got back up.

Charged again.

That process repeated for the entire morning.

By nearly noon, Lorne finally could not hold out any longer.

His body was approaching its limit, and Grit's passive recovery could not keep up with the damage Garp inflicted at all.

Bones broke and mended, then broke again. Muscle fibers tore and healed, then tore again.

His body kept testing that limit, every recovery ruthlessly squeezing out the potential in his bloodline.

When the final punch landed, Lorne's knees could no longer support him.

He fell flat on his back on the deck, face to the sky and limbs spread wide.

Sunlight shone on his battered body as those hideous wounds rapidly writhed and healed.

Lorne stared fixedly at the clouds overhead, gasping for breath.

Then he grinned.

He had felt it.

During that exchange of blows that pushed him to his limits, his body had undergone some kind of transformation.

Pushed to the extreme, his body's resilience had increased astonishingly.

Yesterday, one punch from Garp could break four of his ribs. Today, the same amount of force could break two at most!

Through repeated savage beatings, this body was becoming ever more indestructible.

"Ha... hahaha..." Lorne lay on the deck and laughed aloud. "What a damn payoff..."

"What are you laughing at?"

A broad shadow fell over him as Garp's old face leaned in, blocking the sunlight.

The old man sat cross-legged beside him, holding a huge piece of roast meat sizzling with fat, grease smeared all around his mouth as he ate.

"Hungry, aren't you? Catch."

A chunk of roast meat bigger than Lorne's head landed squarely on his face.

Lorne grabbed it, rolled upright, and took a bite.

Garp snapped his fingers, and the soldiers behind him began hauling food onto the deck with grunts of effort.

Before long, a small mountain had piled up beside the two of them.

Roast meat, grilled fish, bread, fruit, and cheese were stacked higher than a person.

"This one's mine!" Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Lorne snatched up an enormous grilled fish.

"Bullshit! I saw it first!" Garp reached over to grab it.

Bam!

Lorne punched the back of Garp's hand.

Of course, to Garp, that punch was no different from a tickle.

But Garp obligingly cried, "Ow!" Then, in the instant Lorne looked pleased with himself, he snatched the roast meat from Lorne's other hand.

"You-!"

"Hahahaha!"

Another free-for-all broke out.

The two ate as they fought and snatched food as they fought.

Lorne soon discovered a trick: Garp's defenses were weakest when he was eating.

Whenever the old man opened his mouth wide to stuff food inside, it was the perfect moment to strike!

He caught Garp in the middle of gnawing on a pig's trotter and struck like lightning, snatching away three pieces of roast meat.

"You little brat! You're learning bad habits!"

"On the battlefield, there are only winners and losers! There's no such thing as bad!" Lorne threw Garp's words from yesterday right back at him, word for word.

Garp froze for a moment, then burst into earth-shaking laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Good! Well said! That's my grandson!"

"Who are you calling your grandson?!"

Bam!

The Fist of Love arrived, late but inevitable.

Lorne clutched his head and cursed, but his hands never stopped moving as he continued frantically stuffing food into his mouth.

Between the two of them, the mountain of food rapidly disappeared.

After finishing the last piece of bread, Lorne flopped onto his back on the deck again.

His belly was round and stuffed, the sunlight felt warm, and the sea breeze carried a salty, damp scent.

The Beast Ears atop his head drooped lazily, and his whole body relaxed.

Leaning against the mast, Garp studied Lorne through half-lidded eyes.

The more he thought about this brat's constitution, the more alarmed he became.

Purely physical, ultrafast recovery that grew faster the worse his injuries became, and he could even convert the damage he took into offensive power and strike back.

If that constitution were paired with Armament Haki...

Garp sucked in a breath.

Even he gave a shudder.

That picture was too beautiful for him to dare imagine.

A monster that couldn't be beaten to death, grew stronger the more it was beaten, and could store up damage to send it back, combined with defense-bypassing Armament Haki...

"If this kid grows into his potential..." Garp murmured, thinking of Roger, of Whitebeard, and of those monsters who stood at the pinnacle of the world.

Then he looked at Lorne lying on the deck, sunning his belly, his furry Beast Ears twitching in the sea breeze.

"Now this is interesting."

Garp grinned, rose from the deck, and stretched his limbs.

"Rest for half an hour. Next, I'll teach you some real survival skills for these seas!"