"Bastards!!!"
The Golden Lion was completely enraged.
He had never expected to be thwarted in succession by two unknown brats.
Just as he was about to charge into the cabin, an irritating voice came from behind him.
"Shiki! I'm your opponent!"
"Fist Bone: Meteor."
Garp's incoming fist forced him to respond with all his strength. He drew Oto and Kogarashi and unleashed a slash wreathed in Conqueror's Haki.
"Garp!! I'll kill you first."
The two flew into the air again. The Golden Lion was also afraid that if they fought on the ship, it wouldn't be able to withstand the shock waves from their attacks. If the ship sank into the sea, wouldn't all his work have been for nothing?
As for those two brats, he believed they couldn't escape his grasp either.
Inside the cabin,
Roy wiped away the trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his gaze instantly locking onto one of the rooms.
His Observation Haki sensed a single cold presence in that room alone. Though it was well hidden, its faint soul fluctuations couldn't escape him.
He gave Bullet a look, and the two walked toward the room.
At the door,
Roy took a deep breath, spreading his Telekinesis throughout the room like a precision radar.
Behind the door, that cold presence was like a venomous snake lying in wait, suppressing its killing intent and preparing to deliver a fatal blow to anyone who entered.
Bullet understood and nodded slightly, his whole body poised to strike.
Boom!
The door instantly tore free of its frame and smashed toward the Cipher Pol agent waiting on guard inside.
Bullet charged into the room in an instant, his hand coated in Haki as he headed straight for the agent. Roy followed close behind, making directly for the treasure chest beside the agent.
The Cipher Pol agent clearly hadn't expected them to enter this way. Distracted by the door flying at him, he could only block in haste when Bullet charged in behind it.
"Got it!"
Roy opened the treasure chest, revealing a snow-white fruit the size of a cantaloupe. Its stem formed the character "王," and the pattern on its surface looked like a mass of flowing wind, yet also gave off a sense of sharpness.
It looked like there was no mistake. Roy wasted no time and put it straight into his storage bag.
Seeing Bullet still fighting the Cipher Pol agent, Roy didn't worry about interfering with his fight.
He charged straight over and applied gravity to the agent.
For the moment the agent's body stiffened-
Gravity Fist: Gravity Collapse.
The gravity "singularity" on his fist tore at the muscles of the agent's back the instant it struck, leaving a spiral-shaped wound.
Seeing that he was badly injured, the two didn't linger. They darted out of the room and rushed out of the cabin.
In midair, the Golden Lion, who had been locked in battle with Garp, had clearly been keeping an eye on what was happening below as well.
When he saw the two brats rush out of the cabin, the Golden Lion's Observation Haki instantly locked onto them. Discovering that neither had the Devil Fruit on him, he relaxed a little.
He wasn't worried that the fruit had already been eaten, either. One of the brats was clearly already a Devil Fruit user, and if the other had eaten it, there would surely have been quite a commotion in the cabin.
The Golden Lion thought no more of it. After blocking one of Garp's attacks, he followed up with a Flying Slash aimed at the two.
The moment Roy and Bullet emerged, they saw a blade of sword energy more than ten meters long coming at them.
He had no time to block it. Wrapping both of them in psychic power, he swept past the incoming slash and flew straight toward the White Dove.
In the air, Garp felt a flicker of confusion when he saw the Golden Lion slash at the two children.
"Shiki, aren't those two brats your people?"
Hearing Garp's question, Shiki had a faint premonition that something was wrong.
Aboard the White Dove,
Seeing Roy and Bullet flying back, Stella hurriedly got the ship moving. As soon as the two landed, Tesoro and the others gathered around them.
"Boss, did you get it?" Savi asked anxiously.
"We've got it, but now isn't the time to catch up. We need to leave quickly."
Roy hurriedly wrapped the White Dove in Telekinesis, parting the air ahead of it. The whole ship sped away from the battlefield like an arrow, soon disappearing over the horizon.
"Bastards!!!"
"The fruit's been stolen!!!!"
The badly injured Cipher Pol agent struggled out of the cabin. His desperate shout brought the chaotic battlefield to a standstill.
Golden Lion Shiki, who was fighting fiercely with Garp, abruptly faltered. Garp seized the chance to graze his cheek with a Haki-wreathed iron fist, drawing a streak of blood.
The Golden Lion's Observation Haki rapidly spread toward the White Dove, but it found nothing except empty seawater.
"Bastards...!!!"
"Those... two... brats!!!"
The Golden Lion understood at once. Those two brats had stolen the fruit somehow.
He had planned so painstakingly, even going so far as to take Garp on directly, only to do all the work for someone else's benefit!
A towering surge of rage nearly burned away his reason.
"Pfft... Hahahahaha!"
"Shiki, your plan fell through! Hahaha!!"
Though Garp didn't know the details, seeing the Golden Lion so furious made him feel immensely satisfied, and he put even more force behind his fists.
"Garp...!!!"
The Golden Lion's Conqueror's Haki erupted. His eyes bloodshot, he roared and swung both swords, black and red Haki coiling around them. Gripping the swords in both hands, he raised them over his left shoulder.
"Secret Technique: Senbato!!"
The twin blades traced a bizarre arc, heading straight for Garp.
The savage slash forced Garp back, and the Golden Lion was about to fly off after the White Dove, heedless of everything else.
"Trying to leave? Get past my fists first!"
Garp laughed and engaged him again. Though he was curious about what the two brats had stolen to make the Golden Lion lose his composure like that, capturing the Golden Lion was his first priority.
Under the Golden Lion's frenzied assault, the fighting below had long since stopped. Marines and pirates alike used whatever means they had to withstand the shock waves spreading in every direction.
Seeing this, the Golden Lion could only let out a furious, unwilling roar.
"I'll remember this! Those two brats!!! And Garp!!"
"Men! Retreat!"
After that parting threat, he waited for his remaining crew to withdraw, then quickly left the battlefield, covered in wounds and seething with resentment, disappearing into the sky.
Garp stood silently on the damaged bow. His own side had suffered heavy losses as well. Watching the Golden Lion leave, he pulled out a packet of rice crackers and started chewing.
"Those two... brats looked a little familiar. Young people these days are really something, daring to scheme against both me and the Golden Lion."
"I'll have to look into them when I get back."
Once the White Dove reached a safe place, everyone aboard breathed a great sigh of relief.
Roy withdrew the Telekinesis he had been releasing and plopped down on the deck. After all, the Golden Lion's unrestrained eruption of Conqueror's Haki after they left had shaken even those who were already far from the battlefield.
"The operation was a success!!!"
"Yeah!!"
The crew cheered and crowded around.
Roy caught his breath and, under everyone's expectant gazes, took the treasure chest out of his storage bag.
Click!
The snow-white fruit lay quietly inside the chest. The "Wang" formed by its stem and its seemingly flowing pattern glimmered faintly in the sunlight, with a hint of sharpness emanating from it.