Just moments ago, he had been able to send Leno flying with a single punch.
Now, his all-out strike—without the slightest restraint—had been blocked head-on?!
And more than that…
Within Leno's punch, Garp seemed to sense traces of several old acquaintances!
The feeling of his own disciple learning other people's ultimate techniques and then turning them against him—
made Garp feel as if he'd been cuckolded.
It was disgustingly infuriating.
"Get the hell away from me, Garp!!!"
Leno roared, squeezing out every last ounce of strength from his body as he shoved his fist forward!
BOOM!
Garp was actually blasted backward by the explosive force, smashing heavily into the ice below.
The solid ice layer instantly cracked open, shards flying everywhere!
Leno himself was also sent flying from the recoil—
conveniently toward his own pirate ship.
Of course, that trajectory was deliberately controlled.
Seeing him fall, Domino didn't hesitate.
She immediately used Geppo, catching the exhausted Leno and holding him securely in her arms.
Because of the earlier shockwaves, the three factions' ships had long since been scattered far apart.
Even if Aokiji wanted to pursue now, it would be troublesome—especially since he couldn't determine whether Leno still had stamina left.
And Aokiji wasn't fond of trouble.
So—
retrieving Garp from the frozen sea was the priority.
Though, as a Devil Fruit user, he couldn't do it himself. The other Marines had to handle it.
Aokiji looked toward Leno in the distance, emotions complicated.
"This guy… he can actually fight Garp-san to this extent…"
"And his Devil Fruit has no weakness…"
Even if he chased now—if Leno jumped into the sea, who could do anything to him?
For now, the clash had come to an end.
Far away—
aboard the Thousand Sunny, every single Straw Hat stood slack-jawed!
They had witnessed the entire battle.
All that remained was shock—and lingering fear.
"T-That was terrifying…"
"That level of combat…"
"They're monsters!"
"Let's go! Now! The remaining Marines aren't something we can handle either!"
"Hurry up! Whatever you do, don't sail in the same direction as that monster Leno!"
Once again, they felt lucky.
Back at Enies Lobby, Leno hadn't truly gone all out against them.
Otherwise, their sailing dreams might have ended there.
They owed that much to Robin's sacrifice.
When they remembered Leno mocking them as a pirate crew surviving thanks to a woman—
they fell silent.
The Thousand Sunny's maiden voyage…
was shrouded in gloom.
Not a trace of sunshine.
Meanwhile—
high in the sky, inside the World Economy News airship—
Morgans flapped his wings excitedly, nearly delirious with joy.
Ever since Leno killed the Celestial Dragon near Water 7,
he had been voyeuristically tailing Leno from the skies.
To him, Leno was a gold mine.
And sure enough—another explosive scoop!
"Hahahaha! This is too good! Absolutely sensational!"
Morgans drooled as he stared at the aftermath below.
"The Marine hero Garp—defeated and knocked into the sea by the very disciple he expelled! This is one of the biggest stories of the century!"
"Quick! Have the staff work overtime! Print tomorrow's headline immediately!"
"The title will be— 'Master and Disciple Split! Marine Hero Overpowered by Fallen Student! Twilight of Justice?' I, the King of News, live for explosions like this!"
"Yes, President!" The reporters rushed to carry out orders.
————
————
On the sea below—
the Marines had managed to haul Garp out of the water in a flurry of panic.
It wasn't that he couldn't climb out himself.
He was simply… stunned.
Lost in overwhelming shock and self-doubt.
From setting out to capture Leno—
to clashing with him—
to deciding to kill him—
Garp had imagined countless possibilities.
But never once had he imagined being punched into the sea by Leno.
In his mind, that had been impossible!
Even if Luffy suddenly declared he wanted to become "King of the Marines,"
Leno defeating him had seemed less likely.
Yet reality had delivered him a resounding slap.
He had lost.
Since Koby—the prodigious disciple—had appeared,
Garp had looked down on his eldest disciple Leno, even considered him mediocre.
And now?
Leno's growth speed was terrifying.
He could actually repel him head-on?!
Even if it had been just a burst—
it was enough to leave Garp shaken and deeply frustrated.
He sat in the water, mind spiraling around one question:
Where did I go wrong?
How could Leno's growth be this fast?
How could he surpass Koby, the one I placed all my hopes on?!
Doesn't that mean I, Garp, was blind?!
Suddenly—
a flash of inspiration struck him.
He thought he had found the answer.
"That bastard… he must have been hiding his strength all along!"
Garp shot upright, drenched but ignoring it as he roared,
"He did it on purpose! He always planned to leave the Navy and establish himself! That inherently evil brat Leno!"
"You hid yourself well! But I, Garp, was still one step ahead—I've seen through you!"
He burst into loud laughter—
using anger to mask the wavering in his heart…
and the faint trace of fear he refused to acknowledge.
"He must be wanted! Captured as soon as possible and publicly executed!"
Garp's voice bordered on hysterical.
"Only then can we prove the Navy is right! Prove that my choices… were never wrong!"
Those nearly obsessive words—
left the surrounding Marine officers, including Aokiji, Ain, and Tashigi—
in stunned silence.
Anyone with clear eyes could see—
Leno's previous strength had absolutely not been this overwhelming.
His current strength had very likely been developed only recently.
An unavoidable question surfaced in everyone's minds.
Just what kind of spell had Koby cast on Vice Admiral Garp?
How could Garp believe in him so blindly—
to the point of ignoring obvious facts?
Maybe it was because of that so-called "two hundred times the effort."
Meanwhile, aboard Leno's pirate ship—
Although that final blow had sent Garp crashing into the sea and looked incredibly domineering,
Leno himself wasn't faring well at all.
That move—"Annihilation of All Phenomena"—
was something he had pieced together by fusing multiple techniques, and it was far from fully mastered.
Forcing it out came with severe backlash.
His blood churned violently, his muscles felt as though they were tearing apart, and his Haki was nearly depleted.
There was no helping it—there simply hadn't been enough time.
Leno let out a bitter laugh inwardly.
Even Luffy, the so-called child of destiny, had spent two full years under Rayleigh's guidance before truly stepping into the ranks of the strong.
And before that, Luffy had years laying his foundation.
As for him?
From being thrown into Impel Down until now—it hadn't even been more than a week.
To have improved this much was already nothing short of a miracle.
Right now, he had no capacity to take on Admirals or top-tier Vice Admirals again.
But dealing with the few "companions" on this ship?
He still had that ability.
He had held something back.
No helping it—once bitten by a snake, one fears the rope for ten years.
The price of trusting Garp had been his time in Impel Down.
Fortunately—
his caution appeared unnecessary.
Seeing Leno in such a weakened state, Domino, Robin, Kalifa—even little Alice—
showed no trace of ulterior intent.
Instead, they looked flustered and worried, scrambling to tend to him and search for medicine and bandages.
"We… need a doctor," Domino said quietly, her brows furrowed as she looked at Leno's pale face.
She wasn't good at taking care of others.
But for Leno, she was willing to learn.
Still—
medicine wasn't something you could simply pick up overnight.
None of the four women aboard had any medical knowledge.
Silence fell over the cabin.
Only Leno's slightly labored breathing remained.
Yet even though he was heavily injured—
it wasn't without gain.
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