Meanwhile, on a Marine warship seventy nautical miles away from the heat of the battlefield.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku was staring intently at the sea chart spread out before him, his face turning a sickly shade of ashen gray.
"Where the hell is that bastard Garp?!"
The communications officer standing nearby was drenched in a cold sweat, his voice trembling as he held the receiver. "Re... Report, Fleet Admiral Sengoku! We just lost the signal from Vice Admiral Garp's warship!"
"It sank?!" Sengoku shouted, his eyes wide with shock.
"No... no..." The communications officer swallowed hard, looking as if he had just seen a ghost rise from the deck. "It is because the speed was too high; he has already moved far beyond our maximum monitoring range! Based on the very last coordinates sent back to us... he... he..."
"What about him? Speak up!"
"He is likely already reaching the edge of Golden Lion's encirclement!"
"What?!"
The teacup in Sengoku's hand shattered with a sharp snap, porcelain shards flying everywhere. He instantly transformed into his massive Golden Buddha form, his body radiating a blinding light. His angry roar echoed through the clouds:
"You bastard, Garp!!! I told you to stand by on the perimeter! Who told you to take on a whole grand fleet by yourself?!!"
"It is over... it is all over... My entire plan to wait for them to wear each other out..."
Sengoku clutched his forehead in genuine pain, feeling a migraine forming.
The Edd War Sea Area, the eye of the storm.
Dark clouds loomed over the scene as if the sky had been torn open by a giant hand. Purple lightning surged wildly through the thick clouds, each crackle illuminating the desperate disparity in military strength on the sea below.
A total of 60 heavy warships flying the flag of the Flying Pirates were spread out in a massive fan shape. Their rows of cannons were locked onto the solitary vessel sitting at the center of the trap—the Oro Jackson.
The wind howled with murderous intent, and massive waves surged high into the air. Yet, at the very center where two of the world's strongest Conqueror's Haki collided, the sea surface remained eerily smooth, like a dark mirror. It was because the very atmosphere was being compressed into immobility by the sheer weight of those two competing wills!
"Jiehahahahahaha! Roger!"
A man wearing a traditional kimono and wooden geta, with wild golden hair that flowed like a lion's mane, was floating effortlessly in mid-air. A cigar was clamped firmly in his mouth, his arms were crossed over his chest, and the two famous blades at his waist, Oto and Kogarashi, gleamed with a bloodthirsty chill under the flashes of lightning.
The Flying Admiral, Golden Lion Shiki! The most powerful overlord on these seas at this present moment!
He looked down arrogantly at the man on the deck of the single ship. "Stop this futile resistance! Your little adventure has finally reached its end!"
"Just give me the nod and be my right hand! With the locations of the Ancient Weapons that I know, combined with your strange ability to hear the Voice of All Things... we would be invincible!"
Golden Lion spread his arms wide, gesturing to the horizon. "Together, the entire world is ours for the taking! Do you really want to die in a place like this?"
On the deck of the Oro Jackson.
Jabba, Shanks, Buggy, and the other crew members had already gripped their weapons tightly, their faces solemn to the extreme. Only the man standing at the bow remained grinning, revealing his signature row of bright white teeth, his wild mustache quivering with his deep laughter.
"Gurarararara! Shiki! I have told you many times already!"
Gol D. Roger pressed one hand against the Straw Hat fluttering wildly in the wind on his head, while his other hand slowly drew the Supreme Grade Sword at his waist—Ace.
Clang!
The blade was unsheathed, and Roger's Haki soared toward the heavens! A red-and-black shockwave erupted from his body, forcefully piercing a hole through the thick dark clouds above!
"I have no interest in ruling the world! If you cannot live as you please, then what is the point of being a pirate?!"
Roger's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, the tip of his blade pointing directly at Golden Lion in the sky. "You want my freedom? Then come and take it, Shiki!!"
"What an utterly hopeless fool!"
Golden Lion's expression darkened instantly. "In that case, sink to the deepest depths of this sea along with your ship!"
He thrust his right hand high into the air, and the gunners on the 60 plus warships behind him pulled their lanyards simultaneously.
"All fleet—Fire!!!"
The muzzles of thousands of heavy cannons lit up the dark sea at once. Rayleigh adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his longsword already unsheathed. He gave a wry, calm smile. "Now this really is a big problem, Captain..."
However.
Just a second before the first shell was about to leave the barrel of its gun.
BOOM!!!
A roar filled with the aesthetics of mechanical violence suddenly erupted from the rear flank of the battlefield, a sound so incredibly loud it even drowned out the crashing thunder!
"What is th... Holy crap?!" Buggy's hand holding his telescope shook violently, and his eyes practically popped out of his head.
Everyone, including Golden Lion and Roger, instinctively turned their heads to look toward the source of the noise.
"That is..."
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses, looking toward the rear flank in total surprise. Atop a giant wave a few nautical miles away, a Marine warship with a peculiar style was racing forward at a speed that defied all common sense!
Two trails of blue airflow exhaust sprayed from its stern like rocket engines. Its bow was tilted high into the air as it surfed on waves dozens of meters tall! Even more terrifying, standing on the iconic dog-head figurehead at the bow was a man draped in a white coat of justice, his face practically screaming with excitement.
"That is..." Golden Lion's pupils shrank in recognition.
Before he could even react, the warship used the massive potential energy of a wave to soar 100 meters into the air, crashing violently into the heart of Golden Lion's grand fleet encirclement!
At the exact moment the warship reached its highest point in the sky, that man moved.
Garp stepped off, shattering the warship's dog-head decoration under the force of his jump. He transformed into a bolt of black lightning that shot into the sky, soaring over dozens of Golden Lion's warships.
"Puhahahahahaha! How could a gathering this lively go on without me!!!"
Along with a laugh that rang through the heavens, the dog-head decoration beneath Garp's feet was crushed into dust. He became a pitch-black afterimage, kicking out a series of sonic booms in the air and ignoring all laws of physics as he charged straight toward Golden Lion in mid-air!
His right fist was pulled back to its absolute limit, coated in high-density Armament Haki that made it look as deep and dark as obsidian.
"Roger is my prey! Who gave you small fry permission to lay a single hand on him?!"
"Get the hell... out of my way!!"
While still in mid-air, Garp threw a single punch at the flying warship blocking his path, which was just about to fire its cannons on Roger.
BOOM!!!
There were no fancy techniques, only pure, unadulterated violence. One punch. That 100 meter long heavy three-masted ship was like building blocks struck head-on by a giant's hammer. It shattered inch by inch from the center!
Splinters flew, the keel snapped, and the massive hull disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a shower of fireballs and debris that slammed into the sea, kicking up massive waves!
"Garp?!!"
Golden Lion and Roger shouted the name almost simultaneously, but their tones contained vastly different emotions.
Roger was delighted. "Hahaha! Garp! You bastard, your timing is perfect!"
Golden Lion was enraged. "You mad dog! This is the New World! You dare come here to die with only one ship?!"
"So what if it is just one ship?"
Garp landed lightly on a floating piece of wreckage. He calmly picked his nose and looked at the sky-filling fleet with a face full of utter disdain.
"To clean up you pieces of trash, my two iron fists are more than enough!!"
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