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"It's him?"
Lius widened his eyes in disbelief upon seeing the newcomer.
Cold sweat beaded on Ace's forehead. A mix of guilt and terror filled his eyes as he watched Garp stride into view.
Mostly terror.
Lius instantly realized why Momousagi and Hina had let them leave so easily.
It explained the faint trace of pity they had shared in their parting glances.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, Monkey D. Garp!
So this was the trump card waiting for them.
Nami and Vivi failed to notice the duo's unusual reactions.
Hearing Lius confidently shout for them to charge forward calmed their nerves. They hurried their pace alongside Igaram without a second thought.
"Hey Nami, wait!"
Lius grabbed her arm the moment he realized his crewmates were charging forward without fear of death.
At these words, Vivi and Igaram came to a halt and turned to look at him.
Only then did they realize that the two men who had just casually rejected a Warlord's recruitment were now sporting pale faces.
"What's wrong?" Nami asked, glancing between Lius and the approaching old Marine in sheer confusion.
It was just a Marine, right?
They had run into them before.
Besides, this was just a single old man.
She was not the only one harboring these thoughts. Vivi and Igaram felt the exact same way.
"It's nothing. Just take Vivi and the others and leave first. We will catch up!"
Lius forced his voice to sound as relaxed as possible.
He let go of Nami's arm and stepped directly in front of her, his hands gripping the hilts of the swords at his waist.
"Rest assured. We will catch up to you as fast as we can!"
He drew Yubashiri and his cursed sword from his waist in a flash.
A chilling glint reflected off the sharp blades.
"What are you talking about? I am not leaving!" Nami stared at his back, her eyes welling with a mix of worry and surprise at his grim tone.
She had already made up her mind to stand by him no matter what came their way.
Vivi and Igaram stood rooted to the spot in absolute shock.
However, there was no time for anyone to process the situation.
While everyone other than Lius remained completely in the dark.
Ace broke his long silence and lifted his head, his gaze complicated as he watched Garp stride closer.
"Grandpa, what are you doing here?"
His bitter words struck Nami and the others like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky.
What?
The group whipped their heads around to stare at Ace in sheer disbelief.
Grandpa?
Was this a joke?
And he was a Marine!
"You brat! So you actually remember your grandpa!"
Garp ground to a halt and roared out, glaring daggers at his grandson.
He then shot a fierce grin in Lius's direction. "Did this little punk lure you out to sea?"
"Me?" Lius arched an eyebrow.
Just as he opened his mouth to retort, his expression twisted in alarm. "Nami, run!"
"No!"
Nami gritted her teeth and shook her head with absolute resolve.
But in the very next second!
Garp vanished from his spot and materialized right in front of Lius, hurling a brutal iron fist straight at him.
Boom!
The collision between flesh and blade unleashed a shockwave that crushed the desert floor.
The ground beneath their feet caved in by half a meter, forming a massive crater roughly ten meters wide.
The lingering impact swept outward like a hurricane, blasting a cloud of sand and dust into the sky.
"I will take Vivi and go first!"
Startled by the sheer destruction, Nami grabbed Vivi and bolted toward the depths of the desert without looking back.
She knew better than to stay. Lingering around a battle of this scale would only serve as a distraction for Lius.
The moment the old Marine threw that punch, she realized he was a terrifying powerhouse on par with Shiki.
"Trying to escape? You are not going anywhere on our watch!"
The Marines near the town snapped out of their daze the moment they saw the girls fleeing.
These were elite soldiers. Every single one of them was highly capable.
If they caught up, Nami would never be able to fend them off alone.
"Ace!" Lius shouted as he locked blades with Garp's iron fist, surging strength into his arms.
Boom!
He used the powerful recoil to flip backward, skidding across the desert sand before finally coming to a halt.
He looked up only to find that the Marines had already blocked off the group's escape route.
"Heh. Trying to save your crewmates? Too late for that!"
Garp cracked his knuckles with a wide grin.
He stomped his foot into the ground, preparing to launch another pursuit.
Right at that moment, a line of fire abruptly ignited across the desert floor.
It slithered like a snake between the Vice Admiral and Ace, rapidly expanding to form a ring dozens of meters wide.
Buzz!
The moment the two ends of the fire connected, the flames skyrocketed into a towering wall of intense heat, completely isolating the two men from Lius.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa!"
Ace let out a furious roar.
A deafening explosion erupted from within the fiery perimeter as torrential flames shot straight into the sky.
The sheer heat dyed the world a brilliant red.
The power behind the attack was unimaginable.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
The Marines chasing after Nami turned pale with fright at the sight.
Pushing his speed to the absolute limit, Lius arrived and placed himself squarely between the soldiers and his fleeing crewmates.
"Get lost!" His pupils constricted as he swept his gaze over the crowd of Marines.
Boom!
He unleashed his max-level Conqueror's Haki at full force. The pressure was heavy enough to manifest physically, causing the surrounding desert to violently heave and churn like a stormy sea throwing up monstrous waves.
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