After smashing the royal palace to pieces in the most direct way imaginable, Da Hong stood proudly atop the ruins like a supreme demon king risen from hell. Murderous intent poured off him in waves so dense that even the Marines still standing in High Town felt a chill run down their spines.
Even Garp had never expected things to spiral this far.
A single rabbit had destroyed the royal palace of the Goa Kingdom—a member state of the World Government—in just a few minutes.
What unsettled him even more was this: from the moment he arrived in High Town until now, he hadn't seen a single member of the Goa Kingdom royal family.
That could only mean one thing.
In the minute or two it had taken him to get here, Da Hong had very likely already wiped them all out.
If a nation's royal family was annihilated, then for all practical purposes, that country was already dead.
A kingdom destroyed in mere minutes?
Even Garp, who had sailed the seas for decades, found it hard to believe. He simply stood there, staring blankly at the figure atop the rubble, forgetting for a moment that he was a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
"Excellent."
Below the ruins, tiny beside the wreckage, Droopy slowly swept his gaze over the devastation. For once, the normally detached dog had a glint of excitement in his eyes. He even raised a thumb toward Da Hong without hesitation.
"I'm very happy. You're very happy too."
"Let's go."
Da Hong wasted no words. He turned, ready to leap down from the ruins.
But the instant he turned around, Garp and the Marines in High Town came into view.
In that instant, his terrifying aura erupted again.
The next second, he vanished.
And when he reappeared, he was already in High Town.
"You," Da Hong said, standing atop the remains of a ruined mansion and looking down at Garp from above, "are you trying to capture me?"
An overwhelming pressure burst out of him without the slightest restraint, forming an invisible mountain that slammed down on Garp and the Marines behind him.
"Ahhh! Is Da Hong going to kill us too?!"
"Vice Admiral Garp, save me—I… I can't… breathe—!"
One after another, the Marines behind Garp collapsed to the ground.
Clearly, under Da Hong's crushing presence, they had no strength left to resist.
Even Garp felt an oppressive force unlike anything he had ever experienced. That invisible pressure pressing down from above was so immense that even he found it difficult to breathe.
"This… could it be? Has Mr. Da Hong awakened Conqueror's Haki too?"
Garp lifted his head toward Da Hong atop the ruins, shock written all over his face.
"Rabbit, you've gone too far. I may not like these royals or the World Nobles either, but after causing this much destruction, there's no way I can stand by as a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters—"
Before he could finish, Da Hong leapt down from the ruins and crossed the distance in an instant.
Garp's eyes widened.
"Da Hong, don't push this too fa—"
Again, Da Hong gave him no chance to finish. He threw a clean, brutal punch straight at Garp's chest.
At the last possible instant, Garp could only throw up both arms to block.
Boom!
The collision exploded like thunder.
A terrifying shockwave burst out from the two of them and ripped through everything in every direction. Shops, mansions, entire rows of buildings—all of it was shredded apart and swallowed by the blast, reduced to rubble in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, every structure within hundreds of feet had become ruins. The lingering force crackled over the wreckage, with occasional sparks flashing in the air.
The Marines behind Garp, whether already unconscious or still struggling to stay on their feet, were all swept away like leaves in a hurricane.
"Da Hong!"
Garp, having barely managed to withstand that first punch through sheer monstrous strength and experience, glared up at the rabbit's face—now twisted into something savage as berserk rage split it into a demonic grin—and roared in fury:
"If you keep acting like this, have you ever thought about the trouble you'll bring your companions?"
Those words seemed to clear Da Hong's mind for a fraction of a second.
He tilted his head slightly, then opened that torn, monstrous mouth and spoke in a flat, chilling tone:
"If I kill you, then no one will know I'm connected to the boss."
The words had barely left his mouth before his fist rose again—
And then the beating began.
In the span of a heartbeat, Da Hong unleashed over a hundred punches, every single one carrying enough force to smash apart the royal capital of the Goa Kingdom.
Under that storm of blows, Garp had no opening to counterattack at all. He could do nothing but block in a frenzy.
But even for him, facing Da Hong's berserk, perfected body in direct combat was too much.
He managed to block dozens of punches—but only just.
When Da Hong's final punch came down, Garp finally lost control. He spat out a heavy mouthful of blood on the spot.
Then an even greater force exploded through his guard.
The next second, he was blasted away like a meteor, shooting straight into the sky until he vanished deep into the clouds.
Off the Coast of the Goa Kingdom
Green Rabbit steered the ship across the sea at top speed.
It was already moving fast, but the dark shapes still falling from the sky kept pace with them like a nightmare.
Some splashed down directly in front of the ship.
A few nearly crashed onto the deck itself.
By now, Kairo had already seen exactly what these falling black shapes were.
Some were armored soldiers.
Others wore the fine clothes of nobles and royalty.
Finally, after the last body hit the sea, the night sky went clear again.
Green Rabbit let out a long breath of relief and wiped the sweat from his face.
Kairo stepped out from the cabin and onto the deck.
All around the ship, corpses floated on the water.
Some were face-down.
Others floated on their backs with limbs splayed open.
Men and women alike drifted in the surf—some with their heads smashed to pulp, others with their eyes bulging from their sockets. Their deaths were grisly.
Then Kairo's gaze caught on one particular figure.
Off the starboard side, among several floating bodies, was a teenage boy with an ugly, twisted face.
Though the impact had deformed his features badly, Kairo still recognized him.
It was none other than Stelly—the white-eyed ingrate adopted by Sabo's parents in the original story, and the future king of the Goa Kingdom.
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