Chapter 320: Threat
Dalton stared at the distant battle.
Then something clicked.
Axel.
Garp.
The shared surname on Axel's bounty poster.
A disturbing possibility entered his mind.
He turned toward Hina.
"That boy... is he related to Vice Admiral Garp?"
Hina nodded.
"Mm."
She took a drag from her cigarette.
"He's his grandson."
Dalton's expression changed.
"Then is that why he hasn't been captured yet?"
He hesitated.
"Because Vice Admiral Garp has been showing him mercy?"
Hina's voice immediately sharpened.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Dalton looked at her.
"Vice Admiral Garp isn't the kind of man who would abandon his duty because of personal feelings."
Her eyes returned to the battlefield.
"And that kid's strength..."
She paused.
"Hasn't truly been revealed yet."
Dalton went still.
What they were witnessing now was not his full strength?
He looked toward Axel again.
The white-haired youth reminded him strangely of a mountain goat.
At first glance, there was nothing particularly imposing about him. His body was slender, his limbs did not look especially powerful, and he often carried himself with an almost absent-minded laziness.
Yet beneath that harmless appearance was a frightening vitality.
And once provoked, the horns came out.
Dalton felt a chill.
If this was still not Axel fighting seriously, then what would happen when he finally did?
For the first time, Dalton felt genuinely fortunate that he had avoided taking drastic action against him earlier.
If he had made the wrong choice, Drum Island might already have paid the price.
Now he could only hope Wapol would not do anything foolish before Axel was either arrested or left the island.
Had Dalton known about the agreement Axel had already made with Kureha regarding Wapol's castle, his concern would have been far greater.
...
The battlefield was scarred beyond recognition.
Sword slashes cut through the frozen ground.
Crater after crater marked where Garp's fists had landed.
The snow-covered mountainside looked less like terrain and more like a canvas someone had violently carved apart.
At the center of it all, Axel held his wooden sword with both hands.
The blade was locked against Garp's fist.
"Old man."
Axel's arms trembled slightly under the pressure.
"Are you planning to get serious at some point?"
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"Or is this really all you've got?"
Garp grunted.
"If you don't actually intend to catch me, then get out of my way and let me leave."
"Hmph."
Garp pressed down harder.
"Stop pretending, brat."
His eyes dropped toward Axel's hands.
"They've been shaking this whole time."
Axel said nothing.
"And instead of talking nonsense, why don't you just come back with me?"
Garp's expression hardened.
"That would solve everything."
Axel looked at him.
"Go back?"
A laugh escaped him.
"Back to that false world?"
Even in the middle of their struggle, his voice sounded strangely relaxed.
Garp's face became stern.
"Then I'll tie you up and drag you back."
His muscles tightened.
"I told you years ago."
"I'll make you the strongest Marine there is."
Axel laughed again.
Confidence filled his expression.
Then he stopped resisting directly.
Instead, he borrowed the pressure of Garp's fist, redirected it, and slid backward across the ground.
Distance opened between them.
Axel lowered his wooden sword.
"Old man Garp."
His smile faded slightly.
"How about I give you a choice?"
Garp frowned.
"A choice?"
"What kind?"
Axel tapped the wooden sword against the ground.
Tap.
Tap.
"I'm not some hot-blooded idiot who fights without thinking."
Garp watched him carefully.
"We've been fighting for quite a while now."
Axel continued.
"Did you really think I was wasting all that time talking?"
Garp's eyes narrowed.
"My greatest advantage against you is mobility."
Axel glanced upward.
"The air suits me far better than the ground."
He spread one hand.
"So why do you think I've stayed down here this entire time?"
Garp's expression changed.
"What are you talking about?"
Axel tapped the ground once more.
Tap.
The island trembled.
At first, it was barely noticeable.
Then the vibration grew stronger.
Snow slid from trees.
Loose stones began jumping across the ground.
The tremor spread outward, no longer limited to the battlefield.
Within moments, all of Drum Island was shaking.
And the intensity kept increasing.
It was far stronger than the earlier tremors caused by their fight.
The sensation resembled an earthquake.
Not a minor one either.
...
Inside the royal castle, Wapol was lounging comfortably when the floor moved beneath him.
"What?!"
He rolled straight off his chair.
The pile of metal food on the nearby table collapsed with him.
Clang!
Bang!
Pieces of iron landed on his head.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Wapol crawled out from beneath the debris.
A guard stumbled into the room.
"King Wapol!"
The man nearly fell as the floor shook again.
"An earthquake!"
"An earthquake?!"
Wapol's eyes bulged.
He immediately covered his head.
"Protect me!"
He scrambled toward the door.
"Get me out of here!"
Wapol rushed from the castle.
Outside, he soon encountered Chess and Kuromarimo.
Kuromarimo, recognizable by his large afro and gloves, struggled to keep his footing.
"King Wapol!"
Wapol grabbed him.
"What's happening?!"
Kuromarimo looked around.
"This might not be an earthquake."
Wapol stared.
"What do you mean?"
"If it were a natural earthquake, it shouldn't continue like this without causing more structural destruction."
Chess, dressed in blue with his bow and arrows on his back, nodded.
"This feels more like something is forcing the island to move."
Wapol's face paled.
"Forcing the island?"
He bit into a chunk of iron to calm himself.
"When did someone capable of something this insane arrive here?!"
Kuromarimo thought for a moment.
"The only major outsiders currently on Drum Island are the Marines and the criminal with the four-hundred-million-Berry bounty."
He glanced toward the distant mountains.
"It's probably connected to their battle."
"Too dangerous!"
Wapol immediately panicked.
"This is way too dangerous!"
He spun toward his men.
"Get the Isshi-20 here!"
"I want every doctor ready to treat me at a moment's notice!"
Chess nodded.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And prepare the treasure!"
Wapol continued.
"If anything goes wrong, we're taking a ship and leaving this island immediately!"
Kuromarimo and Chess both moved to obey.
Then Wapol suddenly toppled sideways.
"WHOA!"
He crashed onto the ground.
This time, nothing had tripped him.
The ground itself had shifted.
Or rather, the entire island had.
Drum Island began to tilt.
Ten degrees.
Twenty.
Nearly thirty.
Wapol's round body rolled helplessly across the snow.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
...
Across Drum Island, panic spread.
Buildings creaked.
Furniture slid across floors.
People stumbled through streets as the very land beneath them tilted at an impossible angle.
Back on the mountain, Axel stood calmly before Garp.
"The island is going to keep turning."
Garp's expression had gone completely still.
Axel continued.
"Eventually, it'll rotate one hundred and eighty degrees."
Complete inversion.
The consequences were obvious.
Drum Island would overturn into the sea.
Everyone living on it would be thrown into freezing water.
In the waters surrounding a winter island, ordinary people would not survive long.
Even those who somehow escaped drowning would face another problem.
Food.
Shelter.
Supplies.
Everything on the island would be destroyed or lost.
Calling what Axel offered next a negotiation would have been generous.
It was a threat.
A threat backed by the lives of everyone on Drum Island.
Axel looked directly at Garp.
"You leave."
"And I stop."
Garp answered immediately.
With his fist.
Boom!
The Iron Fist crashed into Axel.
Reflection activated.
The force failed to drive Axel back.
Instead, Garp's fist recoiled under the returned impact.
Small splits appeared across the skin.
Axel looked at him.
"I told you already."
"Your strength is exactly why my ability works so well against you."
"The harder you hit me, the more there is to return."
Garp did not answer.
For the first time since their reunion, Axel saw something unmistakable in the old man's face.
Anger.
Not irritation.
Not exasperation.
Real anger.
Axel took a step back.
He smiled.
But beneath that smile was something emptier.
Something lonely.
"I told you, didn't I?"
"I can't go back."
His voice became quieter.
"So stop dreaming about dragging me with you."
Garp's fists tightened.
Axel turned slightly and pointed toward a section of ground farther away.
"If you want to stop the island from continuing to tilt, it's simple."
"Keep striking that point."
Garp looked toward it.
"You'll be able to counteract the movement."
Axel raised one finger.
"But don't overdo it."
"I've already interfered with the island's balance."
He glanced down.
"I don't know how fragile the structure is right now."
"If you crack the island apart, I won't have enough Calculation Power left to put it back together."
Garp's expression remained dark.
"I'll undo everything once I'm finished with my business here."
With that, Axel turned.
And left.
Garp did not immediately chase him.
He simply stood there.
Silent.
His thoughts were heavier than his fists.
He had restrained himself during the fight.
Not because Axel was easy to deal with, but because breaking through Reflection by brute force carried too much risk.
Still, what troubled him now had nothing to do with battle.
Another grandson.
Another failure.
Garp had always believed in beating strength, discipline, and Marine justice into the next generation.
Yet one after another, they kept walking away from the path he had chosen for them.
And now Axel had gone even further.
Using the lives of ordinary people as leverage.
Even if Garp could tell the brat had deliberately chosen a method that could be reversed, even if he knew Axel had given him a way to protect the island, it still hurt.
This was not what a Marine was supposed to become.
Garp stared at the direction Axel had disappeared.
Then he muttered,
"Damn brat..."
He raised his fist.
And struck the ground at the point Axel had indicated.
BOOM!
The sound echoed across Drum Island.
....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03].