vncnus 38. One match against Garp!
38. One match against Garp!
On the vast ocean, the dog-headed warship approached the massive pirate fleet in the distance.
As the distance between the two sides closed, the pirate ship behind the fleet also noticed this.
"Captain! A warship is approaching us, about three nautical miles away! It seems to be planning to attack us!"
"Warships? How many?"
"Only one!"
"One ship?" The pirate captain found it somewhat laughable. "We have a full thirty-three ships! Plus the invincible Lord Norton! Are those marines blind?"
Faced with such a huge numerical disparity, no normal person would rush over rashly, unless that person is crazy.
To deal with the Norton Pirates and the invincible Admiral Norton, the Marine Headquarters would need to deploy at least ten warships to barely be enough!
"Reporting to Lord Norton, a warship is approaching! Requesting instructions!" the pirate captain ordered.
"clear!"
Inside the sea restaurant, Norton, who was enjoying a meal, received a Den Den Mushi from the pirate captain.
"Huh? Some blind warship actually came knocking on our door?" Kro, who was standing next to him, pushed up his glasses.
Norton slowly wiped his mouth. "Looks like they're pretty confident!"
To dare launch a fierce attack in front of thirty-three pirate ships, the opponent must be either a master or a fool!
Before Norton could give any orders, the Den Den Mushi suddenly mimicked the panicked expression of a pirate captain.
"A shell is being thrown... That's... a hero..."
Before he could finish speaking, a violent explosion suddenly came from the Den Den Mushi! The Den Den Mushi disconnected, mimicking the appearance of being charred black by artillery fire, and exhaled a puff of smoke.
The surrounding officials noticed something was wrong and gathered around.
"What happened?"
At this moment, behind the Norton Pirates' fleet.
A pirate ship has been hit head-on by a cannonball and is beginning to show signs of sinking!
The one who launched the shells was not a naval gun, but an old man with gray hair and wearing a dog-head hat!
"Hahaha! Pretty ordinary! The so-called Norton gang!"
"Lieutenant General Garp! Your specially made heavy artillery shells are ready!"
A group of strong young soldiers struggled to push a cart full of heavy artillery shells, staggering as they approached Garp, almost unable to catch their breath.
"Let me count them! Ten, twenty, thirty... bring me three more!" Garp counted the number of shells, not very satisfied.
"One cannonball destroys a ship! That Sengoku guy will thank me for that, won't he? So economical!"
Several nautical miles away, aboard the White Pearl.
"You must be kidding me. What kind of warship has cannons that can shoot that far?" Nami put down her binoculars and exclaimed in surprise.
"No...it wasn't fired from a warship, it was a person!" Zoro shouted from the lookout tower, telling everyone.
"It was an old guy wearing a dog-head hat! He was the one who threw the shell!"
"A dog-head hat?" Fu Ning muttered to herself, then her expression suddenly changed. "Could it be...?"
"Hero Garp!" Norton also realized what was happening, his eyes gleaming, his fighting spirit burning like a raging fire.
He should have realized this earlier. In the East Blue, besides Garp, who else would be so reckless as to charge into a massive fleet of thirty-three pirate ships?
"What bad luck!" Sanosuke's expression turned ugly.
Encountering the legendary hero Garp in the East Blue! For a pirate, this is definitely not good luck! He's a man even more intimidating than a Marine Admiral! The face of the Marines!
"King! Let's run! We're at sea! That's the terrifying man who's hunted down the Pirate King his whole life!" Fu Ning tugged at Norton's hand.
"Escape?" Norton grinned. "I don't think so!"
"Pass down the order: have the ships behind us accelerate and overtake us! I'll personally cover the rear!"
"Are you serious? King? That's Garp!" Kro asked in astonishment.
Even a pirate would avoid Garp's ship from afar, right?
The right thing to do is to take advantage of Garp's attention being focused on the ship behind and escape as quickly as possible!
King is indeed very strong... but he can't possibly be stronger than the hero Garp!
Although it's a newly acquired ship, in this special situation, we always have to give up something in order to escape from the hands of those legendary figures!
"Didn't you hear me? Let me repeat myself!" Norton's smile widened. "I said, let the ships behind move forward! I'll deal with that old man!"
Seeing that Norton was so certain of his opinion, the others knew that nothing they said could change his mind.
The order was relayed via Den Den Mushi (snail phone).
"How is it? What did Norton say?" Bucky hurriedly asked his subordinate.
"Admiral Norton said we should go first, and he will cover the rear!" his subordinate said, somewhat shocked.
"Haha! What are we waiting for? Run! That's Garp! Only an idiot would turn back!" Buggy breathed a heavy sigh of relief, a smile of relief spreading across his face.
On the Black Cat Pirates' ship, after learning of Norton's arrangements, Django did not hesitate at all and accelerated to overtake the White Pearl!
"Captain Akin...should we run away too?"
The members of the Krieg Pirates asked Gin a question.
Ajin nodded, his expression solemn.
"Since Admiral Norton has made his decision, we must not disobey orders!"
One ship after another accelerated, overtaking the White Pearl, with the Barratier restaurant lagging behind. As the two ships passed each other, Zeff went up to the deck and tossed something to Norton from a distance.
"What is this?"
Norton caught it, looked at it, and found it to be a black, very hard object.
"A new dish! I plan to call it Great Chocolate! Don't let yourself be defeated by that old man after you've tried it! Although countless pirates have already been defeated by that old man!" Zeff laughed, he was the only one who had faith in Norton.
Norton tossed the Great Chocolate into his mouth, biting into the crunchy chocolate; the texture was like glaciers melting on his tongue.
"tasty!"
Norton gave Zeff a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, Zeff! We'll meet in Loguetown!"
"Oh!" Zeff nodded and waved goodbye.
Norton turned around and just then saw a black dot rapidly magnifying in his field of vision!
"Are they here?"
Norton grinned.
"They're here! Get out of the way!"
Everyone was astonished.
"I'm trying my best!"
Nami frantically spun the rudder, trying to dodge the projectiles!
On the entire ship, only Norton remained calm and unhurried, throwing a single punch!
The force of the punches was overwhelming!
The specially made heavy shell that was fired at high speed seemed to have hit an invisible wall!
The shell couldn't penetrate any further, and as it spun wildly, it exhausted its kinetic energy and crashed into the sea!
"Boom!"
The loud explosion and the resulting spray even caused the White Pearl to shake.
"They actually did it!" Nami's eyes widened in astonishment as she looked at Norton, who was standing atop the statue of a girl holding a bird at the bow of the White Pearl.
Norton blocked the cannonball thrown by Karp!
Moreover, it looks quite easy!
Several nautical miles away, on the dog-headed warship, Garp suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"Lieutenant General Garp, what's wrong?" The soldier wiped his sweat and struggled to his feet, supporting his back.
Just pushing this truckload of heavy artillery shells is more tiring than training!
"My cannonball was blocked! It must have been that 'Silver-haired Norton' who blocked it, right? He's not weak!" Garp said, pressing his knuckles as he picked up another heavy cannonball.
"So what's next? Let's try catching it again!"
"Fist Bone - Meteor Shower!"
One after another, black cannonballs were hurled from Garp's hands, densely packed like a meteor shower! However, each meteor in this meteor shower was a cannonball powerful enough to sink a ship!
As the dark mass of shells rained down, Nami and the others on the White Pearl wore expressions of despair.
"You're doomed!!"
Norton looked up, and the sky full of shells was reflected in his pupils like sparks igniting.
He remained calm in the face of danger, his arm muscles bulging, and he pushed forward as if he were pushing open a heavy iron door!
No door was pushed; it was the wind that was pushed! To be precise, it was countless wisps of air!
An even more terrifying sight than the punch from before appeared: the seawater churned violently with Norton's push, and a violent current of wind appeared without warning!
In the midst of the raging and violent hurricane, the incoming shells even began to retreat! They were heading in the opposite direction towards the warship!
"Wow!"
"Mr. Garp! Help!"
"How could this happen!"
The soldiers on the warship panicked.
Garp was momentarily stunned, but then burst into laughter.
"interesting!"
The next second, Garp pulled out an enormous iron ball from nowhere, even bigger than the dog-headed warship!
In an instant, the ricocheting shells struck the iron ball.
A tremendous explosion resounded throughout the entire sea! The seawater trembled as a result!
The mist whale, Dahei, trembled under the White Pearl. Damn it, how could it encounter two such outrageous humans at the same time!
For the rest of the time, Karp and Norton just kept throwing cannonballs at each other!
The explosions were deafening, sounding as if dozens of ships were exchanging fire.
But in reality, it was just the two of them having fun!
Two monsters playing!
Amidst the deafening explosions, the White Pearl and the Dog Head warship closed the distance between them.
From several nautical miles to one nautical mile, and from one nautical mile to several hundred meters.
Until Norton, standing at the bow of the ship, could clearly see Garp wearing a dog-head hat on the opposite warship!
"You little brat!"
"You old man!"
The two looked at each other, and sparks flew.
"You're the one who killed the King of Sagar and hundreds of soldiers, aren't you, silver-haired one!" Garp glanced at the massive fleet behind the White Pearl. "Now you've assembled such a huge pirate fleet, are you planning a rebellion?"
"Stop meddling! You're getting old, you should retire early!" Norton showed no mercy to Karp, grinning as he said, "Otherwise, once you lose to me, your lifelong reputation will become a stepping stone for the younger generation!"
"What an arrogant kid!" Even Garp was taken aback.
For many years, no one dared to speak to him like that!
But after only a few seconds of stunned silence, Garp's lips curled into the widest possible smile.
Then he leaped!
"Vice Admiral Garp!! Where are you going?!"
"Whoa! That old man is going to jump over here!"
In mid-air, Garp pressed his shoulder, raised his fist, and black energy burst forth like lightning!
Norton's eyes sharpened; for the first time since breaking through his human limiter, he sensed a "threat"!
That's awesome! And it's Conqueror's Haki!
The black and red lightning crackled and crackled; it was the embodiment of Conqueror's Haki!
"If you've got the guts, take this punch from me, kid!"
"The Milky Way is falling!"
As the punch landed, Garp's body tilted in mid-air, and almost everyone on the White Pearl fainted from the suffocating force of the blow!
Garp's fist hadn't even landed yet! There were only a few people left standing on the White Pearl!
Norton remained unaffected, his eyes filled with fervor.
This old man might be able to give him some enjoyment!
He leaped from the girl statue at the bow of the White Pearl and threw a punch to meet Garp's fist!
There was no domineering aura surrounding it, but it was a punch thrown with utmost seriousness!
"Old man, don't even think about damaging my ship!"
When the two fists collided in mid-air, Garp's expression suddenly changed.
These iron fists, forged through countless days and nights of relentless training and after flattening countless mountains, have surprisingly felt pain again after a long time!
The storm and waves exploded at the point where Norton and Karp's fists met, and the sea within a radius of several kilometers boiled, as if it were the end of the world.
Below them, the White Pearl was violently rocking in the giant waves! The massive ship, hundreds of meters long, seemed unable to maintain its balance and was about to capsize!
The immense repulsive force pushed Karp and Norton apart, and they landed back on their respective ships.
Garp raised his fist, unable to calm down.
Norton was in high spirits; he hadn't held back with that punch just now!
But Garp actually caught it!
This is the first time we've seen this situation in the years since the limiter was broken!
This old man is stronger than anything he has ever encountered!
If we keep fighting... perhaps we'll have the chance to master Haki!
However, upon seeing the sight of so many people lying on the White Pearl, Norton suppressed his impulse.
"Come find me in Loguetown if you dare, old man! If you can catch up with me alive!" Norton shouted at Karp.
"What are you talking about, brat! Don't underestimate me!" Garp frowned, his fist still throbbing slightly.
"Haha, I'm looking forward to a fierce battle with you, old man! But now is not the time!" Norton waved his hand.
"Big Black! Capsize that warship!"
The sea, which had calmed down slightly after the two exchanged blows, suddenly trembled again, and a giant black whale with gray spots emerged from the seabed!
"What a huge sea king!" Even Garp was somewhat surprised.
Immediately afterwards, the whale obeyed Norton's order and capsized the warship!
The dog-headed warship is over fifty meters long and can be considered a large warship, but it still looks too small in front of the mist whale, which is over a kilometer long!
With almost no effort, the Mist Whale capsized the Dog Head Warship!
But what followed was the fury of the naval heroes!
"You stinking fish! Take this punch!"
Garp, draped in the coat of justice, leaped into the air and delivered a powerful punch! A massive bump rose on the head of the thousand-meter-tall whale!
The mist whale was practically in tears. What kind of situation was this?
After completing its mission, it quickly sank to the bottom of the sea.
It has created a psychological trauma for humans!
When the warship capsized, most of the naval soldiers fell into the sea from the deck. Fortunately, none of the navy sailors couldn't swim, thus preventing a tragic drowning.
But in this situation, pursuit was impossible. Garp landed on the half-sunken warship, watching the White Pearl sail away with a grim expression.
"That brat!"
The soldiers cried out for help in the water: "Lieutenant General Garp! Help!"
Garp had no choice but to turn his attention away, jump into the sea, and try to flip the warship over.
"I'm furious! Contact the Sengoku period and get reinforcements! I'm going to send that brat to the guillotine in Loguetown!"