52 The Vice Admiral's Might #52

Seizing the opportunity, Pizarro launched a surprise attack, striking Garp with a powerful horizontal swing that left a long bloody gash over his chest.

The blow instantly woke Garp up, and he paused momentarily to process the situation. "Ah... looks like I fell asleep," The vice admiral remarked with a light chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly uncaring of the wound on his chest.

Pizarro and everyone present was stunned by Garp's words, face-planting in exasperation. They had expected the vice admiral to be in pain and struggling to fight, but instead, he seemed almost amused by the situation more than anything else.

Pizarro's frustration grew, and he charged Garp a second time, his sword raised. The vice admiral stood his ground, grinning as Pizarro launched his attack, stopping the attacks with his bare hands and deflecting deflect the blade.

Pizarro's anger grew with each failed attempt to strike Garp until his blade broke. "You're not taking this seriously-Nya!" He exclaimed, throwing away the broken sword.

Garp merely shrugged, his expression unchanging. "I don't see why I should be serious when fighting a brat like you," he replied casually. "I might be old, but I'm still one of the strongest marines around..." He added with a shrug.

The vice admiral's dismissive words only fueled Pizarro's rage further, and he charged Garp once more, his fists now his only weapons. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't land a single hit on the vice admiral. Garp moved effortlessly, dodging and blocking every punch with ease.

Despite Pizarro's relentless assault, Garp seemed unfazed. He countered with a few well-placed strikes here and there, sending Pizarro reeling backward. But even as he stumbled, Pizarro refused to give up.

With a loud roar, he charged Garp again, his fists glistening with a strange, dark, metallic sheen. Garp's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden power surge. Still, he didn't lower his guard. Instead, he prepared himself for Pizarro's next attack.

As Pizarro closed in, Garp sidestepped his punch and delivered a swift punch to his side, knocking him back a few feet. Pizarro stumbled, but managed to regain his footing quickly. He launched another flurry of punches, each more powerful and faster than the last, but Garp dodged them all effortlessly.

"You're not bad," Garp said, the slightest hint of respect in his voice. "But you're not on my level yet, brat," He added as he prepared to end the fight as he was in a hurry to return to Marine HQ.

With a burst of speed, Garp closed the distance between them and landed a powerful punch to Pizarro's gut, sending him crashing into the ship's deck. The dark energy surrounding Pizarro dissipated as he lay there, gasping for air.

"That will teach you to interrupt a man's sleep," The vice admiral said as he raised his fist and blew on it before turning around and walking away, leaving Pizarro to contemplate his defeat as Marin soldiers jumped aboard the ship and quickly put him in chains.

...

'Well, that just happened...' I mused as I watched the vice admiral jump back his ship after casually beating the living crap out of one of Blackbeard's so-called titanic captains with brute strength.

I knew the old monster was powerful, but I didn't think he'd be this strong despite being so old and tanking a slash that opened his torso from the top of his chest down to his abdomen.

'And that was probably Armament Haki...' I frowned as I turned to Pizarro, who was in chains, lying on the ship's deck with a depressed expression and several marine soldiers standing over him.

Seeing a chance, I decided to seize it as I picked up the vice admiral's marine overcoat from the railing and approached the vice admiral with a big smile. "Good work, vice admiral," I said as I offered the coat to Garp, who received it with a smile.

"How well mannered..." The vice admiral said with an appreciative nod as he put the coat over his shoulder. "Why can't my two foolish grandsons be like you..." He went on as he adjusted his collar. "They only know how to badmouth their grandpa and talk gibberish about becoming pirates..."

"Ahem... so I couldn't help but notice something while you were fighting that pirate..." I said, promptly clearing my throat to interrupt the vice admiral's rant. "He seemed to cover his fist with something when he attacked you before you showed him what's up..." I added, putting on a confused and curious expression.

"Oh... you saw that...?" Garp said, seemingly surprised by my words as he gave me a strange look. "That would be Haki, but it's too early to even talk about it with you, brat..." He went on, dismissively shaking his head after a momentary pause.

"Stick around, and distinguish yourself as a strong marine soldier, and maybe I'll teach you a thing or two about it in the future," The vice admiral remarked with a grin. "Now go away. I need to make a call and have them open those gates before I lose patience and break them open..." He muttered as he shooed me away and retrieved a transponder snail from his pocket.

...

Several hours later

"Damn... and I thought sailing through the cam belt was the most horrible experience I could have..." I mused to no one in particular as I leaned over the battleship's railing and stared at the water.

The trip from Impel Down's Gates of Justice to the Marine Ford's gates only took several hours, but it might as well have been an eternity as every second of it was hell.

Riding the Tarai Current was as sudden as it was harrowing as the ship was suddenly sucked into it once the gates opened up and shot forward at an alarming pace, tossing and turning against the violent waves constantly crashing against the hull.

Several seconds into the experience was enough to forgo any hope of maintaining any facade of stability and balance despite holding to the main mast for dear life.

The only reason I didn't throw up was the control I had over my body thanks to practicing the Method, but despite struggling for the first thirty minutes, I managed to adjust and get used to the constant thrashing and speed of the ship.

Despite the first harrowing thirty minutes, crossing the Tarai current proved to be a unique experience that was thrilling in its own right as I had the opportunity to witness stunning and extraordinary sea life that can only be found in this part of the world (according to Bogard), such as giant jellyfish, and bioluminescent creatures I saw.

I was in no hurry to go through the crossing again, but maybe I could fully enjoy it as the novel experience it was in a couple of years once I'm over the trauma of the first thirty minutes of hell I suffered through today.

"Well, if it's of any consolation... you handled the crossing better than all Marines I've seen before..." Bogard said, snapping me out of my daze as he patted my back. "The best of them ended up throwing for five minutes straight..." He added with a grin.

"That barely makes up for almost having my innards turned to mush..." I said, rolling my eyes at the vice Admiral's aide. "You could have warned me, at least, you know...?" I added, giving him the side eye.

"It wouldn't have made any difference, I'm afraid..." Bogard replied with an amused expression as he shrugged. "But we're here now, and we're on time, too," He added, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder.

I followed his finger and couldn't help but pause at what I saw. Towering gray walls rose into the sky, surrounding an entire island in a protective embrace. The walls seemed to stretch endlessly, and I couldn't help but feel intimidated by their imposing presence.

The central structure rising above the other buildings on the island was painted in a distinctive blue-and-white color scheme, which made it stand out against the gray walls.

It was a massive, multi-story building with a central tower taller than the surrounding structures. The building's impressive appearance conveyed power and authority, suggesting that the organization controlling the island was a force to be reckoned with.

"Welcome to Marineford..."

...

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