Chapter 3

It had been a week since we had left the island. I was able to rest from the hard training, and now I wondered what to do with myself. All the sentries on the ship were either working or training, and there were few resting men like me.

- Look Garp, I don't have to wear this cheesy uniform, do I? - My gaze slipped to the sentinel in the white sleeveless shirt and the blue band around his neck. That uniform was disgusting, like kids dressed up and started playing sentinels. It looked especially funny on the bearded and pumped up Marines.

- I think this uniform would suit you just fine... Bwahahahaha.

- There are other options, aren't there? At least without that stupid armband. Do what you want, but I'm not wearing this disgrace.

- Wahahahaha... Don't worry, only juniors wear that uniform. Those who are senior in rank can choose their own style of dress, and wear a cloak like this as well. - Garp pointed his finger at the cloak that hung on his shoulders, the cloak had Justice written on it.

- That's good, then you owe it to yourself to persuade whoever I need to get promoted.

- Haven't joined the Marine yet, and you're already using connections to get promoted? Bwhahahaha.

- That's not funny. Tell me, what rank does my strength correspond to?

- I don't know... I haven't seen your full strength yet. - Garp looked at me thoughtfully.

- Hmm, I don't know my full strength myself. Besides, I'll become even stronger when I learn how to use the devil fruit in battle and develop my fighting technique. Hmm... What kind of clothes do you think I should wear? I think I'd go with anything black to match the color of my devil fruit. Also a black cape with white justice written on it.

- Bwahahahahaha. I've never seen a sentinel with a black cape. You can wear whatever clothes you want, but the cloak stays the same, is that clear to you? - Garp stopped laughing and just started chewing on a cracker.

- Oh, well...

Without continuing the conversation, I leaned against the side of the ship and began to think about the future.

What kind of power I'd reach when Luffy went to sea. Whether I would leave the Marine. Who to recruit for my team. Also how to find more powerful devil fruit. For example, the mayor of the mayor's mayor, the fire logic. I'm thirteen now, Ace is a year younger than me, he's supposed to go to sea at seventeen. So where does he find his devil fruit? I think he found his fruit before the new world, but the circle of search is still too vast. If I ever meet him, it will only be by chance.

Two days later.

- How enormous! - Right now I was in front of the enormous gates of justice. That gate doesn't let you get into Marinford unless someone on the inside opens it for you. I can say with certainty that it was the biggest thing I've ever seen.

The gate began to slowly open, it looked truly mesmerizing. Garp stood next to me and spoke. - Everyone freezes the first time they see it.

In the distance you could see the maritime patrol headquarters and the many ships that sailed around it. As you got closer, you could see a lot of cannons on the high walls. It was not for nothing that until the time it was considered an impregnable fortress.

As we approached the headquarters, we swam through another gate, which was not closed.

- Why is he so angry? - Garp, standing next to me, spoke up. As I followed his gaze, I saw a tall man in a sentry's uniform, with a long beard and afro hair. It must be the admiral of the fleet-Sengoku.

As soon as our ship docked and we got off the ship, Sengoku came up to Garp and started yelling at him.

- I let you go for THREE weeks! But instead, you were lost for FOUR MONTHS. - Sengoku sprayed his saliva all over Garp's face. Garp just stood there the whole time, picking his nose silently. I'm surprised at his cockiness.

- I was held up because of him. - Garp pointed his finger at me. Sengoku immediately shifted his gaze to me and tilted his head incomprehensibly. - Remember what I told you about the gift? Well, I've got myself an apprentice, and he's joining the Marine. I sat for four months on Tori Island, where I trained him personally.

- You personally trained someone? Shouldn't this guy be dead?

- Bwahahahaha, I tried to kill him, but he still wouldn't die, wahahahaha.

My eyes rounded when I heard that all this time he was trying to kill me, but it turned out that I was just a survivor.

Sengoku looked at both of us with a frown. - Let's talk in my office. - Sengoku led the way.

As we entered the Ford itself, I looked around interestedly. There were so many sentries everywhere. I even saw one giant. Everyone was busy doing something of their own, but when Sengoku and Garp passed by the sentinels, they all saluted. And then they looked at me with interest.

When we reached and entered Sengoku's office, I immediately saw several people sitting in it. It was an old woman wearing a blue shirt and a white cloak on her back. If I am not mistaken, her name must be Tsuru.

The next person was a tall man in a white suit and a sleeping mask on his forehead. This is the man I would have liked to have on my team, Kudzan.

The last man was also a tall man, but in a yellow striped suit and yellow glasses over his eyes. The possessor of the fruit of light logic was Borsalino.

While I looked everyone over, Sengoku and Garp took their seats. I, on the other hand, was a little nervous.

- So, if you trained him for four months, tell me how strong your apprentice is. - Sengoku sat in his seat and examined me. At that time, everyone in the room immediately shifted their gaze to me and began to scrutinize me as well.

- Ohhh, so you decided to take on an apprentice. Decided to raise an admiral? - Borsalino spoke up and raised his glasses.

- Bwahahahaha, I bet he'll take your place, Sengoku. And as for his powers... I have no idea.

There was silence in the room.

- Tell me, you took an apprentice, trained him for four months, but you don't know his strength? - Tsuru asked, resting her head on her crossed fingers.

- Well, I did that shackle training with him with kairoseki, so even he doesn't know his own limits.

- Garp...that's forbidden training, you could have killed the boy. - Tsuru shook her head, while everyone else became even more interested. - What's your name?

- Garou.

- And what is your devil fruit? - Sengoku asked the question. Garp looked at me silently, and waited for me to answer. Just like everyone else in the room.

I covered my hands in darkness and looked around the room. - Logia of darkness. - The eyes of everyone present lifted.

- Ooh, how interesting~. - Borsalino, on the other hand, even rose slightly from the couch.

- I don't know how strong you are, but if you survived Garp's training, you can't be weak. Are you willing to spar with me to gauge your strength level? It won't affect your starting rank, since you're only a novice, but we'll know what tasks you can handle.

- And what rank will I be given? - I asked with hesitation. I crossed my fingers behind my back, as long as it wasn't a yunga.

- Hmm... You're Garp's apprentice, and since you're a survivor, you'll be given the rank of Ensign. You can wear whatever uniform you want, and you can wear a cape that says Justice.

I was immediately relieved. I won't be a shabby boy, haha. Garp laughed too, but no one knew the reason for the laughter.

- I agree to spar. Just saying in advance, Garp won't let me learn how to use his devil fruit.

Sengoku nodded his head and looked around at those present. - Will you challenge anyone present to spar?

- Bwahahahahaha..." Garp started laughing again. There was a strong urge to pick just Garp to spar with, but I knew it wouldn't be sparring, it would be beating a baby. And in fact, it's surprising that Sengoku suggested picking someone from among the people here. In that case, my choice should go to whoever relies more heavily on the devil's fruit. Who am I kidding, I want to fight Borsalino. The owner of the logic of light meets the user of the logic of darkness, is there anything cooler?

- Then I would like to fight Borsalino.

- I see. - Sengoku nodded his head and stood up from the table.

- Oh, so I'm the choice? I'm not so bored now~. - Borsalino stretched his every word and looked quite amused. I'd liked this character before, how much of a strain am I going to put on him?

Everyone in the room got up and followed Sengoku.

- Wahahahaha, everyone wants to watch my student. - Garp walked beside Sengoku and laughed.

- You brought a man who has endured a hell of a lot of training. Who wouldn't want to see his strength level? - Sengoku glanced at me and smiled.

Soon we came to a large hall where many sentinels were training. You could even see a few sentries using the power of the fruit. We were immediately noticed by all the sentinels. Everyone immediately saluted and froze.

- Move to the bleachers or clear the hall. - One word from Sengoku caused all the sentries to quickly scatter before the entire hall was empty. One place where there were a lot of people was the bleachers. Garp looked at me.

- The walls of this gym are made of sturdy metal, so you don't have to worry about breaking anything.

- Do you have any idea how much money it would cost to rebuild the place? It's just a test of strength, you don't have to break everything. Borsalino, do you understand me? - Sengoku held his gaze on me. - ...You try not to break anything either.

You think so highly of me... Borsalino and I nodded our heads and stepped into the center of the hall, facing each other. At that moment there was a buzz in the stands. Everyone was excited to see the Admiral himself sparring, but no one expected the little brat to go up against him. Even in this world, kids like me rarely get very strong.

- You can attack. - Borsalino stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at me with his strange face. This would be the first time I'd be able to put my best foot forward since I'd finished training. The first thing I thought about was using my devil fruit. One of the abilities was attraction; if I learned it, a fast opponent like Borsalino wouldn't be able to get away from me.

However, this still needs to be learned, the only thing I can do so far with the fruit is to override another fruitman's ability to swallow someone into his own darkness and discard anyone at will. Well, we'll have to use what we have. Maybe sometime later, I can fight again, but when I'm ready. I covered my arm with the will of arms to amplify my attacks, and extended the will of observation to the entire hall.

- Sora. - I was in front of Borsalino's face in an instant, and I struck with all my might.

- Ooh, that was pretty strong. - Kizaru completely blocked my full force punch with his palm. - That's pretty interesting..." Kizaru pursed his lips and seemed to feel something. I blocked his devil fruit ability.

In the next moment, I covered my leg with my will and used the fire-coating technique at the same time. My entire leg was engulfed in flames, as in the next moment I struck Borsalino's head. Borsalino's grip on my arm loosened, and he slid one meter across the ground.

What a monster he is. I would have blown a huge rock to dust with that punch, and he only moved one meter, not even off the ground.

However, the reaction of all the spectators was very different.

- Was Borsalino really pushed back, or was he just playing around? - Aokiji looked at the sparring of the two unequal opponents with a serious look.

- It's thanks to the devil fruit's yami yami ability. It can block any of the other fruit's abilities. This is especially dangerous for logia users, who, caught off guard, can be easily killed. Normally he would just turn into a light and walk away from the attack. - Tsuru, with her usual face, talked about the devil fruit's ability. What surprised her a little was this child's strength. Even though Borsalino was having fun, the shockwave from the attack showed the power of the blow.

- Bwahahahaha, admirals are no match for him anymore. Hey Sengoku, why don't you retire and put him in his place?

- I didn't expect that..." Borsalino scratched his cheek. - Then I'll be a little more serious. - Even though he said he was going to be more serious, he didn't change his posture, and even put his hands in his pockets again. Well, a man with his strength can even playfully defeat me.

Then, if this sparring is necessary to gauge my strength, I'll just demonstrate what I can do. I adopted a fast-moving stance and started running around Borsalino at five times my speed, and occasionally applying the ranching technique with my foot. Compared to last time, when I was weakened and could send waves of compressed air from my arm, my strength was on a completely different level now. Borsalino, on the other hand, was simply blocking all my attacks with his foot. My speed was nothing to the fastest man.

A memory flashed through my mind as I wondered what would happen if I sent a rankyaka with my firefighting foot. Would the attack be intensified, or would nothing change. Deciding not to waste time and quickly check, I used the fire covering technique again and applied the rankyaku. A sharp blade of compressed air flew out of my leg immediately at high speed, but instead of the usual white color, this attack was slightly reddish.

At the same time, Borsalino's leg glowed, and as he swung his leg, he sent a rankyaku-like attack toward me, but using the power of his fruit. A light blade? The wind blade met Borsalino's light kick, and my attack was immediately absorbed, but the beam of light continued to fly at me.

I quickly covered my palm in darkness and barely had time to block Borsalino's attack with it. The beam of light disappeared as soon as it made contact with my hand. What good power this fruit has, I would definitely get hurt if it hit me.

- Pretty interesting power, can you block anything?

- I think it's possible in theory. - I smiled at Borsalino and started sending enhanced wind blades at him. Borsalino no longer attacked at long range, but simply fended off all attacks with his light-covered foot. After sending the last blade, I used the sora and got behind Borsalino's back. However, he didn't even block the attack, but simply disappeared from my sight, and the attack I had sent was flying directly at me. Borsalino, however, was behind me, and he kicked me to the ground on my own attack.

Covering my hands with my will, I blocked my attack, but was thrown back. Borsalino was just about ready to kick me again, but I used the gheppo and jumped aside.

- It was beautifully executed. - I smiled at him. Really cool, he could even, thanks to his speed, show up behind my back like that every time and kick me. - I don't think I can show you anything else if you just stand there passively.

- If that's the case~. - Borsalino pointed his finger at me, as the next second it began to glow. Borsalino seemed to load his attack, and in a few seconds he shot three beams at me.