Another two days passed.
Out on the sea in front of Queen Spring Kingdom's royal port, three massive green warships slowly decelerated as they approached.
Lined up along the docks stood rows of upright naval soldiers and royal palace guards.
Dozens of finely dressed men and women clustered around a chubby, bald, middle-aged man with a flashy smile, standing at the front as they watched the incoming dog-headed warship.
This bald fat man wearing a golden crown and a robe of gold-threaded brocade was none other than the barely-known King Poplar V of the Saint Poplar Kingdom.
Rorschach had already met him two days ago.
At that evening's banquet, the drunk fat fool insisted on marrying off his daughter—who looked even scarier than Big Mom—to Rorschach. Rorschach had barely managed to keep his dinner down.
Jonathan, with a look of anticipation on his face, stood beside Rorschach. Along with the Navy soldiers, he stared at the approaching dog-headed warship.
"It's Garp, huh? I wonder what that rascal looks like now... Has he become an old fogey like me? Ah, those days... they feel like they just happened yesterday..."
Before Jonathan could finish reminiscing, the sound of air being torn apart exploded ahead.
Then, a shadow suddenly loomed overhead.
Just as he looked up, he saw a burly, white-haired old man grinning wide with a mouth full of white teeth, clenching his fist as he came crashing down from the sky—throwing a punch straight at Rorschach, who stood right beside Jonathan.
As his fist descended, the air within several hundred meters compressed in chaotic layers, generating a violent pressure that sent the surrounding people stumbling backward, unable to stay upright.
The dozens of royals from the Saint Poplar Kingdom, including that bald, fat king, were blown over like rag dolls, tumbling across the ground.
Crack! Boom!
Black-red bolts of lightning erupted from the old man's fist, unleashing a terrifying aura that changed the color of the sky and earth.
"Conqueror's Coating!"
"Fist Bone! Galaxy Impact!"
"Is this your greeting, Grandpa Garp?!"
Rorschach grinned as deep blue Haki instantly engulfed his body. With a stomp of his foot, he shot into the air and threw a punch—thick silver-white lightning roaring and crackling from his fist.
"Fist Bone! Galaxy Impact!"
High up in the air, two towering figures of nearly equal size collided in an earth-shattering clash—one black fist, one white, smashing into each other.
The resulting explosion was like a landslide, like thunder exploding in the heavens—BOOM!From the point where their fists met, thin cracks spread out across the sky above everyone's heads like a spiderweb.
The atmosphere itself split from the shockwave of their punches!
Below, the sea surged violently, as waves burst apart like roaring beasts.
Even the three massive warships that had just docked were pushed back over ten meters by the fierce shockwaves from above.
On the decks of those ships, Navy soldiers and officers stood in stunned silence, staring at the old and young figures clashing mid-air.
"T-That's insane! That's Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
"He can go toe-to-toe with Vice Admiral Garp? That's unbelievable strength! No wonder he could defeat Chinjao the Drill, shape-shifter Glifford, and crush a 20,000-strong pirate fleet on his own!"
"So this is the power of the Marine HQ's number one of the new generation? Incredible! Truly incredible! When will I be strong like Rear Admiral Rorschach?!"
In the sky, black-red thunder and silver-white lightning roared and intertwined, echoing across the heavens.
Suddenly, after tens of seconds of stalemate, the old and the young both withdrew their fists and landed on the ground below.
"Hahaha! Well done, Rorschach! You actually managed to take down Chinjao and Glifford. This time, both Sengoku and Zephyr underestimated you. Only this old man was sure you could defeat them! They're nothing but outdated trash pirates—what legends? Please."
Garp laughed heartily, slapping Rorschach's shoulder hard enough to make it ache.
"You're the real deal, old man! I don't know when I'll ever be able to pull off attacks coated with Conqueror's Haki like you do!""Hahaha! You've still got a long way to go!" Garp smugly raised his seemingly ordinary fist.
Rorschach looked at Garp's fist with admiration.
Conqueror's Coating...That was a technique that practically symbolized the pinnacle of strength in this world.
He hadn't even broken through to advanced Armament Haki yet.
Even though he understood the principle of advanced Armament Haki—external emission, internal destruction, penetration, pulverization, tearing, shock, impact—He just couldn't reproduce that kind of effect.
All he could manage was using it defensively, or to slightly enhance the power of his lightning and hand-to-hand techniques.
Teacher Zephyr had once said that advancing his Armament Haki would be extremely difficult—Because the quantity of his Haki was simply absurd.
But accordingly, once he did reach the advanced level, the power he'd be able to unleash would be unimaginable.
"Grandpa Garp!"
Hibari suddenly jumped out from behind Rorschach with a bright smile and chirped cheerfully.
Garp smiled and reached out to pat her head."Little Hibari, you did great too. You should be up for promotion to Headquarters Major now. At this rate, it won't be long before you catch up with that rascal Rorschach. Keep it up! Otherwise, if you marry this brat, you won't be able to rein him in when he flirts around outside."
"W-Who said I was going to marry him…" Hibari's face flushed red instantly.
Just as Garp was about to tease her more, an angry voice came from beside him—Jonathan.
"Garp! You damn brat—come charging in and messing everything up. Are you trying to destroy the port they just finished repairing yesterday?!"
As soon as Jonathan's words fell, the whole place fell silent.
On the warships, every Navy soldier gaped in shock.
"He just called Vice Admiral Garp a… a damn brat? Who the hell is that old man?!"
Garp raised his eyebrows and finally noticed the skinny old man standing beside Rorschach.
He picked his nose while sizing up the furious Jonathan.
"Who are you, old man? Do I even know you?"
**"You little bastard! Say that again?Your skin's itching, huh? Daring to call yourself 'this old man' in front of me? Have you forgotten who helped you write love letters to Little Tsuru?
Who brought you food fifty years, seven months, and sixteen days ago, you ungrateful brat?! You're just like that heartless brat Sengoku—no sense of loyalty!"**
Jonathan jabbed his finger in Garp's face, spitting all over him as he raged.
Garp blinked, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. He reached out with two thick arms and, under Jonathan's shocked expression, grabbed him up off the ground and pulled him into a massive bear hug.
"Hahaha! So it's you, Rear Admiral Jonathan! Can't believe after all these decades, you've turned into this! Lost all your teeth too!"
"L-Let go of me, Garp! You damn brat! Agh! My back—you're going to snap my spine—"
Jonathan felt like every bone in his body was cracking—like he was about to be crushed by Garp's hug.
Not far away, King Poplar V of the Saint Poplar Kingdom and his royal entourage stood around dumbly, watching the chaos unfold. One by one, they looked at each other in confusion.
They had been completely ignored.
(End of Chapter)
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