"Karp… you should understand this better than anyone," Sengoku said solemnly, his arms crossed behind his back. "If that man actually kills Akainu, it will be a devastating blow to the reputation and morale of the Navy!"
The Fleet Admiral knew his old comrade well. Garp's hesitation wasn't out of fear—far from it. It was personal. Deep down, Sengoku understood exactly what Garp was struggling with. But he also knew they had no other choice.
As Marshal of the Navy, Sengoku himself couldn't move unless absolutely necessary. That was the burden of leadership. The battlefield decisions had to be made by those still able to act.
After a long moment of inner conflict, Garp finally nodded and stepped forward.
Sengoku let out a silent sigh of relief.
Garp had made his choice—not for Akainu, but for the Navy.
Because even if he couldn't stand Akainu, even if he wanted nothing more than to punch the magma-wielding Admiral for what he'd done to Ace… Garp was still a Vice Admiral. A symbol of justice. A Navy hero.
And the Navy needed him now more than ever.
Garp turned briefly and looked back at Sengoku. "I'll help Akainu," he said. "But let me be clear—I'm not promising I can defeat that man."
Sengoku nodded in acknowledgment. "Just do your best."
After all, judging from the strength Jack had just displayed—shaking the battlefield with raw aura alone—no one could say for certain whether even Garp could win. Not even Garp himself.
Even the three Admirals—Kizaru, Aokiji, and Akainu—combined hadn't been able to bring Jack down.
Sengoku didn't want to burden Garp with impossible expectations. If he couldn't defeat Jack even with all his strength, then the failure wouldn't lie with him.
It would only prove that Jack's power was beyond this world.
As Garp approached the front lines, he turned to Kizaru and Aokiji.
"You two, stop slacking and fight seriously," he barked.
The Admiral of Light and the Admiral of Ice blinked in surprise, then gave sheepish smiles. They had been holding back a little—not out of cowardice, but more out of habit. They knew how to preserve their strength and weren't eager to risk their lives unless truly necessary.
But when Garp called them out directly?
Well, it was hard to ignore the Navy's strongest veteran.
"Alright, alright," Kizaru muttered lazily, but his eyes gleamed with seriousness for the first time in this battle.
Aokiji adjusted his collar, his usual aloofness dropping slightly. "Guess we've been caught," he said. "Let's clean this up."
Akainu scowled. He had sensed their lack of full commitment earlier, but now his suspicions were confirmed. These two had been holding back while he was fighting for his life!
He gritted his teeth.
Fine. First, they'd take down Jack—then he'd deal with these two so-called comrades.
From the sidelines, the morale of the Navy was beginning to rise once again.
"Lieutenant General Garp is here!"
"With Garp, the three Admirals, and the full force of Marineford, that man—Jack—doesn't stand a chance!"
The legend of Garp wasn't just a story—it was the reason many marines had joined the Navy in the first place. He was the hero of the Navy, the man who had cornered the Pirate King Roger time and again.
If anyone could turn the tide of battle, it was him.
"Such a powerful lineup!" a young marine exclaimed. "No one has ever stood against all of them and survived!"
The scene was one of awe—Navy veterans standing shoulder-to-shoulder in defense of justice. But on the other side…
"Dad," Ace said with concern, "now that Garp has joined the fight, should we help Mr. Jack?"
Whitebeard remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"No need. Jack's strength is far beyond what we've seen."
Ace blinked in surprise. "Even with all of them attacking him together?"
Whitebeard's gaze was calm but heavy. "You've seen it for yourself, haven't you? That aura. That power. It's not just strong—it's unnatural. It surpasses this world."
He gripped his massive bisento with one hand, the other clenching tightly at his side.
"The strength Jack showed earlier wasn't even his full power. But even so, none of us here could match him—not alone, not even together. Not the Admirals. Not Garp. Not even myself."
Ace's breath caught in his throat. He had fought strong enemies before, but to hear such words from Whitebeard—the strongest man in the world—was sobering.
"If Jack's strength truly came from this world," Whitebeard continued, "then the balance of power between pirates and the Navy would have already changed."
Back in the frontlines, a loud and familiar voice suddenly rang out.
"Grandpa! What are you doing?! This is Mr. Jack's battle! Don't get in the way!"
Everyone turned.
Luffy.
Luffy, with his straw hat tilted and fists clenched, was glaring at Garp with the stubbornness only a grandson could show.
The reveal of his identity earlier had already shocked the world. Now, standing before everyone, he shouted without hesitation.
Garp's eye twitched. "You brat… shut up!"
He wanted to discipline Luffy right then and there, but now wasn't the time. The battlefield was too chaotic, and too many eyes were watching.
Still, this kid needed to learn when to keep quiet!
Among the gathered warriors, a few unexpected voices echoed.
Son Goku: "That's definitely Krillin's voice! The one Jack mentioned earlier—the client who sounds just like him. It's a perfect match!"
Tien Shinhan: "Yeah, Ace's voice might've had slight similarities to Piccolo's before, but Luffy's voice? It's exactly the same as Jack's!"
Master Roshi: "I wonder how Krillin feels, hearing someone with his exact voice calling that old guy 'Grandpa'…"
Vegeta: "You're one to talk, old man. You're older than anyone here."
Master Roshi: "Hey! I may be old, but I still look great!"
Vegeta: "That's not what I meant. It's just weird hearing you call anyone else 'old.'"
As strange as it was, the voices of the Z Fighters echoed in Jack's mind, their consciousness faintly linked through the mysterious power that had brought him into this world.
They were watching through him.
They were learning, analyzing, and wondering how this universe stacked up to their own.
Back on the battlefield, Jack stood calmly. His white aura no longer flared as violently as before, but the energy around him remained unsettling—dense and quiet like the calm before a thunderstorm.
Garp took his place beside the three Admirals, cracking his knuckles.
"This ends now," he muttered.
Kizaru flashed forward with light-speed kicks. Aokiji sent a wave of ice to freeze Jack in place. Akainu summoned a column of magma that rained fire down from above.
The clash began again—more furious than before.
Jack didn't move at first.
Then, with one step, the frozen ground beneath him shattered.
He vanished.
Appeared behind Aokiji in an instant—before the Admiral of Ice could react, a palm strike sent him flying into a glacier wall.
He twisted and met Kizaru mid-air, blocking his kick with a single arm. Sparks flew. Jack's power clashed with the speed of light—and won.
Akainu roared, thrusting his fist upward. "Meigou!"
A dog-shaped magma burst roared toward Jack—but this time, Jack didn't dodge.
He caught it.
The burning molten fist halted in Jack's grasp, steam hissing as energy crackled from his body and overpowered the volcanic heat.
Garp, eyes narrowing, launched his signature punch—"Fist of Love," turned into a real attack this time.
Jack turned, caught Garp's punch mid-air.
A moment of silence.
The shockwave that followed split the sea behind them.
Pirates and marines alike stumbled from the sheer power of the collision. Ships rocked in the distance. Birds scattered into the sky.
But through the dust and energy, Jack remained standing.
He was smiling.
No words.
Just unshakable strength.
The battle wasn't over.
It had only just begun.
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