Chapter 129: Punch First, Ask Questions During the Punching!
"It's really you, old man!"
Shane also burst out laughing. "Aren't the Marines overdoing it a bit? Have they really gotten to the point where they have to send you to catch me?"
I've only been in the Grand Line for two months.
This is the kind of treatment Roger gets!
"Can't be helped. In the New World, the Beast Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates are going at it, so manpower is tight. I was on a nice vacation, and they dragged me over… wait, no, that's top-secret military intelligence. I can't tell you that."
"But you already told him, Mr. Garp!!!" the other Marine soldiers roared.
"Puhahaha!" Garp scratched his head and laughed. "Ah, I let it slip! It's fine, it'll be in the papers in a couple of days anyway!" He suddenly became serious. "Shane, actually, I'm here on behalf of the World Government to discuss the Warlord matter with you."
"A Warlord?"
Shane stroked his chin. "So you want to recruit me? Has it gotten the World Government's attention?"
"That's right! Hahaha, your record of defeating two Warlords in a row has even got the Five Elders on edge! Mmm, in any case, if you just nod your head, your wanted poster will be null and void, and you can enjoy… tsk, why are there so many pages in this document? What a pain. How about we just meet and talk face to face!"
"A meeting is fine, but it'll just be you, right, old man?"
Shane paused. "Don't let me find out when we meet that you've brought some shady old guy with sunglasses or an eyepatch with you."
"Hah? Of course not!"
"Alright, then I'll stop the ship and wait for you. Let me check the sea chart. Mmm, our current coordinates should be…"
Click.
The call ended.
In the dining room, everyone looked at each other, and then their gazes all fell on Shane.
"Big Bro, are we really going to stay here and wait for the Marines?"
Nami was the first to speak, her voice urgent. "We can't just trust them! What if it's a trap…"
"Don't worry,"
Shane said, sitting back down and continuing to eat his breakfast as if nothing had happened. "If it were anyone else, I wouldn't. But you can trust what that old man says."
"Mmm, that's right," Smoker said, agreeing. "That's just how the old man Garp is. Even against an enemy, he wouldn't do something like that."
"Even though you've left the Marines, you still seem to respect him a lot," Robin said, blinking.
"The title 'Hero of the Marines' has shaken the seas for decades. What kid who dreamed of joining the Marines didn't grow up listening to his stories?"
Smoker sighed.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the Marine high command was like Mr. Garp.
"Alright, the captain said not to worry, so don't worry!"
Nami was about to say something else, but Zeff interrupted her with a grin, clanging his ladle against a pot. "Let's just keep eating, everyone!"
…
The Curtain Call dropped anchor and came to a stop.
After breakfast, Shane was lounging under a parasol, waiting. He glanced at the sea beside him, and as if he had remembered something, he suddenly looked up.
"Hey, Nojiko."
Nojiko, who was in the crow's nest, watching for any sign of warships, quickly poked her head out. "What is it, Big Bro?"
"Freeze this area. Make a sheet of ice, as wide as possible," Shane said, pointing to the starboard side of the ship.
"Huh?" Nojiko was a little confused.
"You haven't met that old man, so you don't know what he's like," Shane smiled. "Regardless of whether I agree to the Warlord thing or not, we haven't seen each other in years. After we're done with business, he's definitely going to want to have a fight with me. And you don't want us to fight on the deck of The Curtain Call, do you?"
Fight on the deck of The Curtain Call?
Nojiko imagined it for a moment and shivered. The Curtain Call had been with them for two months now; she had grown attached to it. She didn't want it to be destroyed.
"Understood, Big Bro."
She nodded, put down the spyglass, and leaped from the crow's nest.
Headfirst, she let her body fall.
Just as she was about to hit the water, she took a deep breath, pushed her hands forward, and the cold energy that had been building up in her body erupted—
"Ice—Age!"
In an instant, a bone-chilling cold swept out from her palms!
Crack, crack. The previously turbulent sea was instantly frozen into a silver-white ice field.
Shane was taken aback.
Wait, what age?
How can a move name be the same?
He wondered what Aokiji would think if he saw this.
"How's that, Big Bro?!"
Nojiko clapped her hands and looked up at Shane on the ship with a grin. "It's about a few hundred thousand square meters. Is that enough?"
"It's enough."
Shane gave her a thumbs-up. He stood up, went to the railing, and also jumped down, landing on the ice.
Although it was also called "Ice Age," unlike the mirror-smooth ice that Aokiji created with his ability, the ice that Nojiko had created was covered in a layer of snow half a meter thick, which glittered in the sun.
It crunched under his feet.
"A very suitable venue,"
Shane grinned and looked off into the distance. "Now, all we have to do is wait for that old man to arrive…"
…
An hour later, the black silhouette of a dog-headed warship finally appeared on the horizon.
On the deck, Garp was sitting cross-legged on the railing, holding a bag of senbei that he had stolen from Sengoku's office and munching on it.
His adjutant, Bogard, reminded him helplessly, "Mr. Garp, we're about to arrive. Shouldn't you take out the documents and prepare?"
"Puhahaha! What's the hurry?"
Garp waved a hand dismissively. "For negotiations like this, you should start with some hospitality, right? Who just shoves documents in their face… hmm?"
He suddenly narrowed his eyes, looking at the massive ice field that had appeared out of nowhere on the sea ahead. "Strange, is this… Kuzan's ability? No, it looks a little different."
"It should be the power of the Snow-Snow Fruit,"
Bogard said after a moment's observation. "The user's name is Nojiko. She's that Shane's sister. In addition, according to our intelligence, there are two other Logia users on his ship, and their strength is not to be underestimated."
No, it's not just "not to be underestimated."
Bogard thought to himself.
Who would have thought that the country boy he had seen on Mt. Colubo would not only become a world-famous figure himself, but would also gather a group of powerful subordinates.
Three Logia users!
In the entire world, besides Marine Headquarters and the Four Emperors in the New World, what other power had such a luxurious lineup?
"Is that so?"
Garp brushed the crumbs from his hands. "I'm not too concerned about that, but… they've prepared a venue in advance? Puhahaha, it seems the kid and I are on the same wavelength!"
On the same wavelength?
Bogard was taken aback.
In the next moment, he suddenly realized what was happening, and his expression changed. "Mr. Garp! Please remember your mission this time! You mustn't, because of a moment's impulse, just…"
"Don't worry, don't worry," Garp grinned. "You've been with me for so many years. You should know that I know what I'm doing."
"Report!"
The lookout's voice suddenly came from above. "Vice Admiral Garp, The Curtain Call is in sight! There's a figure on the ice! It's the 540-million-Berry Shane!"
"Ah, I see him too," Garp grinned.
His eyesight was far superior to a normal person's. In his vision, he could not only see the figure in the center of the ice, but he could also see that he was comfortably lounging in a wicker chair under a parasol, drinking a beer.
At that moment, he seemed to notice the approaching warship. He raised the bottle in his hand and gave them a small wave.
"Dammit! I've been running myself ragged looking for you, and you're just lazing around?! You bastard brat!!!"
Garp laughed and, with a single leap, shot off the ship's railing.
He didn't use Moonwalk. Instead, with the terrifying strength of his legs, he leaped hundreds of meters into the air and then crashed down onto the ice like a cannonball—
BOOM!!!
The ice instantly exploded, and a massive crater appeared, cracks spiderwebbing out in all directions.
The hero of the Marines' figure disappeared into the hole in the ice, leaving only a splash of water.
Hmm?
Shane was taken aback and turned to look at Nojiko.
"Err, that's the edge. My ability is weaker out there," Nojiko said, blushing. "The center is a dozen or so meters thick, but it's probably only two or three meters thick out there… should I go and patch the hole?"
Shane shook his head. "Forget it, no need. We'll be fighting in the center anyway…"
Before he could finish, a gurgling sound came from the hole in the ice, and then—
"Puhahaha! What the hell?! This ice is so thin!"
Garp's head suddenly popped out of the water. He had half a senbei in his mouth, and his wet hair was plastered to his forehead. With the dog hat, he looked quite comical.
He struggled to climb out, waving at Shane. "Hey! You brat! Aren't you going to give me a hand?!"
Shane was silent for two seconds, then he turned to Nojiko. "...Patch the hole."
Nojiko: "...Okay."
She crouched down and placed her hands on the ice.
Crack, crack—
The cold energy erupted again, and the ice quickly thickened. Seeing this, Garp kicked his legs and, with a loud cry, leaped out of the water.
"You're trying to murder me, little girl!" Garp said, striding over, annoyed. "Good thing I'm fast, or I would have been frozen at the bottom of the sea!"
Shane sighed and handed him another beer, pointing to the seat across from him. "Sit, old man. I don't know if you're here to negotiate or to perform acrobatics."
I know you like to play the fool.
But read the room, would you?!
There was a good atmosphere here.
On the vast, frozen sea, after so many years, an old friend appears. We raise our bottles and have a drink under this parasol.
And now? Now it's all ruined!
"Negotiations? That's a small matter!"
Garp took the beer and chugged a large mouthful. He let out a satisfied sigh and looked down at Shane across the round table, grinning. "Instead of that, how about you let me see—"
SWISH!
A fist, coated in a violent Haki, suddenly appeared in front of Shane. Garp's hearty laughter echoed across the ice. "—just how much you've grown, you brat!"
Shane was prepared. A red light flashed in his eyes, and he dodged to the side.
Garp's fist grazed his shoulder, and the wind from it shattered the chair into pieces. A trench dozens of meters long was carved into the ice behind him.
"Hey! Weren't we supposed to negotiate first?!" Shane glared at him.
"Puhahaha! We'll talk after we fight!" Garp laughed and threw another punch.
"You're even more impatient than me, you old geezer!"
Shane cursed, but a fighting spirit also rose in his eyes.
Oh well, a fight first was fine. He had been wanting to try this for a long time anyway…
To see just how big the gap between him and Garp still was, after all these years!
Vwoom. His right arm was instantly coated in a dark, inky Armament Haki, and he met the incoming fist head-on.
BOOM—!!!
The moment their fists collided, a visible, spherical shockwave exploded from between them.
The entire ice field, like a sheet of glass being stomped on by a giant, spiderwebbed with cracks hundreds of meters in diameter.
The warship, which had just docked, was also violently rocked by the shockwave. The Marines on the deck desperately clung to the masts, but they were still thrown about.
Bogard, however, was still standing straight. He looked at the two of them, who were now locked in a fierce battle, and couldn't help but facepalm.
"…Of course, it had to turn out like this."
He should have expected it.
…
Thump, thump!
Under the watchful gaze of countless eyes, the two figures constantly intertwined, becoming a blur of afterimages in the swirling ice crystals. Every collision caused a chain reaction of explosions.
"Take this!"
Garp's fist, trailing a terrifying wind, shot for Shane's face. The moment Shane leaned back to dodge, the wind from the punch grazed his hair and slammed into the ice, creating a massive crater.
"Puhahaha! So you've mastered Observation Haki, have you?! A nice dodge!"
Garp laughed and changed his attack, his left leg coming down like a battle-axe!
"Iron Body!"
Shane crossed his arms to block, taking the full force of the blow. The ice beneath his feet, however, couldn't take the strain and collapsed.
He took the opportunity to sink into the hole in the ice, and in the next second, he burst out from behind Garp, his right leg, coated in a thick Haki, whipping toward the back of his neck!
BAM!
Garp didn't even turn his head, but his hand shot out and precisely grabbed Shane's ankle. He began to swing him around and slam him into the ice.
Once, twice, three times!
With every slam, the ice spiderwebbed with more cracks. In the blink of an eye, Shane had been slammed back and forth a dozen or so times like a hammer, and the smile that had been on his face was gradually replaced by a savage grin.
Is he ever going to stop, this old geezer?!
Dammit, that's my move!
"MY TURN!!!"
When Garp once again swung him to the peak of the arc, he suddenly twisted in mid-air and, with a snap, broke free from Garp's grip.
He pushed off with his left hand and, with all his strength, slammed his right fist into Garp's chest!
"Six Powers Secret Art: Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!"
"Iron Body!" Garp also roared.
BOOM!
The moment the fist hit Garp's abdomen, time seemed to stand still. Only a ripple of energy, like a stone dropped in a pond, spread out across Garp's chest.
And then—
BOOM!!!!
A terrifying, spherical shockwave erupted. All the snow on the surrounding ice was thrown high into the air, as if a blizzard had suddenly hit!
Garp's Iron Body shattered, and he was sent flying by the punch, carving a trench hundreds of meters long in the ice before finally crashing into the side of the dog-headed warship.
"Mr. Garp!"
"Vice Admiral!"
The Marines on the deck rushed to the side of the ship, their faces a mask of disbelief.
Mr. Garp's Iron Body couldn't even block that punch, and he was sent flying that far?
Bogard's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained where he was, not interfering.
He had seen this scene many years ago.
"Mr. Garp," he said, his voice calm, "it's obvious that he's much stronger than before. If you don't get serious, you're going to be completely looked down on."
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