OPTC Chapter 292: What Goes Around Comes Around
Artoria was starting to feel a bit bored. She picked up a branch meant for firewood and hesitated, wondering if she should poke Tom awake and ask him to roast some fish for her.
Hmm… maybe I should just catch some first. She held the branch and ran toward the river, ready to try spearing fish for fun.
Zhang Da Ye, meanwhile, didn't really want to keep fighting. Ace only had a few moves—charging forward and shouting loudly—and bullying him for too long was starting to get dull.
More importantly, Zhang Da Ye noticed that Garp's eyes on him had turned… off. Although the old man had agreed to let them "teach Ace a lesson," Garp was famous for being unpredictable. If he suddenly got angry, there was no Sengoku here to hold him back.
So, best to wrap this up. Zhang Da Ye drew his sword and met Ace's metal pipe head-on.
With a crisp clang, the long sword sliced the pipe cleanly in half and stopped right at Ace's throat.
Gulping hard, Ace swallowed. "So strong…" he muttered.
He didn't yet understand what it meant to cut through steel. He'd fought men with swords before, even beaten some, but never seen anyone this fast, this terrifying.
"With your current strength, you're still a hundred years too early to set sail," Zhang Da Ye said coolly. Satisfied, he sheathed his sword—finally, he could look cool for once. A rare moment indeed.
Ace lowered his head, silent. He knew how weak he still was. Half a year ago, he and Dadan had to team up just to beat Bluejam, the thug who burned the trash mountain, and he'd ended up badly injured.
Still, he wasn't discouraged. He was only ten. By the time he turned seventeen, he'd definitely reach this man's level.
"Wendy, heal him," Zhang Da Ye said, thinking Ace was just shaken and deciding this was a good time to try some "talk-no-jutsu."
"Okay." Even if Zhang Da Ye hadn't asked, Wendy had already been frowning. The boy looked pitiful—beaten by Garp earlier, tortured by the Negative Ghosts, and then pummeled again by Zhang Da Ye. His body was covered in bruises, and his clothes were torn from rolling on the ground and scraping against trees.
Ace didn't resist. He quietly let Wendy heal him and even thanked her politely.
Luffy, on the other hand, couldn't sit still. As soon as Ace stepped aside, he jumped forward. "I wanna fight you too!"
Zhang Da Ye, eager to keep talking and not in the mood to play, refused. "You didn't even pass the Negative Ghost test. Sit this one out."
But Luffy wouldn't be Luffy if he ever listened.
"Take this!" he shouted, winding up his right arm and swinging it back before launching it forward like a slingshot. "Gum-Gum Pistol!"
To Zhang Da Ye, the move had too much wind-up, not enough speed, and minimal power—probably just painful if it landed. He casually caught Luffy's tiny fist.
"Damn, he caught it!" Luffy pulled back hard, trying to retract his arm, but he wasn't strong enough. The recoil dragged him forward instead.
"Then take this one!" he yelled again, swinging his left arm. But it was even slower, and Zhang Da Ye easily caught it too.
Suddenly, Zhang Da Ye had a mischievous idea—he tied Luffy's arms together into a bow. Pity he didn't know how to make a Chinese knot.
"Gum-Gum… Rocket!" Luffy shouted, refusing to give up. His instincts told him that if he couldn't pull away, he might as well use that to attack. He launched himself toward Zhang Da Ye headfirst.
Zhang Da Ye simply ducked.
Luffy flew over his head, screaming as he shot through the air. He tried grabbing something to stop, but his hands were still tied. The result—he kept flying.
Thud. He crashed into something round and squishy—Tom, who had been napping after eating his fill.
Tom jolted awake, still half-asleep, and rolled together with Luffy like a cartoon snowball. The others only saw two pairs of wide eyes spinning in circles before both tumbled into the river.
"Luffy!" Ace shouted, panicked. His brother couldn't swim, so he rushed to save him.
Meanwhile, Artoria, standing on the river, had just spotted another fish. She thrust her stick down sharply.
Splash—then another.
Her stick suddenly grew heavy. When she lifted it, she saw Luffy's tied-up hands clinging to Tom, who was holding tight to the branch. Tom even had a fish dangling from his mouth, his round belly already back to normal size.
Tom blinked, still confused about how he ended up in the river, but waved cheerfully at Artoria anyway.
"Tom, you're awake! Perfect timing, let's grill fish!" she said happily, pulling both him and Luffy back onto the shore, where a small pile of fish victims already lay.
Tom didn't bother figuring out how he fell asleep and woke up wet. If there was fish to eat, nothing else mattered. He spat out the fish in his mouth and started cleaning it.
"Grilled fish? Can I have some too?" Luffy's eyes sparkled. For once, falling into the river had been painless—he hadn't even swallowed water. The promise of food made him forget everything else.
Artoria wasn't stingy. She quickly agreed, deciding she'd just catch a few more later.
"Awesome! You're the best!" Luffy cheered, his good–bad scale absurdly simple.
Only then did Tom notice the boy hanging off him and pluck Luffy off his back.
"Luffy, are you okay?" Ace asked.
Luffy laughed carelessly. "Ace! This cat's awesome! He can cook fish! When I go to sea, I'm getting a cat like him for my crew! Hehehe!"
"You idiot!" Ace smacked him on the head. "I'm worried sick and all you care about is grilled fish!" Still, he didn't hit hard—Luffy barely felt it.
…
By dusk, Zhang Da Ye was carrying a tree over his shoulder on the walk back. It was their chosen Christmas tree—roots still wrapped in soil and cloth so it could live in a pot until the holiday.
Their outing had gone mostly as planned, but Zhang Da Ye wasn't happy. Just as he'd been about to talk with Ace, Garp had decided to "train" him—with his fists.
Even though Wendy healed him afterward, the "lesson" continued immediately.
But who could say no when the Hero of the Marines himself offered to personally teach Haki and Rokushiki?
Sure, Zhang Da Ye suspected the old man just wanted to avenge his grandson, but still—getting beaten up in exchange for skills was a fair trade… probably.
He spent the next two hours being chased around and pounded by Garp's Haki-coated fists.
The man hit hard—trees snapped, the ground cracked, rocks shattered, and Zhang Da Ye went flying so often that his body left patterns similar to Garp's punches.
Sometimes Zhang Da Ye would instinctively use magic to defend himself, but Garp always noticed the difference in impact and immediately increased his strength to "correct" the experience.
Under that kind of pressure, it took Zhang Da Ye less than an hour to fully master Soru.
It hurt—badly. Fail a step, take a punch. Succeed, dodge a punch. He began to understand how Coby improved so fast. As long as your basics weren't trash, Garp's fists forced you to evolve quickly—unless you were a masochist, in which case it didn't help much.
After Soru came Armament Haki training. Garp's approach was simple: "Either stand still and take hits, or fight me."
Zhang Da Ye prided himself on having backbone, so of course he chose to fight. He raised his own fist to clash with Garp's massive one.
During the first punch, he thought, "Hey, from now on, I can say I fought Garp himself!"
Then Garp's fist sent him flying—straight into a mountain wall, embedding him like a decoration.
"Oops, maybe I overdid it!" Garp laughed, scratching his head. Ace and Luffy felt sorry for Zhang Da Ye… but still watched gleefully.
"Da Ye!" Wendy cried, rushing over in panic. He'd flown faster than Kuina rolling down stairs—she hadn't even been able to react.
Even Perona, who'd been mocking his beatdown earlier, got worried and ran after Wendy.
Artoria, sensing he wasn't in real danger, calmly kept eating grilled fish. Maybe she'd save a few for him later.
Tom, even calmer, just thought it'd be fun to carve a tombstone for his master out of a nearby rock—"just in case."
Shark Chili and Carla were worried too, but when they saw Artoria's composure, they relaxed.
Being dug out of a human-shaped crater by two little girls was… warm, but embarrassing. Zhang Da Ye smiled gratefully at them.
Wendy blushed, hiding her hands behind her back, while Perona muttered something like, "I only helped because Wendy did."
Zhang Da Ye stretched experimentally. No broken bones—amazing. He patted his head. Not even bleeding. "Guess I really am built tough," he thought, focusing on anything but the pain as it slowly faded. Then he marched back toward Garp.
It was his first time taking such a beating. Normally, when sparring with Artoria or Rui Meng Meng, they both held back—enough to hurt, but never harm.
Most of his battles so far had been one-sided victories, with Artoria nearby to ensure no serious injuries.
Tom, of course, was the exception—he always found bizarre ways to get hurt: flattened, stepped on, shattered. Even Artoria couldn't save him from himself.
So, this kind of brutal training was new. Without Garp's fists today, Zhang Da Ye wouldn't have realized just how sturdy he'd become.
"Still up for more, kid?" Garp asked.
"Yeah!" Zhang Da Ye charged again, fists up—just like Ace had done earlier.
Garp grinned and swung.
He wasn't holding back, but he was teaching too—explaining his experience with Armament Haki mid-fight, true combat teaching.
Ace tried to listen from afar but couldn't make sense of it. Luffy didn't even bother; he just picked his nose while watching his grandpa beat someone up, thinking maybe he could dig a pit behind him for fun.
Zhang Da Ye fought through the pain, half laughing, half groaning. He wasn't sure if he'd ever master Haki, but at this rate, he'd definitely perfect Tekkai.
When he'd first seen Rokushiki, he'd dismissed Tekkai as useless. But now, after all these punches, it was starting to make sense.
Tekkai hardened the body through muscular control and blood acceleration, not Haki—but the principle of turning will into defense felt oddly similar.
He realized that Ace, during their earlier fight, had instinctively grasped part of Tekkai's essence—absorbing blows, lessening impact, but still mobile. A rough, natural version.
"This kid's a genius," Zhang Da Ye thought just before another punch landed on his face, sending him tumbling backward again.
He got up, rubbing his bruised eye. "Hey! Can you not hit the face?"
"Ahaha, sorry!" Garp laughed, unconcerned.
If it were Ace or Luffy, they'd be yelling "stupid old man" by now. But this kid? Just a bit of sass. Very patient indeed.
Seeing that patience, Garp cracked his knuckles. "Guess I can teach him a little more seriously then! This one's tougher than I thought!"
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