The black sailboat drifted further away. Bogard glanced at the warship that had lost a mast but was being urgently repaired and asked, "Vice Admiral Garp, should we chase them?"
"Puhahaha!"
Garp laughed heartily, "If the bridge is broken, it could cause a lot of trouble, so let's stay here. Besides..."
He looked at the black sailboat fading in the distance, eventually disappearing rapidly from sight, and said, "We can't catch up, their ship is too fast."
"Vice Admiral, the other side has... that kind of man, are you really going to let him go?" Bogard pursed his lips, still trying to persuade him.
That man called Sage is not an ordinary person.
Not to mention his extremely quick learning and combat comprehension, just his talent alone, if left unchecked, allowing him to grow, will result in a great disaster.
No, with his level of strength, it might already be a great disaster.
"A calamity..." Bogard thought of that evaluation and muttered.
"Puhahaha!"
Garp laughed again, turned back to look at the empty and broken bridge, and said, "Isn't it nice?"
"Vice Admiral, you can't say that." Bogard reminded.
"Oh..."
Garp scratched his head and grinned, "Then let's just forget it!"
...
"Sage, we did it!"
Renedia excitedly rushed to the bow of the ship, cheering, "We escaped from Garp's grasp! We evaded the pursuit of the Navy Hero, you truly are a natural overlord!"
She turned around, raised her hand towards the slave workers who were still in disbelief, as if in a dream, and shouted, "You're no longer laborers, rejoice, you have become pirates!"
"Oh!!!"
On the black sailboat, the slave workers erupted into a thunderous cheer, celebrating their rebirth from the day-to-day labor and abuse.
Pirates?
They were originally people without human rights, non-member nations, and criminals. To survive, the things they did were not all righteous, even if there were some well-behaved, in this endless giant bridge, they would slowly turn into beasts longing for freedom.
As long as they could be free, what wouldn't they become?
Scanning the deck at the cheering voices, Sage raised his arm, looked at his fist, "Successfully escaped, huh..."
"What's wrong, Sage! You completed your plan!" Renedia laughed.
"No..."
Sage shook his head, turned toward the direction of the bridge on the sea, and said, "It wasn't a successful escape, but... the result is good."
The old guy went easy... on me.
In such a level of battle, even if it proceeded according to his plan, Sage would have to pay a price to break the bridge.
He was even prepared to use his 'Brake Hole'.
Otherwise, escaping from Garp would never be so easy.
Even then, he could not guarantee whether he could really escape. Judging by the force of the old man's last punch, he could have easily smashed the ship with one blow, and a few more, Sage could be done for, going straight to Impel Down.
Even at that time, when he had already mastered Armament and Observation, it was useless.
To be precise, it was because he had mastered both Haki that he was sure he couldn't entirely escape.
"The gap is too large..." Sage clenched his fist tightly, murmuring, "Is this the power that renowned strong ones have over the sea?"
Fighting, he would dare. If he dares to fight, then he dares to risk it. Sage wasn't afraid since he's not some cautious monster.
But such a fight where the gap is as vast as heaven and earth is truly unnecessary.
Fortunately, in this battle, he mastered these two types of Haki.
Observation Haki was forced out by Garp's powerful punches. Under that pressure, a small mistake could get him knocked down with one hit. The extreme stress brought about extreme alertness, heightening his perception, and finally bringing out Sage's Observation.
"Just like I thought, I was already touching upon this perception at that time, just one step away. Life-and-death struggles are truly the way to sharpen a person's will and senses."
Observation Haki allows one to feel the power of 'breaths', releasing perceptiveness from an extremely calm state, letting them read an opponent's position, number, and even the intensity of their aura, and instantly sense impending actions of the enemy.
Even before being forced by Garp, Sage himself already had such perceptiveness, after all, North Star Divine Fist also emphasizes internal Body Techniques, otherwise, how could he observe the enemy's Secret Hole acupuncture points.
He just couldn't bring it out, but being forced like this, it emerged.
"Not predicting the future, nor listening to the voice of all things, just ordinary Observation Haki."
Sage sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.
He thought he might have something special, as owning Supreme King in itself, perhaps the Observation would be unique too.
But it turns out, just like the sea always talks about the rarity of Logia-types but then a more rare Mythical Zoan appears.
The world praises Supreme King as one in a million, only for a one in ten million advanced Observation to appear.
Above the ordinary ability to read actions and sense auras of Observation, such advanced prowess has qualifications to foresee the future, listen to inner thoughts, the voice of all things, and can even influence others' minds, creating strong resonances, much rarer than Supreme King.
Sage just possessed a regular Observation, but...
He looked at his arm, "Armament Haki..."
Armament Haki enhances an individual's defense, thereby transforming into offensive power.
"So, before fully Awakening, those who have already touched upon it may unconsciously use Haki, however, such people can't see the 'color', hence can't freely exert it."
The key to Armament Haki revealed itself to him as well.
Haki, after all, is a latent human power, especially Armament, everyone possesses it. Once the will is stimulated, the attack power spikes, achieving what full efforts usually couldn't.
But at that moment, those people actually had already touched upon the power of Haki.
During Garp's aerial punch, he should have 'touched' it, allowing him to block Garp's fist before retaliating.
Since he had 'touched' it, mastering it was naturally within Sage's capability.
"Fighting spirit, murderous intent, intimidation... Whatever is intensely related to the will can exhibit Haki. To control this will freely, then..."
On his fist and wrist, a splash of blackness gathered, like black paint smeared on, sticking to his fist.
"Oh... this feeling, free control and then covering, that's the Hardening."
Compared to the unconscious 'touch', Hardening after free control allows Haki to cover the body. With practice, it can be utilized on every part of the body, freely controlling 'Hardening', even extending to objects in contact.
This power can improve both defense and attack capabilities comprehensively.
Then...
He squinted slightly, the blackened fist suddenly started flowing, as if enveloped with a thin layer of air current.
After Hardening, comes Coiling!