Garp pulled back, silence falling between him and Lloyd for a moment.
Finally, Garp's gaze met Lloyd's blood‑red pupils, and his voice was heavy.
"Lloyd, do you truly intend to kill Dragon?"
Lloyd tilted his head slightly, expression unreadable, then spoke with cold certainty,
"I will say this one last time, Dragon's crime deserves death."
He paused, narrowing his eyes as he faced Garp directly.
"And you, Vice Admiral, you are no longer fit to be Navy."
For a moment, Garp looked stunned, and then — unexpected laughter burst from him. After several deep laughs, he clenched his fists and waved them twice, voice firm,
"Kid, you are not qualified to say that to me!"
Lloyd did not reply.
Instead, he seized the Demon Blade Muramasa, which hovered by his side, and with a surge of blood‑charged energy, he vanished in the next instant.
Garp roared and swung toward the descending Demon Blade Muramasa.
Around the blade, space itself was twisted. Garp felt his fist enter a chaotic rift, as if striking a vortex. The momentum of his punch slowed dramatically under the blade's influence.
Lloyd flicked his wrist, guiding Muramasa upward with precision. Garp leaned back to avoid it, but Lloyd's knee struck him squarely in the abdomen. His Moonwalk faltered, and he nearly plunged back into the Sea.
Garp did not repeat his mistake. He turned and tangled with Lloyd again, this time unleashing unrelenting focused strikes. He drove upward, every swing powered to smash Lloyd toward the ocean.
For a devil fruit user, hitting the Sea was fatal — once submerged, they became weak and unable to fight.
This tactic made absolute sense to Garp.
He was also deeply worried about Dragon, left alone aboard the ship and gravely wounded.
But Lloyd never allowed himself to be pushed down easily. Despite Garp's unending onslaught, he stayed a level below him in altitude, inching ever closer to the water's surface.
Seeing this, Garp felt vindicated.
"You kid are still too green!"
He struck Lloyd again and again with full force. Then, seizing an opening, Garp extended an arm, wrapped it around Lloyd's chest, and hurled him downward toward the Sea.
"Seabed, Drop!"
Under the full weight of Garp's power, Lloyd plummeted like a meteor crashing to the ocean. With a colossal splash, violent waves surged, and Lloyd's form vanished beneath the Sea's tempest.
Garp stood in the sky for a long moment, his face stern but not triumphant.
With a sigh, he murmured,
"I'll come back for you later, if I can still find you."
Then, his focus instantly shifted.
"Dragon, hang on, I'm coming…"
His words trailed off as something interrupted him.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
Pain flared as a black blade protruded from his chest.
Lloyd hovered behind him, his presence calm as ever.
"Vice Admiral Garp, the battle isn't over."
Garp turned slowly, eyes wide, voice low with shock,
"How can this be… you clearly fell into the Sea…"
Lloyd offered a cold smile as he withdrew Muramasa, then grasped Garp's neck with his scarlet‑tainted hand.
"In this world, devil fruit users fear the Sea. What does that matter to me, Lloyd?"
A crimson glow swirled in Lloyd's palm. Garp felt his body weaken with terrifying speed. His hair, once mostly gray, grew whiter as if time itself was being stolen from him.
Garp sensed a devastating force stripping his strength away. He fought back with Haki, but even his great Armament and Observation Haki could barely slow what was happening.
What he did not know was this — in a heartbeat, Lloyd had siphoned nearly twenty‑five years of his lifespan.
Garp's physical age leapt beyond what was normal, making his body feel decades older than it should.
Already reeling from severe injury, Garp could no longer resist. His arms dropped limply at his sides.
By contrast, Lloyd, even after a brutal fight, appeared striking and unbroken, a faint expression of satisfaction on his face.
He looked down at Garp's glossy eyes. In truth, Lloyd could have ended Garp's life right there, but he chose not to. Garp still held considerable influence in the Navy. Killing him outright might create far more complications than leaving him alive.
And more importantly, Lloyd believed he was entirely justified. No matter what, it was Garp and his son who struck first. Lloyd's actions, in his view, were righteous.
Lloyd's voice was quiet as he spoke over the defeated Marine, holding him up by the collar.
He had seen through Garp's tactic of trying to dump him into the Sea, and he had used it against him. By using the stealth of the Vampire Fruit ability and precise timing, he had turned Garp's own plan into his downfall.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Lloyd soared toward the ship, carrying Garp's limp form.
Back aboard the transport vessel, most of Garp's personal guards had already been subdued by Ginny and the others. Dragon's condition remained bleak. Since his left shoulder blade had been pierced earlier by Lloyd's attack, he was now forced to fight using only his right hand against Lucia.
Drawn blades and bloodied clothes marked Dragon as severely wounded, and his stamina was draining fast.
He no longer had any desire to keep fighting. All he wished for now was a chance to escape.
But Lucia was swift and relentless — as a Fallen Angel devil fruit user, her speed outpaced Dragon's mangled defenses. Escape felt nearly impossible.
Still, a spark of hope remained in Dragon's eyes.
He believed with all his heart that his father would return.
As long as Garp came back in time, everything could be resolved.
After all, his father was the legendary Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp, the Hero of the Marines who once fought Rocks D. Xebec themselves alongside Gol D. Roger in the God Valley Incident.
How could someone like Lloyd — a newly appointed Admiral — truly defeat him?
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