"You have grown much stronger, Valthior," Garp said, a smile of a true powerhouse appearing on his face.
"Ahahaha, there are too many monsters like you on this sea. If I do not work harder, how would I dare sail around the New World and claim territory?" Valthior laughed.
As he spoke, he seemed to notice that his presence was too strong, pressing down on the young man not far from Garp until the man could barely breathe.
"Sorry, sorry… Mr. Bogard's swordsmanship was too dangerous, so I got a little serious without thinking," Valthior said with what seemed like an apologetic smile. Then the surging Conqueror's Haki around him slowly calmed down.
Bogard heard this and did not know how to respond for a moment.
My swordsmanship was too dangerous, so you directly poured that much Conqueror's Haki on me?
As for Kuzan, after feeling the Conqueror's Haki pressing down on him slowly fade, he finally escaped that suffocating feeling. He looked at Valthior with an extremely serious gaze and remembered something Sakazuki had once mentioned back at Marine Headquarters.
Sakazuki had said that during the battle on Whole Cake Island, he had barely exchanged blows with Valthior before almost being crushed.
At the time, Kuzan thought Sakazuki had exaggerated. Valthior was not much older than them, so how could he casually overpower someone as talented as Sakazuki?
Now, Kuzan only felt that Sakazuki had been bragging.
With that kind of Conqueror's Haki pouring down, you still managed to fight him? Were you trying to make yourself sound better?
While Kuzan was thinking this, Valthior raised his brow and said, "You must be Kuzan, one of the three rising stars the Marines have been talking about, and the Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit user, right?"
In the past, when people called him one of the three rising stars of the Marines, Kuzan had not shown much on the surface, but he had felt secretly pleased and proud inside.
But now, when Valthior, who also looked young, said it, Kuzan felt somewhat ashamed.
"I would not dare call myself a rising star, but yes, that is me," Kuzan said after a slight pause.
"Just by looking at you, I can tell you are a fine seed of a strong fighter. Mr. Garp, the Marines really picked up a treasure," Valthior said with a smile.
"Our Marines have a proper line of training, so of course talented people appear one after another. Besides, how could my disciple be weak?" Garp said calmly.
Valthior first nodded, then looked at Kuzan again and continued, "But this place is still a little too early for you. In a few more years, I look forward to seeing your wonderful performance on the sea. For now, go play on the side with my disappointing subordinates…"
At this point, Valthior called out without turning his head, "Bullet, Kuma, test him."
"Yes, Young Master!" Bullet and Bartholomew Kuma answered at the same time.
The two of them raised their hands toward Kuzan, signaling for him to follow, then walked off toward the distance.
Kuzan froze for a moment and looked at Garp.
Garp stayed silent for a short while, then grinned and said, "Go. Just like that kid said, this stage is still a little too early for you."
Although Kuzan felt frustrated inside, he also understood very clearly that, judging by the Conqueror's Haki that had nearly crushed the breath out of him earlier, he was not qualified to stand in front of Valthior right now.
So he could only turn that heavy feeling into the drive to grow stronger. He nodded, then followed Bullet and the others away.
Only after that did Valthior look at Chinjao and Tofu behind Garp. He recognized Chinjao, since that head was far too easy to identify, but he knew nothing about Tofu beside him.
Still, the fact that the man could stand beside Chinjao without collapsing under the Conqueror's Haki like Kuzan had already proven he had some real skill.
"With the way you are standing, someone who does not know better might think you are all on the same side. What is this, Chinjao? You shouted that you would wait here for me, but now that I have come, all you can do is hide behind Garp and tremble?" Valthior said without any politeness.
Hearing those arrogant words, Chinjao suddenly clenched his fist and was about to speak.
However, Valthior did not give him the chance. He looked straight at Garp and said, "I am rather confused, Mr. Garp. What are you doing here? Surely you did not come just to ruin my fun? That would be very rude…"
"I came here to…" Garp's lips moved, but for a moment, he did not know what to say.
What did I come here for?
To capture Chinjao?
That would be useless. Chinjao had Kano Country behind him. Garp had captured him many times before, but in the end, Kano Country always used all kinds of connections to get him released.
Then should he arrest Valthior?
That was even more ridiculous. If someone with Chinjao's backing could still be pulled out, then there was no need to mention Valthior.
If Garp arrested him, he guessed that before he could even leave this island, the Den Den Mushi from above would ring and tell him to release the man.
After all, Marine Headquarters had already received a reminder. After the Roger Pirates disbanded, the policy regarding Saint Valthior had changed again.
Back when Valthior first boarded the Roger Pirates' ship, Marine Headquarters had been ordered not to provoke them.
Later, when the Roger Pirates entered the New World, those above said the Marines could go all out to destroy the Roger Pirates without worrying about Saint Valthior's presence, as long as they captured him alive.
But after the Roger Pirates disbanded and the Valthior Pirates were formed, those above said to support Saint Valthior's actions in the New World as much as possible.
In other words, Mary Geoise seemed to be trying to push forward the rise of a new pirate force in the New World, one centered around Valthior.
To be honest, Garp could understand this very well. Mary Geoise had finally produced someone ruthless enough, someone with the potential to unite the pirate powers of the New World. If he were in their position, he would also try to push things in that direction.
So now, Garp was even less likely to arrest Valthior.
Because of that, when Valthior asked why he had come here, Garp felt rather awkward.
"I still have an old debt with Chinjao. I came to Savila this time to flatten his head!" Garp finally said, using that as his reason.
Behind him, Chinjao heard this and nearly cursed.
Are you sick or something?
"Is my head bothering you that much?" Chinjao asked angrily.
Valthior laughed loudly. "Speaking of that, I have also been wondering, why is your head so pointy?"
"YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!!!" Chinjao roared in fury. Even though he now knew he had misjudged Valthior, his anger had already risen, and he no longer cared as much.
He stomped the ground, twisted his waist, and charged straight toward Valthior.
"Hasshoken Secret Art: Chinjao Gate Breaker!"
After two steps, Chinjao suddenly smashed his head straight into the ground.
The Hasshoken carried the idea of focusing power into one point until it reached the peak.
Chinjao's head could even break open the extremely hard Jewel Ice Sheet. Now that it struck Savila Island, a huge abyss instantly split open in the ground, as if it were about to swallow Valthior whole.
At the same time, Tofu also moved. Flames burst from his body, and the fierce heat instantly evaporated the ice around him. The flames turned into a blazing stream and surged forward.
"Burning Oil Flame!"
Faced with their ferocious assault, Valthior remained completely calm. He simply took one light step forward.
The moment his boot hovered above the newly formed abyss, freezing air surged forth after him.
"Ice Age…"
Ice manifested from the empty air. The abyss that should have torn the island apart was instantly filled with thick ice, directly stabilizing Savila Island. Then the freezing air swept outward, and the moment Tofu's burning flames touched it, they weakened sharply.
Right after that, Haki flashed around Garp's body, blocking the biting cold.
However, both Chinjao and Tofu suddenly stiffened. In just an instant, they had already been frozen into ice statues.
"Calm down a little," Valthior said with a soft laugh.
As soon as his words fell, Chinjao's Conqueror's Haki shattered the ice, while Tofu's flames melted the ice covering his body.
But at this moment, neither of them made another careless move. They only looked at Valthior with deep fear in their eyes.
In the distance, Kuzan turned back to watch this scene. A serious light flashed in his eyes as he said, "He can even freeze flames? As expected, I am still far behind… Ice Age."
"So you are trying to take my target from me?" Garp grinned with anticipation. At the same time, he clenched both hands into iron fists. Conqueror's Haki wrapped around them directly, and his presence began to rise.
He was not wrong. Even if Valthior and Chinjao had agreed to fight first, the one who reached this island first and fought Chinjao first was Garp.
Valthior had arrived late, so if he acted now, it would indeed seem like he was stealing the target.
Valthior no longer looked at Chinjao. Feeling Garp's terrifying aura rise higher and higher, the tomoe in his eyes spun again, and his own eyes also filled with expectation.
"This time, I will not lose, Mr. Garp…"
As soon as his voice fell, Garp kicked off the ground. The earth beneath him shattered at once, and his powerful body shot forward. Even the justice coat over his shoulders could no longer stay on and was blown away by the wind.
At the same time, the chain around Valthior's wrist loosened, and the handle of his battle axe, Merciless, was already in his hand.
"Galaxy Impact!"
"Yasotakeru!"
If Shanks had inherited Roger's true skill and sailed the seas with Divine Departure, then Valthior had also mastered Gaban's signature technique to a terrifying level.
The axe blade struck hard against Garp's fist.
Two waves of Conqueror's Haki exploded at once, tearing the sky apart and shaking the island. The already restless sea quickly gathered into a roaring tsunami.
Far away, within the clouds that had been split open, Morgans stood on the balloon airship of the World Economy News Paper and excitedly pressed the shutter, clearly capturing the clash between Garp and Valthior. At the same time, he shouted loudly, "Big news! Big news! This one photo alone is enough to destroy all those rumors that Valthior does not deserve his fame!"
In the photo, Chinjao, an old great pirate with a bounty of more than five hundred million Berries, was only a background figure in this battle.
The clash of Conqueror's Haki that tore through the sky and split the earth was more than enough to show how powerful Garp and Valthior truly were.