Sea Calendar 1510.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In a certain sea of the Grand Line, deafening roars erupted from a nameless island. Chaotic air currents, like a hurricane, swept across the sky and land, even raising the surging sea into giant waves over a dozen meters high.
"Kong!"
"Redfield!"
On the ravaged ground, two white-haired old men, with ferocious expressions, roared as they charged at each other in a fierce battle between monsters.
Slashes of crimson energy wantonly sliced the ground, leaving deep, crisscrossing fissures on the island, as if someone were haphazardly painting on the island's surface as their canvas.
White blasts of air, like shockwaves, easily tore through the earth, forming massive, crater-like depressions, resembling a scene bombarded by dozens or even hundreds of fortress cannons.
This intense battle lasted for a day and a night. The pervasive Conqueror's Haki had long since enveloped the entire island like a thick mist.
At this moment, a battleship cleaved through the waves, arriving at the sea on the island's perimeter. The ship's bow was a dog's head biting a bone.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what's the situation?"
Just then, a pitch-black thundercloud and a large fireball with a crown of flames descended from the sky, hovering above the dog-head warship. Following them, a handsome young man with short silver hair leaped down from the thundercloud, landing on the open deck at the ship's bow. He wore a black suit with a red Karakusa pattern, a fluttering Marine coat of justice on his back, and the famous blade Shusui at his waist, a magnificent and imposing figure.
"You're here too, Cross!" On the deck of the dog-head warship, Garp turned his head, grinning.
"Following Admiral Sengoku's orders, I rushed over from the New World without a moment's delay!" Cross walked over to Garp's side, gazing at the constantly shaking island ahead, and complained, "Seriously, calling me for something like this? Admiral Sengoku thinks too highly of me. Shouldn't this be a job for Vice Admiral Borsalino?"
The imposing pressure from the island felt like a terrifying behemoth was wantonly unleashing its power, causing Cross to feel a sense of dread and panic. The other Marines on the warship felt a suffocating pressure in their chests, making it hard to breathe. An invisible force seemed to be pressing down on them, making it difficult to even stand, as if it wanted to push them into the ground.
"Borsalino went to Mariejois. I think he must have been held up by something," Garp explained, then ordered the warship to stop and not approach the island any further.
"What a headache. A monster like Redfield is a bit too much for me right now!" Cross scratched the back of his head, speaking with some frustration.
"Stop complaining, brat!" Garp grinned. "I heard you've been doing well in the New World recently, sinking several of Big Mom's pirate ships and injuring several members of the Charlotte Family. You've made that balloon furious, and she nearly came after you herself. Besides..."
Here, Garp's expression became solemn. He said in a low voice, "Kong said he wanted to settle the score, so he went to the island alone. If it weren't for Tsuru following up and notifying us to rush over as reinforcements, we wouldn't have known that the Intelligence Division had found Redfield's trail!"
"For now, it looks like we'll have to wait until the battle is over before we can go to the island!"
Meanwhile, the battle that had raged for a day and a night finally came to an end.
Thump...
The Marine Fleet Admiral, the man known as "Steel Bone" Kong, was covered in wounds. He seemed about to fall and finally couldn't hold on, collapsing face-first onto the ground.
"Hoo-hah... Hoo-hah..."
Not far away, Redfield was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently like a bellows. His clothes were tattered and stained with blood, and his injuries were not much less severe than Kong's. However, he still leaned on his slender blue bat-handled umbrella, forcing himself to remain standing.
"Ha... haha... In the end... I won, Kong!" Redfield's lips curled into a smile, and he couldn't help but let out a triumphant laugh.
Kong lay powerless on the ground, struggling to lift his head. He spoke in a weak voice, "That's right... This battle... I lost... But unfortunately, you didn't win either..."
"What do you mean?"
Redfield's expression changed slightly, and he narrowed his long, thin eyes. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he instinctively looked toward the sea. The thick, lingering dust did not block his vision. A faint, dog-head warship appeared in his sight, anchored steadfastly on the sea, rising and falling with the waves.
"That bastard Garp!" Redfield gritted his teeth, the words practically forced out.
"I said before that regardless of the outcome, this score would be settled!" Kong's face was resolute as he said in a low voice, "Unfortunately, you are a pirate, and I am a Marine. From the standpoint of justice, I absolutely cannot let you leave here!"
"Then from the standpoint of a pirate, it's only right for me to kill you!" Redfield snorted coldly, forcing himself to stand upright and once again raising the bat-handled umbrella in his hand.
Rumble!
Suddenly, thunder roared in the sky. A mysterious pitch-black thundercloud rapidly expanded, quickly covering the land and sea, obscuring the sun's light and plunging the entire island into shadow.
"This is..."
"Is it going to rain?"
Kong and Redfield had different reactions. The former seemed to have an idea, while the latter thought it was merely a sudden change in the weather.
Rumble! Rumble!
Following this, the pitch-black thundercloud in the sky churned relentlessly, with streaks of lightning darting through it. It even formed a majestic human face, with clear features and dazzling lightning in its eyes, like a deity.
"What the hell is that?" Redfield's expression was one of shock. His already aching muscles tensed up again as he prepared himself for a potential threat.
"I didn't expect that brat to come too. This is truly a double assurance!" Kong, lying on the ground, managed to roll over and muttered to himself as he looked at the enormous human face in the cloud.
BOOM—!
Abruptly, the pitch-black thundercloud erupted with lightning. A single bolt, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder, struck precisely where Redfield was standing. The ground shook violently as if an earthquake had hit.
When the dazzling lightning faded, the ground had been pierced, forming a deep, bottomless well over three meters in diameter. The surrounding earth was reduced to scorching, charred ground, with thin wisps of smoke still rising from it.
"This ability to control weather and lightning... could it be that woman, Big Mom, has arrived?!" Redfield dodged more than a dozen meters away. He looked at the charred, deep well left by the lightning, his pale face reflecting a look of uncertainty.
"Bwahahahahahaha—!"
Suddenly, a familiar burst of laughter came from the shoreline. "Long time no see, old bat!"
Redfield turned his head and saw that bastard Garp running quickly, seemingly on air, toward him. Trailing behind Garp was a familiar young man, and above him was a scorching fireball with a crown of flames. The incredible heat warped the surrounding air. The fireball also had a face with distinct features, though its expression was quite menacing.
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