It wasn't Klein!?
That guy Klein was just watching—and munching on senbei?!
Carter was genuinely surprised, shocked even. "Sengoku actually awakened Conqueror's Haki… Looks like we'll need to groom him with priority. This kid has a real shot at becoming a Marine admiral-candidate in the future!"
He couldn't guarantee Sengoku would definitely become an admiral, but with the "disposition of a king," Sengoku's potential was enormous.
Besides…
Sengoku was only nineteen—still so young!
"Carter, you old coot—your Sengoku looks pretty banged up. He's still sparring another cadet." Admiral Rampaging Bear folded his arms. His full, sculpted muscles carved a deep line down his chest as he watched with a look that said he was here purely for the show.
Carter, of course, knew the "other cadet" was Garp—a top seed neck and neck with Sengoku in the elite class.
Just then—
Fleet Admiral Oharden arrived. "Rampaging Bear, how did you forget to use the Den Den Mushi to notify me what's going on here?!"
"F-forgot…" Rampaging Bear scratched his gleaming dome of a head. Under the moonlight it flashed blinding white.
Oharden asked, "Those brats are all wearing Marine Academy uniforms. Who is it that awakened Conqueror's Haki?"
"That afro over there—his name's Sengoku. In this year's class, he's top-tier in both talent and strength, second only to Klein…" Carter gave a brisk rundown on Sengoku.
Sensing the situation from afar, Oharden sighed inwardly. 'If only Sengoku had been born twenty years earlier and joined the Marines…'
"I would've found my successor and retired already!"
He said aloud, "A cadet like that is a genius. Now that he's awakened that one-in-a-million Conqueror's Haki, cultivate him as an admiral's heir-apparent!"
"Mm." Carter nodded. Even without the Fleet Admiral saying so, he planned to focus on Sengoku next.
Awakening Conqueror's Haki—
Within the Marines, that was…
Rare!!
You could even call it extremely scarce!
Even on the seas, where those with a "king's disposition" were as common as carp crossing a river, when that disposition truly matured, it meant a powerhouse with unbreakable will!
—
Scrapshipyard.
Garp, blasted backward, was smudged with dust and looked a bit ragged. Blood clung to the corner of his mouth. He grinned. "Hahaha—dunno what that surge just now was."
"But I do know this—Sengoku, you've gotten stronger. Now sparring you is way more fun!"
Fierce battle-spirit flashed in his tiger-like eyes as he stared Sengoku down.
Sengoku met Garp's gaze and smiled. "Garp, I told you—I won't lose to you!"
"And I'm definitely not calling Klein 'big bro'!"
He lunged—body like a sleek leopard, swift and precise—fist crashing down,
howling on a gale of force.
"Iron Fist!"
Garp countered. The muscles of his arms bulged to their limit, veins standing out like knotted green cords twined along his forearms.
Pure power!
Bang!
Fists collided, igniting the fire in both their chests.
"Hraah—!" Sengoku's fists flew, each blow heavy and decisive, gathering momentum and will into his knuckles,
bursting past his current limits.
Every punch hit like a hammer!
Bam-bam-bam—
Bam-bam-bam—
Garp's two fists fired left-right. Both men stayed rooted in place as four arms wove a barrage of afterimages between them.
Meanwhile,
blood kept welling at the corners of both their mouths.
The punches were too fast, and both had gone half-feral. Plenty of blows landed cleanly on bodies, not just guards.
Blood and guts, through and through!!
To Klein, it felt like watching beasts brawl up close inside an octagon.
And…
Even better!!
"Damn—rage boost plus awakened Conqueror's Haki—Sengoku's just erased the gap in one go."
"Shit!"
Klein's heart leaped into his throat. He did not want Garp to lose.
"What do I do?"
"Do I… interfere with a little ringside magic?"
He remembered that Stephen Chow flick where the hero and that 'senior brother' were trading blows in the ring—
with Uncle Tat's character messing with the fight from ringside the whole time.
So…
The next second, he pulled a tiny paper flag from his pocket.
"Unfair? So what—this world was never fair. Sengoku is still gonna call me 'big bro.'"
Klein activated his Paramecia-type Rally-Rally Fruit, waving the little flag as he shouted Garp's way:
"Garp!"
"If you dare lose to him, I'll bust your head open!"
"Try losing once!"
"I'll crack your skull like a melon!"
"…"
An invisible force from the Rally-Rally Fruit poured into Garp, letting him forget fatigue and pain for a moment.
His will surged back to life!
The fruit's power also tugged at the potential inside his body, drawing out an even greater burst of battle power.
Garp's face changed; even his fist slowed a beat—and Sengoku's punch blasted him away.
Blood sprayed from his lips; red droplets scattered through the air.
"My body…"
"Just got stronger out of nowhere!?"
"What is this weird power?"
He had no idea why his body was changing like this.
Sengoku blinked, then roared, "Garp, you can't zone out in the middle of a fight!"
He took two, three long strides and swung a sandbag-sized fist straight at Garp's face.
Garp's eyes went wide. He barked, "Stop!"
Boom—
A fierce, overbearing pressure—condensed into a tangible shockwave—erupted wildly from his body.
Under that tyrannical, iron-willed pressure, Sengoku's attack hitched off-beat for a split second.
Garp slipped it with a tilt of his head. "Sengoku—there's some unknown power in me, making me stronger!"
His aura spread like a gale in all directions, sand and dust billowing outward.
"Holy shit!!"
"What day is today?!"
Klein was stunned—nearly clutching his head—as Sengoku and Garp awakened Conqueror's Haki one after another.
No way—did you two plan this?
If he didn't have Conqueror's Haki himself,
he'd honestly be…
Sour as a lemon!
Sour enough to turn into pure lemon essence!!
Right then—
In the pitch-black night, Instructor Carter, Admiral Rampaging Bear, and Fleet Admiral Oharden all petrified together!
They were shaken beyond words.
Eyes bulged, jaws hit the floor—
in perfect sync!
"For real??? A second cadet awakened Conqueror's Haki?!"
Instructor Carter's mind went blank—joy crashing over him like a wave. "Good grief, what monsters are these cadets? Two of them have the disposition of a king!"
"Incredible!"
"Incredible!!"
All his years teaching, he'd never seen a class with greater talent.
Ecstatic to his core, he looked like he'd shot pure adrenaline; his old face flushed bright red.
His grin nearly twisted off his mouth as he crowed, proud beyond measure: "They're all my students!"
"They're all my prized disciples!!"
In that moment, he felt his life had…
Hit its peak!!
So hype!