Garp ignored Jerry's casual banter, his massive frame suddenly tensing in mid-air. The legendary Marine's muscles bulged as he let out a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very heavens.
"Boy! Get over here!"
The air itself seemed to tremble as Garp's overwhelming presence filled the battlefield. Every fiber of the Marine hero's being radiated raw, devastating power—the kind of strength that had cornered the Pirate King himself and become the stuff of legends.
"GALAXY IMPACT!"
Facing Garp's earth-shattering assault, Jerry didn't dare show even a hint of carelessness. This was the Marine Hero—the man who had fought Roger, chased down legendary pirates, and earned his reputation through pure, overwhelming might.
As Garp descended like a falling meteor, Jerry quickly repositioned his fishing rod and gathered every ounce of Haki in his body into his right fist. Black lightning crackled around his knuckles as advanced Armament and Conqueror's Haki coalesced into devastating force.
"WATER GOD : LEVIATHAN JUDGMENT!"
Jerry's punch erupted forward like a water dragon bursting from its cave, water and Haki spiraling together in a technique that had felled Emperor commanders and legendary pirates alike.
The wind howled as their auras collided violently, interweaving into an invisible vortex of pure, concentrated power. Jerry's fist blazed with countless Haki lightning bolts that danced and writhed like living serpents, each spark crackling with enough force to shatter mountains.
Garp's attack carried the weight of decades—endless darkness seemed to swirl around his knuckles, containing power that had once threatened to destroy everything in its path.
Their movements blurred beyond human perception.
In that split second, two legendary forces met in catastrophic collision.
The world seemed to hold its breath. Sound itself vanished, as if reality had pressed its own mute button. Then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shattered the silence, reverberating across sea and sky. The collision of their attacks created visible shockwaves that rippled through space itself, warping the air and sending tremors through the ocean floor. The entire world seemed to shake from the impact.
Clouds scattered like frightened birds. The sea below erupted into massive waves that radiated outward in all directions, forming a tsunami that threatened everything within miles.
Under the tremendous reaction force, both fighters were launched in opposite directions like meteors, leaving only brilliant afterimages in their wake.
Garp, despite having the aerial advantage, felt blood spray from his mouth as the impact sent him rocketing skyward with a sharp whistle cutting through the air.
Jerry wasn't spared either. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his body crashed into the sea with tremendous force, sending a massive splash hundreds of feet into the air.
Even though their battlefield was far from the watching ships, the violent aftermath still affected everyone in the area. Spectators could feel hurricane-force winds buffeting their faces, while massive waves generated by the clash began bearing down on their ships.
"All hands on deck! Brace for impact!" On the Marine warships, sailors scrambled to their positions, executing emergency procedures with practiced precision despite the chaos.
At the sea restaurant Baratie, positioned furthest from the battle, everyone stood frozen in shock at the apocalyptic scene unfolding before them. They stared helplessly as towering waves approached at terrifying speed, accompanied by howling winds that threatened to tear their floating restaurant apart.
"Where can we even run to?!" someone shouted in panic.
"I don't know—just move!" another voice cried out.
The terror spread quickly across the deck as guests and staff alike were caught up in the sudden pandemonium. People stumbled over each other, unsure whether to seek shelter or abandon ship entirely.
"Everyone calm down!" Sanji's commanding voice cut through the chaos from the second-floor railing, causing the panicked crowd to pause and look up at the sous chef.
Seeing he had their attention, Sanji maintained his composure and spoke with clear authority. "Guests, find something sturdy and hold on tight!"
He turned to his fellow cooks with steely determination. "All hands, prepare for heavy seas! Everyone's lives depend on us doing our jobs right!"
Even Patty and the other cooks who usually bickered with Sanji nodded grimly and ran to their posts without complaint. In moments like this, their professionalism and years of experience showed.
"Damn brat, you're finally acting like a proper sous chef," Zeff muttered, patting Sanji's shoulder with a mixture of pride and resignation. "But this situation... it's really something else."
Sanji calmly lit a cigarette, his eyes reflecting the approaching disaster with surprising tranquility. "Guess we'll have to leave it to fate, old man."
Just as he finished speaking, something impossible happened.
The violent tsunami that had been rushing toward the three ships suddenly... stopped.
Under the shocked gazes of Marines and Baratie staff alike, the towering waves that everyone had been preparing to face simply froze in place. The massive wall of water hung suspended above the ocean's surface, as if held back by some invisible, insurmountable force.
Aboard the Black Nova, witnessing this miraculous sight, Skull puffed out his chest with obvious pride. "Hah! I told you all along that Boss Jerry would be fine!"
"That's right, that's exactly what I was thinking too!" Carina chimed in with mock seriousness, as if she hadn't been terrified moments before.
"You two are absolutely hopeless," Deuce said, slapping his forehead in exasperation.
The others looked at the pair with fond amusement before Carrot put her hands on her hips indignantly. "Brother Skull, you say you believed in Brother Jerry, but you were the first one to run over and grab the mast!"
Little Bonney nodded emphatically in agreement. The moment they'd seen the wind and waves from the battle's aftermath, both Skull and Carina had screamed and scrambled for safety.
"Carrot, you're completely misunderstanding!" Skull protested, waving the rope in his hands dramatically. "I was just preparing to raise the sails and cheer for Boss Jerry!"
"Exactly! I was just getting ready to handle any rough seas," Carina added, hugging Kotatsu tightly with one arm while gripping another rope. She flashed everyone a thumbs up with her free hand. "Safety first, you know!"
As someone who understood Jerry's true strength better than most, Cavendish stroked Farul's mane gently, his voice calm and confident. "Jerry chose to fight, so of course he can handle it."
Brook shared the sentiment, patting his ribcage with a gentle rattle. "I have complete faith that Mr.Jerry will be fine, though my poor heart is still racing with worry—even though I don't have a heart anymore! Yohohoho!"
At his characteristic laugh, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed completely. Their eyes turned as one to watch the massive waves gradually calm and settle back into the sea.
Soon enough, they spotted Jerry standing perfectly upright on the now-peaceful ocean surface.
Jerry glanced to one side, then looked up toward the sky. With his left hand, he snapped his fingers casually and waved upward with a cheerful grin. "See you around, old man!"
Deuce and the others followed his gaze curiously, spotting what looked like an ant-sized shadow on the distant horizon.
Carrot lowered her telescope and reported to the group: "That's... a warship! It looks like the one with Vice Admiral Gion that was chasing us!"
"Time to go, unless we want to get caught in a pincer attack," Jerry called out as he turned back toward his crew.
As his voice carried across the water, streams of seawater wrapped around the Black Nova like protective arms. Under the amazed gazes of everyone watching, the pirate ship suddenly dove beneath the waves and disappeared completely from sight.
High above in the sky, Garp had recovered enough to witness Jerry and the Black Nova's vanishing act. He remained silent for a long moment, his weathered eyes eventually settling on his bleeding arm. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.
"My strength really is starting to decline."
Then his expression shifted, and he let out his characteristic booming laugh. "Well, that just means I need to train harder! Bwahahaha—cough cough..."
The laughter seemed to aggravate his internal injuries, causing Garp to cough violently. But even as he winced, he continued muttering to himself with something that might have been admiration.
"That kid... combining advanced Armament Haki with Conqueror's Haki coating like that. Another monster is rising in this world."
As he began his descent back toward the warship, one final murmur drifted away on the wind—words that carried the weight of experience and perhaps a hint of concern for the future.
"The new generation... this is really going to give Sengoku a headache."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~