Sage was sent flying by the violent impact, sliding across the bridge surface with his back, carving out a trench, with stones scattering all the way, finally stopping at just about ten meters away.
As he stopped, Sage quickly got up with a fish-like leap, gritting his teeth and shouting, "You bastard!"
But in an instant, his pupils shrank as he saw the brawny figure revealed as the smoke cleared.
With a tall stature and broad chest, the muscles under his white suit couldn't be concealed. His cape fluttered in the wind, one hand in his pocket, the other clenched into a fist, wearing a dog's head cap that obscured the upper half of his face, but the fierce grin was visible.
Sage slightly hunkered down, eyes narrowing, "Garp..."
It wasn't surprising to see Garp; when Renedia had alerted him earlier, he already knew who had arrived.
What shocked him was this guy's flawless and unbroken aura!
Sage was an expert in Assassination Fist, having studied the body to the extreme. Even without Observation, he could observe a person's physique with the naked eye to determine their strength.
Judging by the gray-white beard, this guy was indeed an old man.
But this old man, in his eyes...
— terrifyingly strong!
"Navy Hero, what brings you from the New World to a mere East Sea?" Sage coldly asked.
"Does a Pirate meddle in Navy affairs? But you, kid, have caused quite a stir, ha ha ha ha, even taking out some scourges!" Garp laughed loudly.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
A stern voice echoed from the other side of the bridge, and a man with an eagle-hook nose appeared there, wiping sweat from his face, "You shouldn't speak so freely, Vice Admiral..."
Sage glanced over, his pupils shrinking again.
This man didn't seem weak either, with a sharp aura that made one's eyes ache just by looking.
A Sword Master, perhaps...
"Ah... Let's just forget those words."
Garp scratched his head, his fist cracking, "Anyway, kid, continue this way and the World Government will be embarrassed. Just come with me obediently."
Sage moved his hands and feet, exhaling, "That's not an option for me. I have no plans to become a prisoner yet, and I'm quite satisfied with my subordinates here. Just leaving like this, I can't be reconciled."
For the first time, he had such a smooth recruitment of subordinates.
On his ship, those subordinates had either been snatched from kingdoms, or even regular crew had been taken by defeating a Captain.
Now he'd found a suitable recruitment ground, requiring little effort, just breaking the bridge to take people away. Such convenient opportunities do not come by often.
There's always a chance to return after escaping...
But he could escape!
Yet Garp, along with the hook-nosed man guarding the bridge, blocked the path between him and his ship. If he attempted escape, they'd surely combine efforts to stop him.
They wouldn't let him leave so easily.
"Ha ha ha, I alone am enough to catch you; don't worry about Bogard taking action."
Having seen Sage's glance, Garp laughed heartily, "I heard you took down Ennio. Let me test your mettle!"
Whiz!
The moment after he spoke, his massive figure vanished from sight, causing Sage's pupils to shrink further as his body moved and twisted oddly.
Bam!
A large fist swiftly struck Sage's chest, the immense impact originating from his torso, sending him flying. Simultaneously, the brawny figure appeared above him, fist plummeting downwards.
Sage abruptly sank downward, sticking to the ground while both hands slapped behind, a foot stirring up a vacuum slash, which, as Garp's body descended, struck fiercely at Garp's abdomen.
Garp's fist hit the ground, forming a crater. As the fist dropped, Sage, like a mudfish, supported himself with his hands, flipping to evade the fist, positioning himself at Garp's side from above, leg descending like a heavy axe upon Garp's head.
Bam!
The kick made Garp's legs bend, his upper body sinking. Sage slid forward, his upper body slipping over Garp's, hands forming blades glinting with a cold light, stabbing straight towards Garp's temple.
North Star Strike Down Finger!
And Finger Gun!
With such robust physique, even acupoint strikes might not hit. Sage, despite his strength and destructive power, dared not slack off against such an opponent, using every means he had.
Pop...
Yet just as his fingers were about to hit the temple, his legs and feet were somehow grabbed by something.
Garp caught Sage's sliding foot, turning his head to grin wickedly at him.
Bam!!
Sage instantly vanished from above Garp as he was slammed harshly into the ground, forming a human-shaped imprint.
The heavy blow brought a metallic taste from Sage's throat, blood oozing from his mouth's corner.
Whoosh!
Before he could react, the giant fist approached again.
Sage clenched his teeth, tightly clenching his fist to meet the incoming blow head-on.
Thud!
Fist met fist as Sage's body sank into the ground again, the shock causing surrounding debris to momentarily hover in the air.
Sage quickly landed several punches on Garp's extended arm, straightening his body, legs entwining Garp's arm and neck pulling down, causing a stumble though not entirely toppling Garp was expected. However, grudgingly, he acknowledged that he and this old guy... were not on the same level!
But leveraging that stumble, Sage swiftly escaped from beneath Garp's fist, his legs becoming afterimages stamping on Garp's body, pivoting from Garp's body to vanish, reappearing behind him.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
North Star Hundred Split Fist!
Both his hands became countless shadows, delivering a hundred strikes on Garp's back. As the assault ended, his body flipped back, hand pressing the ground, leg hooking Garp's neck, knocking his staggering body down.
Bam!
The legs swung Garp's upper body into the bridge ground, his head embedding into it. Immediately, Sage stomped onto air, leaving a ring of smoke and air, leaping to the far ground.
"Huff..."
Sage exhaled heavily, wiped the blood from his lips, glaring viciously at the man with a head in the ground, "How's that, old geezer!"
Crack...
Surrounding debris shuddered as Garp's head withdrew from the indentation, sitting cross-legged, his dog-head hat gone, revealing gray-white hair and a scarred face above his left eye.
His chest's clothing had a large tear, collar tattered, he raised his right hand, nonchalantly laughing, "Ha ha ha ha, impressive Six Styles, Ennio never taught you... learned during the fight? Truly a genius!"
Swoosh!
Blood suddenly spurted from his right hand and chest, with a large blood bloom from his back, spreading on the ground.
The techniques worked!
But...
Sage twitched at his eye's corner, seeing Garp stand without delay, laughing, "And this peculiar body technique, capable of causing Internal Destruction effects, ha ha ha ha! Today's kids are quite fearsome!"
"Don't give me that crap!"
Sage snarled, "You're not hurting at all!"