"Is that so... I understand."
Standing outside the port gates, Ornn listened to Boo's anxious explanation without the slightest trace of panic on his face.
"It's good that you understand," Boo sighed, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's not that my big brother and I don't want to host you, it's just our old man—"
"Save the explanations," Ornn interrupted smoothly. "Lead the way."
Boo froze. "Lead the way?! But the docks are right behind—"
"What docks? I'm talking about the way to the Happo Navy Water Compound."
Ornn turned to Yamato, adjusting his forge hammer at his hip. "Yamato, how are you feeling?"
Yamato grinned brightly, thumping her chest with her fist. "Don't worry! After resting up and eating all that incredible dim sum, I can definitely throw down at a hundred percent!"
"Eh?!" Boo stared at them in utter bewilderment before snapping back. "Are you guys crazy?! Do you even realize what kind of situation this is?! My grandfather has a bounty of 500,000,000 Berries!"
Seeing Boo hesitate, Rhea couldn't hold back. She stepped forward and gave the back of his head a light cuff.
"Hey, cat-brain! Our captain is stepping up to back your brother. Why are you stuttering like a scared kid?!"
Looking at the three unfazed figures standing before him, Boo gritted his teeth. Throwing caution to the wind, he turned on his heel. "Fine! Follow me!"
The group shifted direction, sprinting at full speed toward the mountain stronghold of the Happo Navy.
Happo Water Compound — Training Grounds
BANG!
In the center of the stone courtyard, a bloodied Sai leaned heavily on his naginata, gasping for air. Yet his bloodshot eyes held zero intention of yielding.
"You stubborn old geezer! I told you—Ornn is a brother I approved of! He never had any intention of stealing our family secrets! Why can't you just listen?!"
Across the ruined courtyard stood an immense, thick-bearded old man with a broad, flat indentation across the top of his head. Don Chinjao raised his massive, black-coated fists, roaring until the stone tiles vibrated beneath their boots:
"The one who doesn't understand is YOU, Sai! As the future leader of the Happo Navy, how can you trust an outsider so easily?!"
Chinjao's eyes burned with unhinged fury. "If that brat wasn't plotting to steal our legacy, how could he possibly master the kinetic principles of the Happo Punch after trading blows with you a single time?!
There is NO ONE in this world capable of such a feat! Not even that monstrous, god-damned bastard GARP could pull off something like that!
AAGH! DAMN YOU, GARP! I hate you! I'll hate you and your bloodline down to your grandchildren!!!"
"Here we go again!" Sai spat, wiping blood from his jaw. "Just because Garp couldn't do it doesn't mean other people can't! You're so brain-damaged from Garp's punch thirty years ago that you've lost your damn mind!"
"You dare speak to your grandfather like that for an outsider?! It seems I have to beat some sense into you today!"
"Say whatever you want!" Sai bellowed, raising his weapon. "If I can't even stand by my own word, what right do I have to lead the Happo Navy?!"
"Happo Punch Secret Technique: Headless Dragon, Headless Nail!"
"Wu's Heel!"
With two thunderous roars, Chinjao's massive, Armament-coated head collided violently with Sai's Haki-reinforced heel.
Despite his growth, Sai's current strength was still far from his peak canonical power six years down the line. Under the weight of his grandfather's full-power strike, his Haki guard cracked, and the old man's massive head drove through his defense, threatening to crush him into the stone floor.
Just as Sai's knees gave out, a pillar of liquid, golden magma erupted from the stone floor directly beneath Chinjao's midsection!
GUH!
The sudden, high-temperature impact caught Chinjao completely off guard. The thermal blast launched his massive frame skyward, instantly breaking the momentum of his strike.
Reaching out with a massive, purple-furred arm, Ornn caught the exhausted Sai before he hit the dirt.
"Looks like I made it just in time," Ornn said with a relaxed smile.
Sai looked up in shock, his eyes wide. "Ornn?! Didn't I tell Boo to send you away from the island?! Why are you..."
"Don't speak nonsense," Ornn replied, setting him down safely. "A man who stood up for me is getting beaten by his own family. If I ran away now, how could I face the sea as a captain?"
Sai's face flushed with guilt, then broke into a weary grin. "You're right... I worried for nothing."
"Stop putting on a pathetic show in front of me!"
A cold snort shattered the moment as Chinjao landed back on the stone floor, his broad chest smoking from the magma contact.
"I've sailed these seas for decades!" Chinjao growled, his squinted eyes locking onto Ornn with deep suspicion. "I've seen countless cunning snakes like you using cheap sentiment to fool naive young fools!
You think you can learn the secrets of the Happo Punch, break open the Jade Iceberg, and steal the ancestral treasure our navy has guarded for generations?!
Dream on, brat! The martial secrets of the Happo Navy will NEVER be handed to an outsider!"
Ornn stood there, utterly speechless.
This old man is suffering from severe, clinical persecution paranoia.
Just because Garp caved his pointed skull in thirty years ago—leaving him unable to crack open his frozen treasure vault—he assumed every strong newcomer visiting the Kano Kingdom was secretly plotting to heist his ice-bound fortune!
Ornn let out a long sigh, looking at the ranting old legend. "Old man... before you slap a label like that on me, did you ever consider a basic possibility?"
"What possibility?!" Chinjao barked, glaring down at him.
"Is it possible... that I'm simply an absolute genius, and I only needed to feel your technique once to figure out the force mechanics?"
"IMPOSSIBLE! UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!"
Chinjao waved his arm dismissively, his flat head shaking violently. "Such an absurd lie! The Happo Punch is the culmination of centuries of refinement by our ancestors! No matter how talented you claim to be, it's impossible—"
Before Chinjao could finish his sentence, Ornn stepped forward and pressed his bare right fist lightly against the stone courtyard floor.
Adjusting his breathing pattern in sync with his pulse, he focused his nervous system, driving high-frequency, controlled vibrations directly through the muscle groups in his arm.
BUZZ... BUZZ... BOOM!
A localized, invisible shockwave burst from his knuckles.
The stone floor instantly fractured around Ornn's boots. A deep, spiderweb crack ripped through the courtyard, traveling twenty meters forward until it completely shattered a massive granite training wall at the far end of the arena!
SILENCE.
At that moment, the eyes of Don Chinjao, Sai, and Boo nearly popped right out of their sockets—looking eerily similar to Eneru discovering Luffy's rubber immunity.
Withdrawing his fist, Ornn straightened his posture, dusting off his leather trousers before looking up at the dumbfounded flat-headed old man with a calm, sunny smile.
"So then... do you still think it's impossible?"
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