Boom—!
A blue-purple lightning bolt, tearing through the sky with a destructive fury, slammed into the execution platform—the highest symbol of Marine faith!
Its speed was extreme!
So fast that the Three Admirals barely had time to stand up, their faces just showing expressions of horror!
So fast that the lightning, piercing through heaven and earth, was about to completely engulf the entire execution platform along with everyone on it!
However...
Just as the lightning was about to touch Ace...
A golden curtain of light, without warning, shot up into the sky!
Rumble!
A colossal golden Buddha, reaching the heavens, appeared out of thin air!
Sengoku the Buddha had activated his Devil Fruit ability!
He chose not to dodge, nor to attack, but instead extended a massive golden palm, obscuring the sky, positioning it directly in the path of the lightning in the most head-on confrontation!
Bang!!!
The blue-purple lightning and the golden giant palm collided with a thunderous impact in mid-air!
There was no deafening roar.
Only a shockwave, twisting the air, spread wildly!
Lightning and golden light furiously eroded and annihilated each other, emitting a grating "zzzt" sound!
That wild lightning was actually stopped dead in its tracks!
As the lightning dissipated, it revealed Pirate Garp's face, etched with brutality and fury.
His fist was pressed firmly against the center of the golden palm, just inches away from Ace behind it!
"Get lost!"
Garp's roar, like a muffled thunder exploding from his chest, carried dancing arcs of electricity with every word!
"Sengoku!!!"
The compassionate face of the golden Buddha was now filled with the rage and pain of a mortal.
"Garp!"
Sengoku's voice, emanating from within the great Buddha, boomed like a grand bell, making the entire Marineford hum!
"Do you know what you're doing?!"
"Of course I do!" Garp's neck veins bulged, and the lightning armor on his arm erupted with an even more blinding light, attempting to pierce through the golden hand completely!
"I'm here to take my Grandson home!"
"He's not your Grandson!" Sengoku roared, visible cracks appearing on the golden giant palm, yet it still held Garp firmly, refusing to yield an inch!
"He is Pirate King Roger's son! He is the root of evil that started a wicked era! He must receive justice here!"
"To hell with your justice!"
Garp bellowed, his eyes burning with a pure, irrational madness!
"All I know is! That kid, who's about to cry! Is the Grandson I watched grow up!"
"I don't care whose son he is! Today! He must come with me!"
"You are betraying us, Garp!" Sengoku's voice trembled with heartbreaking anguish, "You are betraying the Marine! Betraying the beliefs we've upheld our entire lives!"
"BWAHAHAHA!" Garp seemed to waver for a moment, then burst into maniacal laughter, a laugh filled with self-mockery and determination.
"That's right!"
He stared intently into the golden Buddha's eyes, roaring word by word.
"Today I'm telling you! Telling the whole world!"
"Family!"
"Is more important than the whole world!"
These words were like an invisible sledgehammer, striking Sengoku's heart with force.
The light on the golden Buddha's body dimmed for an instant.
Sengoku looked at his old friend, familiar yet strange, at his face filled with unwavering resolve.
He saw it.
He saw the things this man had suppressed his entire life, finally exploding today.
"Garp..."
Sengoku's voice, for the first time, carried a plea, a voice filled with decades of friendship.
"Stop...
"It's not too late to turn back now."
Garp's wild laughter slowly subsided.
The violent lightning around him also seemed to calm down somewhat.
He looked at the colossal golden Buddha before him, at the man he had argued with his whole life, and fought alongside his whole life.
A complex emotion flashed in his sharp eyes.
There was apology.
There was emotion.
But more than anything, there was unshakeable resolve.
"I'm sorry..."
Garp spoke softly, his voice not loud, yet it clearly reached Sengoku's ears.
"Sengoku."
He grinned, revealing the same uninhibited smile he had in his youth.
"Just let me..."
"Be willful this one time!"
The moment the words fell!
Crackle—!
The blue-purple lightning around him erupted with more ferocity and brilliance than ever before!
"What?!"
Sengoku's pupils constricted sharply!
He felt an unprecedented, overwhelming force, like a destructive torrent, coming from that fist!
That power even surpassed the realm of pure Haki!
"Get out of my way..."
Garp's voice was like the pronouncement of a thunder god from the heavens!
"Get out of my wayyyyyyyy!!!"
Crack—!
A crisp sound!
That sky-obscuring golden giant palm shattered in response!
Countless golden specks of light, like broken glass, scattered in all directions!
"Pfft!"
Sengoku spat out a mouthful of blood, his massive Buddha body sent reeling backward by this unparalleled force!
And that blue-purple lightning, piercing through everything, finally broke free of all restraints.
Boom!
Garp's figure landed heavily on the execution platform!
He stood in front of Ace, his back to his Grandson, whose face was streaked with tears and who was utterly stunned.
Before him were the pale-faced Aokiji, the grave-faced Kizaru, and the magma-boiling Akainu.
They were the Three Admirals, representing the Marine's highest combat power!
The execution platform, at this moment, became the focal point of the entire world.
Garp, engulfed in blue-purple lightning, stood with his back to his Grandson, alone, facing the Marine's highest combat power.
The entire Marineford was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Oh my, my, my..."
The first to break the silence was Kizaru Borsalino.
On his perpetually lazy, lecherous face, he wore a smile uglier than a cry, adjusted his sunglasses, and said in an exaggerated tone.
"This is truly, terrifying..."
"Mr. Garp, are you planning to take on all three of us by yourself?"
His voice remained as languid as ever.
But the next second...
His figure transformed into countless brilliant golden particles, instantly vanishing from his spot!
"Light Speed Kick."
His slow voice still echoed in the original spot.
But a foot made of light, imbued with destructive power, had already appeared next to Garp's neck!
Fast!
Extremely fast!
This was the speed of light, capable of piercing through anything!
However...
"Too slow."
Garp didn't even turn his head!
Crackle!
The lightning armor on him suddenly flared, and in an instant, his entire body also transformed into a blue-purple bolt of lightning!
"What?!"
Kizaru's voice, filled with utter horror, for the first time carried an completely uncontrollable tremor!
He saw it!
His Light Speed Kick, powerful enough to sever an island, had actually... missed!
It had been dodged!
That man, in a way he completely couldn't comprehend, had matched the speed of light!
No!
Even faster than light!
"Over here, kiddo."
Garp's playful voice came from behind Kizaru.
All the hairs on Kizaru's body stood on end instantly!
He spun around abruptly, his pupils contracting to their limit!
A fist, as big as a cooking pot, enveloped in blue-purple lightning, rapidly grew in his vision!
"Lightning Blade!"