"Hmmm… I can't say for certain." Kizaru shrugged.
"But someone like you is too big a risk. I have no choice but to act." He sighed, and lasers fired from his fingertips.
"This is your attack?" Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Might as well sit down and have a cup of tea while we chat."
Adrian stared at Kizaru's opening move, incredulous. That? That's your big play? All the talk about a fight, and you throw out that? He pulled out the Demon Blade — Thousand-Blade. He wasn't a master swordsman, but swinging a sword was a simple thing: if you could swing, you could fight. His Calamity-level Armament Haki hardened the blade; Haki wrapped around it like a living thing. With a casual slash, the Thousand-Blade split its edge and annihilated Kizaru's lasers in an instant.
"Well now, kid, your strength is terrifying." Kizaru's eyes flickered with surprise. "If I'm not mistaken, that Armament Haki of yours—very strong."
By sight alone, Kizaru recognized the depth of Adrian's Armament. For one so young to have trained Haki to such a level was alarming. He also felt the whole Marine operation had been reckless—facing an opponent like this required far more preparation, perhaps gathering most of the Navy's forces to be safe. But the operation had already started. They had to play it out.
...
Meanwhile, Madara and Akainu were locked in brutal combat.
"Great Eruption!!!"
Akainu's style was straightforward—he was a magma man through and through. The Magma-Magma Fruit made his attacks literal rivers of molten death, and elementalization granted him near-total immunity to ninety-nine percent of physical harm. His method was simple: strike hard, strike clean.
Madara's Susanoo swung a colossal chakra blade and cleaved through the magma attack. Molten slag rained down on the streets and buildings—aftermath that still left serious damage.
"You're only that much?" Madara's eyes narrowed. "Then there's no need to prolong this."
For a blink, Madara's Susanoo rose, and he let it evolve—fully, utterly—into its Perfect Form. Hundreds of meters tall, the towering Susanoo that unfolded above Loguetown dwarfed even the likes of Oz Jr., who only reached eighty meters. Madara's full Susanoo rose two hundred meters or more, a hulking colossus that radiated crushing pressure simply by existing.
"So this is the giant Garp mentioned?" someone muttered below. "Truly massive."
Akainu snarled, unfazed. "It's just a target."
Madara did not waste words. He drew one of his twin swords and swung down with a massive chakra blade that sliced Loguetown itself.
"Crimson Great Eruption!!!" Akainu's arm turned to molten rock as he gathered energy, then slammed out a fist two or three times the size of his earlier attack. The two colossal strikes met with a thunderclap.
For a moment Akainu's blow halted beneath Madara's attack—but only for a moment. Madara's chakra blade shattered the magma fist, and his giant strike cleaved the ground in two. Skyscrapers split like paper under the swing and tumbled into rubble. Akainu's figure vanished in the wreckage—no one could say if he still stood.
"Gravel such as you dare ambush the boss—fools without hope." Madara's voice was cold; death for such insolence was only fitting.
...
Not far off, atop a rooftop, Adrian watched the ruins Madara's strike had made and felt a pang of pity for Loguetown's citizens. He didn't plan to pay any compensation—sympathy didn't equal payment—but still, the sight of the ruined town made him mutter, poor Loguetown. He'd planned to take the bounty and move on, maybe pull another job or two later. Now the Marines had shown up and things had escalated.
At Navy HQ, Sengoku watched the broadcast over Den Den Mushi. His face turned black. "Damn bandits! To strike so wantonly… the compensation…" The thought of repairing this devastation made his heart hurt. Even with the World Government backing them, the Navy's budget had been trimmed in recent years; Gov't money wouldn't cover everything. Sengoku imagined paying out most of it, with the Navy forced to eat the rest from their funds. He was miserable.
...
Back in the plaza, Lucci and Garp continued their duel. Lucci, exhausted and battered, had one last trump: the refined form of Rokuogan—the upgraded Six King Spear, the culmination of two years' painful training inside the mental time room. He had honed and expanded it; where the old Six King Spear had been a narrow, binding strike, his new version hit wide and explosive—more like Sengoku's Buddha than a pistol's point.
Lucci unleashed it.
A titanic shockwave roared out. The breadth of the attack made it impossible for Garp to simply dodge by a step; the old man took it full on.
Spit! Blood and a metallic tang filled Garp's mouth as he was struck. Even someone as indomitable as Garp felt the blow.
"Young folk today are fearsome," Garp wheezed, wiping blood from his mouth as he sized up Lucci. "Too bad we're enemies—wouldn't mind recruiting you to the Navy. We could use another admiral."
Garp meant it.
He'd tested the kid and seen potential—Emperor-level strength, perhaps a fledgling among emperors, but undeniably Emperor-class. If Lucci defected to the Navy, his power would be invaluable. But he was a bandit, and one of the men who had kidnapped Garp's grandson—there was no chance.
Garp swung back with a Haki-wrapped fist, a world-shaking blow. The Plaza split into a pithead-sized crater beneath them; the execution platform had already been turned to scrap between their brawl.
Lucci struggled up, trembling. He admitted defeat—Garp was too strong—if not for the years in the time room and the Senzu-bean-like reserves he'd burned through, he might've lasted. But he'd used up a thousand beans training; none remained for emergency.
"Lie down, brat!" Garp barked, chest heaving. He'd burned his own reserves too—he needed to finish Lucci quickly before the Zoan's regeneration could kick in.
At that instant, a figure flashed before Lucci and shielded him.
"Garp—let me be your opponent," Adrian said, fist spinning with top-tier Conqueror's Haki.
Their fists didn't meet directly, but the shockwave from that collision blasted dust and debris clear. Then—thump!—Garp was sent flying by Adrian's strike.
Adrian turned and fished a Senzu Bean from system space.
"Eat this." He tossed it to Lucci.
Lucci didn't hesitate; one Senzu Bean down his throat and his wounds healed, stamina returned, Haki steady once more.
"Lucci—get back to your ship. There should be trouble there," Adrian ordered.
Guilt for failing his boss tore at Lucci, but he obeyed and sprinted for the harbor. He knew he was a liability here; without Senzu Beans he'd been crushed. Now recovered, he could still escape to help his crew.
Garp staggered up, furious and curious. "What did you give him?"
"Just a bean." Adrian shrugged.
Garp's face soured. "You think I'm stupid? Don't feed me that!"
Adrian waved his hands. "I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, fine."
"You little punk—think I'm easy?" Garp snorted, huffing a chuckle at being underestimated. He wasn't done yet; he still wanted to test Adrian. But just then, something else tugged at Adrian's attention—hashirama's side had issues, and with two Admirals present and one still missing, he couldn't relax.
"Finish him quick so I can leave," Adrian said, half joking.
Garp grinned, answering with the kind of energy only he had—ready for another round.
...
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