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"The Black Rex Pirate Crew is a large-scale pirate group with over a thousand members!" The veteran beside him said in a deep voice.
"Now, it all depends on Vice Admiral Garp." Another Marine said this, pulling his bloodied long blade free from a pirate's corpse.
Kōjin froze for a moment, then turned toward the bow of the battleship. There, a man stood with his arms crossed. He was unmoving and calm yet emanated an overwhelming presence.
The next second, the entire battleship moved.
No, to be precise, Garp moved.
He bent his knees slightly, lowering his center of gravity. With that simple motion, the massive warship tilted forward, its bow pressing down and its stern lifting up into the air. It was almost vertical, forming a perfect ninety-degree angle with the sea.
The bow screeched against the shore's sand and gravel, grinding with a deep, resonant roar.
When the power reached its peak, Garp launched himself like a cannonball, soaring hundreds of meters into the sky. His body followed a perfect arc as he rose above the battlefield below.
His right hand clenched into a fist, and even the sky above began to hum, trembling and creaking as though about to shatter. Radiant streaks of light flared outward behind him, dazzling and fierce.
To every Marine watching, that towering figure seemed to hang suspended in midair, wreathed in power.
"BZZZZZ!"
A circular ripple spread outward at blinding speed, sweeping across Yulan Island. Every Marine felt their heart skip a beat.
"Fistbone Impact!"
Garp roared as his fist came crashing down.
"BOOOOOM!"
An unimaginable impact erupted. The force tore downward like divine judgment, smashing straight into the pirates pouring out of the town.
It was like watching a nuclear bomb drop. The pirate horde was blown apart instantly. The ground cracked and splintered. Shockwaves rippled outward in all directions, shattering buildings and shaking the entire town.
"KACHA!!!"
The city shattered, and the earth itself quaked. Kōjin and the other Marines stumbled, struggling to stay on their feet.
His pupils trembled violently as he stared ahead in disbelief.
It was as if the world itself had been smashed apart. With that one punch, everything was obliterated, erased from existence by the force of Garp's blow.
Nearly a thousand pirates were gone. They didn't even have time to scream before being crushed by the collapsing ground.
"Vice Admiral Garp!!!" Kuzan shouted, his voice filled with awe and excitement. His eyes glowed as he stared up at the colossal figure still hanging in the sky.
The Marines' morale soared all around them. Cheers and renewed battle cries erupted from every throat. This was the hero of the Marines, Vice Admiral Garp! Kōjin stood rooted to the spot, dazed. For a brief moment, he thought he had sensed an overwhelming aura, like a tyrant's will.
"Was that... Haoshoku Haki?"
His mind snapped into clarity. He remembered Kai's lessons, Roger, and Shanks's Kamusari (Divine Departure). Garp's strike had the same kind of fused power: Haki entwined with raw might.
He quickly opened his simple system panel and locked his eyes on the line representing his own Conqueror's Haki.
Haoshoku Haki, LV10+
He stared again at the devastated town, now nothing but rubble and rising smoke. His throat was dry. He licked his lips and realized his body was trembling.
Perhaps from excitement.
His system points sat at seventy-five. Before him lay two choices:
A. Wait to unlock a new skill, then distribute points strategically.
B. Max out Haoshoku Haki first and potentially gain power like Garp's terrifying punch.
Kōjin clenched his fist. He didn't hesitate for even a second.
"BBBBBB!!!"
He slammed the "+" beside Haoshoku seventy-five times in a row.
Haoshoku Haki, LV85+
Instantly, Kōjin's body trembled. A strange, instinctive understanding flooded his mind. His mental presence grew immensely stronger, feeding back into his body. His strength, speed, and reflexes all sharpened.
Slowly, he raised his arm. Wisps of black and red energy began winding around it like countless thin threads entwining his fist. He could feel the weight of that punch and its sheer, oppressive power. Even without striking directly, that energy could extend outward and strike an enemy from a distance.
Instinctively, Kōjin tightened his grip. His eyes flashed as he turned toward the remaining pirates, who were still frozen in shock.
"Garp!"
"It's the Marine Hero, Garp!"
"Oh my god, how could that monster be here!?"
Only now did the remaining pirates recover from the shock of that devastating punch. Their fearless bravado from moments before was gone, replaced by raw, visible terror.
They all knew that they had no chance against Garp.
No one noticed the black-haired boy slowly moving within the Marine ranks, his body trembling faintly as if gathering an invisible power.
Then, in the next instant, a flash of black and red lightning erupted from him and an overwhelming Haoshoku aura surged outward, roaring like a storm as it swept across the entire island.
"BZZZZZZ!"
The air distorted. Ripples spread outward in waves, and everything in sight shimmered like a trembling reflection upon a lake.
"Pū tōng!"
The Marines nearest to him were the first to be struck. Their eyes rolled back white as they collapsed to the ground. One by one, figures fainted in quick succession. Even Kuzan froze in disbelief after turning to see the soul-crushing aura radiating from Kōjin.
"Kōjin...?"
That was all he could say before his body went limp and his eyes turned white. He, too, fell to the ground.
Centered around Kōjin, Marines and pirates alike fell like wheat in the wind, wave after wave collapsing. No one could resist his domineering, overwhelming presence.
Yet Kōjin himself remained unaware of the chaos he had caused. He was still lost in that instinctive surge, guiding the intertwined Haki coiling around his arm and clenched fist.
Then, at an unseen moment, his eyes snapped open and he punched.
"BUZZZZZZ!"
The void itself collapsed. A flash of lightning burst from his fist, and the terrifying impact slammed into the pirate ranks at unbelievable speed, right into sniper Jerry, the man who had shot Kōjin twice before.
Jerry exploded.
A shockwave blasted outward from his position, tearing pirates apart in an instant. The ground roared and cracked open beneath the force.
Even more shocking was the range of that punch. The impact swept across nearly two-thirds of the city, flattening every remaining building. It was as if another nuclear bomb had detonated on the island.
Kōjin slowly withdrew his fist and fell silent.
He now knew for certain that this was Haoshoku Entwining.
Yet, the power behind his punch was still far weaker than Garp's; his current body was simply too unrefined and his base strength too low.
Yulan Island fell deathly silent.
All the Marines were unconscious, except for one: Vice Admiral Garp.
Even his legendary heart skipped a beat. What he had just seen was unbelievable.
A seventeen-year-old boy who had just awakened his Haoshoku Haki had somehow unleashed a technique that only the world's strongest elites could master. Haoshoku Entwining.
Yet this boy hadn't learned Busoshoku (Armament Haki) or Kenbunshoku (Observation Haki). His physical combat, swordsmanship, and marksmanship skills were practically nonexistent.
It was as absurd as watching an untrained child suddenly turn into a Super Saiyan.
Garp landed heavily in front of Kōjin, his eyes wide with astonishment.
"How did you learn to use Haoshoku Entwining?"
Kōjin stood in silence for a moment. Then, he answered with just one word: "Instinct."
(End of chapter.)
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