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"Is that…Garp?" Arthur teleported to the harbor, his eyes fixed on the figure sprinting across the sky, a look of apprehension on his face.
"Am I getting Roger treatment—being targeted by Garp?"
He doubted his current strength warranted the attention of such a legend. He could only assume they deemed him a significant threat. He racked his brain, but couldn't fathom why Garp would be in Carnival City.
"Well, let's see just how strong the world's apex truly is! Hahahaha!" Arthur's apprehension morphed into a burning excitement. He licked his dry lips, his gaze now intense.
Zzzzzzt!
Lightning crackled around him, resonating with the storm clouds churning above.
Rumble!
<"10M Volt - Thunder Dragon!">
<"100M Volt - Thunderbird!">
<"100M Volt - Kirin!">
Arthur roared, unleashing a torrent of lightning attacks.
From the storm clouds above the warship, bolts of lightning snaked down, taking the forms of a roaring dragon, a screeching thunderbird, and a majestic kirin, all locking onto Garp.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!
Thunder exploded, as if Heaven was unleashing its fury—The dark sky flashed with blinding light.
"Wahahahaha! That brat, Arthur! Giving me such a grand welcome for our first meeting!" Garp's boisterous laughter boomed across the battlefield, undeterred by the onslaught.
<"Fist of Love - Meteor Shower!">
He bellowed, his powerful legs pumping as he ran through the air, his muscular arms coiling like powerful springs. His Justice coat snapped in the wind behind him. His fists, wreathed in black Armament Haki, hammered into the oncoming torrent of lightning.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The world went silent for a heartbeat, all other sounds annihilated by the blinding flash and deafening roar.
The weaker pirates collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Vice Admiral Saul, his massive hands clamped over his ears, squeezed his eyes shut.
As the light subsided, onlookers looked up, searching for Garp, their eyes widening at the unbelievable sight. The storm clouds above the warship, dispersed by that single, monstrous punch, were gone.
"Wahahahaha! You're still wet behind the ears, Arthur!" Garp leaped from the dissipating storm clouds onto Saul's ship, glancing back towards Arthur, who stood calmly in the harbor, as if that earth-shattering exchange had been a mere trifle.
"As expected of Hero Garp, the man who cornered Roger time and time again." Though standing at a distance, Arthur's voice carried clearly across the battlefield.
"It's thanks to people like you that this otherwise dull sea is so thrilling, so captivating, that it draws countless souls to risk everything and chase their dreams upon its waves. Hahahaha!"
"Come! Fight me!"
<"Two Hundred Million Volts—Thunder God!!!">
Arthur's eyes blazed with a fervent excitement, his battle lust uncontainable. He didn't bother waiting for a response, issuing his challenge and launching his attack simultaneously.
The ambient Electrons in the air surged, as if whipped into a frenzy, engulfing Arthur in a maelstrom of crackling electric arcs.
Zzzzzzt!
Blue lightning crackled and coiled around him, compressing and condensing, his form growing larger and larger with each passing moment.
In a heartbeat, Arthur transformed into his most powerful form yet—a towering giant clad in shimmering lightning armor.
The fifteen-foot-tall, blue lightning giant teleported to Garp's side, his massive fist thundering downwards.
"Taste this—Old timer!!"
Arthur's Thunder God form crackled with raw power, amplifying his strength to its absolute limit.
The earth-shattering blow carried a suffocating pressure, the intense electrical field pinning Garp's Justice coat to his body as if glued there.
"You little brat! Trying to sink this whole ship and kill everyone on board?" Garp roared, ripping off his constricting coat—his muscles swelling—veins bulging and hardening with a layer of black Armament Haki.
He raised his fist, meeting Arthur's Thunder God Fist head-on. He wouldn't back down from a direct confrontation.
"Thunder God's Fist!!"
Arthur roared back, his fist a pillar of pure, destructive lightning, clashing with Garp's iron fist in an explosion of raw power.
BOOOOOM!!!
The air itself seemed to shatter, a vacuum forming at the point of impact, the resulting shockwave blasting outwards, tossing Marines like ragdolls into the churning sea. The warship beneath their feet, unable to withstand the monstrous forces unleashed, buckled and shattered, exploding into a million fragments.
Garp stood firm, unmoved, but Arthur's arm, fractured and bleeding, reverted from its lightning form, blood spraying from the burst blood vessels.
Saul, having fallen into the sea with the wreckage of the ship but miraculously unharmed, gathered the flailing Marines and carried them to the shore.
"You annoying little punk! Let's take this to the sky!" Garp launched himself upwards, running on air. "I'm going to drag you back to Impel Down myself!"
"I'll gladly take you up on that offer—but Impel Down? I think I'll have to decline." Arthur chuckled, seemingly unconcerned by his injury.
The sky was his element. Garp, expending precious stamina to maintain his Moonwalk, would quickly tire. Arthur had the upper hand.
"Take this!" Arthur roared again, another torrent of lightning crashing down.
"Fist of Love — Meteor Shower!" Garp grinned, his fists blurring as he pummeled the incoming lightning, each blow a concentrated burst of Armament Haki, more powerful than the last.
<"Electromagnetic Field!">
Sensing the life-threatening power behind Garp's attack, Arthur enveloped his body in a dense electromagnetic field, creating a second layer of defense over his already crackling lightning form.
He didn't relent in his own attack, his Thunder God Fist continuing its downward trajectory, clashing with Garp's relentless barrage.
The electromagnetic field, incredibly powerful and seemingly unbreakable, shimmered and buckled under Garp's onslaught, threatening to collapse under the sheer brute force of his attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The impacts reverberated through the air. The electromagnetic field protecting Arthur vibrated violently, threatening to shatter at any moment under Garp's relentless assault.
The power behind those fists was almost unbelievable!
Arthur's Thunder God Fist landed, the sheer force and intense heat of the lightning incinerating Garp's coat, leaving a visible burn mark on his flesh.
Arthur had landed a single, devastating blow—while Garp's Meteor Shower rained down multiple punches, each one a concentrated burst of destructive power.
The sheer force of the Meteor Shower nearly sent Arthur plummeting from the sky. His electromagnetic field buckled and swayed, on the verge of collapse.
"Damn, this old man is a monster...Ugh!"
Arthur spat out blood, struggling to comprehend how that force had bypassed his defenses. It was unbelievable.
He'd truly glimpsed the awe-inspiring—and terrifying—power of the world's strongest. Staying any longer would be a death sentence.
<"Teleport!">
Enduring a few more blows, Arthur vanished in a flash of lightning, putting distance between himself and the human-shaped force of nature that was Monkey D. Garp.
Reverting from his Thunder God form, the immense drain on his stamina ceased. Arthur wiped the blood trickling from his lips.
He was injured—and shaken.
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