Cheng Xiaoyu calculated, first he would go to Alabasta to pick up a bargain, bring Crocodile's forces under his command, and then go to Sky Island, taking advantage of Eneru being half-dead after being beaten by Luffy, to directly take his head.
By then, his level would definitely skyrocket!
And his bounty would also increase significantly, and the resulting Points Earnings would unlock the next stage of Haki!
Just as he was immersed in his fantasy of dominating the Grand Line, suddenly, a thunderous roar exploded in his ears: "Cheng Xiaoyu, I finally found you!"
The voice was loud, rolling through the air like thunder.
Cheng Xiaoyu looked in the direction of the voice, and saw an old man in a Marine uniform, looking energetic, standing on a large rock not far away, with his arms crossed, looking at him with a half-smile.
Marine Hero, Iron Fist Garp!
Sure enough, he hadn't given up!
Garp, full of vigor, glared at Cheng Xiaoyu, his eyes as if he wanted to devour him alive.
Last time, Cheng Xiaoyu successfully tricked Garp and escaped by using Shadow Exchange, which made this veteran Navy Vice Admiral lose a lot of face.
So this time, he swore that if he didn't capture Cheng Xiaoyu and bring him back, he wouldn't return to Marine Headquarters!
Cheng Xiaoyu gave a wry smile: "It seems you, old man, are really fixated on me?"
Garp laughed heartily: "Hahahaha! I promised Sengoku, for the senbei, I must bring you to justice!"
"For the senbei? Good, good, good... Then come on!" Cheng Xiaoyu took a deep breath and assumed a fighting stance.
"What, this time you're not activating your Devil Fruit ability?" Garp narrowed his eyes, carefully examining Cheng Xiaoyu.
"Hmm, I don't plan to escape this time."
Cheng Xiaoyu's lips curved slightly upwards, he seemed to have anticipated this day for a long time, but he just didn't expect it to come so soon.
"Why?" Garp asked.
"No reason, stubborn old man, come on, today let me see how heavy your fist is!" Cheng Xiaoyu replied.
Garp was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily: "Good kid, you've got guts! Then take this!"
Garp didn't waste any more words and directly threw a punch!
This punch came with the sound of tearing wind, carrying terrifying force, as if it wanted to rip the air apart!
Cheng Xiaoyu didn't dare to take it head-on, he dodged to the side, and at the same time kicked Garp's waist.
His speed was extremely fast, his movements were as elusive as a ghost, and he had clearly made great progress compared to their last encounter.
"Bang!"
Cheng Xiaoyu was sent flying, falling heavily to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Although he had improved rapidly, the gap between him and Garp was still huge!
Cheng Xiaoyu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up again, his eyes burning with intense fighting spirit.
He knew he was no match for Garp, but he wouldn't give up this opportunity, today he was going to challenge his limits!
Because when a person is at their limit, progress is the fastest...
And Cheng Xiaoyu was sure that Garp wouldn't kill him this time, because only by capturing him alive could he regain his face!
So he didn't choose to escape, because even if he escaped, there would always be a time when this old man would catch up, and then the situation might become even more difficult.
Just think, if there's always a monstrously strong expert chasing you from behind, how can you freely do what you want to do?
That feeling is very bad, it's better to solve it all at once now.
At worst, he'd go to Impel Down to read newspapers, it's no big deal!
In the subsequent battle, Cheng Xiaoyu completely abandoned defense and went all out on offense.
Garp, on the other hand, was like a towering mountain, no matter how Cheng Xiaoyu attacked like a storm, he remained unmoving.
Cheng Xiaoyu's Intermediate Armament Haki couldn't even break Garp's defense!
Such a power gap was simply despairing, but to do what one knows is impossible is the mark of a true hero.
And Garp occasionally threw punches, each attack carrying devastating power, crushing Cheng Xiaoyu's offensives.
"Bang!"
This time, their fists collided fiercely, producing a deafening roar.
Cheng Xiaoyu only felt a mountain-toppling force surge over him, making his arm numb.
He thought to himself, this old man's fist is really hard! Is this the power of top-tier Armament Haki!
"Hey, hey, hey, you've made quite a bit of progress, kid!"
A hint of surprise flashed in Garp's eyes; during their last encounter, Cheng Xiaoyu was like a lamb to the slaughter in front of him, completely helpless.
But this time, he was actually able to take a punch from him without falling! Such a speed of progress was unheard of even for him!
"Same to you, old man, your fist is nothing special either!"
Cheng Xiaoyu grinned, pushing off the ground with force, his body dodging Garp's attacks like a ghost.
The two went back and forth, exchanging blows, and for a moment, sand flew, and the earth shook.
Although Cheng Xiaoyu still couldn't cause substantial damage to Garp, his speed and reaction ability had clearly improved a lot.
At least he could barely hold on under Garp's storm-like attacks.
"Again!"
Cheng Xiaoyu fell again and again, and stood up again and again.
He was covered in wounds, bleeding profusely, but he still didn't give up this opportunity to fight a strong opponent, since he wouldn't die anyway.
A hint of admiration flashed in Garp's eyes, this kid was really tenacious!
"It's a pity you're a pirate, it would be great if you were a Marine, in that case I would definitely take you as my student!"
He grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
Cheng Xiaoyu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and sneered: "Marine? Student? For you, a Marine Hero, to not even understand this?"
Garp put away his smile, his brows slightly furrowed: "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing is absolute, even in the righteous Marine force, there will be scoundrels who pocket public funds and treat human lives as grass..."
"Although pirates are bad, pirates are openly bad. Compared to being a dog of the Celestial Dragons, I still prefer freedom!"
He paused, then added, "Besides, following you as a Marine and eating senbei every day, I can't stand it!"
Garp laughed heartily, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"You kid, you've got quite a lot of ideas! But our positions are different, so this discussion will never have a result."
He threw another punch, with even more force than before, "Let's settle it with our fists!"
Cheng Xiaoyu was not to be outdone and met him again.
Unbeknownst to them, their battle had completely destroyed all the trees on the entire small island!
Finally, after enduring for an unknown amount of time, Cheng Xiaoyu was hit by a heavy punch to the abdomen by Garp.
His entire body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
"Tsk, in just a few days, I didn't expect your strength to have reached this level, you're truly an amazing kid."
Garp looked at Cheng Xiaoyu, who was lying on the ground, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"If I let you develop like this... that would be incredible!"