Phoenix Reborn In One Piece

"Daaamn~"

"That was scary… Garp Vice Admiral really is crazy strong!"

"I... I've never seen Garp Vice Admiral fight before…"

"Me neither…"

By the shore, the marines on the battleship were all stunned. What they just witnessed was burned into their minds.

Beside them, Bogard stood with his sunglasses on, face cold as ever.

In his mind, he muttered: That was nothing yet. Garp Vice Admiral's gotten older—if he were in his prime, that Fist Shock just now would've been way stronger.

As Garp's aide, Bogard knew all too well that his strength went far beyond what they'd just seen. But he also knew Garp was no longer young, and his power had gone down a bit.

Still, even now, Garp Vice Admiral was a Marine legend. His presence alone was enough to keep enemies in check.

....

Back in the valley—

Ace got up, spit out some blood, and looked around. The damage caused by just one of Garp's punches left him completely shocked.

"Wahahaha!"

"So?" 

"Ace, I told you I'd beat your butt—and I meant it!" Garp landed on the ground, laughing as he looked in Ace's direction.

He didn't care at all about the pirates who had just died from his attack.

Because they were real pirates.

Unlike when fighting Luffy's friends, Garp wasn't holding back here. Still, he had to admit—he was surprised Ace had gotten up so quickly after taking that hit head-on.

"Damn it!" Ace shouted, "Old man, don't you dare look down on me!"

"Fire Fist!!!"

As soon as he yelled, flames burst from Ace's right fist. Without a second thought, he threw his burning arm forward, aiming a fiery punch straight at Garp.

"Flashy crap!"

Garp let out a cold laugh. "Let me show you what real power looks like!"

Garp didn't take the Fire Fist seriously at all. He charged toward Ace with shocking speed.

"Iron Fist!"

Just before the fireball hit him, Garp roared, then slammed his right fist—covered in powerful Armament Haki—straight at the flaming punch.

"BOOM!!!"

With a loud crash, Ace's fire punch, which looked so impressive, shattered like paper under Garp's punch—completely blown apart.

"NANI!!!"

Ace's face changed drastically when he saw his attack get wiped out so easily. His mouth dropped open, and he looked completely shocked.

But he didn't have time to think.

Garp was already charging toward him at full speed!

"Cross Fire!!"

Ace's face turned anxious as he tried to stop Garp with flames.

But Garp dodged them with ease, walking through like he was taking a stroll. Not even a thread of his clothes got burned.

"Ace, listen to me!" Garp suddenly stopped and shouted, staring straight at him. "A guy like you—confused and lost—can never become a true top fighter!"

Ace's face twitched. He knew Garp was right, but he still stubbornly snapped back, "I *do* know what I want!"

But Garp's next words hit him like a hammer, shattering the last bit of self-deception in his heart.

"No!"

"You have no idea what you really want!"

Garp's eyes were sharp like blades, as if he could see through to the deepest part of Ace's heart.

In a flash, Garp appeared right in front of Ace, grabbed him by the shoulder, and threw him hard into the distance.

"Argh!!"

Ace let out a pained scream as his body shot off like a cannonball, smashing into a crumbling mountain peak in the distance.

Boom! A deafening explosion echoed.

The already unstable mountain completely collapsed from the impact.

"Ace!"

"Whitebeard may be dead now, but you still have other family in this world!"

"Is this how you act because you think Luffy didn't care about you? Because Sabo didn't care? Because Dadan didn't care?!"

"Even I've been doing my best to raise you!"

"I've always treated you like my own grandson. I hoped you would grow up to be a great Marine officer. Even though you didn't follow the path I wanted and became a pirate instead…"

"But since you've made your choice, don't lose yourself anymore!"

Garp's face showed a deep frustration, like he hated how helpless this all made him feel.

"Shut up!!"

"You'll never understand how I feel! That bastard… why did he get to walk away so easily?!"

"I hate him!"

"He's the one who killed Mom!" Ace shouted with anger as he charged toward Garp, his fists wrapped in flames, swinging again and again.

Garp blocked every punch with his iron fists.

"Roger *was* a bastard. But right now, you're being even worse than him! The way you're throwing your life away like this… if your mom saw you now, do you know how heartbroken she'd be?!"

"She gave her life to bring you into this world!"

"You idiot, Ace!"

*Bang!* Garp finally lost his temper and punched Ace again, sending him flying!

.....

In the valley—

Deuce and the other pirates who could still move didn't have time to worry about Ace getting beat up by Garp. They were busy trying to save their wounded crewmates and carry them out of the valley.

That first attack from Garp had completely crushed them.

After days of nonstop fighting, they had almost nothing left to fight back with. Garp's Marines were too strong—so strong that all their earlier big talk about pushing back the Marines now sounded like a joke.

Their enemies were just too powerful. They couldn't hold on anymore.

"Damn it!"

"Deuce, what do we do now?"

"Garp's a monster… Even Ace at full strength can't beat him!" 

Vakalo said with a frustrated look.

"Ace..." 

Deuce looked toward the center of the valley.

They could still hear the sounds of battle echoing from the valley. He was really worried about Ace, even though he knew Ace had a special bond with Garp.

But no one could guarantee that Garp wouldn't take Ace away at this moment.

"Deuce!"

"Marco just called — he said he's already heard about what's happening here, and right now, he's leading the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Divisions this way!"

"He wants us to hold out until they arrive!" a pirate came running from the direction of town.

"That's great!"

"With their support, we can definitely push back the Marines!"

"That's right!"

The moment they heard Marco's team was on the way, the heavy look on everyone's face completely disappeared.

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