"That's..." Shiki's pupils shrank.
Before he could react, the warship had used the potential energy of a massive wave to soar a hundred meters into the air, crashing violently into the heart of his grand fleet encirclement.
At the moment the warship reached its highest point, that man moved.
Garp stepped off, shattering the warship's dog-head decoration, and transformed into a bolt of black lightning that shot into the sky, soaring over dozens of Shiki's warships.
"Kyahahahahaha! How could a gathering this lively go on without me!"
Along with a laugh that rang through the skies, the dog-head decoration beneath Garp's feet instantly crumbled. He became a pitch-black afterimage, kicking out a series of sonic booms in the air, ignoring all laws of physics as he charged straight toward Shiki in mid-air.
His right fist was pulled back to its limit, coated in high-density Armament Haki that made it look as deep and dark as obsidian.
"Roger is my prey! Who gave you small fry permission to lay a hand on him?!"
"Get the hell... out of my way!!!"
While in mid-air, Garp threw a punch at the flying warship blocking his path, which was just about to fire on Roger.
BOOM!!!
No fancy techniques, only pure, unadulterated violence.
One punch.
That hundred-meter-long heavy three-masted ship was like building blocks struck head-on by a giant's hammer, shattering inch by inch from the center.
Splinters flew, the keel snapped, and the massive hull disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a shower of fireballs and debris that slammed into the sea, kicking up massive waves!
"Garp?!!"
Shiki and Roger shouted the name almost simultaneously, but their tones contained vastly different emotions.
Roger was delighted. "Wahahaha! Garp! You bastard, your timing is perfect!"
Shiki was enraged. "You mad dog! This is the New World! You dare come here to die with only one ship?!"
"So what if it's just one ship?"
Garp landed lightly on a floating piece of wreckage, picked his nose, and looked at the sky-filling fleet with a face full of disdain.
"To clean up you pieces of trash, my two iron fists are more than enough!"
"Garp... you bastard!"
Shiki floated in mid-air, watching one of his precious warships being smashed into burning scrap metal. Beneath his wild blond hair, his arrogant face twisted with rage.
He had planned everything, pushing Roger into a corner. The fruits of victory were within his grasp.
And yet, this mad dog of the Marines had crashed in without any warning.
"Shihahahaha! Good! Very good!" Shiki laughed out of extreme anger.
"Since the Marines wants to join the fun, then today I'll bury both of you, along with your ships, right here!"
"Bring it on, trash!" Garp picked his nose and responded with a look that treated him like garbage.
On the other side, aboard the Oro Jackson.
Rayleigh adjusted his glasses and sighed helplessly as he watched Garp's sudden intrusion.
"Honestly, Captain, the trouble is getting bigger and bigger."
"Doesn't that make it more interesting?" Roger grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, his eyes filled with excitement. "Rayleigh, I'll leave the boys to you."
With that, he stomped his foot, launching himself into the air, and drew the Supreme Grade Blade from his waist.
Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly infused the blade. Accompanied by violent red and black lightning, Roger held the sword with both hands and slashed down toward Garp.
"Garp! Let's continue that unfinished fight!"
"Just what I wanted! Roger!" Garp laughed wildly.
His iron fist, which had pushed Roger into a corner countless times, was already as black as ink. Without any wasted movement, he punched straight into the blade's edge.
Boom!!!
The blade and the iron fist didn't actually touch.
In the void between them, barely half a foot apart, the air emitted a crisp sound like cracking glass, and visible black cracks spread in all directions.
Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
Dark red lightning, like ferocious giant pythons, erupted frantically from the center of their clash, instantly tearing apart the dark clouds in the sky.
The proof of the strong—Conquerors Haki Infusion!
Immediately after, a terrifying shockwave exploded outward.
The mere aftershock of the collision forced a depression hundreds of meters in diameter into the sea's surface. The subsequent towering waves tossed several nearby warships of the Flying Pirates into the air like toys before smashing them back down.
"Are... are you kidding me! These two monsters!"
Within Shiki's fleet, a pirate Captain watched the apocalyptic scene before him. His legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the deck.
"Everyone, steady yourselves!" Shiki let out a roar, and his own Conqueror's Haki soared into the sky.
Zanpa!
He swung the famous blades in his hands casually. Two massive golden slashes tore through the curtain of rain—one toward Garp and the other toward Roger.
"Annoying flies!"
Garp and Roger shouted simultaneously, tacitly abandoning each other to face the golden slashes.
In the next second, without any nonsense, the three men who represented the pinnacle of the old era collided violently on this boiling sea.
"Roger!!!"
"Garp!!!"
"Shiki!!!"
The names of the three men turned into three forces of will that tore through heaven and earth, clashing head-on.
Rumble!
The world changed color.
The dark clouds that had been pressing down were completely shredded by the three invisible forces, and purple-black lightning raced frantically across the sea.
The ocean seemed to lose gravity as tens of thousands of tons of seawater were swept into the sky by the shockwave, forming a circular curtain of water connecting sky and ground.
On the dog head warship.
Thud!
Thud! Thud!
The Marines on the deck fell, foaming at the mouth and fainting in heaps. Their spirits simply couldn't withstand the impact of the top-tier Conqueror's Haki released indiscriminately by those three monsters.
"Hold on! Everyone, hold on!"
Bogard slammed his long sword into the deck, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, using all his strength to keep himself from kneeling. His forehead was drenched in sweat, and his face was as pale as paper.
On the lookout tower.
Tatsuki felt as if his head had been struck by a sledgehammer.
Buzz—
The world went silent instantly.
The sound of wind, rain, and thunder all vanished in an instant.
He could only feel an irresistible will crudely tearing at his soul, trying to drag him into bottomless darkness.
It was a crushing pressure originating from the very level of their existence.
In the face of this power, the Storm-Storm Fruit he took pride in and the Armament Haki he had just awakened seemed like a joke.
Tatsuki's knees buckled, and his body began to sink uncontrollably.
No!
I can't kneel!
The little black figure in his mind guarding the money bag screamed.
'I'm the man who's going to become the Fleet Admiral, trample all the Celestial Dragons underfoot, and throw a party in Holy Land Mary Geoise!'
'How many Violation Points are the three of you worth together? Are you even worthy of making me kneel?!'