"...No matter what, right now, I cannot let you pass."
Garp's heavy but firm words put a full stop to this debate of ideals. Language had become pale; their stances were as irreconcilable as fire and water.
Charlotte Linlin didn't waste another word. The last trace of argument in her eyes died out, replaced by pure, cold killing intent and a raging fury demanding release against all the atrocities committed on this land.
"Just as well..." She slowly raised her nodachi, the blade humming as if it too craved destruction.
Pitch-black Conqueror's Haki surged from her body, instantly wrapping around the massive blade. Black-red arcs of lightning leapt and exploded between the blade and her arm, the air thick with the scent of annihilation.
"Right now, I have a belly full of fire with nowhere to vent."
Garp took a deep look at the faint silhouette of ships on the distant sea, then looked back at the "Queen of Thunder" before him, who had already transformed into a human natural disaster.
He didn't try to explain or dissuade her further. Instead, he abruptly tore off the white coat embroidered with the word "justice" from his back and tossed it behind him.
Adjutant Bogard caught it in silence, waving his hand to lead all the Marine Soldiers in a rapid retreat further away—at this level of combat, proximity meant death.
Garp cracked his neck with a crisp snap and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing lean arms that looked as if they were cast from steel.
Top-tier Armament Haki instantly covered both fists, deep as ink. Immediately after, equally violent black-red Conqueror's lightning erupted from his knuckles, clashing with Charlotte Linlin's aura across the space, stirring invisible shockwaves that swept away the last of the rubble and ash from the ground!
"Then come, Charlotte Linlin!" Garp growled, his voice like muffled thunder.
"Let me see with my own eyes if your so-called 'justice' that you want to implement through destruction has the—strength—to support it!"
The battlefield was defined by an invisible field of pressure, centered on these ruins near the coastline.
The keels of Burning ships lay tilted on the shallows like the skeletal remains of giant beasts; broken concrete fortifications looked like bitten cookies; the scorched earth was the only backdrop.
Charlotte Linlin was the first to move. She didn't rush in blindly; her massive frame brought not just power, but also precise control over the rhythm of battle.
She swung [Mu] from a distance, and several fan-shaped pinkish-purple sword beams tore through the air, whistling out!
Garp's eyes were sharp, but he didn't choose to meet everything with his iron fists. Using Moonwalk, his figure instantly vanished from the spot and reappeared in the air to the left. He threw a punch, the condensed wind from his fist acting like a solid cannonball, shattering one of the sword beams mid-air!
The shattered energy aftershocks splattered onto the ground, immediately carving craters into the scorched earth.
Garp's heart tightened, and he became more cautious. Relying on his extraordinary physical techniques and Moonwalk, he rapidly changed directions and flickered through the air, constantly evading the direct brunt of the sword beams while using precise air-pressure punches to disperse the unavoidable shockwaves of the slashes.
The aftershocks of the battle began to ruthlessly remodel the surrounding environment. The ground cracked continuously under the ravaging of sword beams and fist winds, creating a crisscross of new ravines;
The waves of the near sea were whipped into unnatural surges by the clash of violent Haki, crashing against the wreckage with a mournful sound. The Marines further away retreated again and again, their faces filled with horror.
The probing ended. Charlotte Linlin let out an impatient low growl, and the Dragon Wings on her back flapped violently. Her massive body erupted with a terrifying speed that defied her size as she actively closed the distance!
She abandoned pure long-range suppression, choosing instead to rely on absolute strength and her Haki-infused physique to crush him head-on!
Boom! Clang! Thud!
The blade of [Mu] and Garp's iron fist collided for the first time without any trickery! The sound of clashing metal was replaced by a more muffled explosion, as if space itself could not bear the load!
Black-red and pinkish-purple lightning intertwined and exploded frantically, forming an expanding spherical shockwave that completely leveled and annihilated all wreckage within dozens of meters!
The two fought at high speed, their figures turning into two blurred streams of light above the ruins. Every clash was accompanied by a deafening roar and a spreading ring of air pressure.
The low-hanging clouds of smoke in the sky were shaken by the continuous collisions, constantly scattering and regrouping.
The more Garp fought, the more alarmed he became.
In his memory, although Charlotte Linlin was powerful, she relied more on her bizarre fruit abilities and innate monstrous strength.
But now, her Haki cultivation, especially her application of Conqueror's infusion, had reached such a profound and terrifying level.
With the triple stack of her size, fruit, and Haki, every one of her slashes was as heavy as a collapsing mountain.
Charlotte Linlin felt the pressure as well.
Garp's iron fists were even more fearsome than the rumors suggested.
This future Marine Hero had clearly undergone unimaginable bitter training after the battle with Rocks.
Especially now, with her stamina reduced by half from dealing with that Gods Knight, resolving things with Garp using only this body's own strength was not something that could be done in a short time.
Charlotte Linlin swung her blade to push back Garp's heavy punch, then followed through with a diagonal slash. Garp blocked it with his elbow, causing a burst of lightning:
"Compared to when you fought that guy Rocks a few years ago, you've gotten quite a bit stronger, Garp!"
Garp leaned aside to dodge a black slash that skimmed the ground. Seizing a split-second opening, he threw a short, powerful straight punch at Linlin's ribs. She blocked it with the flat of her blade just in time, but the massive force still sent her sliding back several meters. Garp's voice followed immediately:
"After that mission, there hasn't been a single day I haven't regretted it! Regretted that I wasn't strong enough then! That I couldn't completely stop that madman Rocks' ambition, letting this sea fall into even deeper chaos!"
Charlotte Linlin steadied herself, her blade drawing a semi-circle to ward off Garp's pursuit. She sneered:
"Oh? In your eyes, Rocks is 'evil,' but those Celestial Dragons holding a massacre competition on this island are 'good' instead?"
Garp's figure was like lightning, instantly appearing at her side as a blur of fist shadows descended upon her:
"At least Rocks wanted to subvert the entire world! His ambition would bring total war and destruction! As for the Celestial Dragons... it is the system that has run this world for eight hundred years that has gone wrong! Problems require correction and reform, not being covered up by another destruction!"
"Reform? With another eight hundred years?!"
Charlotte Linlin suddenly roared. Her massive Conqueror's Haki was no longer infused but erupted outward with her as the center! The invisible mental pressure turned into a physical force, forcing Garp's movements to stall as he slid backward.
She stood at the center of the surging Haoshoku, her long hair dancing wildly, her eyes sharp as knives, her voice resolute:
"Garp! You are too naive! Some evils have seeped into the very marrow; some 'Orders' built upon endless corpses are things that gentle 'reform' can never reach, nor ever cleanse!"
"For such things, the only useful tools are fire! And the sword!"
"Then let's see if your fire can burn through my justice!"
Garp roared, likewise erupting with earth-shattering Haoshoku. The two top-tier Conqueror's Hakis were like two angry dragons, clashing violently in mid-air!
RUMBLE—!!!
A storm of black-red lightning exploded with the two at its center, covering the entire coastal ruins. The clouds in the sky were completely torn open, revealing a massive hole through which a dark red light shone, as if the sky itself were soaked in blood and fire! The sea wailed as it whipped up waves dozens of meters high!
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