"Ace! I'm here to save you!"
That familiar shout echoed across Marineford once again.
It had been said by Whitebeard.
It had been shouted by Little Oars.
It had been declared by countless members of the Whitebeard allied forces.
But this time…
The Marines felt genuine fear.
Because those before spoke with resolve.
Renji might actually succeed.
Renji ignored everyone else on the Marine side.
His gaze briefly swept over Akainu.
Akainu's condition was terrible.
He wasn't dead but he was close.
And now he was being protected and carried away by Marines, clearly to be treated by medical staff in the rear.
Renji didn't interfere.
Right now, nothing mattered more than saving Portgas D. Ace.
He looked up at the execution platform.
Moonwalk activated.
Originally, Renji had only learned it roughly on his own.
But after gaining experience from Akainu.
His speed had more than doubled.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed the coastline of Marineford.
He passed over the steel walls set up by Sengoku.
He was about to reach the execution platform.
"Kid… stop right there."
A voice suddenly sounded beside him.
In the next instant.
A powerful punch came crashing toward him.
Renji had no time to react properly.
He instinctively raised his arm to block, coating it with as much Armament Haki as possible.
"BOOM!"
A heavy impact exploded outward.
Renji was slammed straight down to the ground.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
"It's the Hero of the Marines!"
"Vice Admiral Garp has made his move!"
The Marines, who had just fallen into despair, erupted with renewed excitement.
Standing before the execution platform was Monkey D. Garp.
Just standing there he gave the Marines an overwhelming sense of security.
That was the weight of the Navy's true foundation.
That kind of presence alone could turn around any unfavorable situation.
"Renji, is it?"
Monkey D. Garp canceled his Moonwalk and slowly descended to the ground, looking at Renji calmly.
"If you want to save Portgas D. Ace… you'll have to get past me first."
Renji looked at him, then sprang up from the ground in one motion.
His arm still throbbed with pain.
If he hadn't instinctively coated it with Armament Haki earlier, that arm would have been crippled.
"You're his grandfather."
"And you're really going to watch your own grandson die here?!"
Garp fell silent.
Did he want Ace to live?
Of course he did.
If Ace had listened to him and become a Marine.
Even if the truth came out that Ace was the son of Gol D. Roger, Garp would have had ways to protect him.
A Pirate King's son becoming a Marine?
That would've been the perfect propaganda story.
With Garp's reputation and influence, he could have even pushed Ace to the rank of Admiral.
After all, Ace's talent was undeniable.
Even without joining the Whitebeard Pirates and gaining the Flame-Flame Fruit, Garp could have secured another Logia fruit to strengthen him.
But…
That was all just a possibility.
Reality was Ace became a pirate.
And Garp remained a Marine.
"Not talking?"
"Acting like some untouchable master, huh?"
Renji's anger flared.
He raised his left hand, placing his right over it.
"Light… Eight-Directional Han Sword!"
As his voice fell, a radiant blade formed in his hand.
It shimmered with Conqueror's Haki coating.
His current peak combat power.
Facing someone like Garp, holding back too much would be foolish.
That earlier punch clearly wasn't Garp's full strength yet it nearly destroyed Renji's arm.
Still, Garp had his own hesitation.
Which meant Renji didn't need to go all out immediately.
"Then let's fight!"
With a single step forward Renji crossed the distance instantly.
In the next moment, he appeared right in front of Garp.
The glowing Han sword in his hand thrust straight toward Garp's chest.
"…Even so."
Garp's expression wavered slightly.
Garp's expression wavered for only a moment.
But he still had no intention of stepping aside.
"Pirates… are the evil of this world."
"No matter what, I cannot let you pass today."
As he spoke, Monkey D. Garp's fist turned dark purple-black.
A terrifying surge of Armament Haki erupted outward.
At his feet, the force alone stirred up two small tornado-like currents.
This was the power of the man with the strongest Armament Haki in the world.
"BOOM!"
A heavy impact rang out.
Renji and Garp clashed head-on, locked in place.
And this time Renji had needed momentum just to reach a near stalemate.
The difference in raw strength between them was obvious.
[You have obtained Armament Haki insight!]
[You have obtained Observation Haki insight!]
[You have obtained Strength!]
[You have obtained Agility!]
[...]
In an instant, more than a dozen attributes dropped from Garp.
Even Renji was shocked.
Especially the Armament Haki gains It was nothing short of a qualitative leap.
He made his judgment immediately.
This was not an opponent he could defeat right now.
But Garp's behavior was strange.
He was clearly hesitating.
And if that was the case then there was still a way.
"Garp!"
Renji stepped back several paces, staring straight at him.
"Are you really going to be this heartless?!"
Garp gave no reply.
Instead, he suddenly surged forward.
His speed was so fast that Renji almost failed to react.
"CLANG!"
A metallic clash rang out.
Renji's Eight-Directional Han Sword nearly shattered from Garp's punch.
Barely it held.
Renji quickly poured more light energy into the blade to stabilize it.
But his words never stopped.
"That's Ace!"
"The grandson you raised for over a decade!"
"Even if you don't share blood"
"Does that time you spent together mean nothing to you?!"
Monkey D. Garp looked at Renji, a trace of displeasure flashing in his eyes.
"That… is the Glint-Glint Fruit?!"
At that moment, attention from both inside and outside the battlefield converged on Renji.
Even though Renji was only using the creation aspect of the light-based power.
The reputation of the Glint-Glint Fruit had already spread across the world through Kizaru.
"Impossible…"
"There can't be two identical Devil Fruits at the same time!"
"Renji's ability must be a lower-tier version of the Glint-Glint Fruit!"
Shock rippled through the crowd again.
First the Tremor power.
Now light.
If both were real yhen Renji was no longer just strong.
He was something the world itself could not explain.
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