"Old man, don't joke around!"
"This kind of fight isn't something you can take part in anymore—you're no longer the Navy's 'Hero'!"
"You're not!"
Although in his younger days the old man Garp had left him with plenty of childhood scars, there had also been genuine care mixed in.
Though they shared no blood relation, their bond was closer than family.
No matter the reason, Sabo could never allow this old man to die here.
"What an unlovable little brat… do you want to taste my fist filled with love?"
Hearing those words, Garp felt both comforted and moved, though he would never show it on his face.
He raised his fist and, speaking as he walked toward the two of them, murmured under his breath:
"Honestly… to think you'd underestimate me like this!"
"'Aokiji,' take this kid back to the ship."
Then his gaze locked onto the hundred-meter-tall giant. His eyes sharpened. "From here on… this guy is mine!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the veins on Garp's body suddenly bulged.
With a ripping sound, his clothes were torn apart as his skin rapidly turned black.
That black skin, the bulging veins, the swelling muscles—they expanded as if each cell was inflating and growing more powerful by the second.
"What?"
Sabo and Aokiji exclaimed in unison.
"Go."
Aokiji had no idea what was happening to Garp's body, but out of admiration and respect for the man, he obeyed without question. He grabbed Sabo and headed for the island's center.
"No! I'm not leaving—I can't just abandon the old man here!" Sabo struggled.
"Don't be unreasonable. I don't know exactly why Vice Admiral Garp's body is transforming like this, but I can guess what kind of Fruit he must have eaten.
"For Garp to choose a Devil Fruit… there's no way it could be an ordinary one. Which means…"
"If we stay here, we'll only hold him back."
While they ran, Aokiji quickly explained his reasoning.
And indeed, a man who'd seen countless Devil Fruits over his lifetime would never casually choose a common one.
As the blackened body swelled, Garp gradually lost his human form.
Hands and feet planted on the ground, his body expanded rapidly—ten meters… twenty… thirty…
Until, moments later, he had transformed into a towering black beast over a hundred meters tall, with a triangular head, massive jaws, and eyes glowing red.
"Honestly… if I had the choice, I'd never want to show this form in front of people I know. It's far too ugly."
The transformed Garp let out a roar that shook the air.
"What…? That Fruit…?"
Sabo's mind flashed back to something Ghidorah had once told him. He hadn't expected that Fruit to end up in the old man's hands.
"You know what it is?"
Garp's transformation left Aokiji stunned, and hearing Sabo's words, he turned to ask.
"Yeah… Zoan-type, Mythical Beast Model—Titan species, MUTO form."
"What!!"
"How could such a Fruit even exist?"
The name shocked Aokiji even more. In all his memory, he had never heard of such a classification. Even in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia he had studied, nothing like it had ever been recorded.
"I don't know the details," Sabo admitted. "I only remember my master telling me that back in the day, six of these Fruits were created… including his own."
Aokiji froze at that word.
"Created…"
The boy had said created. Could these Devil Fruits have been man-made rather than naturally grown?
If so, who in the world could create something this terrifying?
Could it be…
A vague answer formed in Aokiji's heart, but it was so far-fetched that he dared not think further.
BOOM!!
As the two reached the island's center, a violent crash erupted from the shore.
Looking into the distance, they saw two titans clashing.
Though the giant was shorter than Garp in his Fruit-empowered state, the massive weapon in its hands more than made up for the height difference.
The two colossal beings fought with pure brutality—no refined techniques, only raw strength.
The Gigant Soldier was an artificial monster—incapable of feeling pain, and utterly devoid of fear.
A creature with thought, yet without fear, was the most dangerous combination imaginable.
Garp, on the other hand, though transformed into a MUTO, was still inexperienced compared to Ghidorah or Rodan, who had long mastered their forms.
His movements were clumsy, and his fight with the pain-blind giant was deadlocked.
Their clash was like a natural disaster ravaging the island.
Each collision created massive shockwaves and violent gales—harmless to Sabo and Aokiji, but apocalyptic for ordinary people.
BOOM!!
Pshhh!!
A massive, hook-shaped forelimb pierced the giant's shoulder. With a deafening sound, huge black flesh-wings spread wide.
"Damn it, you're one tough bastard!" Garp roared. His wings beat furiously, yanking the impaled giant to the ground.
From the start, he'd known this opponent would be troublesome—
but he hadn't expected it to be a monster utterly without pain, one that had already landed two sword blows on him.
For a man like Garp, such humiliation only fueled his fury.
Battle was the fastest teacher, and through repeated exchanges, Garp began adapting to his MUTO form.
He changed his attack patterns, and soon enough, his strikes became more varied and effective—a testament to the fearsome adaptability of the Monkey D. family.
After dragging the giant down, Garp showed no mercy. He raised his other massive forelimb and brought it down toward the giant's head.
The curved, black, and unyielding claw—if it landed—would have shattered the giant's skull on the spot.
But the fallen giant, its shoulder torn open, felt no fear. It raised both massive legs and slammed them into Garp's stomach, hurling him backward through the air.
With a tearing sound, another chunk of its own flesh was ripped away.
"Bastard!"
The giant rose to its feet without hesitation, though its entire left arm was now useless.
Enraged, it seized the massive sword from the ground, raised it high, and gathered all its energy into one devastating strike.
"Elbaf's Spear: Hakoku!"
In an instant, the giant unleashed its signature attack. The enormous blade released a surge of energy that tore through the air, forming a vortex over a hundred meters wide, ripples radiating outward like shockwaves.
In midair, Garp's eyes widened. Instinctively, he beat his wings hard, narrowly evading the blow.
Vmmm… vmmm… vmmm…
The raging slash tore through multiple sound barriers, leaving ring-shaped vortices in its wake.
This "Hakoku" had already surpassed that of any giant Garp had ever known…
If it struck, even in his MUTO form, he might not escape unharmed.
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