On the deck of the Thousand Sunny, Luffy's thunderous shout echoed through the air. "Let's eat!"
Cheers and excitement still bounced around as he dashed toward the kitchen with exaggerated energy.
"Stop right there!" Nami's angry yell struck like lightning, delivering a perfectly aimed slap to the back of Luffy's head, sending him sprawling onto the deck. "Feast? What are you talking about? We still don't even know what's going on with your grandpa! He's an enemy! He's a Marine hero!"
She pointed at the grinning elder by the railing, shouting directly into Luffy's ear.
"What are you talking about? Grandpa can't possibly be the enemy!" Luffy protested, rubbing the swelling on his head, though his eyes still sparkled with excitement as they fixed on Garp. "Hey, Grandpa, if you become the vice-captain, will there be enough meat on the ship for you?"
Garp's rugged face broke into an even wider grin as he observed the familiar chaos around him.
He stepped forward, scanning the crew one by one: Zoro's hand hovered over his sword hilt, serious and alert; Sanji exhaled a thin smoke ring, his gaze sharp; Franky posed dramatically, glancing around; Chopper peeked nervously from behind Robin, his large eyes wide; Usopp instinctively gripped his slingshot.
Under the scrutiny of this battle-hardened veteran, the new crew's alertness and the old pirates' carefree attitudes were laid bare.
"Hmm, a feast sounds fine," Garp said loudly, his authoritative voice cutting through the noise. "But first, little brat!"
His gaze suddenly locked onto Luffy's face, still rubbing the back of his head, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If I'm going to be your vice-captain, talking is not enough! Let's see if your captain and your crew… have what it takes to support these old bones!"
The atmosphere on deck shifted instantly.
The Straw Hats, who had just been caught up in thoughts of a feast, tensed immediately.
Zoro's swords slid slightly from their sheaths, clinking softly;
Sanji's fingers tightened around his cigarette;
Even Usopp swallowed hard, forcing himself to stand tall and maintain composure.
It was instinct a primal pressure from a predator at the top of the food chain, announcing the start of the hunt.
But Luffy wasn't intimidated at all. His eyes shone with excitement, like stars sparkling in the night.
"Ohhhh, Grandpa's going to fight? Awesome!" He leapt back, his rubber arms stretching and inflating wildly. "Perfect! Let me show you my new Haki!"
"Gear Third!!"
Luffy roared, taking a deep breath as his cheeks ballooned to immense size. He jammed his gigantic fist into his mouth and blew with all his strength! Boom!
The terrifying sound of his expansion filled the air as his right arm swelled monstrously, as if packed with enormous amounts of air. His skin turned deep red, crisscrossed with black veins like lightning.
The colossal elephant gun-sized fist formed, nearly half the size of the Thousand Sunny itself.
It surged forward, carrying the force of a mountain, roaring with ferocious air pressure.
Even before the fist reached Garp, the wind it generated whipped through the deck, flapping everyone's clothes violently.
"Elephant Gun!!" Luffy shouted excitedly, the roar of the wind blending with his punch.
Decks erupted with exclamations.
"Wow! Luffy's really going all out!"
Usopp held his head in terror.
"Giant fist!"
Chopper nearly cried, tears welling in his eyes.
"Idiot! You'll sink the ship!"
Nami screamed.
Zoro's expression turned grave. "Hey! That old man…"
The massive, dark-red fist wrapped in Haki crackled with power, heading straight for him, capable of smashing a medium warship into pieces.
Yet Garp didn't even lift an eyelid. His face remained completely calm.
The colossal fist, wrapped in black and red lightning, slammed toward him like a meteor, whipping up a ferocious gust that sent his silver hair flying wildly!
"Hah achoo!"
As if finally awakened, Garp leaned back lazily and let out an enormous, carefree yawn.
Whoosh!
The yawn expelled an immense shockwave of air, powered purely by his enormous lung capacity and physique, forming a concentrated air blast like a high-speed cannon.
Boom!
It was as if a red-hot iron rod had been dropped into ice water.
Luffy's giant, dark-red arm, filled with kinetic energy and residual Conqueror's Haki, was casually neutralized by the blast from Garp's yawn. The fist deflated, twisted, and shriveled like a punctured balloon.
The black and red lightning disappeared, and the enormous force even pushed Luffy backward.
"Ah!"
He let out a strange cry, spinning like a tattered sack in the wind, his deflated arm smashing against the ship's wall with a dull thud before sliding limply to the deck. The two lumps on his head remained, fully deflated.
A tense silence fell over the deck.
Only the embarrassing "pffft" sound of Luffy's deflated arm could be heard.
A bead of cold sweat ran down Zoro's temple.
Usopp and Chopper both swallowed nervously.
Garp, as if shooing away a tiny fly, casually wiped nonexistent tears from the corner of his eye. He looked disappointed.
"Haki coating? Useless as a bandage! Listen, brat! Haki is not for grilling meat. Precision. Control."
From his soaked back pocket, he casually pulled out a small piece of senbei packaging, damp and crumpled but intact, and popped it into his mouth.
"Not even a crunch… tsk."
Luffy, who had collapsed in the corner, instantly leapt back up as if injected with adrenaline.
His Gear Third was effortlessly countered by his grandfather, fully igniting his fighting spirit.
"I'm not done yet! Gear Second! Activate!!"
His body turned a steaming, reddish-pink, with hot white smoke rising from his skin. His heartbeat roared like a storm, and he became a blur of red, almost impossible for the eye to follow.
"Gomu Gomu Jet Gatling!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The deafening barrage struck, like a high-speed battering ram unleashed.
Luffy's fists disappeared, replaced by countless red afterimages tearing through the air like twin Gatling guns. Each punch packed the terrifying piercing power of Gear Second!
They pounded Garp's body relentlessly, aiming for every vital point.
Countless afterimages seemed poised to swallow Garp whole.
Yet he stood still, barely moving a muscle.
Then, in a jaw-dropping moment, the wet senbei wrapper in Garp's hand seemed to transform into a shield as strong as the legendary sea kings themselves.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
With a casual flick of his wrist, he swung the tattered wrapper like a Tai Chi master, slow yet deadly precise.
Each of Luffy's relentless punches landed squarely on the flimsy wrapper, nullified as if by magic.