Garp's hearty laughter still echoed across the deck of the Thousand Sunny. Franky, bald-headed and fuming, lunged toward his beloved wig, which Chopper held innocently, while Nami's wrath threatened to burst onto the old man who had just trashed ship property.
Zoro gritted his teeth, forcing down his anger, sheathing his swords while muttering grimly, "Next time, I'll cut you down."
Luffy rubbed his reddened nose, eyes sparkling as he circled Garp. "Grandpa, how did you dodge that? Teach me! That was amazing!"
"Want to learn?"
Garp pulled a handful of water-soaked senbei crumbs from his pocket and popped them into his mouth, humming with pride. "First, straighten out that unruly Haki of yours. It's messier than a tangled bed sheet."
Chaos still hung in the air, but sunlight glinted off the calm, blue ocean as the ship pressed forward in its wooden splendor.
But the brief calm would not last.
Lookout Usopp, peering through his telescope, suddenly froze. His long nose twitched violently as panic spiked through him, and his voice shot up eight octaves in terror. "H-hey, hey, hey! Big… big trouble! Ahead on the water… a fleet! White sails! So many of them!"
"A fleet?"
Nami's mental alarms blared. She grabbed her own telescope and scanned the horizon.
Zoro and Sanji instantly moved to the ship's edge.
Even Garp narrowed his eyes.
At the horizon where sea met sky, countless white sails cut through the blue like blades.
Twelve massive warships, bristling with menace, bore the white seagull flag of the Marines, forming a giant semicircle that pressed toward the small Thousand Sunny.
Hundreds of cannon barrels glinted coldly in the sunlight.
The bold "G-5" markings on the sails served as a stark warning this was the G-5 Marine division, infamous for ruthless methods in the New World.
On the deck of the lead flagship, a fierce man in a Marine officer's cloak, sporting a Mohawk and chewing a cigar, peered intently at the horizon through a monocular telescope.
This was Vice Admiral Bastille, nicknamed "Shark Cutter," feared for his cruelty and bloodlust.
"Target confirmed!"
Bastille slammed down the telescope, a cruel smile spreading across his face, the tip of his cigar trembling with excitement. "Traitor Garp, conspiring with the Straw Hat Pirates justice will not forgive! All cannons, aim for their main ship, the Thousand Sunny! Fire at will! Crush them! Don't worry about their lives!"
His voice boomed over the sea through the ship's loudspeakers, issuing an order for a full-scale saturation bombardment.
In an instant, it felt as though the countdown of death had reached zero.
On the sides and decks of all twelve warships, hundreds of massive cannon barrels groaned with the grinding and clashing of metal.
"Fire!"
Bastille's roar was the fuse.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of blazing orange-red cannonballs shot into the sky, each trailing thick plumes of white smoke.
The firepower obscured the sky and poured down like a torrential rain onto the solitary Thousand Sunny.
The density of the barrage made conventional evasion impossible.
The cannonballs screamed through the air, death shadows descending upon the ship.
Time seemed to freeze.
"Cannon barrage!"
Usopp and Chopper clung to each other, screaming in terror.
"There's no turning back!"
Franky, pale as a ghost, dove for the helm. Nami, forgetting her anger, felt powerless against the destructive force. Zoro and Sanji gripped their weapons with deadly resolve, but their hearts sank; the enemy numbers were overwhelming.
Even Luffy, face steaming, activated Gear Second. "Everyone…"
"Hey, hey," a calm, almost absurdly composed voice interrupted him, drawing everyone's attention.
At some unknown moment, Garp had climbed atop the lion figurehead of the Thousand Sunny.
Bare-chested, the sea wind ruffled his short gray hair and scarred torso.
Squinting against the rain of cannonballs, a rugged grin spread across his face, wild determination blazing in his eyes.
"A bunch of rude rookies…"
Garp's voice was quiet, yet it cut through the roar of the cannons and wind, reaching every crew member with undeniable authority.
"Kid! Keep your eyes open and watch "
His gaze shifted from the stunned crew to the G-5 flagship, the lead ship with the most cannons, its deck commanded by Vice Admiral Bastille.
" the rules of the New World…"
Garp crouched slightly, back arching like an ancient dragon coiling to strike.
An invisible aura, denser and fiercer than the gates of Enies Lobby or the cliffs of Red Line, erupted around him, as if it could freeze space itself.
Ripples formed in the air, and the ocean beneath twisted into a strange, massive depression.
"…This is how you say hello!"
Roar!
The lion figurehead beneath Garp groaned under the immense pressure.
Boom! The air below him seemed to fracture.
He launched like a super-heavy cannonball from a gun, leaving a clear afterimage on every retina.
His speed surpassed even Admiral Kizaru's light-speed attacks.
Faster than the trajectory of any flying cannonball.
He didn't dodge upward; instead, he charged straight into the sky-darkening, incoming cannon barrage with unstoppable force.