On the warship, Garp vigorously chewed on a senbei, seemingly venting his anger as if it were someone else.
He was originally planning to take a long vacation and return to the East Blue to visit family after the sea patrol, but then he suddenly received a strict order from Sengoku, demanding that he must recover the stolen Celestial Tribute.
This batch of Celestial Tribute directly involved the continuation of parliamentary seats for several member nations, making it extremely important.
Since it involved the lives of citizens from member nations and the internal troubles of the Celestial Dragons, Sengoku set his sights on Garp, who was idling around in the North Blue.
"That bastard Sengoku, just because he's the Fleet Admiral!"
The displeased Garp stuck his pinky finger into his nostril and twisted.
"Vice Admiral Garp, you must be mindful of your words and their impact!"
His adjutant, Bogard, peeked out from behind Garp to remind him.
"Hah! I don't care about him!"
Garp snorted coldly and flicked his booger into the sea.
Due to the incident at the Holy Land half a year ago, the Celestial Dragons deeply felt the danger of lacking Admirals and subsequently expanded the Marines' military funds, demanding they fill the Admiral's vacancies.
A large number of Marine officers, including Kong, Sengoku, Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru, received promotions. However, Garp, remaining as stubborn as ever, refused promotion, ultimately ending up as one of Sengoku's subordinates.
This led to his current forced mission under Sengoku's orders to recover the Celestial Tribute for the Celestial Dragons.
'To have to serve those pieces of trash...!'
The thought made Garp even angrier, 'My precious time with my grandsons! How dare these scum on the sea ruin it! What if my lack of companionship made his grandsons want to become pirates?!'
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He had the Marine soldiers behind him push over cannonballs, loosened his tie slightly, his solid muscles straining against his suit.
Infusing his entire body with Haki, the veins on the back of his hands bulged.
"Genkotsu Meteor!"
The cannonball tore through the clouds, plummeting from the sky with a blazing light, like a meteor.
On the ground, Sakura and Doflamingo simultaneously created distance, clearing the space between them.
Then, the Haki-imbued cannonball first slammed into the ground, creating a large crater, followed by an explosion of flames and impact.
"First Dance: White Moon!"
The tip of the Storm Sword drew a circle on the ground, and a freezing domain rapidly expanded, once again enveloping the entire Flevance in a pure white past while also solidifying the fragments and flames from the cannonball's explosion mid-air.
"Huh? Same type as that brat Kuzan?"
A massive figure descended from the sky, shattering the ground upon impact. A powerful Conqueror's Haki overflowed from his body, forming shockwaves.
"I remember he mentioned your name, that brat from Roger's crew… Haruno Sakura!"
It had been a long time since he met such an interesting pirate, and a trace left by an old acquaintance at that, so Garp's face was filled with excitement.
Even the unpleasant task of being ordered by the Celestial Dragons was thrown to the back of his mind, and his eyes were brimming with fighting spirit.
"Hey, hey, old bastard, you-"
Sakura's voice was drowned out by the sound of air tearing from rapid friction. A tall shadow already covered her field of vision.
An Armament Haki-covered hand with a red outline grabbed her by the collar, performing a shoulder throw to slam her heavily into the ground.
"Blue Hole!"
Dark lightning spread out, Haki blasting a hollow in the ground. The immense impact force carried Sakura deep into the earth.
"Brats who don't know how to respect their elders need to be educated with Fists of Love! Hahahahaha!"
Standing at the edge of the crater, Garp looked into the dark abyss and laughed loudly, cracking his knuckles.
Then, his demonic gaze turned toward the four pirates behind him.
Instantly, cold sweat on the faces of Doflamingo, Diamante, Trebol, and Pica began to flow upwards.
"Oh, there are four more pieces of trash here!"
The Justice Cloak behind him stood upright, shaken by his immense aura. The world's peak Armament Haki coiled around his fist.
He turned and threw a punch.
"Spider's Web!"
"Bullfighting Cape!"
"Mucus Net!"
"Stone Press!"
The four hurriedly used their signature techniques to block, but Garp's fist pierced through each one.
The gradually melting stone wall pushed threads, steel, mucus, and rock relentlessly toward the four, finally forcing them to face Garp's impact head-on with a massive explosive sound.
The Donquixote Family's executives, who had just been freed, were instantly wiped out again by a single blow. Doflamingo barely avoided Garp's fist thanks to his ability to fly through the air.
However, his right arm, which was slightly grazed by the Haki, was already blackened, swollen, and throbbing with pain.
'This is... the pinnacle of this sea!'
Having witnessed Garp's terror, Doflamingo's fingers trembled slightly.
'That level of Haki… even a slight touch had injured me this badly. How could I possibly fight against it?'
As this thought crossed his mind, his eyes behind his sunglasses darted around, searching for an escape route.
"It's useless. Just come quietly with me to Impel Down!"
A red glint flashed in Garp's eyes, his Observation Haki had already locked onto all of Doflamingo's possible escape routes.
Just as he was about to leap up, he suddenly felt a restraining obstacle on his leg.
Looking down, the solid ice on the ground had, at some point, quietly coiled up to his thighs.
The temperature around them also began to drop rapidly. Amid the dancing wind, frost, and snow, a snow-white girl stepped out slowly on a staircase of ice.
"Mirror Mountain!"
Several layers of ice covering her body shattered. A trickle of blood slid down the corner of Sakura's forehead, adding a touch of fragile beauty to her delicate appearance.
Even though she had used her abilities to absorb most of the impact, the penetrating Haki had still injured her.
'Garp was a completely different type from that old bastard from before. In fact, one could even say that old bastard, who only relied on his abilities, wasn't even fit to carry Garp's shoes.'
'Just as Uncle Gaban had said, only Haki can reign supreme above all else!'
"Haah!"
Sakura exhaled a breath of cold air, infused with Chakra.
Infusing Yang Attribute Chakra, the freezing air was wantonly manipulated by her, forming giant beasts that lunged at Garp to tear him apart.
"Hahahaha, that bastard Roger's eye for talent is really not bad!"
Garp exclaimed, his tone full of praise.
Then, his Conqueror's Haki shot straight into the sky, forcing Sakura and Doflamingo to unleash their own Conqueror's Haki in response.
Amid the surging Haki, Garp raised his fist again, now enveloped in Armament Haki that emitted a faint glow.
"Doflamingo, help me find a way to break his Haki!"
Sakura shouted loudly, then clapped her hands on the ground, injecting Yang Attribute Chakra into the ice.
Countless giant beasts emerged from the blizzard, charging and biting at Garp.
Hearing Sakura's voice, Doflamingo, still in the air, was momentarily stunned.
'Who? Me? Me fight Garp?'
Forget his current self… even if he went back and trained for another ten-plus years, he would still be no match for such a pinnacle figure of the sea.
'Hey, hey, can we win?'
'It's guaranteed death!'
"Just for an instant, just an instant is enough!!!"
Sakura's voice rang out a second time. The girl's confidence inexplicably gave Doflamingo, who had already been planning to abandon his executives and retreat, a sliver of hope.
"Really just an instant?"
"Mm!"
Having received her assurance, Doflamingo gritted his teeth, tore off his pink feathered cape, and wrapped it around his swollen, blackened right hand like a bandage.
'So what if he's a legend of the sea?! Today, I'll go all out against him!!!'