In that flash of lightning and fire—
Shano had vaguely sensed it: that punch wasn't aimed at his head, but at the space just above his shoulder.
Even so—
His muscle reflexes honed through countless battles, coupled with absolute trust in his own powerful physique, left him no hesitation. In an instant, he raised his fist and struck back hard!
Boom!
Where their fists clashed, the air rippled outward in waves, followed by an ear-piercing blast. Both of them were sent flying backward by the shockwave.
The difference was—
Garp took only five or six steps back before he came to a steady stop.
Shano, on the other hand, carved two long trenches into the ground, skidding back over ten meters before finally regaining his balance.
"Hmm?"
Garp raised his brows in surprise. Pushing up his dog-eared cap, he couldn't help but scan the black-haired youth in front of him from head to toe.
"Not bad, kid! You're this strong at such a young age? With that kind of power, you could already make a name for yourself on the Grand Line—what are you still doing in East Blue?!"
That punch of his just now was mostly just to scare the kid—not much force behind it.
But even that wasn't something a regular person could take head-on.
What surprised him more was that this boy not only took it directly, he even pushed Garp back a few steps.
"Because I'm from East Blue!" Shano rolled his eyes. "I'm only fourteen. If I don't spend a few more years with my family, why the hell would I run off to the Grand Line so early?"
"Fourteen?!"
Luffy, standing to the side, gaped. He had always thought Shano-ossan—no, Shano-nii—had to be at least thirty!
"Gramps!"
The boy stood up angrily. "What's your deal?! Shano-nii is my friend! He's not a bad guy, how could you just attack him like that?!"
"This old man is your grandfather?" Shano blinked in surprise. "Then why was he stopping me from saving you?"
"Shut up! Of course I was training the little brat's survival skills!" Garp snorted, nostrils flaring. He casually slammed a fist into Luffy, sending him crashing into the dirt, then turned and looked at Shano seriously. "Didn't think that following that brat Bogard back to my hometown for a short vacation would land me a talent like you…"
"Hey, brat! The name's Garp. You've heard of me, haven't you? Want to join the Marines under me? With your strength at fourteen, train a few years and maybe you could become a Rear Admiral before you even turn eighteen!"
"Garp?"
Shano froze, eyes widening in shock. "The legendary Marine Hero Garp?! The one who saved a whole island full of Celestial Dragons?!"
"Bwahaha, that's right, I'm—"
Garp burst into laughter, but the moment he heard the second half of that sentence, the smile froze on his face.
Back then, he'd been ordered by Kong to support the operation at God Valley. He'd thought the Celestial Dragons were just on some field trip, and the idea of capturing Roger had fired him up.
But after a brutal battle—
He found out just what kind of disgusting filth those bubble-headed pigs really were.
The battle with the Rocks Pirates earned him the title of Marine Hero, yes, but it also became a deep shadow in his heart.
From that moment on—
He refused any promotion to Admiral. That way, at least, he wouldn't be directly under the Celestial Dragons' command. He wouldn't become their puppet.
Garp was silent for a long time, staring at Shano's face, his eyes shadowed.
"You little brat…" the old man's tone was complicated, "seems like you know quite a lot. Don't tell me… you're a survivor from that island?"
"No, and don't get the wrong idea. I didn't mean it as an insult. I do respect you, Mr. Garp."
Shano shook his head lightly and said seriously, "But I think you can guess the answer to your earlier question now, can't you? A guy like me… I can't stand being tied down by rules. Being a Marine? Just thinking about taking orders from the Celestial Dragons makes my whole body itch and squirm."
"But…"
Garp opened his mouth instinctively to retort, but the images from over twenty years ago flashed through his mind. He could only sigh, words stuck in his throat.
"See? Being a Marine's boring as hell!"
Luffy poked his mud-covered head out of the pit with a bitter expression. "Shano-nii, help me convince Grandpa, will ya? He's been back for just a few days and he's already talking nonstop about turning me into the strongest Marine. I've told him already—I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"
"Still yapping about being Pirate King? You see what that red-haired brat did?!"
Garp roared and slammed a fist down on Luffy's head. "I can't control that one, but I'll be damned if I can't control you! You're my grandson! If you dare become a pirate, I'll beat you to death!"
Thunk!
"Owwwww!!!"
Luffy clutched the three giant lumps on his head, howling, "I'm a rubber man! How come your fists still hurt?!"
It's because of Haki.
Shano noticed it—when Garp punched, a faint black coating briefly covered his fist before disappearing. The force was perfectly controlled. His mastery of Armament Haki had clearly reached its peak.
He couldn't help but be envious.
"You wanna learn?"
Garp seemed to have caught that look in his eyes, and let out a sly laugh.
"If you really joined the Marines and became my student, I'd definitely teach you personally… but—ah, forget it."
The old man picked his nose lazily. "Anyway, I've been itching for a good fight ever since coming back to East Blue. That little brat Luffy can't take a punch. Why don't you humor me for a few rounds? If you give me a good match, I won't hold it against you for killing that rat."
"You knew about that…? Wait a second, you knew who I was from the start?"
Shano finally realized something was off—so this old man wasn't just testing him earlier?
"Of course I knew! I spent the whole trip home lying on the deck reading the newspaper. You think I could miss that face of yours?"
Garp snorted.
"As for that bastard Nezumi, I went to the 16th Branch with Bogard. The Marines there, from top to bottom, all swore up and down that it was Buggy who did it. But I wasn't convinced. Since I had time, I did a little digging on the side."
"Using this old face and my reputation, I barely got those Marines to open up to me. They quietly told me that just days before the incident, Nezumi had taken them to your village to threaten you, and tried to embezzle the Fishmen bounty."
"If I already heard all that, isn't it obvious? I'm not an idiot!"
Garp huffed, wiping his booger-stained finger on the dazed Luffy's hair. "Nezumi was probably offed by you in revenge, and you dumped the blame on Buggy."
"You tell Vice Admiral Bogard about this?" Shano didn't deny it, just grinned.
"What for? If he has the guts, he can go get the truth himself. Let's see if those Marines Nezumi oppressed for a year will tell him anything. Hmph! That kind of scum dying is no big loss—it just spares the Marines the shame. I was actually thinking of praising you, you know."
Garp laughed out loud. "Besides, you covered your tracks well, and there's no real evidence. Who'd arrest you? I'm on vacation, not here to do paperwork!"
He suddenly bumped his fists together, eyes lighting up with excitement.
"All right, Shano! Enough talk. Are you gonna give this old man a few rounds or not?"