"Besides coating and hardening, Armament Haki has many other applications. I won't go over each one in detail, but remember this—techniques may vary in difficulty, but in real combat, there's no such thing as strong or weak."
Garp spoke in a deep voice. "At the end of the day, no matter what type of technique you're good at, you must raise its intensity! Only intensity is the core of Armament Haki—it's the one thing you should focus all your efforts on!"
This was something Shano had already understood well.
One force to break ten thousand techniques—that was the essence. Just like when he was sparring with Kuina and Zoro on swordsmanship…
Rustle—
Suddenly, the tree canopy in the distance shook slightly, startling a flock of birds into flight.
Shano's thoughts were interrupted. He looked up toward the sound and just happened to see a figure wearing a wide-brimmed brown hat descending from the sky, stepping down on Geppo.
Bogard?
Shano recognized him at a glance.
This guy looked young, maybe in his twenties or thirties, but he had already been following Garp since before the God Valley Incident. He was at least the same generation as Akainu and the others.
"Mr. Garp."
Bogard frowned slightly. "Vice Admiral Burning Mountain just sent a message. He said he's already driven the Buggy Pirates out of the East Blue. They're currently docked at the nearby naval port and will set sail for Marineford first thing tomorrow morning. We need to depart immediately."
"What's the rush?"
Garp impatiently dug at his ear. "I've only been back home for a few days. Can't I get a couple more days of rest?"
"But sir, your leave is almost up. And don't forget, Vice Admiral, we hitched a ride this time. Your own warship's still being repaired at headquarters."
Bogard's face was deadpan. "If we don't leave soon, we'll be swimming across the Calm Belt tomorrow."
"...Ugh."
Garp froze mid-motion.
Swimming across the Calm Belt wasn't that hard for him, but it was exhausting. Nowhere near as comfy as lying around on a sunny deck all day.
"Fine…"
Garp finally gave in. Just then, Luffy and Ace walked over. He reached out his large hand and gave both of his grandsons' heads a hard rub.
"I'm off! Be sure to listen to Dadan! Next time I come back—if you still don't look like proper Marine recruits—just wait and see how I'll deal with you!"
Who wants to be a Marine!
Luffy was about to shout in protest, but Ace shot him a look—You idiot! He's leaving already, just go along with it!
"Mr. Garp."
This time, it was Shano who called out, stopping Garp just as he was turning to leave.
He clenched his fist, feeling the faint trace of Armament Haki inside.
"Aren't you going to explain yourself?"
"Huh?" Garp looked at him blankly.
"I'm not some kid you can just fool." Shano grinned. "I get that you've taken a liking to me, but let's be honest—we're not that familiar. There's no reason for you to teach me something so valuable the first time we meet."
"Didn't you save Luffy from those mountain bandits last year? Isn't it normal for me to repay you for saving my grandson's life?" Garp raised an eyebrow.
"That was a misunderstanding. I don't believe Luffy didn't explain it clearly to you."
"...So I can't fool you, huh?"
Garp scratched the back of his head, a bit annoyed.
"Alright, then I'll be honest. When there was a vacancy among the Shichibukai, it was me who first proposed to Sengoku that Jinbei the Fishman should be invited to join."
"At the time, I just thought that with Jinbei's character, letting him take that spot would be far better than giving it to some other pirate who'd just abuse the system. But I didn't expect the Sun Pirates to split after that… with Arlong breaking off to form his own crew and running off to the East Blue."
"The Conomi Islands suffered heavy casualties across multiple towns."
Garp let out a deep sigh. "If it hadn't been for a monster like you showing up in Cocoyasi Village, that place probably wouldn't have escaped disaster. So, when I first saw your photo in the paper, I felt guilty. And when I met you in person, well... I felt even more ashamed."
"No need for that." Shano shook his head slightly. "Arlong's mess barely has anything to do with Jinbei as it is. What's it got to do with you?"
"But it's still hard to get past that guilt... Hearing you say that, though, eases my mind a bit."
Garp suddenly grinned, then slapped Shano's shoulder hard.
"Consider Armament Haki my way of making it up to you. Keep training hard, kid. With your talent, I have no doubt—you'll become strong enough that even if you're gone for a long time, just hearing your name will send any lowlife running scared from your hometown like a pack of beaten dogs!"
You're plenty strong, and your reputation is scary enough already.
But when the Mountain Bandit King Higuma stormed into Foosha Village…
Shano couldn't help grumbling to himself inwardly, but in the end, didn't say anything. He stood with Luffy and Ace, watching as the figures of Garp and Bogard slowly disappeared into the forest.
"Finally! That old geezer's gone!"
Luffy let out a long breath and flopped onto the grass, stretching out lazily. Then he suddenly remembered something and turned to grin at Shano:
"Hey, Big Bro Shano! We're heading back to Dadan's place. Wanna come with us? We'll throw a party and celebrate!"
"It'll be late by the time we get there, won't it? Besides, Bambas and the others came with me this time too. There's a lot of us—I'm not sure there's enough space."
"Don't worry! There's tons of empty rooms! We've got plenty of space for everyone! You can sleep in Sabo's room tonight!"
Sabo's room, huh?
Shano gave a nod and smiled sincerely. "Sure."
At the dock.
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Bogard, who was buying ferry tickets to the nearby naval port, glanced over at Garp, who was yawning beside him, and suddenly realized something was off.
"Mr. Garp, where's your dog-head hat?"
"Hmm?"
Garp froze, instinctively reaching up—only to find his head completely bare.
"That's weird…" The old man patted all four of his pockets. "I could've sworn I picked it up after the fight. Did it fall out again somehow?"
"You're really hopeless with your forgetfulness…" Bogard sighed.
"You're one to talk!" Garp glared at him. "Where's your hat, then?"
"Huh? I'm wearing it, aren't I?"
Bogard reached up with a chuckle, but his hand touched nothing—his face instantly froze.
Huh? Where's my hat?!
Could it have been blown away by the wind at the dock…?
"All good stuff, huh."
Late at night, Shano leaned against the headboard of Sabo's bed, face flushed from wine, patting his full belly as he let out a satisfied burp. He stared at the system panel in front of him, completely content.
Line after line of message logs confirmed the sweat and effort he had put in.
[You sacrificed Garp's dog-head hat, gained 4000 points]
[You sacrificed Bogard's wide-brimmed hat, gained 200 points]
[You sacrificed Sabo's old coat, gained 150 points]
[You sacrificed Ace's hidden adult magazines under the bed, gained 250 points]
[You sacrificed Dadan's vintage wine, gained 50 points]
[You sacrificed Luffy's bootleg straw hat, gained 3000 points]