One Piece: It All Started When I Found Shanks' Arm

Chapter 55: Armament Haki

Smack!

Ace kicked off a tree trunk, launched himself out, and with a few leaps, landed next to Luffy.

"Ace!" Luffy, who had been hiding behind a tree, was overjoyed. "How did you get here?!"

"I'd say I sensed your distress signal from my heart. Would you believe me?"

Ace pointed to his chest. Just as a smile appeared on his face, he noticed the two figures engaged in a fierce battle in the forest in the distance.

"Who is that guy?" Ace was stunned, unable to stop himself from sucking in a cold breath. "So strong! He can actually fight back and forth with the old geezer?"

"You can't tell? It's Big Bro Shane!"

"It's him?"

Ace frowned and observed carefully for a while.

His height had indeed shot up, and he was a whole lot sturdier, but looking at his side profile, it really was the same guy who had easily beaten him down with a few punches and kicks.

"So he's that amazing!"

Gulp! Ace swallowed hard. He had felt so embarrassed about being knocked out last year and had been training hard for a whole year, thinking he'd get his revenge one day.

Now it seemed that the other guy had been holding back a lot. Even if Sabo were still alive, the three of them, the ASL brothers, together, probably couldn't even take a single punch from him.

BOOM!

With a fierce inverted kick from Shane, Garp's body slammed into the side of a cliff, and a dull thud echoed through the entire mountain.

"You little monster! You can actually change direction in mid-air several times in an instant!"

Garp laughed as he shook off the dust, his rough knuckles cracking loudly. "You've mastered both Shave and Moonwalk so skillfully! Where did you steal the Six Powers from?!"

"No one taught me! It was all through my own hard work and sweat!"

Shane also laughed. This old man was really something else. After a brief exchange, he had, without a word, limited his own strength and speed to a level similar to his own.

This way, the fight had turned into a pure clash of physique, combat reflexes, and a head-on collision of powerful muscles.

They had been going back and forth for half an hour, punch for punch, and the fight was exhilarating. The only victim was this patch of forest; who knows how many large trees had been toppled, leaving a mess everywhere.

"No, no, this won't do. If this goes on, we'll be fighting until dark without a clear winner," Garp said, scratching his head. "It's not fair to you if I increase my strength. How about this instead..."

Just as his voice fell, his right fist suddenly turned pitch black, as if it had been dipped in ink. At the same time, he looked up at Shane in the tree and bared his teeth.

"You'd better be careful, kid!"

Damn it, you're getting serious!

Seeing Garp's charging figure, Shane's pupils shrank. He stomped on the ground, and while an afterimage of his "Shave" seemed to linger, his real body had already appeared behind Garp.

He had decided to strike first. He threw a steady and ruthless punch towards Garp's neck.

However, just as Shane's fist was about to touch his skin, the old man, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, caught his wrist in a reverse grip and executed a perfect shoulder throw. At the same time, his ink-black right fist slammed hard into Shane's chest!

THUD!

Shane was sent flying backward, crashing into the ground like a cannonball. Spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly, even reaching the feet of Ace and Luffy. At the center of the cracks, dust and smoke billowed up, and for a long time, there was no movement.

"Big Bro Shane!"

Luffy was startled by this scene and rushed over, wanting to help Shane up. At the same time, he roared angrily, "What are you doing, you old geezer! How could you hit him so hard!"

"Hee..." Garp landed on the ground. He ignored Luffy, his gaze fixed on the center of the dust cloud.

He didn't believe for a second that the kid couldn't take this hit.

This kid's strength and speed were indeed very strong, but what had surprised him the most since the fight began was his astonishing physical strength and defense. His bones were like iron. Several times, he had almost been on the verge of breaking them, but with a shake of his arm, he would quickly return to normal.

Not to mention that head of his. It was as hard as a steel ball. Before using Armament Haki, even his own punches would be shaken to the point of a dull ache.

Fourteen years old... he's only fourteen years old!!!

This kid was only two years older than Ace, but his strength was more than ten times greater.

Garp was even starting to regret it now. He shouldn't have been so final with his words earlier. He could have just forcibly taken him away and then slowly guided him. To just let such a promising seedling slip away...

What Rear Admiral? It now seemed that after this kid grew up, he would be qualified to be a Vice Admiral at the Headquarters!

The dust gradually settled.

As expected, Shane just shook his head and stood up as if nothing had happened. Although blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth and his chest was slightly caved in, his aura was still fierce and steady, and his upward gaze was still brimming with fighting spirit.

"That's cheating," Shane grinned. "Using Armament Haki is one thing, but you even used Observation Haki."

He touched his chest. The aura left by that powerful Armament Haki seemed to still be swirling around the wound, and he could clearly sense it. Shane closed his eyes to feel it for a moment, then licked the blood from the corner of his mouth with a somewhat greedy expression.

"Again!"

He violently tore off his tattered shirt. His twisted, terrifying muscles, under the sunlight, actually gave off a faint, metallic, bronze-like luster.

"Whoa!!!" Luffy and Ace's eyes widened.

Under the two kids' admiring gazes, Shane stomped on the ground, used Moonwalk to rush into the sky above the forest, and threw a fierce punch at Garp's head. The force of his fist tore through the air. The brim of Garp's dog-head hat flapped wildly, but a set of excited wrinkles appeared on his old face.

"Good one!"

He took half a step back, and his blackened right fist swung upwards in an afterimage, like a heavy hammer, crashing down.

That mass of black was reflected in Shane's pupils. He didn't dodge, but met it head-on with his own fist!

CRACK!

Compared to their previous even match, the strength of Garp's Haki-coated fist had increased dramatically. Shane could even hear his own bones groaning under the strain. But the numbing sensation from his knuckles grew hotter and hotter, as if countless ants were gnawing their way up his blood vessels to the depths of his marrow, a feeling that was both painful and fascinating.

"Hah, hah..."

He panted heavily. There was no way he was giving up. Instead, as if insatiable, he continued to pour more strength into his punch, baring his teeth at Garp, his grin reaching his ears.

"Why don't you use your left fist too, old man!"

Before his voice had even fallen, his free left fist was already unhesitatingly rushing towards Garp's shoulder. Garp laughed loudly and met it with his own left fist.

"So greedy? This old man will satisfy you!"

BOOM!!!

The moment their two pairs of fists collided, the airwave completely exploded, sweeping out in all directions!

"Oh no, we're too close!"

Ace immediately hugged a tree trunk tightly to keep from being blown away. Luffy, meanwhile, hurriedly wrapped his arm around Ace's leg like a spiral, but his straw hat was sent flying high into the air, spinning before it caught on a treetop, revealing his wide, copper-bell-like eyes underneath.

"My hat..."

THUD! Shane was knocked back and landed on a branch of that very tree. Seeing the straw hat next to him, he casually picked it up and made a gesture to throw it to Luffy, but the moment the hat left his hand, it vanished without a trace.

"Look in my bag!" he laughed, and then charged at Garp again.

Eh?

Luffy was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on him. He rushed directly to the backpack Shane had left by a giant rock. He opened it and saw that the familiar straw hat was indeed lying inside.

"Wow, the magic trick evolved! It's even more amazing!!!"

Hearing the shouts of amazement from below, Shane's lips twitched, but his actions didn't slow. He once again clashed with Garp.

Punch after punch, like a violent storm, they exchanged blows without stopping, trading over a hundred rounds in an instant.

And at this time, when Shane threw another punch, Garp could already vaguely feel a familiar, domineering aura from between his fists.

"Astonishing comprehension."

Garp tightly gripped Shane's fist, preventing him from advancing an inch. He narrowed his eyes. "I didn't expect you to be able to clearly feel the presence of Haki in such a short time and even start trying to attune to it. The next step is to start trying to wrap it!"

"—Wrap it around your body, even your weapons! When you can make it as clearly visible as smoke, and it enhances the destructive power of your every punch and kick, then you can be considered a beginner!"

"But to reach that step, you still need some practice to adapt. This old man is short on time and doesn't have the patience to watch you master it slowly, so let's skip directly to the next step. Listen up!"

"This second step! On the basis of wrapping, you must make the originally smoke-like Armament Haki become as condensed and adhesive as glue, greatly enhancing a certain body part at will!"

Both his arms suddenly became jet black. "Just like this!"

BOOM!

His incredibly hard elbow suddenly shot upwards, striking Shane in the face. Both of Shane's fists were resisting Garp's, and he couldn't break free in time. He could only watch helplessly as the elbow strike approached.

He instantly let out a miserable scream and was sent flying backward, smashing directly into the rock face of a cliff below. He coughed violently for a good while, spitting out a large mouthful of blood before he could catch his breath. He licked his lips and suddenly felt something wrong. He reached in with his fingers and instantly pulled out two teeth.

"I'm past the age of losing my baby teeth! How are these going to grow back?!" Shane roared in fury, stepping out of the crater. "Old man, can't you aim properly?! You should have at least aimed for my wisdom teeth!"

"Don't be an idiot! A fourteen-year-old brat doesn't have wisdom teeth!" Garp scoffed dismissively. "See that? To be able to harden your body parts at will like this old man, that's achieving the second step. And that's all I can teach you!"

"As for going further..." He landed on the ground with a smack. "First, master the second step. The path after that, you'll have to explore and pursue on your own. Depending on your personal needs, or the limits of your talent, you'll head in different directions."

"For example," Garp suddenly glanced at Luffy. "Some people will focus on improving the condensing effect of their Armament Haki, wishing they could concentrate all the Haki they can control into a small area, like the tip of a bullet, to create terrifying destructive power."

Why are you looking at me? Luffy was completely bewildered.

Shane, however, immediately realized that Garp was referring to Shanks's first mate, Benn Beckman. When that gun was raised, even an Admiral had to show some respect.

"And other people," Garp glared at Luffy, then looked away and continued, "pursue the ultimate in full-body defense, so afraid of having a weak spot that they cover their entire body in Armament Haki, making themselves invulnerable to the enemy."

This time, the old man didn't give an example.

Shane lowered his head and thought carefully. The first person who came to mind was Doflamingo's confidant, Vergo, the one who was sent to act as an undercover agent and, after three years and another three years, ended up becoming the head of a G-unit branch.