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"Admiral Andre, shrink the barrier! Restrict Arthur's movements!" Tsuru, though not as strong as Garp or Sengoku, was a brilliant strategist. Her position as Chief of Staff wasn't just an honorary title.
"Alright!" Andre's raspy voice echoed from beyond the barrier. The dome-like barrier began to shrink, compressing the battlefield from several mangrove groves to a small, two-hundred-yard-wide circle.
Facing the combined might of Garp and Sengoku, Arthur, his stamina depleted, found himself at a severe disadvantage. The shrinking barrier only worsened the situation.
He'd accepted the possibility of defeat, capture, or even death. Escape was no longer an option. Speed was useless in this confined space.
"Hahahaha!" Arthur's laughter grew wilder, fueled by a defiant recklessness. He didn't care if he died. He would make them pay—even in defeat.
He unleashed a torrent of lightning.
"One Hundred Million Volts—Thunder Dragon!"
A massive lightning dragon erupted from his body, charging towards Sengoku's incoming impact wave.
The attacks collided, momentarily disrupting Sengoku's assault, the impact wave dissipating.
Ignoring Sengoku, Arthur used his flickering lightning to boost his speed, his dimming aura reigniting with a brilliant blue light. He slammed a massive lightning fist towards Garp.
The electrical acceleration amplified Arthur's punch exponentially, his speed blurring the air, leaving no afterimage.
The lightning fist became a pillar of pure energy, like a laser cannon blast.
"You little punk! I'm getting serious now!" Garp cracked his knuckles, ripping off his Justice coat, revealing his powerfully built torso. His fists, veins bulging, radiated an immense pressure.
Iron fist met lightning fist, the impact like a thunderclap echoing through the barrier.
A Yarukiman Mangrove snapped, its exposed roots obliterated. The shockwave forced Kizaru and Kuzan, who were sitting on the ground, to shield their eyes and scramble back towards the edge of the barrier.
The crackling of electricity lingered for a moment before fading. A massive crater, where the two attacks had collided, filled with seawater.
Arthur gasped for breath, the lightning dissipating from his arm, revealing cracked, bleeding muscles.
His arm hung limply at his side.
Garp's arm was scorched black, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air.
"That kid is getting stronger." Zephyr, badly injured, frowned as he watched Arthur, his form flickering between lightning and human.
Garp's devastating punches were feared even by Roger.
Few could match his raw power. Yet Arthur, despite his injuries, had met him head-on. While enhanced by lightning, his strength had clearly surpassed what Zephyr had witnessed before.
Arthur's Devil Fruit was part of him, an extension of his power. He'd used his physical strength, Armament Haki, and lightning abilities to injure Garp, at the cost of his own arm.
Garp had the upper hand—for now. But given time, Arthur would surpass him. He was young, while Garp was facing the inevitable decline of age.
"What a waste…" Zephyr sighed.
Arthur, with so much potential, would be captured today.
Zephyr vanished, reappearing beside the reeling Arthur, his fist rocketing forward.
Arthur saw the attack coming, but he was too weak to dodge, taking the full force of the blow.
He flew backwards, tumbling across the ground, his Thunder God form dissipating, reverting to his human form.
"Surrender, kid!" Though his family had been killed by pirates, Zephyr's belief in non-lethal justice hadn't wavered. He hadn't yet descended into the radicalism that would one day lead him to attempt to destroy the New World.
Seeing Arthur's weakened state, he offered a chance to surrender.
Arthur, blood trickling from his lips, his clothes torn, his shoulder throbbing, struggled to his feet.
"Surrender? Hahahaha! Are you kidding me, Admiral? Surrender is a mercy granted by the strong to the weak…You think I would surrender? Just kill me! Hahahaha!"
He laughed wildly, his defiance unwavering. Surrender was a fate worse than death. He would fight, he would flee, he would even die—but he would never beg for his life.
Surrender was for the weak, a concession he would never make. He might be outmatched—but he wasn't weak. There was a difference. Being outmatched meant he still had room to grow, to become stronger. Being weak meant giving up, a fate worse than death.
"Zephyr, enough. This villain must be brought to justice," Sengoku said coldly.
He carried out the World Government's orders without question, even if it meant collateral damage. He was, after all, the man who would one day carry out the Buster Call on Ohara, wiping out an entire island on their orders.
Even Jaguar D. Saul's defection wouldn't sway him.
Despite his fierce appearance, he had a compassionate heart.
Sengoku, in his massive golden Buddha form, advanced on Arthur, the impact wave gathering in his palm, a shimmering, condensed ball of energy.
"Seabury D. Arthur, I told you—your journey ends here, on Sabaody Archipelago."
From a hundred yards away, he unleashed the impact wave, a concentrated burst of force that struck like a meteor.
The barrier shook violently, the impact like a nuclear explosion, ice shards flying as another massive crater formed in the ground. If it weren't for Andre's barrier, half of Sabaody—perhaps even the Yarukiman Mangroves themselves—would have been destroyed.
Seawater poured in through the shattered roots. Garp rushed forward, ready to pull Arthur from the rising water, preventing him from drowning.
Garp, Seastone cuffs in hand, leaped into the seawater, spotting Arthur's struggling form.
He grabbed Arthur's wrist, shattering the thin layer of Magnetic Field protecting it.
The Seastone handcuffs snapped shut.
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