#19 - Chapter 19: First Fight with Garp

"Did you guys hear? Lieutenant Commander Jin An... Oh no, Colonel Jin An issued a duel invitation to Vice Admiral Garp!"

"People challenge Vice Admiral Garp all the time, what's so surprising about that...? Wait... Colonel Jin An initiated it?"

"That's strange, I don't think I've ever heard of Colonel Jin An actively challenging someone..."

"Have you guys ever considered that it's because there's no opponent in the South Sea worthy of Colonel Jin An initiating a challenge...?"

"Hiss... now that you mention it, it seems like that's really the case..."

"In that case... we can't miss this match..."

"Let's go, let's go see it together!"

The entire Marine base was filled with cheers.

The mountain weighing down on them had finally been moved, and coupled with the fact that they hadn't encountered such an interesting event in a long time, everyone wanted to join in on the fun.

Garp cracked his knuckles, his "fist of love" was going to make an appearance again today.

He said to Jin An, who was doing warm-up exercises opposite him:

"My fists hit pretty hard, are you mentally prepared for that?"

Garp laughed heartily. He had defeated countless opponents with those iron fists, and it was also thanks to those iron fists that he earned the title of "Hero."

He had his own pride. Every time he had taken action so far, it had been against powerful enemies.

Ordinary people weren't even worth his time...

"Thank you, Vice Admiral Garp, for giving me this opportunity to exchange blows."

Even without a system mission, Jin An really wanted to test himself against Garp.

The opportunity to exchange blows with the world's top experts was something many people couldn't get even if they begged for it.

Jin An directly drew his Wild Goose Blade. He didn't dare to be careless in front of Garp.

Even Garp, who didn't use swords, had his eyes light up when he saw the sword in Jin An's hand.

"That's a nice sword you have!"

After saying that, he directly took off all of his upper body clothing, revealing a strong physique.

"I heard that Vice Admiral Garp hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit."

Not only Marines were watching this match, but also some well-informed people from the town came over.

"That's right, everyone in the Navy knows about this."

"Vice Admiral Garp is very strong."

The surrounding Marines responded enthusiastically.

"I want to be a Marine when I grow up!"

Some of the younger children looked yearningly. Although they didn't know who the two people in the arena were, they longed to protect the people around them and be noticed by others.

The Marines next to them puffed out their chests with pride upon hearing this.

What they were proud of wasn't their identity as Marines, but that the Marines were recognized by others.

Even today, pirates were still the goal of most children in this world.

But now, because of that man, the Marines were also seen as a goal by some children, and it was believed that there would be more in the future.

Compared to Garp, who came from the East Blue, the people of the South Blue were more familiar with Jin An.

In the past three years, that man had participated in and organized the Navy, eliminating more than 20 large and small pirate groups. In every battle, he took the lead and charged at the forefront of attacking pirates.

His courageous fighting style allowed him to receive attention from the Navy Headquarters in just a few years. From this, it could be seen that his potential was no less than that of his predecessors, such as Sengoku and Zephyr.

"Shave!"

Jin An darted out like a meteor, picked up the long sword in his hand, and went straight to Garp.

"The fight has begun!" Someone exclaimed.

Garp spread his arms like an eagle, and at the same time, raised his fist and rushed towards Jin An at lightning speed. Under the sunlight, his fist seemed to be covered with a layer of light. Without dodging or avoiding, he directly went head-to-head with the long sword.

Everyone felt a gust of wind coming, and their bodies couldn't help but sway.

The venue was spacious enough for them to move around in.

After scoring a hit, Garp didn't let it go. He raised his fist and continued to bombard Jin An.

Faced with Garp's fist wind, Jin An not only didn't retreat, but instead took a step forward in the stunned gazes of everyone. He held the sword in his right hand and quickly blocked the fist, and slapped with his left hand, actually dissolving all of Garp's attacks.

"Good kid, well done," Garp praised.

Just as Jin An had dissolved this attack, Garp's figure suddenly moved, shifting his body backward, then clenched his fists, and suddenly smashed them towards Jin An's face.

Garp used his pair of fists with great skill, with layers of fist shadows. The momentum made people afraid to fight him.

At the same time, his body, enhanced by the Azure Dragon Fruit, was exceptionally resistant to blows, and he fearlessly leaped forward.

However, the gap between the strengths of the two sides was too great, and Jin An was still unable to contend with Garp's fist force.

After taking a punch head-on, Jin An flew backward, using his sword to stab into the ground to dissolve the enormous force.

"Hoo..."

Breathing out a mouthful of air, Jin An understood the power of Garp's iron fist, but this instead aroused his competitive spirit.

The most enjoyable battles between men were still hand-to-hand combat.

"Crackling..."

Jin An's expression became serious, his fists clenched, and a surge of energy was brewing within his body.

"Hmm... not bad..."

Garp stood quietly to the side, watching Jin An accumulate power, and praised him.

They were just sparring, and it was understandable to wait for the other party to use their full strength.

Boom!

Suddenly, the ground beneath Jin An's feet cracked, and it continued to expand outward.

A stream of cyan gas gently swirled around his body. This was his strongest state in human form.

"This kid actually contains this kind of energy in his body!" Garp was shocked by the power that erupted from Jin An's body, and then a hint of fighting spirit rose in his eyes.

"Pojun Slash!"

The cyan gas was wrapped around the long sword, and then, a slash was unleashed.

Whoosh!

All eyes were now focused on the slash that Jin An unleashed, and this time, they seemed to hear the sound of a dragon's roar accompanying it.

Crack!

The glass on the doors and windows of the base shattered at this moment and scattered on the ground.

Garp's fist looked simple and unadorned, but it contained the power to shatter boulders. There was no fluctuation in his eyes, and his fist went straight to Jin An's abdomen.

One of the two attacks had great momentum, and the other was simple and unadorned.

Boom!!!

The sword energy and the fist accurately hit the opponent's body at the same time, making a huge roar.

The sound was deafening!

Jin An's sword stopped on Garp's skin, which was covered in Haki, unable to cause damage.

Unlike Garp's nonchalance, Jin An was like a shrimp out of water, trembling and falling to the ground, his body bent at 90° to reduce the pain in his stomach.

"Oops!" Garp exclaimed, "I got too excited and used too much force."

Looking at Jin An's condition, he knelt down on one knee reproachfully and checked Jin An's physical condition.

"I'm fine..." Jin An said in a trembling voice, with a trace of blood silently flowing from the corner of his mouth.

In his heart, he was extremely bitter: It's over, this time I've lost a lot of face...

"Wow oh oh oh oh!"

When the battle came to an end, a burst of loud applause and cheers rang out throughout the venue. Now they could understand how terrifying the strength of the Marine officers was.

(Ordinary people can only judge the strength of their strength by the damage caused by the battle.)

Moreover, this was when they didn't use their full strength...

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission...]

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