Garp didn't dare to take the hit head-on this time. He leapt to the side to avoid Seijuro Meow slash aimed at his thigh, then swung his fist to deflect the blade Sherwin stabbed down at him from above.
Noticing that Klee Meow in the distance was about to throw another bomb, Garp didn't hesitate. Midair, he launched a punch straight at the little plush cat.
Just like with Chinjao before, Garp instantly identified Klee Meow as the one who needed to be dealt with first.
However, considering the cat cute appearance, he held back a lot with this punch—only using a Finger Pistol technique, and not even coating it with Haki.
Then he saw that the little red-dressed cat in the distance had turned into a ball of flame, easily dodging his punch.
"A Logia-type Devil Fruit?!"
Garp suddenly realized—today "surprises" were piling up a little too fast...
While he was momentarily stunned, Sherwin and Seijuro Meow had already swung their longswords at him once more.
Flying Cat Sword Style: Secret Technique — Soaring Cat Flash ×2!
"Hah!"
Just as the blades of the man and the cat were about to strike Garp, he suddenly swung both fists.
Though rushed, he still managed to strike the sides of Sherwin and Seijuro Meow blades, deflecting their first slash.
Tch!
So how the hell did Shiryu manage to sneak up on Garp later anyway?! Could the Clear-Clear Fruit, after awakening, also erase presence?!
While Sherwin grumbled internally, he and Seijuro Meow launched the second slash of their Soaring Cat Flash at Garp.
Armament Haki: Iron Body!
Garp hadn't expected that Sherwin and Seijuro Meow Iai slash would turn into a combo attack. With no time left to dodge, he had no choice but to take it head-on.
Even with a significant gap in Armament Haki mastery, Sherwin and Seijuro Meow, relying on the sharpness of their weapons, still managed to slice through Garp skin.
They just couldn't inflict any deeper damage beyond that.
But even so, it was enough to make the onlooking Luffy and the others' eyes nearly pop out of their sockets…
"Grandpa (Garp) actually got hurt!!!"
"You two little rascals! That was damn impressive!"
Garp, half furious and half amused, roared as he reached to grab the two blades—one large and one small—still stuck on him.
Sherwin and Seijuro Meow quickly withdrew their swords and jumped back.
At the same time, a ball of fire floated above the three (cat included), transforming back into Klee Meow midair.
The little plush Felyne was now holding a bomb nearly twice her own size high above her head.
"Explosive Escape: Boom-Boom Bomb Meow!"
Klee Meow seemed completely unaware that Sherwin and Seijuro Meow were still standing right next to Garp. She simply hurled the bomb downward without hesitation.
Sherwin and Seijuro Meow, on the other hand, acted as if they didn't see the incoming bomb at all.
Not only did they avoid retreating, they instead charged forward once again, continuing their assault on Garp and holding him in place.
Monster Hunter Style: Demon Dance!
Flying Cat Sword Style: Cat Claw Flash!
"Good one!"
Garp clearly hadn't expected Sherwin and Seijuro Meow to choose to "go down together" with him.
But seeing the two little punks neither dodge nor retreat, Garp couldn't bring himself to lose face by being the first to back off.
So, he remained standing, coating his entire body in even stronger Armament Haki, and activated a more advanced form of Iron Body, ready to take both the blades and the explosion head-on.
However, the force behind Sherwin and Seijuro Meow slashes turned out to be pitifully weak. Just as Garp was puzzled, Klee Meow Boom-Boom Bomb arrived...
"BOOM—!"
Of course, Sherwin and Seijuro Meow didn't actually intend to perish with Garp. They trusted Klee Meow precise control over her bombs.
Sure enough, at the very instant the Boom-Boom Bomb exploded, Sherwin and Seijuro Meow were pushed out of the blast radius by a wave of hot air.
Although they still got singed a bit, compared to Garp, who took the full brunt of the explosion, their injuries were negligible. Not to mention—Boom-Boom Bombs come with a secondary explosion mechanic.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM——!!!"
And as Sherwin and Seijuro Meow were "pushed" out, they each sent a Crescent Moon Slash flying at Garp for good measure.
"Fire is Klee most—mmm... second... third favorite toy, meow! Fire Release: Rathian and Rathalos Blaze Technique, meow!"
Landing next to Sherwin, Klee Meow raised her tiny paws and conjured a pair of fire dragons in the air—one male, one female, both made of flame.
With a downward swing of her paw, the two fiery dragons roared and slammed straight into the heart of the explosion where Garp stood.
Hmm, her number one favorite is bombs. Second is Sherwin ears. Fire comes third. Totally normal. No cat madness here!
Sherwin and Seijuro Meow followed up on Klee Meow attack, relentlessly swinging their longswords and unleashing slash after soaring slash toward Garp.
After gaining experience from the previous fight with Chinjao, Klee Meow and Sherwin had become much more coordinated.
Sherwin already possessed inherited memories related to combat—he just needed to adapt to the current pirate-world circumstances.
As for Seijuro Meow, he had genuine, extensive experience cooperating with Hunters. So this time, their team battle was going far better than when they had fought Chinjao before...
As expected, it was all that little idiot Sanji Meow fault!
"So—so strong! These people!" Luffy stared wide-eyed at the intense battle in the distance, tugging on Ace arm and shouting worriedly,
"Grandpa not gonna get killed by them, right?"
"Don't worry," came the response from Sanji Meow, who hadn't joined the fight and had even been secretly dissed by Sherwin.
"Since your grandpa could beat old man Chinjao, he can definitely handle attacks of this level, meow."
Then the little yellow cat glanced at the two of them with a puzzled look and stabbed at their pride:
"You both have such powerful grandpas, so why meow are you two so weak? You don't even know how to use Haki, meow."
As defeated opponents of Sanji Meow, Luffy and Ace really wanted to argue back, but they didn't have a leg to stand on.
All they could do was swallow their frustration and silently vow to increase their training.
At the same time, they noticed a new term mentioned by Sanji Meow...
"Haki? What that? Is that why you guys are so strong?" Ace asked anxiously.
"Meow? Your grandpa didn't mention it to you, meow?" Sanji Meow tilted his head in confusion, but still explained,
"You could say that. But to be more precise, once you get strong enough, you naturally awaken Haki, meow..."
Unlike Sherwin, the little cat didn't overthink things. Without hesitation, he gave a simple explanation of the three types of Haki to the two of them.
Then, pointing at Ace, he said, "Speaking of which, didn't you already use Conqueror Haki earlier, meow? But according to old man Chinjao, you're probably just at the beginner stage of awakening right now, meow."
"So it because of this thing called Haki that you guys were able to hurt me?" Luffy shouted in his usual loud voice, "It decided! I'm gonna learn Haki too!"
Ace, on the other hand, fell into deep thought. He remembered that when he was around ten years old, he had shown signs of possessing Conqueror Haki.
Unfortunately, he had no idea what that power was back then, so he'd never trained it.
While Sanji Meow was explaining the concept of Haki to Ace and Luffy, the saturation-style assault from Sherwin and the cats finally came to an end. Amid the swirling smoke and dust, Garp figure gradually came into view.
"Not bad at all... you little brats!"
At this point, Garp Marine uniform was already in tatters. He simply grabbed what remained of it and tore it off, revealing a muscular upper body that didn't look old in the slightest.
"Tch… just a few surface wounds, huh?"
Sherwin had already known that their attacks wouldn't pose any real threat to Garp.
But seeing that Garp only had two thin slash marks left by Sky-Dashing Cat blade, and no other injuries, still left Sherwin a little discouraged…
So how the hell did you get taken out by Shiryu and lose your waist like that?!
And Garp—who had just been bombarded nonstop—wasn't exactly in a good mood either.
Originally, in Garp plan, he was supposed to easily suppress Sherwin and his cats, bask in a wave of admiring gazes, and maybe—just maybe—even convince Sherwin and his two grandsons to change their minds and get successfully roped into the Marines.
What Garp hadn't expected was that Sherwin combat ability far exceeded his expectations. And that seemingly cute, youngest-looking little cat turned out to be a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
Even the other little black cat was significantly stronger than the previous little yellow one.
As a result, our dear Vice Admiral had been caught completely off guard.
Sure, he wasn't really injured, but he looked downright ragged! And now, how was he supposed to show off his grandfatherly authority in front of his two grandsons?
Not that he ever really had much of that to begin with… but Garp himself wouldn't admit that.
So, in a very foul mood, Garp decided to start hitting a bit harder...
" Impact!"