The silver moon sank beneath the sea, and the golden sun rose once more.
After returning to the warship last night, Tsuru had immediately ordered her subordinates to set sail for Marineford.
By dawn, the great warship was already cutting through the final stretch of waves, its sails full and its deck glinting with morning dew.
Wooo wooo wooo!
A sudden blaring siren broke the calm.
Ezra, who had been meditating in his quarters, threw on his uniform in one swift motion and hurried to the deck.
"What's going on, Tsuru?" he asked, his tone calm but his eyes sharp.
Tsuru pointed toward the distant sea, her expression grim. "Pirates. And not just any pirates they actually dared to show up this close to Marineford!"
She squinted, her sharp eyes catching sight of the enemy's flag. "Judging from the symbol... it's the Ironfist Pirates!"
Ezra raised an eyebrow. "Ironfist Pirates? Never heard of them."
Tsuru took a deep breath and quickly explained, "The Ironfist Pirates, led by Mira Wolf also known as 'Ironfist Wolf.' His bounty is one hundred million Berries!"
Ezra gave a low whistle, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Oh? A hundred million? That's a real big shot."
He wasn't exaggerating. This was still the early era of piracy long before the seas were overrun with monsters and legends.
A pirate with a bounty of one hundred million was a true terror of the seas.
Tsuru frowned deeply. "That man has burned, pillaged, and slaughtered countless innocents. He's a ruthless brute pure evil!"
Ezra nodded slightly. "Sounds like a good warm-up. I'll handle it."
"Wait, Ezra don't be reckless huh?!"
Before Tsuru could finish, Ezra had already vanished from the deck in a blur of motion, disappearing into the air with a single flash step.
On the Ironfist Pirates' ship, chaos reigned.
A towering man over three meters tall stood at the bow, his bulging muscles glistening beneath the sun. His face was savage and beastlike, and his breath came in low, thunderous growls.
Mira Wolf threw his telescope aside and roared, "Listen up, boys! We've got Marines dead ahead!"
"Charge! Kill them all!"
His crew erupted in a frenzy of bloodlust.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"No one stands in the way of Ironfist Wolf!"
Their shouts shook the sea until a calm, almost lazy voice drifted down from above.
"My, my... such murderous energy this early in the morning."
The pirates froze. Their eyes darted upward
and there he was.
A man floating in midair, black-striped suit immaculate, the white cloak of justice fluttering behind him.
"A Navy officer... and he came alone?" Mira Wolf snarled, his grin widening. "Heh, you've got guts, boy. Too bad you're throwing your life away!"
With a roar, he stomped down, the deck cracking beneath his monstrous strength as his enormous frame launched skyward.
"Ironfist Mountain Crusher!"
Both his arms swelled grotesquely, doubling in size, veins bulging like coiled ropes.
"Die, Marine!"
From the warship in the distance, Tsuru's voice rang out in panic. "Ezra! Watch out!"
But Ezra didn't even flinch. He yawned softly, his crimson eyes half-lidded.
"You want to compare fists with me?"
He smirked. "Fine. I'll humor you."
"One Bone!"
BOOM!
His right fist moved faster than the human eye could follow.
A single strike.
The next instant, Mira Wolf's gigantic body shot backward like a fired cannonball, smashing through his own ship.
The explosion of impact shattered the entire pirate vessel into splinters. The shockwave rolled across the sea, capsizing smaller boats in the distance.
When the spray and smoke cleared, nothing remained no ship, no crew, no trace of the infamous Ironfist Pirates.
A hundred-million-Berry pirate... erased in one punch.
From the deck of the Marine warship, Tsuru stood frozen, her mouth slightly open.
"Ezra... he's..."
She swallowed hard, struggling to find words. "He's... a monster."
And indeed, at that moment, there was no better word to describe him.
Back aboard the warship, Ezra stretched lazily and dusted off his sleeves.
"Job done. Cleanup complete."
He was about to turn away when his sharp eyes caught movement on the horizon.
A familiar ship slowly emerged from the sea mist a massive warship with a dog-shaped figurehead.
Ezra's lips curved slightly.
"Huh. That ship... Vice Admiral Garp's, isn't it?"
Tsuru's eyes widened in surprise. "You're right! That's Garp's flagship!"
The dog-headed warship approached rapidly, closing the distance in minutes.
Ezra sighed, rubbing his temple. "Guess he saw the whole thing. Figures."
He was right.
On Garp's ship, the seasoned Vice Admiral was laughing heartily, a bag of senbei crackers in hand.
His aide, Bogard, stood beside him with a helpless expression. "Vice Admiral Garp, I thought you said you weren't interested in meeting the new generation of Marines."
Garp popped a cracker into his mouth and grinned. "Aha-ha-ha! I wasn't! But I didn't think the brat would be that strong!"
Even from afar, he'd seen enough.
That punch just now it wasn't mere power. It was something more. Something raw, refined, and terrifyingly precise.
Even Garp himself would've thought twice before taking that blow head-on.
Moments later, the two warships met side by side.
Tsuru led Ezra across the deck to greet the legendary Marine hero.
"Vice Admiral Garp," she said politely, bowing slightly. "It's been a while. How have you been?"
Garp let out a booming laugh. "Tsuru! Still sharp as ever, I see! Don't worry about me this old body's as tough as ever!"
He flexed his massive biceps with a grin, the sunlight gleaming off his arm.
Ezra's eye twitched slightly. So this is the so-called Hero of the Marines... what a clown.
Garp turned to face him, sizing him up from head to toe.
"So you're that new hotshot, huh? The youngest Rear Admiral in Marine history... what was it again? Ezra D... something?"
Ezra's smile didn't falter. "Ezra D. Vale."
Garp blinked, then smirked. "Right, right! Ezra D. Vale! You've got a good punch on you, kid. I could feel the shockwave from miles away!"
Ezra tilted his head. "Thanks. I try to keep my workouts interesting."
Tsuru sighed quietly beside him, already dreading the chaos that was sure to follow once these two powerhouses started talking.
And so began the first meeting between the calm, crimson-eyed prodigy...
and the legend known as the Hero of the Marines.
The sea breeze carried their laughter across the waves
a clash of generations, soon to shake the world.