The Calm Belt. It was a stretch of ocean that had claimed the lives of countless brave men throughout history. It was a graveyard of ships, a place where the wind died and monsters ruled.
Today, however, this silent domain welcomed two special guests.
Two figures walked directly upon the surface of the ocean.
Walking behind was a burly, broad-chested man in a white suit. He moved with the heavy, confident stride of a wild ox.
Walking in front was a younger man. He was tall, thin, and had a mop of unruly curly hair.
He wore sunglasses and a determined expression.
Crack... Crack...
A continuous stream of freezing cold air erupted from the younger man's body.
With every step Kuzan took, the water beneath his boots froze instantly, creating a solid white bridge.
The pure white ice path formed a stark contrast with the deep, terrifying blue of the abyss on either side.
"Hah..." Garp took a deep breath, looking around. "When I was young, I once swam into the Calm Belt to train."
Garp marveled at the sights.
Because there was no wind, the clouds above didn't move.
They hung suspended like paintings. Naturally, without wind, no storms formed.
The sky was cloudless, and the sea resembled a colossal, deep blue mirror stretching to infinity.
It was beautiful, but it was the beauty of death.
"However," Garp grinned, cracking his knuckles with audible pops, "one thing remains the same no matter which sea you are in."
"There are plenty of big guys here."
Garp's Observation Haki had been active since the moment they stepped off the ship.
He could feel them. Just as Marine Headquarters had predicted, the waters beneath the ice were teeming with life.
On such a quiet sea surface, an unnatural white pathway had abruptly appeared.
Though formed from seawater, its temperature and color were distinctly different.
To the predators below, it was a dinner bell.
"Be careful, Kuzan," Garp warned lazily. "Just focus on creating the path. Leave the pest control to me."
"Yes, sir," Kuzan replied, focusing on his ice.
Suddenly, the mirror shattered.
"It's coming!"
Garp's expression shifted instantly. He moved with deceptive speed, stepping up to stand beside Kuzan.
Not far from them, the sea surface began to bulge. It looked as if an island was rising from the depths. The water swelled violently, displacing millions of gallons.
BOOM!
The ocean collapsed with a thunderous crash. A creature, easily several hundred meters long, breached the surface.
Just as described in ancient texts, the Sea Kings of the Calm Belt were gods compared to the fish in the normal seas.
This monster was covered in black-and-white stripes and armored with thick, fish-scale plates that looked harder than steel.
Two massive, bull-like horns adorned its head, while a pair of terrifyingly large yellow eyes occupied half its face.
"ROOOOAAAR!"
The moment it breached, the colossal Sea King roared at the tiny ants on the ice path.
The soundwave alone was enough to vibrate their bones.
SPLASH!
The displacement caused a massive wave to crash down on them.
Like pouring rain, seawater drenched Garp's head, soaking his suit instantly.
Poof.
As for Kuzan? He had already prepared an enormous umbrella made of ice.
He stood dry and comfortable underneath it, ensuring his stamina wouldn't be drained by the seawater.
"Hey!" Garp wiped the salty water from his face, looking annoyed. "You didn't make one for me?"
"You didn't ask, Garp-san," Kuzan said innocently.
The giant Sea King stared at them.
Any water approaching the ice path immediately froze solid from Kuzan's chilling aura, but the monster didn't seem to care about the cold.
"Conserve your energy, Kuzan," Garp advised without turning around, staring up at the beast.
Perhaps this was the first time in decades this Sea King had encountered humans crazy enough to walk in its domain.
It didn't attack immediately.
It tilted its massive head, observing them with curiosity.
"It's confused," Garp laughed. "Big mistake."
Garp raised his right hand.
VMMMM.
The air hummed. His fist turned pitch black, sheathed in dense, high-level Armament Haki.
"Kid," Garp said, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "Watch and learn carefully."
"This is an advanced application of Armament Haki. We call it External Projection."
Garp retracted his fist to his waist.
He aimed his knuckles directly at the Sea King, which was still hundreds of meters away.
"Fist Bone - Air Cannon!"
BOOM!
Garp punched the empty air.
The motion was so violently explosive that the friction actually ignited the oxygen.
Flames wreathed around his arm for a split second before Garp shook them off.
A shockwave, shaped like a fist but invisible to the naked eye, shot from Garp's hand. It tore through the atmosphere, creating a vacuum tunnel.
The Sea King blinked.
It saw the tiny human punch the air.
'Why is he punching nothing?'
Arrogant about its massive size and impenetrable armor, the Sea King didn't bother to dodge.
THUMP.
There was a soft, sickening sound.
Suddenly, the back of the Sea King's head exploded.
A gaping bloody hole, dozens of meters wide, appeared in its skull as if an invisible cannonball had passed straight through it.
The "impenetrable" scale armor shattered like an eggshell.
The Sea King froze mid-motion.
It massive body went limp, suspended for a second in the air before gravity took over.
Garp calmly blew on his smoking fist.
"See?" Garp grinned. "This is Haki projection. It hits the target without needing physical contact, and it destroys them from the inside out."
Garp looked at Kuzan seriously. "You need to accelerate your training, boy. Sakazuki has already mastered both Advanced Armament and Observation Haki. If you want to stand next to him as an Admiral one day, you can't lagging behind."
"I understand, Garp-san," Kuzan said, his eyes wide with awe.
Kuzan pumped himself up with determination. He had seen power before, but Garp's raw strength was in a league of its own.
SPLASH...
The forgotten Sea King finally began to sink.
It let out a deep, mournful gurgle as it plunged back into the abyss, leaving a massive pool of red blood on the surface.
"Garp-san," Kuzan asked as they resumed walking, "that move is incredible! I want to learn it."
Garp laughed heartily. "Bwahahaha! Wanting to learn is simple. I can teach you, but you'll have to work hard for it."
Garp's expression softened slightly as he remembered another student.
"You know," Garp said, "back at the military academy, Christian Raleigh always had better grades than you. The fact that he could master the Six Styles during school and apply them flawlessly in actual combat shows how much effort he put in behind the scenes."
"Raleigh is a genius," Kuzan admitted. "But once this mission is over, you must teach me properly."
Garp nodded.
With a Marine Hero like him around, it would be a shame if the next generation didn't improve.
As they walked further, leaving the bloodstained water behind, Garp decided to impart some wisdom about the New World.
"Listen, Kuzan," Garp said. "Armament Haki is a must-have in the New World. Devil Fruits are powerful, yes. Your ice is formidable. But they are not the only answer."
"Most top-tier fighters, even if they possess a Devil Fruit, won't neglect their Haki or physical skills."
Garp held up a finger. "Take Golden Lion Shiki, for example. His Float-Float Fruit ability is truly enviable. He can make entire islands float in the sky!"
"But," Garp emphasized, "that guy's swordsmanship is also at the level of a world-class master. He wields those blades, Oto and Kogarashi, with deadly precision."
"Similarly, Whitebeard. He has the strongest Paramecia fruit, the tremor power. But he also has monstrous physical strength and top-tier Haki."
Garp looked at the young Marine. "So, Kuzan, you still have a long way to go. Your ice is strong, but what happens when you meet someone you can't freeze? Only when you master all three aspects—Fruit, Haki, and Body—will you truly be ready for the world stage."
Garp watched the endless horizon.
He was reminded of how he had once taught someone else in this exact same way.
He had taught him about Haki, about justice, about strength.
But that person had learned everything and then quietly left the Marine without a word.
Now, even Garp couldn't find a trace of him.
"Those were truly nostalgic times..." Garp whispered, his eyes growing distant and sad.
Kuzan noticed the shift in mood but didn't dare to ask.
Regardless of Garp's internal melancholy, they were moving forward since the target island was getting closer.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Behind Garp and the others, where the dead Sea King's body had been, dozens of meters of water suddenly erupted from the sea.