Chapter 124: Defeating Monsters and Leveling Up

Crocodile, acting as a final boss, surprisingly chose to take the protagonist's life personally right from the start. This unconventional approach forced Garen to seek out minor minions to farm for experience instead. These "minions" were no fools; though they could not understand Garen’s words, they could clearly see the gleaming sword in his hand.

Mr. 2 Bon Kurei assumed his Okama Kenpo stance, Mr. 3 Galdino manifested writhing chunks of wax from his hands, Mr. 4 hoisted his four-ton baseball bat, and Mr. 5...

Mr. 5, a user of the Pop-Pop Fruit, could turn any part of his body into a high-explosive grenade, so he... reached a finger into his nostril and extracted a fresh booger.

"You absolute piece of filth!"

Seeing the unconventional weapon brandished by the explosive-user, Garen immediately lost his composure. He had no desire to be hit by such a "weapon," so, abandoning his original plan to trade a few more words, he launched a fierce offensive against his enemies.

Because Garen refused to engage in close combat with such unsanitary foes, he bypassed his preferred melee style and instead raised his hand to demonstrate the fruits of his recent training in Mihawk’s flying slash techniques:

"Justice's Fury!"

Crimson, sacred flames erupted across Garen’s greatsword, and as he raised it high, the fire transformed into the shape of a brilliant, vertical torch.

"Strike!"

There was no flowery name for the move, only a simple, thunderous shout. The blade moved with such velocity that there was no time for anything more. Before the echo of his shout had even faded, the flaming greatsword had already carved a magnificent arc through the air. This arc, born from the wind pressure of the swing and fused with the sacred flames on the blade, carried the combined power of wind and fire.

Garen’s sword style lacked any gaudy flourishes; it was the most fundamental form of a flying slash. Yet, even such a plain and unadorned strike looks different in the hands of every warrior. The slashes Mihawk threw before Garen were by turns ethereal, sharp, and fierce—effortless and ever-changing. In contrast, the slashes from Garen’s Storm Sword were purely foundational, devoid of trickery, yet possessed a mountain-like, crushing weight. To an opponent as weak as Mr. 5, such a strike felt like Mount Tai collapsing upon them, impossible to resist.

"Why me first?"

Mr. 5 had only enough time for this fleeting thought before his entire field of vision was engulfed by the dazzling crimson of the flaming sword aura. The searing flames and sharp energy cut through Mr. 5 like a hot knife through butter, eventually carving a wide, blade-shaped hole through the wooden cabin.

His companions heard only a strange, sizzling sound akin to roasting meat, followed by the sight of Mr. 5’s mangled remains, sliced from head to toe. On the smooth, cauterized cross-section, crimson flames clung like parasites, devouring his residual flesh and blood, burning organic matter into glaring black charcoal. Though there was no scarlet blood, the sight of high-temperature flames consuming flesh was far more terrifying than any gore.

The remaining high-ranking agents exchanged glances, but they all reached the same conclusion: "Run!"

"How are we supposed to run?"

"We're out at sea!"

Miss Merry Christmas, who had complained about this earlier to no avail, erupted in panic, her negative emotions spiraling: "You didn't listen to me before, and now we're all done for!"

However, no one had the heart to deal with the irritable old woman, as Garen’s second wave of attacks struck like a violent storm.

"Candle Wall!"

Mr. 3 recovered from the shock of his comrade's death, quickly condensing the wax he had been preparing into a solid, one-meter-thick wall, partitioning the narrow cabin in two. But before the agents could catch their breath, the newly formed wax wall appeared to suffer under intense heat, visibly melting and deforming.

"His sword is on fire!"

Mr. 3 turned deathly pale, his gaunt face drained of all color like a terminal patient. "My Wax-Wax Fruit can't stop him!"

He hardly needed to say it: everyone saw a flaming greatsword pierce through the melting, deformed wall. The heat from the sword reduced the wax barrier to a puddle of drooping sludge, which then collapsed with a roar, revealing Garen’s murderous face behind it.

Death loomed once more, causing even these battle-hardened high-ranking agents to tremble. Suddenly, an even brighter golden light flared upon Garen’s flaming greatsword. His massive frame exploded with speed beyond human limits, transforming into a series of blurred afterimages. Only the strongest among them, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, could barely react, though he could only leap aside to save himself.

Garen moved like a tiger into a flock of sheep, cleaving his sword toward Mr. 3, who stood at the front. Mr. 3’s frame was frail, and his prized Wax-Wax Fruit offered zero defense against Garen’s flaming blade. The sword struck him as easily as a slipper swatting a mosquito, felling him in an instant. The splattered blood mingled with the melting wax, encasing the artist-assassin—who loved creating human wax statues—into a grotesque, terrifying statue of his own.

All of this occurred right before the eyes of the stunned high-ranking agents. Moments ago, they had huddled around Mr. 3 for safety; now, they were sheep awaiting slaughter beside the Grim Reaper. Those further away turned to flee, while those nearby could only stand pale, smelling the bizarre scent of blood burning in the flames, as Garen withdrew his flaming sword from Mr. 3 and pointed it at them.

The absolute disparity in strength turned the battle into a slaughter. Garen surveyed his remaining prey and raised his hand to use a skill he usually reserved for fodder:

"Judgment!"

With the added fire effects from "Justice's Fury," the lethality and range of Garen’s Judgment increased exponentially. As Garen’s greatsword spun at high velocity, the nearest enemies were instantly swallowed by the lethal tornado, shredded by the blades, gale-force winds, and flames. The towering fire tornado ignited the entire cabin; the storm ripped off the roof, consumed the deck, and surged toward the vast sky above.

When Garen ceased his rotation, the small boat had been dismantled from the inside out, leaving only the keel. The hull and deck had been thoroughly consumed by the fire and storm.

As for the high-ranking agents who had faced the attack head-on, the situation was gruesome: Mr. 4’s massive body became the blade’s favorite target. Miss Merry Christmas, unable to escape, was engulfed by flames and perished under Garen’s sword with a dying wail. Mr. 2 Bon Kurei’s agile frame offered little protection against such a wide-area attack; the heavy makeup on his face and the flamboyant swan decorations on his outfit were scorched black, and his arms, which he had used to block, were covered in fine cuts from the tornado.

Even Robin, who was nominally on Garen’s side, had to rely on her Devil Fruit ability to weave a net of arms across the ship's exterior to serve as a shelter, barely preserving her life against the indiscriminate assault. Even so, her forehead was beaded with cold sweat, and her skin was flushed red from the heat radiating through the ship’s hull.

Only two people remained unscathed... Miss Valentine, the user of the Kilo-Kilo Fruit who had been busy fleeing from the start, and the young painter Miss Goldenweek, who had seen the situation turning sour and clung tightly to her.

Upon seeing her partner Mr. 5 sliced in two, Miss Valentine had lost all will to fight, taking advantage of the chaos to slip through a hole Garen had carved in the hull. Her Kilo-Kilo Fruit allowed her to change her weight from one kilogram to ten thousand kilograms without altering her volume. It was said that when she kept her weight extremely light, she could utilize the same principle as an airship, allowing her body—with a density far lower than air—to float into the sky.

In truth, a simple calculation reveals the flaw: for an adult with a volume of about 0.05 cubic meters, even if her mass dropped to 1kg, the density of her body would still be far greater than that of air (which is only 1.29kg per cubic meter). Thus, besides controlling her weight, the Kilo-Kilo Fruit clearly possessed the additional ability of "if I say I can fly, I can fly."

However, Miss Valentine did not soar away as planned, because a desperate companion, Miss Goldenweek, had grabbed onto her like a lifeline just as she was about to take off. Miss Goldenweek appeared to be a young schoolgirl, incredibly thin and naturally light. Yet, no matter how light she was, she proved a massive burden to Miss Valentine, who was desperate to escape. With a child weighing tens of kilograms clinging to her, Miss Valentine’s ascent stalled, nearly hovering in place.

"You idiot!"

Miss Valentine’s pretty face twisted into a demonic mask, and a furious roar erupted from her throat: "If you want to die, go die alone!"

"Get off! Get off me!"

She did not hesitate to raise her leg and kick down viciously at Miss Goldenweek, who was hugging her other leg. Her heel landed mercilessly on the young girl’s small head; even the usually emotionless Miss Goldenweek could not help but show a look of pain. Miss Valentine felt no sympathy for her comrade, launching even crueler attacks against the girl who hindered her escape. Unable to endure the pain, Miss Goldenweek was forced to let go, falling heavily into the sea.

"Hahaha!"

Feeling herself rising rapidly and watching the sea surface grow smaller beneath her, Miss Valentine, liberated from her terror, laughed manically: "I escaped! I escaped!"

Garen had witnessed the entire scene, and the initial favorable impression he had of Miss Valentine due to her beauty vanished entirely. He took a moment to adapt to his powerful, level-nine physique and his newly acquired skills, then looked up at Miss Valentine, who was floating a hundred meters in the air, now nothing more than a tiny dot in his vision.

"It seems," he said, "you aren't going to get away."