Chapter 32: The Fruit of the Knight

"What profound swordsmanship!"
Standing beside Wallace, Miss Dusty, a Navy sergeant, watched the duel with an expression even more vivid than Wallace’s, whose mind was still reeling from the news.
Her brows were furrowed in deep contemplation, her bright eyes ablaze with passionate longing, and her hand gripping the hilt was filled with a surging will to fight.
All her attention was focused entirely on the great sword knight in the arena.
She murmured to herself,
"I never expected that such mysterious and unfathomable swordsmanship truly exists in this world."
"Why do you say that?"
Wallace quickly recovered from his shock and, true to his reporter’s instinct, began to interview the young female swordsman beside him, who seemed to grasp something he could not.
Dusty habitually pushed up her square-framed glasses, her lovely face subtly displaying a serious and wise expression.
Wallace sensed something was amiss; he felt he’d seen that same intelligent look somewhere before.
"When he dueled with Colonel Smoker earlier, I carefully observed his swordsmanship,"
Dusty said, gazing at Garen who stood proudly with his sword on the field,
"Every strike appeared crude—merely simple slashes and thrusts, with no apparent technique."
"And physically, he’s probably not as strong as Colonel Smoker."
As she spoke, the longing and admiration in Dusty’s eyes grew stronger,
"But!"
"Neither Colonel Smoker nor Vice Admiral Garp could evade that man's sword strikes!"
"So?"
Wallace played along, prompting her further.
"This isn't swordsmanship..."
Dusty, in a tone of awe, offered her professional judgment on Garen: "It’s the way of the sword."
"Not only does every strike land unfailingly, but..."
"Each sword blow is delivered with exactly the same force!"
This was only natural. Though Garen could freely control the strength of his attacks, his digitized body was limited to a fixed output peak;
He could not suddenly go beyond his limits like an ordinary human. Every strike at full power would always inflict identical damage.
Such a ‘way of the sword’—something virtually impossible for normal humans—clearly shocked Dusty, the swordsmanship enthusiast:
"Returning to simplicity, wielding weight as if it were light; beneath the unadorned sword technique lies a power that ordinary sword masters may never comprehend in a lifetime..."
Dusty’s heart stirred as she continued her explanation:
"This resembles a legendary realm of swordsmanship."
"What kind of swordsmanship?"
Wallace, an outsider, was completely lost, yet sensed its greatness.
"Forsaking all unnecessary embellishments, practicing no flashy or powerless techniques, returning to the primal instinct of the sword."
"Beginning and ending with one, without any forked paths, a straight road to the heavens."
"This is the legendary..."
Dusty solemnly recited a conceptual realm of the sword: "The One Way of the Sword."
"The One Way of the Sword??"
Wallace chewed over this mysterious term, then diligently recorded every word of Dusty’s assessment in his notebook.
After some thought, Wallace decided to add an awe-inspiring new title to his article about Garen—
The One-Way Swordmaster.
Meanwhile, having finished her explanation, Dusty gazed at Garen with longing and murmured,
"Such a profound realm—I wonder when I might reach it myself."

As she spoke, Dusty’s eyes faintly gleamed with excitement.
Miss Nami, who had patiently listened to the entire theory, stood stiffly off to the side, thinking to herself that there was yet another person whose brain water content needed measuring.
.................................................
Dusty and Wallace had so much leisure to discuss Garen’s swordsmanship because the two duelists had only exchanged a single round before entering a tacit ceasefire.
Garen, naturally, dared not act rashly.
After Garp had gotten serious, his terrifying martial arts made Garen feel as though he might be fighting against God.
The Navy’s ‘Soru’ technique, in Garp’s hands, had reached its absolute peak—
He was as intangible as a phantom, as swift as lightning, exuding overwhelming presence.
Garen was completely awed by this aura.
He felt like a mere mortal finally gazing upwards at the boundless heavens, unable to help but utter a heartfelt admiration:
"Damn, he’s fast!"
Garp was likewise caught off guard by what had happened.
When he used ‘Soru,’ he thought he could easily avoid Garen’s strange sword strike;
Yet, as Garp’s form moved like thunder, the approaching blade suddenly accelerated to a terrifying pace, striking him squarely before he could evade.
Though the blow barely hurt him, the uncanny precision left Garp deeply shocked.
What surprised Garp even more was...
He had already noticed that Garen possessed some special ability to temporarily suppress Devil Fruit powers, but he had never expected—
The instant he was struck, his Observation Haki simply vanished.
The hard-earned and instinctual Observation Haki, etched into Garp’s body, fell silent in a moment, as if a sharp-sighted man had suddenly gone blind.
He tried to use Armament Haki, but found his once-responsive power was completely inert.
Fortunately, this bizarre negative effect didn’t last long, and Garp soon regained control of his Haki.
Still, this strange phenomenon plunged Garp into deep thought:
He had seen many things that suppressed Devil Fruit abilities—seastone, Haki, both could do so.
But a power that could even suppress Haki, if only for a short time...
What on earth was this?
In all his years sailing the seas, Garp had never heard of such an odd ability.
After pondering for a moment, he suddenly acted—
A gust of wind swept over the ground, and Garp instantly appeared before the ever-guarded Garen.
Garen’s look of surprise had yet to fully emerge when he felt his hand suddenly empty—
When he regained his senses, Garp was several meters away, carefully examining his greatsword.
"It’s not seastone..."
Garp scrutinized the ornate sword over and over:
"The materials and craftsmanship are extraordinary, but nothing seems particularly unusual."
Unable to contain himself, Garp finally looked up and directly questioned Garen:
"Sealing Haki as well... how do you do it?"
"Huh?"
Garen himself hadn’t expected the silence effect to suppress Haki...
"How do I do it..."
He hesitated, then, with perfect seriousness, began to bluff: "Actually..."
Everyone’s ears perked up.
"I am a Paramecia-type ‘Knight Fruit’ user."

Garen spoke with a grave tone.
"Eh?"
Everyone was stunned by the odd name of this fruit.
"Impossible!"
A Navy soldier couldn’t help but protest:
"I saw you fall into the sea through the telescope, and you were fine!"
"How could you be a Devil Fruit user?!"
"That’s because..."
Garen, summoning his righteous partner mode, put on a devout and solemn paladin’s face:
"The power of the Devil Fruit comes from demons."
"But my Knight Fruit can overcome the temptation of the devil, its power arises from my inner justice."
"The sea, naturally, does not reject my radiance!"
As he spoke, Garen’s gleaming armor seemed to shine even brighter.
"Overcoming the devil’s temptation? Power from ‘justice’?"
Garp mulled over this impressive-sounding explanation, recalling the earlier sword-blade that somehow radiated ‘justice.’
He thought for a moment, then supplied the missing logic for Garen’s impromptu story:
"So your sword can suppress the power of Devil Fruits?"
"But..."
Garp pressed curiously, "Why does it even suppress Haki...?"
"Because I am a knight who pursues justice!"
Garen’s face glowed with righteousness, and he pointed to his passionately beating chest,
"The sword of justice can sweep away all monsters and demons!"
"I see..."
Garp nodded seriously, actually accepting Garen’s utterly nonsensical explanation.
He had no other choice.
For such an unprecedented ability, there was no explanation better than ‘Devil Fruit.’
"Suppresses Devil Fruit and Haki, immune to seawater, clones and stealth, strange swordsmanship..."
Garp asked, with great interest:
"Kid, does your ‘Knight Fruit’ have any other interesting powers?"
"Uh..."
Garen pondered for a moment, then looked oddly at Garp, who was still clutching his greatsword:
"There is one more..."
"But you’d better hold on tight to that sword..."
"Oh?"
Garp, confused, instinctively tightened his grip on the greatsword.
He was confident: Even if Sengoku and the three admirals rushed him together, they wouldn’t be able to snatch it from his hands right now.
"This move is called..."
Garen flexed his fingers and, following the ‘Knight Fruit’ motif, casually invented a name:
"Knights Never Die Empty-Handed!"