One Piece: Starting with God Valley, intercepting the Dark-Dark Fruit

"I lost."

Giger raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Gion to admit defeat so easily, and he felt like he'd punched a cotton ball.

Given his current temper, if Gion were to utter another defiant word, his next strike would immediately render her unconscious, and she wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for at least ten days to two weeks.

To avoid falling into that violent state again, Giger spent six years cultivating his character in the Kingdom of Solbe, and his temperament has become extremely resilient, making it difficult for anything to break his defenses.

But when he saw Ginny injured, he almost lost control of himself and nearly lost his temper.

Only then did he truly realize how important Ginny was to him.

Unbeknownst to him, the girl who was always by his side had become an inseparable part of his life, and he would not allow anyone to hurt Ginny.

Thinking of this, thick black energy once again emanated from Giger's hands, and Gion's ponytail, which had been tied up, spread out and drifted towards Giger.

Her black high heels dug deep into the mud, and after regaining her balance, she murmured,

"Still not willing to stop? Looks like that girl isn't just in love for him. Why am I suddenly a little envious of her..."

Giger raised his dark right hand expressionlessly, aiming at Gion, about to unleash his power, when a figure draped in a navy cloak flashed by and clashed palms with Giger.

"Calm down, Giger!"

The newcomer was tall and slender, with long, dark blue hair tied in a ponytail like Gion's. She had a very capable demeanor, but her face looked slightly aged.

She was Lieutenant General Tsuru of the headquarters, and it was thanks to the flying squirrel's "message" that she was able to arrive in time.

Of course, as a mere trainee, the flying squirrel didn't have the ability to call Tsuru directly; he called Zephyr first.

To Squirrel's surprise, Zephyr was still on the warship returning to headquarters. However, he didn't have time to ask about that and directly told him about what happened in Gion.

"Teacher Zephyr, please come back quickly! No one here can stop Gigg!"

Without saying a word, Zephyr immediately informed Tsuru at headquarters. Tsuru was startled and immediately dropped everything and rushed to the naval academy.

As soon as she arrived, she saw Giger reaching out to Gion, and he was already using his abilities.

Tsuru had long heard of the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit. According to the news Zeff brought back, the pirates who died at the hands of Giggs on this voyage could not even be found, which was cleaner than Akainu's method!

Although she knew that Giger was unlikely to kill her, she dared not gamble.

This wasn't a simple palm strike; it contained the power of the Wash-Wash Fruit, and she wanted to "wash away" Gigg's anger.

Kozuru was clearly too hasty. She forgot that this kind of Devil Fruit ability, which requires close combat, would be completely useless against Gigg, who is the user of the Dark-Dark Fruit!

By the time He realized this, it was too late. The black energy on Jig's hand not only did not dissipate but became even more violent. At such close range, her hand was already firmly stuck to Jig's hand, making it difficult for her to break free.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru, this Gion-san wants to see my strength, so you don't need to get involved, do you?"

“Gion has already admitted defeat. I will give you an explanation after I have found out the truth.”

Upon hearing He's words, the trainees on the field were immediately taken aback.

Good heavens, that's Lieutenant General Tsuru! She actually said she had to give Giger an explanation? Is there something wrong with my ears?

Tsuru's eyes flashed, and Armament Haki instantly covered her entire arm, unleashing a powerful thrust that forced Giger back.

She is, after all, a member of the older generation of Marines. Even without her Devil Fruit powers, her Armament Haki alone is something that ordinary Marine Vice Admirals cannot easily counter.

After freeing herself from Jig's grasp, Tsuru casually pulled Gion around her waist, carefully checked her injuries, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief after confirming that she was alright. She couldn't help but chide her playfully.

"Gion, you really are something, causing me such a mess as soon as you arrived. Didn't you always say you didn't like staying at headquarters?"

In front of Tsuru, Gion was like a little girl who had done something wrong; she lowered her head and murmured,

"I've been hearing Sister He talk about how amazing this year's students are, and there's even a genius named Gige, so I couldn't resist my curiosity and decided to come and see for myself..."

Chapter 36 Ginny is so beautiful

He paused for a moment after hearing this, then sighed helplessly. So it was her fault after all.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. The younger sister I adopted is indeed outstanding in terms of talent. Among her peers, not to mention girls, there are few boys who can beat her. Only Jiaji can be her opponent.

However, that guy couldn't satisfy Gion at all in battle. Given his obsession with Gion, he would go weak before it even started. No wonder Gion never liked him. His countless failed confessions weren't just because of his looks.

Gion, who is naturally competitive, inevitably gets bored after staying in her comfort zone for too long. So when she heard that a group of students with "no less" strength had appeared in the headquarters, she couldn't help but come here.

Then they ran into Gig, the strongest of this generation, who had just returned from a mission and shattered Gion's pride...

Thinking of this, He rubbed his throbbing forehead, his tone softening.

"Then what's going on between you and Ginny? It was just a match, how did it escalate to this level?"

"Hmm...it must have been something I said earlier that provoked her. She has a strong personality, and she actually grabbed my knife with her bare hand..."

Gion paused slightly at this point, then continued,

"I was careless too, and she hit me once, so I hit her a bit harder. Thank goodness Giger arrived in time, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, things will go terribly wrong!"

Tsuru pinched Gion's little mouth, feeling relieved but also thinking that if she were the one who was seriously injured, Garp and Sengoku would probably lose their minds just like Giggs.

After being knocked back by Tsuru's Armament Haki, Giger retreated directly to Ginny's side, swaying slightly. Ginny quickly supported him from behind, anxiously saying...

"Brother Jige, are you alright? That's enough. I only hurt my hand a little, it's nothing!"

Giger patted Ginny's cold little hand and said softly,

"I'm fine, don't worry."

After saying that, he looked up at the cranes in the distance and said in a deep voice,

"I underestimated Tsuru. To have mastered Armament Haki to this extent, she truly deserves to be a contemporary of Sengoku and the others."

After several months of training and this sea battle, Giger has become very proficient in using Armament Haki, and his strength is not low, but he still can't release it as much as Tsuru did just now.

This was also the first time he had personally experienced the intensity of Armament Haki being released. Its power was indeed extraordinary, and Tsuru clearly hadn't used her full strength yet.

Tsuru is someone who fought alongside top-tier Marine forces like Garp and Sengoku against the Rocks Pirates, making her undoubtedly the strongest female Marine.

Moreover, Tsuru is not the old and frail woman she appeared in when she first appeared in the anime. She is in her prime, and Giger speculates that her strength is definitely close to that of an Admiral.

It's perfectly acceptable for Giger to suffer such a loss at Crane's hands. He still has a long way to go before reaching top-tier combat power, after all, he's only 16 years old.

"Ok?"

While thinking about something, Giger suddenly felt a stream of hot air blowing on his hands. He looked down and saw that Ginny was holding his hand, which had just been clapping with the crane's, and pouting as she blew on it.

Giger asked with a puzzled look,

"Ginny, what are you doing?"

Ginny answered while blowing air.

"Brother Jige, your hands are a bit red. You must have been shaken by Lieutenant General He's attack. Let me blow on them to help you relax!"

"Idiot, I'm not that fragile. Your hand is much redder than mine!"

Ginny chuckled and proudly raised her injured hand. She was in good health, and the wound had already scabbed over in no time.

Seeing Ginny's beaming smile, Giger's anger subsided considerably. He pinched Ginny's bouncy cheek and earnestly instructed her...

"Don't try to be strong when I'm not around. We'll talk about everything when I get back, okay?"

"Huh? Then Brother Jig, you can just stay by my side!"

"..."

Giger rubbed his forehead with one hand, about to lecture the "stubborn" Ginny, but when he saw Ginny's big, watery eyes, he swallowed back what he wanted to say.

In Lanxing's words, Ginny was an incurable love-struck girl. Giger even mocked this kind of girl back then, and even thought that such a girl could not possibly exist.

But when he actually encountered one, and the object of his infatuation was himself, he realized just how terrifyingly destructive this kind of girl could be.

At least he couldn't resist.

Gently stroking Ginny's soft, short pink hair, Giger didn't know what to say, and simply murmured, "Okay."

Ginny hugged Giger tightly around the waist, a bright and radiant smile spreading across her face.

Tsuru led Gion over like a parent. She quietly observed Giger and Ginny for a while. If Gion hadn't kept tickling her palm to urge her on, she probably would have waited until the two finished talking.

Tsuru glared at the mischievous Gion and then looked at Giger, saying...

“Gig, I understand what happened. It was indeed Gion who provoked us first, and she didn’t know her own strength. I apologize to you and Ginny on her behalf.”

After saying that, He actually lowered her head to Jig, which was truly rare for someone of her status and position.

Tsuru is such a gentle and reasonable person; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so cared for by Garp and Sengoku, two straight men.

Seeing Tsuru's actions, Gion felt guilty and bowed her head in apology as well. Ginny was immediately flattered and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, repeatedly saying...

"It's okay, it's okay. I was partly to blame too; I was too serious!"

Seeing the three of them act, Giger had nothing more to say, but he still ignored Gion and only spoke to Tsuru.

"Lieutenant General Tsuru, I was rude just now. You don't need to apologize. This has nothing to do with you."

Crane waved his hand, about to speak, when suddenly a series of "poof poof poof" sounds came from the air.

Everyone looked up at the sky and saw Zephyr rapidly approaching them using Moonwalk, with a flashing light trailing behind him.

Zefa shouted as he pedaled.

"Gig! You brat, stop right now! I knew I shouldn't have let you come back early... Borsalino, what are you dawdling for?!"