Chapter 121: I Will Not Run Anymore

Thor had indeed been sent flying.

The impact upon landing was negligible, but taking a direct punch from Garp was what pained Thor the most. For a split second upon impact, he had nearly lost his breath. Fortunately, his Armament Haki was not weak, even if his physical constitution could not match Garp’s. Balancing the two, the punch was not enough to incapacitate him, but it had nonetheless dealt significant damage.

Covered in blood, Thor rolled out of the crater. Before the smoke and dust had even settled, he roared in the direction where Mord was.

"Run, now!"

He did not name names, but those who understood, understood.

Hearing Thor’s roar, Mord gritted his teeth and paused for a long moment, forcing himself to suppress his worry. He first pried an object from the bullet hole in front of him, then pulled the coughing Sabo to his feet and continued toward the side of the Wall Mountain.

"Cough... Morley, cough... and Tatamu..."

"The situation won't allow it."

Mord furrowed his brows deeply, cutting Sabo off.

Too weak. Far too weak...

Mord loathed this feeling of powerlessness, of being unable to do anything. But as long as they could escape this place, and if he were given a few more years...

"Sabo, trust in Morley..." Mord said with a solemn tone, adding silently to himself: and in Thor.

Sabo fell silent, continuing to cough. Against Gion, although he felt the strain, he still believed he had a chance to fight. But against Aokiji, even joining forces with Mord, they had been restrained in a single move. Had it not been for those two remarkably powerful shots that came to their rescue in time, they would have already been...

In the face of such overwhelming power, Sabo saw no opportunity at all. Naturally, he knew what had to be done right now.

Aokiji ignored the fleeing Mord and Sabo, his eyes fixed warily on Thor, who was still shrouded in dust. To Aokiji’s Observation Haki, the swirling dust was as if it didn't exist. Through the haze, he saw a gun barrel aimed directly at him.

"Ara ara." Aokiji’s lips curled slightly.

As a Logia-type fruit user, he leaned more heavily into developing Observation Haki. This allowed him to coordinate with the elemental nature of his fruit to evade various powerful Armament Haki attacks. Supported by his Observation Haki, as long as his elemental transformation speed could keep up, Aokiji could deal with his enemies calmly, no matter how strong their Armament Haki might be.

Only an enemy whose Observation Haki surpassed his own commanded respect. "Trick Gun" was exactly that type of enemy.

On the other side, Morley had once again broken free from Aokiji’s freezing ability. While Aokiji was guarding against Thor, Morley had seized the opening to use his powers to help Tatamu get free. Tatamu, stripped of the ice, collapsed to the ground, covered in frostbite and unconscious.

Aokiji had not held back at the time, but because Tatamu was a Zoan-type fruit user, he had barely managed to cling to life. Had it been Mord or Sabo, they would likely have been dead by the time they thawed out.

"Tatamu, wake up!" Seeing that Tatamu was unresponsive, Morley grew agitated and couldn't help but slap him across the face.

A dull thud echoed. The slap successfully left Tatamu in a deep coma.

In the distance, Gion, while keeping a wary eye on Thor, approached Wolf Rat. She knelt down to inspect his injuries. Seeing the gaping, bloodied hole, her expression turned grim. Fortunately, Wolf Rat had relied on his bestial instincts to dodge at the last second. Although he hadn't escaped completely, he had at least prevented the lead bullet from piercing his heart.

However, the injury was so severe that without immediate treatment, even a Zoan-type user would not be able to survive it.

"Where is Garp..." Wolf Rat’s condition made Gion anxious.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Garp arrived. Like Thor, he descended from the sky in a rapid drop.

BOOM!

He landed firmly, his feet slamming into the ground with such force that it shook the earth and left a crater. Once on the scene, Garp assessed the situation in an instant. Noticing Wolf Rat’s injuries, a vein pulsed on his forehead.

How many years had it been? "Trick Gun" was still the same "Trick Gun." When not fighting head-on, he never missed an opportunity to strike a painful blow to his enemies. From a sniper’s perspective, this was beyond reproach. But as the one being struck, Garp was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Can he be saved?" Garp stepped out of the dust and glanced toward where Gion was.

"Yes, but the injury is severe. He needs treatment immediately." Gion tore off her coat and ripped it into strips. Without worrying about hygiene, she wrapped the wounds on Wolf Rat tightly.

"Go." Garp said nothing more, striding toward Thor.

Gion understood, immediately picking up Wolf Rat and sprinting toward the port at top speed. With Garp and Aokiji on the field, she did not believe Mord and the others could escape. And with Wolf Rat’s condition requiring urgent care, every second counted.

Garp’s arrival not only allowed Gion to safely take Wolf Rat to the naval ship at the port for treatment but also freed Aokiji from Thor’s lock-on.

"Trick Gun, your opponent is over there." Aokiji gestured toward the approaching, imposing figure of Garp.

To buy Mord more time to escape, Thor ignored Garp’s arrival and pulled the trigger on Aokiji. A lead bullet coated in Armament Haki tore through the air. Aokiji’s eyes flashed with caution; despite anticipating the trajectory, he did not dare to be arrogant enough to use elemental hollow-shifting to dodge this shot. Instead, he shifted his body, letting the bullet whistle past his side.

The shot missed. Thor quickly reloaded. Just as he aimed to fire a second shot at Aokiji, Garp was already upon him. With no other choice, Thor turned his barrel and fired at the Garp who was now right in his face. Garp dodged the bullet in a hurry, his charge momentarily stalled.

Thor seized the chance to break away, retreating to put distance between himself and Garp’s range. Garp followed in hot pursuit.

"His movements are compromised, and his speed has dropped significantly." Watching Thor’s retreat, Garp understood the situation perfectly. The punch he had landed earlier was enough to push Thor to the brink of death.

Thor realized this too, his expression shifting between dark and pale. He was gritting his teeth to keep going; he could still barely manage to run.

But...

"Where is Sunny?" Thor asked aloud as he retreated.

"Safe!" Mord replied immediately.

"That's good..." Thor muttered to himself. He suddenly stopped his retreat and looked coldly at Garp.

"I won't run anymore."

"..." Garp stopped as well. This was the first time he had heard such words from "Trick Gun," and he could tell he was serious.

Thor held his gun in one hand, pointing it at Garp, and said in a deep voice, "The grievances between us have nothing to do with the younger generation. If you have any shred of decency left, don't make things difficult for him."

A lingering, wretched life was worth nothing; if it were gone, it was gone. But Mord was different. He firmly believed that Mord’s future would be brilliant beyond compare—how could he allow it to end here before it had even begun to shine?

Garp narrowed his eyes, nodded after a long moment.

However, Aokiji held a different opinion.

"Garp-san, he has connections with the Revolutionary Army. There is no reason to let him go."

Just as Aokiji finished his sentence, he was met with the dull, whistling sound of something breaking the air from behind him.