"You're still a long way off, kid!"
Although he didn't know how his opponent managed to hit him without using any Haki, he didn't care at all.
For Enel, who was used to the violent training of the Cifer, Luffy's punches were as soft and powerless as cotton.
"So strong..."
Luffy is no longer his usual carefree self. If he can't even defeat these two people in front of him, how is he supposed to defeat Crocodile?
"Rubber~ Rubber~ Machine gun fire wildly!"
Luffy's fists swung rapidly in the air, leaving numerous afterimages, as if dozens of fists were attacking Enel.
"Mantra ~"
Enel strolled leisurely amidst Luffy's machine gun barrage, dodging his punches with minimal distance each time.
"Paramecia, really..."
Enel was about to make a sarcastic remark, but then he suddenly remembered that there was another unknown Devil Fruit User on the ship, so he stopped himself in time to avoid accidentally injuring his own comrades.
"Completely useless, kid!"
The Golden Tonfa slammed into Luffy's face, sending him flying.
"Luffy!"
The Straw Hat Pirates rushed over anxiously, only to see him spring to his feet with a swift movement, completely unharmed.
"Tch~ So you're still not skilled enough?"
Enel originally intended to imbue his weapon with Armament Haki, but he failed.
"How strange~ It seems like my movements were completely read!"
Luffy knew that the ability called Mantra was too strange, and if he couldn't even touch his opponent, he had no chance of winning.
"Straw Hat Kid, it's alright to tell you, his Mantra can see through any attack you want to launch."
Given the information gap, Cifer wouldn't mind giving him a little hint. If Enel had followed him for so long and still wasn't his match, that would be too pathetic.
"Can you predict the attack I'm about to launch? That's a troublesome ability... Got it! Everyone, make way!"
A thought Luffy's not-so-bright mind: since he can know how he wants to attack, why not just stop thinking about how to attack?
"Rubber—Staring blankly!"
He stood there, his mind blank, seemingly lost in thought, and the air seemed to fall silent.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Enel's club kept attacking Luffy, but he instinctively dodged them all.
"I see, that's how you clear your mind so your actions won't be read."
Enel scoffed. Such a simple trick could be easily countered with attacks that were impossible to dodge.
"Divine Judgment!"
"We're doomed!"
"Luffy!"
The lightning was so powerful that Luffy couldn't react at all and was hit completely. The lightning struck a distant sand dune, creating a huge crater.
"Huh?!"
To everyone's great surprise, Luffy stood there with a pout, completely unharmed.
"He actually dodged it?"
Although the feedback from the Mantra indicated that he had no reaction at all, Enel did not believe that he could be unharmed after taking that lightning bolt.
"60 million volts Thunder Dragon!"
With a series of thuds on the left and right drums, the incredibly fast dragon-shaped thunder beast struck Luffy.
But it didn't move an inch, picking its nose and enduring the Thunder Dragon's attack head-on. Enel then realized that something was wrong.
It can hit me even without Haki, and it can ignore my lightning attacks. It seems that the Devil Fruit abilities are mutually exclusive!
"This is really interesting!"
I've learned something new.
"By the way! Luffy is made of rubber, so he's not afraid of lightning at all!"
Nami Satori what was going on, and everyone became excited, except for Zoro and Sanji.
"If lightning and ordinary blows are useless, then let me show you the fist of God!"
Enel planted his staff on the ground, loosening his joints. He didn't need to use Thunder God's Scepter to deal with these small fry.
"Rubber~ Rubber~ Randomly hit!"
A barrage of punches rained down on Enel, which he dodged one by one.
"Is there any difference between this and before?"
As he dodged the punches while moving forward, he suddenly realized that the punches seemed to be curving around and heading straight for him.
"I see, they're too inexperienced!"
Enel, surrounded by fists, vanished in a flash of lightning.
"Luffy, watch out behind you!"
As he tried to turn around, Enel's hand was already on his head, slamming his entire head into the ground!
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
"It's useless!"
Despite the close-range attack, Enel gripped his arm tightly, preventing his fist from advancing even half an inch further.
"Kid, if this is all the strength you have, you might as well submit to the God!"
With his arm grabbed and his head pressed down, Luffy was completely unable to resist.
"I don't want to!"
"The consequences of rebelling against the God are dire!"
Enel used a little force to bury Luffy's head completely in the sand, wanting to see just how tough the kid's bones were.
Zoro's sword and Sanji's foot were almost ready to pounce.
"Um?"
At that moment, Luffy's legs twisted completely and clamped around Enel's neck.
Ah~
Using all his strength, he finally managed to throw Enel off his body and slam him to the ground.
"As long as you can hit it, you have a chance!"
Luffy had just escaped the suffocation crisis and was panting heavily, completely unaware that his strongest attack had had no effect on his opponent.
"What an ugly move!"
Enel stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and was about to make a move when he suddenly felt two streams of heat in his nose. He touched it and found that he was bleeding!
"Hehe, but it worked, didn't it?!"
Luffy hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation and was still grinning.
"Insolent people are unforgivable!"
Luffy had no time to react before a fist wrapped in Armament Haki struck him in the face, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he flew towards the group.
"Luffy!"
Zoro and Sanji rushed forward and caught Luffy.
"You all retreat... Pfft!"
Just as he was about to bravely continue forward, he vomited blood again, collapsed to his knees, and swayed unsteadily, failing several times to stand up.
"Don't worry, this punch won't kill you, you'll just be stunned for a while!"
Seeing that he couldn't even stand up, Enel felt a strange unease and didn't press his advantage.
"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds!"
Zoro gritted his teeth, tied his bandana, Wado Ichimonji clenched in his mouth, unleashed his Three-Sword Style as he charged toward Enel.
To his disappointment, the knife passed right through Enel's body the instant it struck him!
"10 million volts of discharge!"
Enel grabbed Zoro's arm, and after a flash of lightning, the latter collapsed to the ground, convulsing.
"It seems the God need to give you a truly memorable experience!"
Seeing the swordsman still trying to get up on the ground, and Luffy whose mind was beginning to clear, Enel stretched out his finger.
"Divine Judgment!"
Thunder charged toward the Straw Hat Pirates, and before they could react, they were all pushed aside by a figure.
A flash of lightning, and Sanji, his body charred black, put a cigarette into his mouth.
"Excuse me, I just wanted to borrow a light."
"Yay! Hahaha! This is really interesting!"
Enel suddenly found the brats less annoying, so he stopped attacking and plopped down on the ground.
He never intended to kill them; he just wanted to teach them a small lesson. Enel was careful in his actions.
"Everyone is right, I was reckless this time."
Straw Hat Kid, a man who had never suffered a major loss since he set sail, chose to submit at this moment.
He now truly understands the helplessness Zoro felt when he was defeated by Hawk Eyes.
I never imagined that I was so far away from the world!
He was unwilling to admit defeat, but he also began to doubt his own strength. Could he really protect his companions and save Alabasta?
"It's a good thing you get thwarted here; at least you'll save your life."
Seeing that the outcome was decided, Cifer leisurely stood up.
"In the latter half of this ocean, a few brats like you could be killed with a single brick."
"Mr. Cifer! Please stop!"
Nami mustered her courage and stood in front of everyone. It was true that Cifer had been kind to her, but she couldn't accept that her captain had been humiliated like this.
"I was clearly worried about you guys..."
Cifer smiled calmly, and for the first time ever, he remembered that incident: he took the paper out of his shirt pocket, tore off a small corner to keep, and then threw it into Luffy's hand.
"This is something you left with me when you were in the East Blue."
"Eh~ Did I miss something like this? Isn't this a small piece of paper?"
Luffy took the piece of paper, and the tense atmosphere between him and Cifer and the others had completely dissipated.
"This is your Ace's Vivre Card."
"Eh~"