Luffy's Deathly Crisis

Can Yue was currently leaning back on the villa's sofa, taking a sip of Kaya's red wine before crossing his legs, lightly closing his eyes to sense the external aura.

Although he had already mastered Observation Haki, he still needed to apply it a few more times to increase his proficiency and form muscle memory, so he wouldn't stumble at some critical moment in the future.

In Can Yue's perception, about fifty people had landed at the northern dock of the island, with four having slightly stronger auras.

Two of those auras made Can Yue extremely uncomfortable—they should be the Cat-man Brothers.

The third was naturally the current captain of the Black Cat Pirates, Jango.

The strongest aura belonged to the former captain, Kuro.

As for their own side, aside from Usopp whose aura was pitifully weak, the other two people and one dog were all stronger than the enemy.

'No need to worry, indeed.'

Having reached this conclusion, Can Yue smiled faintly, opened his eyes, and prepared to take another sip of red wine.

Just then, Nami beside him suddenly picked up another wine glass and clinked it against his, as if she wanted to drink a cross-cupped toast.

Can Yue instantly dodged backward with a Shunpo, causing Nami to miss.

"What's wrong with you, woman?"

Nami snorted, "Who told you to look so cool just now! I couldn't control myself."

At that moment, Nami suddenly sensed something off—how could Kaya have no reaction at all? That wasn't scientific.

In Nami's understanding, Can Yue's sexual appeal was maxed out, so Kaya shouldn't be in this state.

Thus, Nami forcefully suppressed her surging heart and asked Kaya a question.

"Kaya, don't you feel anything when you see Can Yue?"

Kaya, who had been staring out the window with worry, was suddenly pulled back to attention by Nami's question. She glanced at Can Yue, then immediately looked away, answering stiffly with a red face.

"I only like Usopp!"

Not only did Nami understand, but even Can Yue got it.

This woman was using the method of diverting attention and self-PUA.

Can Yue immediately told Nami, "Learn from her. Don't be controlled by your instincts."

Nami blushed, retorting defiantly, "I don't have a crush, so how am I supposed to divert my attention!"

Can Yue turned and walked toward the outside.

"Come watch their fight together. Use that to divert your attention."

At this moment, Can Yue understood a truth: his level of charm had grown to the point where he couldn't be alone with a woman.

So Can Yue led the way, with the two women following behind, step by step toward the northern part of the island.

Just then, Nami thought of another question and asked Kaya, "The first time you saw Can Yue, how did you control yourself from making a move on him?"

Hearing this, Kaya's face turned even redder, and she stammered in reply, "I was behind Usopp at the time, pretending to be scared and touching Usopp for a good while..."

At this moment, at the island's landing point.

The Black Cat Pirates had all landed.

Under the leadership of Kuro, Jango, and the Cat-man Brothers, they glared fiercely at the three people and one dog above the slope.

When they reached the landing point and saw the traps covering the slope, they knew today's attack plan had been exposed.

Jango frowned at the cooking oil and nails spread across the slope and raised a question.

"Captain Kuro, traps like this mean the whole crew can't break through."

Captain Kuro sneered coldly, his eyes filled with killing intent as he stared at Jango.

"Can't you use hypnosis? I'll give you five minutes to clear the slope, or I'll take action myself."

Hearing Kuro's words, Jango and the Cat-man Brothers immediately broke out in cold sweat on their foreheads.

Captain Kuro's so-called "taking action" didn't just mean killing the enemy—it included his own people too.

Although hypnotizing the entire crew to clear the slope would result in injuries, compared to being killed by Captain Kuro, this level of damage was still acceptable.

After thinking it over, Jango made his decision.

"Boys, look at me! When I say 'One, two, Jango,' you'll gain infinite power!"

"Ooh!!!"

Captain Kuro watched this scene with a cold smirk on his lips.

He had said that line to exploit the fear Jango and the others still held toward him from before, achieving the goal of clearing the traps while causing some trouble for the enemy.

Because he knew very well that to smoothly deal with the two people and one dog on the slope, he absolutely couldn't waste time on these petty traps.

And these hypnotized underlings, with their brief burst of power, could instead wear down the enemy—killing two birds with one stone.

Just then, the hypnosis ended.

Forty-six grunt pirates, veins bulging all over their bodies and eyes rolled back, charged up the slope.

Zoro sensed the sudden surge in the enemy's presence ahead, his expression sharpening as he stressed to Luffy, "Luffy, even a lion uses its full strength against a rabbit. Be careful."

But Luffy still didn't respond.

"Huh??"

Just as Zoro grew puzzled, Luffy suddenly let out a roar.

"OHHHH!!!"

The same bulging muscles, the same eyes rolling white.

Luffy charged down toward the pirates ahead.

"You got hypnotized too, you idiot?!"

Seeing this, Zoro's jaw dropped wide open, his faith in reality shaken.

Usopp slapped a hand to his own face, complaining about how unreliable this guy was.

He'd been brimming with confidence in Luffy's strength just moments ago, but now goosebumps crawled all over his skin.

'If Zoro and Chouchou hadn't come, I'd definitely be fighting them all by myself.'

Right now, Usopp was feeling the fear, the deep, lingering fear.

~

Luffy, completely unconscious, had no idea the ground ahead was covered in cooking oil and caltrops. He charged straight in.

The outcome was obvious. Not only did he slip, but he landed on a bed of spikes, blood streaming everywhere.

But Luffy, pumped full of adrenaline, felt no pain at all. He tumbled and wrestled with the equally slipping Black Cat Pirates grunts on the oil-slicked road.

After all the thrashing from the grunts and Luffy, several barrels of cooking oil were actually wiped clean...

Blood from the caltrop wounds pooled everywhere on the ground.

Of course, with the cooking oil gone, the ground's friction returned to normal, and unconscious Luffy's combat power was unleashed.

"Gomu Gomu no... Gatling."

A storm of fists flew through the air, sending the swarm of fodder pirates flying in every direction. They snapped back to consciousness, howling in pain.

Captain Kuro, Jango, and the others watched in shock.

"What? A Devil Fruit User?"

Captain Kuro stared hard at Luffy, muttering to himself, "Then I'll have to take him out first."

At that moment, with no enemies nearby, unconscious Luffy instinctively locked onto the four ahead: Kuro, Jango, and the Cat-man Brothers.

"AHHHH!!!" He charged straight at them.

Seeing this, Jango had a flash of inspiration and hypnotized Luffy again.

"When you hear 'One, Two, Jango,' you will fall asleep."

"One, two. Jango!"

Sure enough, unconscious Luffy turned into sleepy Luffy, collapsing to the ground and sleeping soundly.

On the high slope, Zoro and Usopp's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Th-this... what an idiot!"

Just as the two were cursing Luffy, a sudden change occurred.

Captain Kuro slipped on his cat-claw gloves, each claw tipped with a blade nearly a meter long. In an instant, he was beside Luffy, raising his 'Claws' to slice off Luffy's head.

"Crap, too late!" Zoro shouted as he sprinted forward with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried, he seemed unable to stop the bloody event about to unfold.

Luffy's moment of deadly crisis.