Luffy VS Krieg, Hawk Eyes Appears.

As Zoro's fight concluded, Shushu's battle was also declared over.

Two minutes prior, a group of fodder pirates from the Krieg Pirates, under Krieg's death threat of "Die if you retreat," charged towards Shushu, whom they believed to be a soft target.

But when these pirates truly faced Shushu, they realized how naive they had been.

They gave it their all, using every weapon from swords and spears to axes and sabers, but none could break Shushu's defense.

Shushu merely swung its claws, and the pirates directly facing it were ripped open, their blood flowing freely.

However, some of the Krieg Pirates were clever. A thought flashed through their minds, and they pretended to be like their companions who had been blown away, flying backward into the sea themselves.

The pirates who had charged Shushu calmed down at that moment. A thought they had never considered before entered their minds.

'Perhaps our survival rate would be higher if we all attacked Captain Krieg together.'

'No, that's impossible. Captain Krieg is the strongest. It's just that we're too weak.'

The subsequent fodder pirates of the Krieg Pirates grew increasingly clever. Apart from the truly suicidal hotheads who charged Shushu, most pretended to be blown into the sea, feigning serious injury as they floated.

Krieg, watching from the bow of the giant ship, frowned. He felt something was wrong. Just as he was about to uncover the truth, Luffy's taunting voice arrived.

"Ungrateful gorilla, it's your turn!"

Upon hearing Luffy's mockery, Krieg's attention was drawn to Luffy. His fierce face showed no anger, only a calm expression.

"I won't pay attention to the taunts of dead men, because I—Admiral Krieg—will surely win!"

Luffy adjusted his Straw Hat and grinned, replying, "If you say so, then you're afraid of the Grand Line and voluntarily fled back to the East Blue, rather than being beaten back here."

Hearing this, Krieg could no longer maintain his composure. Losing to that person was the shame of his life. Coupled with Luffy's mockery, Krieg's blood pressure soared, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"I'll kill you, you skinny monkey."

Before Krieg could even attack, Luffy pushed off with his legs and sprang up, launching himself at Krieg on the bow of the giant ship with extreme speed, swinging his fist.

'So fast.'

The speed Luffy displayed in that instant made Krieg calm down slightly, and he adopted a defensive posture.

He pulled out a Thorn Iron Armor, covered in iron filings, from somewhere beneath his cloak, encasing his entire body. He resembled a defensive porcupine, making it impossible for a predator to find a weak spot.

The fodder pirates lying in the sea, feigning serious injury, all showed confident smiles upon seeing this.

"This is our Captain Krieg, battle-hardened and never injured."

"He'll do anything to win. Even if he just got his hands on it, he won't go head-to-head with you."

"Hahaha, this Straw Hat kid definitely won't dare to continue. Otherwise, his hands will be ruined."

Even Sanji, who was confronting Gin, worried about Luffy.

"With armor like that, it's impossible to break through," Sanji frowned slightly.

Can Yue, watching the scene from the rooftop of the restaurant, shook his head slightly and muttered, "Uninteresting."

Luffy's mastery of Armament Haki was not yet proficient, but Krieg choosing to defend and giving Luffy so much time to prepare would surely allow him to successfully apply Armament Haki.

Krieg's move was essentially making him a test subject for Luffy.

If it were the old Luffy, he would have punched out even if he got injured.

But now, Luffy was different. He would still throw a punch, but he wouldn't get hurt.

"Armament Haki—Hardening!"

The part of Luffy's right wrist was completely covered in black, and then he landed a solid punch on the Thorn Iron Armor.

With a 'duang' sound, like metal colliding, it reached everyone's ears.

Above their battle, blood splattered, and a huge figure was smashed towards the rear of the giant ship.

Upon closer inspection, everyone was stunned.

"What? The Straw Hat kid is still standing in place."

"Meaning our captain was blown away."

"That's strange, the Straw Hat kid's hand isn't injured."

"What was that black fist just now?"

Many fodder pirates wore expressions of confusion.

Can Yue and Zoro knew very well that Krieg should not be able to cause much damage to the current Luffy.

Luffy stood at the bow of the giant ship, looking at Krieg with disappointment.

"Your confidence and your strength are too mismatched."

A moment later, Krieg, who had been hit so hard he was almost unconscious, slowly stood up.

He shook his head, looking at Luffy, his anger mixed with confusion, "Are you a metal man? How could you not be injured?"

"You don't need to know," Luffy was unwilling to explain himself to people he disliked.

"Next, I will completely blast you away!"

With that, Luffy charged forward again.

Since his Thorn Iron Armor had been damaged in the previous impact, Krieg instantly pulled off the two shields from his shoulders, grabbed a spear, and assembled it into a custom weapon.

Luffy didn't use his abilities, instead swinging his fist to collide with Krieg's 'Great War Spear'.

In an instant, an explosion occurred. This time, Luffy was blown away.

Krieg laughed heartily, "How about it, Straw Hat kid? The power of the explosion, not so pleasant, is it?"

The many fodder pirates chimed in, "Our captain's spear weighs a full ton. The more power he swings with, the stronger the explosion."

Can Yue, who was brewing fighting intent, naturally wasn't worried about the blown-away Luffy. Instead, another thought crossed his mind.

What if I gave this big spear to Shushu? It should be pretty effective if it swung it with its tail.

Poor Krieg was destined to be robbed.

The explosion's smoke and dust cleared. Luffy shook off the dust from his body and exclaimed with full vigor.

"Wow, you scared me to death. Turns out it doesn't hurt as much as one of Can Yue's hits. You always give me so much time to prepare, I'm almost embarrassed. Hehehe, it's time to finish this, Krieg."

Krieg, who was about to retort, hadn't even cursed before his hair stood on end and cold sweat broke out.

Luffy had instantly appeared less than a meter in front of Krieg. At the same time, his rubber-like arm had already stretched backward, fully charged.

The attack came so fast that Krieg didn't even have time to react. Only when Luffy's fist was about to hit Krieg did he start swinging his war spear.

"Gomu Gomu, Pistol!"

As Luffy shouted, the rubber fist, covered in Armament Haki, directly hit Krieg's alloy chest armor.

The chest armor instantly shattered. Krieg's eyes rolled back as he was sent flying backward, smashing through the giant ship's railing and falling into the sea.

The pirates watching were so shocked they stopped pretending to be heavily injured. Their mouths hung wide open.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

"Captain Krieg, who has never been defeated, lost just like that?"

"Who exactly is this Straw Hat kid?"

Luffy ignored their comments. With a Rocket Punch, he jumped next to Can Yue, spread his hands, and complained, "I was hoping he'd give me some pressure so I could accelerate my progress under crisis. I didn't expect him to be completely useless."

Can Yue nodded in response, "Take your time, you'll master it eventually."

With that, Can Yue's gaze fixed on the distance.

That small boat was getting closer.

Hawk Eyes was coming!