Armament Haki Emission, Combined Admiral

Bang!

In the One Piece world, Haki is definitely the most important element of combat power in the New World.

Luffy was trained by Garp from a young age... or rather, developed a strong resistance to Haki, and his aptitude for Haki is genius-level. During the previous two years, under the training of 'Pluton' Rayleigh, he further mastered the use of Armament Haki. However:

"Is it by accelerating blood flow to achieve speeds beyond the body's limits?"

As the Navy's chief instructor, Zephyr immediately understood the principle behind Luffy Gear Second. Facing Luffy, whose skin was pink and steamy, who had achieved incredible speed by accelerating his blood flow and had mastered the "shave" Luffy without instruction, the tall man remained calm and composed.

To others, all they could see was a blurry, crimson light surrounding Zephyr, so much so that even his afterimage was indistinct!

Only when Luffy is about to attack will he suddenly 'appear' from thin air, followed by a barrage of attacks towards Zephyr! The light from the shockwaves of the collision of Armament Haki was too dazzling to look at; the sound of the air being torn apart was terrifying, like the Kikoku!

"It's useless,"

Zephyr is not known for his speed, and at 74 years old, it would be a waste of effort to compete with a young man like Luffy who has activated his "speed boost". When he can't keep up with his opponent, he is better off planning his moves carefully.

The saying goes, "A prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat," but can a relentless, overwhelming attack last forever? Zephyr only needs to skillfully maneuver to use his massive Seastone weapon as a shield to block Luffy's punches! Luffy, on the other hand, must simultaneously move at high speed to find an opening while guarding against the overwhelming pressure of the Seastone...

"Kid, if you keep fighting like this, I won't even need to take a step!"

Even amidst the fierce battle, Zephyr could still speak with the utterly condescending tone of someone lecturing a junior. Since the start of the fight, he had indeed remained standing still, unmoved by Luffy's relentless barrage of punches and kicks.

Boom boom boom boom—

The surrounding volcanic rocks were blasted into countless fragments by Luffy's attacks, but a circle remained completely unscathed beneath Zephyr's feet.

"Damn it, stop looking down on me, old man!!"

Although Luffy is already considered one of the top fighters in this world, he is still young and impetuous. After failing once again, he retreated while deactivating Gear Second and immediately bit his thumb.

"Gear Third!"

Luffy's right fist suddenly swelled to the size of a house, and Armament Haki covered it with full force! The entire fist shone with a black light, clearly a manifestation of Advanced Armament Haki.

"Rubber--"

As Luffy unleashed his punch, the air distorted and deformed in its path, as if torn apart by the fist! The fist, covered in Haki, roared past, and the originally solid and thick volcanic rock beneath his feet instantly shattered and crumbled, shaking violently as if the earth were collapsing!

"Sacrificing speed for a significant increase in strength?"

Facing Luffy's Armament Haki Gear Third attack powered by Armament Haki, Zephyr neither dodged nor evaded, but instead used a simple and straightforward horse stance to block Luffy's fist with his right-hand Seastone weapon.

"Elephant Gun!"

The next instant, their fists and weapons collided without any fancy moves, immediately generating a thunderous roar that reverberated through the sky! The shockwave was so great that the air exploded, the earth groaned, and it felt as if the heavens and earth were collapsing!

At the same time, the residual force of the Haki collision surged in all directions, spreading far and wide. Wherever it passed, the earth crumbled, rocks cracked, and the ground shook. The volcanic rock beneath their feet was the first to be hit, instantly shattering into powder.

Soldiers belonging to the 'NEO Marines' around the battlefield were all affected by the shockwave, coughing up blood and flying backward. Meanwhile, those with sufficient strength used their arms to shield themselves from the barrage of bullet-like fragments while retreating to avoid the impact.

After the initial clash, the billowing dust dissipated as the Haki from the intense impact dispersed, revealing the two locked in combat. Although they appeared evenly matched, Luffy's expression changed drastically!

Before his fist could even touch Zephyr, it was blocked by layers of invisible, tough 'shields'! Although he shattered those 'shields' with his punch, when the ten layers of power landed on the opponent's Seastone weapon, it was less than five layers.

While it appeared that Zephyr had taken Luffy's Gear Third punch head-on, he had actually used clever techniques to reduce Luffy's power by half beforehand, remaining perfectly still and not retreating an inch! Then:

"My turn, kid."

After a brief clash, their Armament Haki neutralized each other, causing a brief pause. In that instant, Zephyr's left hand simply grabbed at the air, generating a powerful suction force that Luffy no time to retreat. Immediately afterward, he pressed down with his Seastone weapon in his right hand!

"Waaah—"

A calm yet resilient and incredibly Haki suddenly erupted from Zephyr! Like a thousand waves crashing down on Luffy as he soared through the Luffy.

The surrounding scenery suddenly changed, twisting and deforming, with ripples of all sizes overlapping and vibrating endlessly, as if a turbulent and distorted underwater world was reflected in the raging waves.

"This is·····"

Faced with this attack that resembled a 'Devil Fruit ability,' Luffy felt immense pressure! It wasn't that Zephyr's displayed strength was significantly greater than his, but rather because:

"These are techniques for projecting Armament Haki,"

With a single move Luffy subdued Zephyr and explained, "External application of Armament Haki, a top-tier technique of Haki. It can block most strange and unusual Devil Fruit ability; at the same time, it can bypass the opponent's strong defenses and injure their internal organs—like this!"

As Zephyr suppressed Luffy with his massive Seastone weapon in his right hand, he instantly clenched his left fist and brought it to his waist, then unleashed a powerful punch at Luffy!

Thump!

Luffy was instantly blasted away by a solid punch! It was just a simple straight punch, like an attack thrown by a Navy recruit, yet it made Luffy clutch his stomach tightly, his face contorted as he opened his mouth wide, unable to control the gushing out of his stomach acid.

"Cough cough, cough cough cough~~"

"How could this be...? I clearly used Haki to defend..."

Luffy's Armament Haki is already capable of completely defending against a mid-to-upper-level Shichibukai like Doflamingo! However, it still proved 'vulnerable' in front of Zephyr's fists, as the opponent easily bypassed his Haki and rubber body defenses, injuring his internal organs.

Not only that, a peaceful yet resilient force continues to penetrate and erode Luffy's body, aiming to destroy his rubber body completely, and to suppress Luffy meridians, bones, flesh, and blood, rendering him utterly powerless!

"If you only have this simple and crude skill, you will never become the King of the Pirates."

Zephyr, who had nearly knocked Luffy down with a single punch, stretched his arm. To be fair, the boy before him was already exceptionally talented! Even in Zephyr's decades-long teaching career, he was definitely among the top students. However:

"You said you want to become the King of the Pirates?"

"That's right, I need to find 'One Piece'!"

The most powerful aspect of Luffy's Rubber-Rubber Fruit is not his ability to stretch his limbs at will, nor his ability to grow larger, but rather the 'tenacity' attribute bestowed by rubber, which makes him as tenacious as an Awakening Zoan Devil Fruit user.

Luffy nodded as Zephyr wiped his mouth hard and assumed an attack stance again.

"So, are you prepared?"

"Certainly!"

Since setting sail, Luffy has always been the one fighting the most dangerous enemies! No matter what difficulties he faces, he has never backed down.

"And what about your partner?"

With the Seastone weapon in his right hand raised, amidst a piercing roar similar to that of an airplane vortex engine, the muzzle of the gun began to spin rapidly clockwise in Zephyr's large, round palm.

"Crushing Wind!"

The next instant, a metal storm formed by scorching high-explosive bullets bit down hard on Luffy!

Da da da da da!!

This is a weapon developed by Vegapunk. Each bullet has the power of a grenade, and coupled with its terrifying rate of fire, it is a true killing machine! Of course, compared to that, its weight of a few tons seems insignificant.

"Are you prepared to sacrifice your comrades and advance over their corpses in order to uphold your beliefs?"

Faced with Zephyr's second question, Observation Haki to swiftly Luffy, answered without hesitation:

"No sacrifices! Because I will get 'One Piece' with my comrades. So I must defeat you!"

Is that so?

Is saving your strongest enemy for yourself the mark of magnanimity? Straw Hat Kid, then:

Click,

The massive Seastone weapon in his right hand was pointed at the side:

Dyna Stone and Straw Hat!

"Now, what should you choose?"

"Once I attack the Dyna Stone, the resulting volcanic eruption will destroy the town below, including your companions!"

Should you choose your partners or your dreams?

"I won't make any choices!" Luffy, instantly entering Luffy Gear Second, transformed into a streak of light and lunged towards the direction Zephyr's weapon was pointing. "I want them all!!!"

Da da da—

Boom!!!

As Luffy swept past, the high-explosive bullet slammed into the 'Dyna Stone'. With a deafening explosion, the entire crater, centered on the Dyna Stone, was transformed into a terrifying inferno of flames! The Explosive Rock's power was already immense, and it also blasted through the volcano beneath their feet, triggering an eruption of magma from underground—

A series of explosions rang out one after another, and the entire battlefield truly shook! As the ground cracked open, scorching and expanding lava erupted and spread outward from the cracks, burning everything that could be ignited.

A true 'natural disaster'!

"Hehehe, thankfully the hat is okay."

?!

When Luffy put his Straw Hat on his back, Zephyr was first stunned, then became furious!

"Straw Hat Kid— "

I misjudged you!

Click click click,

Amidst a series of earth-shattering sounds, an aura as heavy as a mountain rose from Zephyr's body! Was this the trendsetter of the new era they all admired? Was this the man that White Dove revered as capable of ending the 'Great Pirate Era'?

Bullshit!!

I'm going to crush you right here!

Zephyr's aura was completely different from before. If before it was half combat and half 'guidance', now it was a complete fight to the death.

"Sure enough, I don't feel at ease without Straw Hat."

Surrounded by erupting lava on all sides, and flames and giant rocks on all sides, Luffy and Zephyr stood fearlessly amidst the flowing heat.

"Next, all we need to do is defeat the old man."

"Even now, you still—?!"

Zephyr frowned Guotou, only to see:

"Nami, let's begin."

"Um."

Hovering in the sky beside them, Nami, now back to her normal figure, opened the book in her hands, fully controlling the power within the pages, while Roman calmly pressed his hand against his chest:

"Jacket Page!"

This ability comes from Kelly Van Cleef, a professional assassin from the Mogara Kingdom in the Dressrosa Arena. It allows him to transform himself into a jacket and possess other people or creatures. Once possession is successful, he can control the other party.

Of course, Roman doesn't need to control Nami; rather, he uses this ability to provide Nami with extra stamina and control—after all, Nami is currently a 'glass cannon,' capable of dealing massive amounts of damage, but her physical body is... well...

Splash splash~~~

As Roman activated his 'Jacket Ability,' he transformed into fluttering white paper, enveloping Nami's entire body and forming a magnificent Marine Admiral's cloak. Nami's eyes flashed, and she too entered her 'Combined' state.

"Ice!"

Nami pointed a finger, and a chilling aura, like a giant wave triggered by a tsunami, surged toward the erupting volcano.

As the cold air swept by, the surrounding air swirled rapidly around it, forming a huge vortex. The air affected by the cold air instantly liquefied and solidified, turning into sparkling snowflakes.

The low pressure of the vacuum quickly formed a huge whirlwind, which swept down from the volcano, carrying countless rapidly spinning snowflakes, to suppress the magma here!

"River!"

Immediately afterwards, Nami spread her five fingers, and from the rolling dark clouds that had appeared in the sky at some unknown time, water poured down like a waterfall.

Surrounded by a constant stream of frigid air, the ground temperature around the volcano had dropped to around -200 degrees Celsius, approaching the melting point of many gases. The ground was covered in frost formed from condensed air, which then began to hiss and crackle as the lava heated the ground.

Extreme cold and heat turned the white frost into flowing liquid, bubbling, like water poured onto a red-hot iron plate, or like highly corrosive acid splashed on marble, making it look extremely horrifying.

"Hour!"

With a single downward wave of Nami's hand, a massive torrent of rain poured down from the sky, joining the battle of ice and fire! Intertwined with the underground magma, it seemed evenly matched? But the outcome was decided in an instant, because:

"Generation!"

With a clenched fist, a beam of white light swept out, domineeringly sweeping across the entire battlefield! Cold, ruthless, and unstoppable!

Click click click click—

In an instant, the once raging, blazing fire and flowing lava completely solidified, forming patches of fiery red ice crystals that retained their intense, soaring form—a truly magnificent sight. Then, this fiery red color gradually faded and disappeared, transforming into a vast expanse of clear, rugged ice.

A volcano that had begun to erupt instantly transformed into a snow-capped mountain covered in frigid ice and biting winds!

·········

"Hehehe, you see? My teammates will solve the other problems. So:"

Luffy bit his arm in his mouth.

"I'm going to go, uncle!"

In an instant, Luffy's left arm began to swell like in Gear Third! But it wasn't the bulky, power-enhancing kind of Gear Third; instead, as it swelled, it was covered in Armament Haki, giving the swollen arm a muscular, knotted outline.

"Fourth Gear!!"