However, just as the enormous Zhan Feng was about to engulf Ronan, a figure shot in like a cannonball.
"Your opponent—is me!!!"
Luffy used no fancy moves, just a straight punch that slammed directly into Arlong's blade!
"Clang!!!"
The huge metal impact sound was deafening.
Arlong felt an unbelievable force surge through him. That single punch actually drove him back several steps, his feet ploughing two deep gullies into the ground.
"W-What?!" Arlong stared in shock at the scrawny human wearing a Straw Hat.
Luffy pulled back his fist and adjusted his Straw Hat. The eyes that were usually so carefree now held nothing but icy killing intent.
"Die!!"
Enraged and humiliated, Arlong opened his massive jaws, capable of biting cannonballs to pieces. Rows of gleaming sharp teeth flashed as he bit toward Luffy's shoulder!
"Crunch!"
The sound of teeth clamping down was crystal clear.
Yet the expected sight of blood spraying everywhere never came.
Luffy stood where he was, completely unmoving.
Arlong's teeth sank into his shoulder as if he had bitten into a steel plate wrapped in incredibly tough old cowhide!
Arlong's pupils contracted violently. He released his bite and stared in horror at the faint ring of white marks and traces of blood on Luffy's shoulder.
"Th-That's impossible! My teeth can crush even stone! What is your body made of?!"
Luffy brushed the saliva off his shoulder and grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Right now, I'm a rubber man with Bronze Skin Iron Bones!"
"Bronze Skin Iron Bones? Stop joking around!"
Arlong went completely mad and swung his blade again.
But just as Ronan had expected, after being tempered through the Second Stage of Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Refinement—
Luffy's rubber body, already immune to blunt strikes, had now greatly improved its resistance to slashes and piercing attacks as well.
Arlong's attacks no longer posed any threat to him.
On the other side of the battlefield—
Seeing Arlong held back, the remaining three top officers could no longer restrain themselves.
"Since you're so eager to die, we'll grant your wish!"
Soft Bone Fishman Kuroobi, the Arlong Pirates' second-in-command and a master of 40-dan Fishman Karate, fixed his cold gaze on Ronan, who was slaughtering his way through the battlefield.
"You despicable humans who only know how to use weapons, taste true Fishman Karate!"
Kuroobi assumed a stance and advanced toward Ronan in broad strides, carrying himself with steady composure.
At the same time, Hachi of Six-Sword Style charged at Zoro while swinging six blades;
while Kissing Fishman Chew puffed out his cheeks and fired water bullets like a machine gun as he faced Sanji.
Ronan watched Kuroobi rush toward him, casually flicked a Fish-Man corpse from his spear tip, then turned around with a trace of mockery in his eyes.
"Fishman Karate? At least that interests me a little."
"Arrogant!"
Kuroobi shouted and thrust out his right palm, creating a fierce gust of wind. "Thousand Tile Fist!"
The punch was immensely powerful. If it struck an ordinary person, it would be enough to shatter every bone in their body.
Rather than retreat, Ronan advanced. He raised the Zhangba Iron Spear in his hand—not to thrust, but to wield it like a massive iron staff, smashing it down viciously from top to bottom with a howling wind!
"Xingyi Great Spear: White Cloud Covers the Top!"
This move bore down with the force of Mount Tai, sealing off every route of Kuroobi's advance.
Kuroobi sneered. "Fool! A weapon this long becomes scrap metal once someone gets close!"
He neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he stretched out his powerful hands, intending to grab Ronan's descending spear shaft directly.
In his view, as long as he seized the weapon, his Fish-Man wrist strength would let him easily fling this human away or snap the iron staff outright.
"Grab it?"
Ronan looked at Kuroobi's outstretched hands, the mockery at the corner of his mouth deepening. "Do you think you can grab a great spear with a shaking force behind it?"
"Bzzzzz—!!"
The instant Kuroobi's palms touched the spear, a bizarre and terrifying force of vibration erupted through the shaft!
Ronan's wrist shook at an extremely high frequency, and the hundred-pound iron spear instantly turned into a violently writhing angry dragon, like a drill spinning at full speed.
"W-What... Aah!!"
Kuroobi felt as if he had grabbed a live high-voltage wire—or a rapidly spinning grinding wheel.
The tiger's mouth on both hands split open instantly, blood streaming down. His fingers went numb, and he could not hold on at all!
"Bang!"
The spear shaft violently knocked his hands aside, leaving his chest wide open!
"It's over."
Ronan's voice was like the grim reaper delivering a sentence.
In that tenth of a second when Kuroobi was knocked back and his chest lay completely exposed, Ronan dipped his wrist, instantly changing the downward strike into a straight thrust.
"Phoenix Three-Point Stab!"
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
Fast! Too fast!
Only three black afterimages remained in the air.
Kuroobi's eyes widened. He had not even seen when Ronan had launched the spear.
All he felt was a chill in his chest, followed immediately by heart-rending sharp pain.
Three blood holes as large as eggs, piercing straight through from front to back, appeared in a triangular pattern across his chest, precisely puncturing his heart and lungs.
"How... can this be... My Fishman Karate..."
Blood poured from Kuroobi's mouth. His body swayed weakly before he collapsed heavily backward, kicking up a cloud of dust.
One strike. Instant kill!
Elsewhere—
Zoro's One Sword Style came down like a raging storm. Hachi's prized Six-Sword Style instantly collapsed, all six of his blades breaking as he was sent flying into the pool.
Sanji's "Mutton Shot" smashed into Chew's face, kicking the Kissing Fishman directly into the tower's wall so deeply that no one could pry him out.
In just a few minutes, the Arlong Pirates had been wiped out completely, leaving only Arlong himself!
"Aaaahhh—!!!"
Watching all his subordinates get killed, Arlong let out a desperate, shrill roar.
"You... you destroyed everything I had!!"
Arlong had gone completely insane.
As the two fought their way into the tower, fierce sounds of battle and the thunderous crash of collapsing structures erupted from within.
Countless ink-stained sea charts and measuring tools flew out through shattered windows, drifting down like snowflakes over the ruins of Paradise.
Nami stood beneath the tower, looking up at the fluttering sea charts as tears blurred her vision.
They were the blood and tears of her eight years, the nightmare she could never escape.
And now, someone was personally shattering it all for her.
"Luffy..."
"Gomu Gomu—Battle Axe!!!"
A roar that shook the heavens came from the top of the tower.
Luffy's leg stretched into the sky, piercing through the clouds, then came crashing down with world-destroying force upon all of Arlong Park—upon that damned Arlong!
"Boom—!!!"
The tallest tower, the symbol of Arlong's terrifying rule, instantly collapsed like building blocks beneath that kick!
A huge cloud of dust soared into the sky, and the entire Paradise was split in two.
Arlong's massive body was stomped deep into the earth. His eyes rolled back, and he completely lost consciousness.
The world fell silent.
The sea breeze scattered the dust.
Sunlight poured unobstructed over the ruins and over the Straw Hat youth, covered in ash yet smiling more brilliantly than the sun.
Seeing all this, Nami could no longer hold back. Covering her mouth, she ran toward Luffy in tears.
She threw her arms around the youth who had smashed her nightmare apart with his fists, her tears soaking Luffy's red vest.
"Thank you... Luffy!"
"Thank you... everyone!"
Nami turned and looked at Ronan, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp standing nearby.
Ronan put away his iron spear, stepped forward, and gently patted Nami's head. "The nightmare is over, Nami."
Before you continue