The Admiral Appears

"Ryuo?!"

Luffy was stunned at first, but his expression soon turned delighted. He reached out and touched the explosive collar around Reiju's neck.

"Wait..."

Sanji suddenly spoke up, frowning with his curled eyebrows.

"Luffy, if I remember correctly, you haven't been training in 'Ryuo' Haki for very long, have you? Even during your previous training, it only worked sometimes..."

"Sanji!"

Before Sanji could finish, Reiju interrupted him.

"If even the captain has confidence, what reason do we have not to believe in him?"

Sanji, whose eyes had revealed a hint of worry, immediately fell silent.

Luffy took a deep breath. He understood the weight of Reiju's trust even more clearly now. She had practically placed her life in his hands.

As Luffy gripped the explosive collar around Reiju's neck with one hand, his expression gradually turned solemn. He began recalling every detail of how Kong had taught him "Ryuo" Haki.

"It's this flowing sensation..."

Luffy's gaze sharpened. The instant he forcibly detonated the collar, "Ryuo" Haki began to flow, redirecting and throwing the explosion toward another direction.

"Rumble!"

The next moment, Luffy flung his hand toward the end of the street, and a massive explosion erupted, almost destroying half the street.

At that moment, the Straw Hat Crew all felt a surge of relief.

If such an exaggerated explosion had gone off aboard the Merry, it might well have torn the entire ship apart. Reiju's neck could even have been blown clean off.

"We did it!"

The Straw Hat Crew erupted in cheers, while Kong, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, also let out a faint sigh of relief.

In a dark alley at the other end of the street, an old man with glasses leaned against the wall. His beard and hair had turned completely white,