Whoosh! Whoosh!
The instant they reappeared, the two were already face-to-face.
Clang!
A flash of light accompanied the blade sliding from its sheath. Red-Haired drew his sword and slashed diagonally upward, the edge gleaming coldly!
Luffy raised his right leg high. Black Haki rapidly coiled around his lower leg. His gaze sharpened as he brought it crashing down against the incoming blade!
Clang!!
Black lightning burst from the collision, and a violent ring of shockwaves rippled outward. The blade vibrated with a clanging buzz as it locked with Luffy's leg.
"Your Haki training's coming along nicely."
Red-Haired chuckled gravely. He twisted his wrist, and a surge of strength and Haki coursed into Gryphon!
Luffy's pupils contracted. He planted his foot against the blade and used the force to flip backward. The next instant—
Clang!
A red crescent slash nearly grazed his body as it whistled past, shooting into the sky and cleaving the tip off a tower at the corner of the castle. The severed pinnacle slid through the air along the slanted cut.
Luffy tucked his knees to his chest, flipped several times, and landed on the ground. The moment his feet touched down, a crimson shadow shot toward him along an uncanny path.
"What's going on?! I can't see him at all!"
Luffy frowned, unable to hide his shock. The intense warning in his heart gave him the primal sense of danger he hadn't felt in a long time. He immediately stamped down hard and leaped high into the air.
By "can't see," he didn't mean he couldn't see Red-Haired with his eyes. His Observation Haki had failed, and he could no longer see Red-Haired's future.
Sure enough, the instant Luffy leaped, a sharp gust of sword wind swept across the ground, carving several gashes into the stone slabs.
Then Red-Haired's figure emerged, his black cape fluttering. He looked up, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Quick reaction. But it'll be hard to dodge while you're in the air, won't it?"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Blades flashed! Red-Haired swung his sword rapidly, sending a torrent of Flying Slashes surging into the sky like crimson sickles!
Faced with the overwhelming barrage of powerful slashes, Luffy sucked in a deep breath, raised his hand, bit down on his thumb, and blew air into his body.
With nowhere to push off from, dodging was clearly impossible. He could only try to smash the attacks apart.
"Fourth Gear! Snake Man Form!"
His Haki-coated limbs inflated with air, strengthening the rubber's tension even further. Luffy stretched both arms behind him.
"Gomu Gomu no... Black Mamba!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
His powerful fists rained down at blinding speed, smashing into the dense Flying Slashes and triggering a series of explosions in the air!
Luffy glared and threw himself into the attack, his arms blurring with speed. Yet some slashes still slipped through, carving bloody gashes into his resilient skin.
A burning sting spread across his body. Luffy gritted his teeth, knowing that if this continued, he'd eventually be overwhelmed.
Just as he considered his options and looked for a chance to get back on the ground, the slashes below abruptly stopped.
Luffy's eyes widened. A streak of crimson light threaded through the fists raining down amid the gale and appeared before him in an instant!
Red-Haired's eyes were as cold as blades. Holding Gryphon, he looked down at Luffy as dark-red lightning coiled around the sword. He slashed down with lightning speed!
Caught by the sudden attack, Luffy had no time to counter. He could only hurriedly raise both arms and cross them in front of himself to block.
Clang!!
Sparks flew. His Haki-coated wrists were as tough as iron, but the blade still cut into his flesh, drawing several beads of blood.
Luffy stared in shock, unable to believe it.
Red-Haired spun with the momentum and landed a powerful roundhouse kick to Luffy's stomach. He sent him flying out of the air, plunging straight down like a meteor.
Crash!!
The ground shuddered, and thick clouds of dust billowed up. Luffy landed flat on his back in a deep crater, sprawled out with all four limbs spread wide.
Before he could get up, Shanks was already diving straight toward him from the air, dragging his sword behind him.
"What's the matter, Luffy? This won't be enough to take the last Road Poneglyph from me. You'll have to show me something stronger."
"The last Road Poneglyph? I see. So that's what this is about."
Luffy grinned, sprang to his feet, and flipped backward nimbly several times. Once he landed, he circulated air through his body and into his arm. His fist swelled another size as he drew it back.
"Gomu Gomu no King Cobra!!"
Luffy roared and threw a powerful punch toward the spot where he predicted Shanks would land!
Whoosh—
His fist tore through the air like a venomous snake baring its fangs, lunging at its prey with a lethal strike.
Red-Haired kept his eyes fixed on Luffy. The moment he landed, he twisted his foot and leaped sideways, avoiding the attack. He immediately kicked off the ground again and again, his uncanny figure rapidly closing in.
But Luffy only grinned, a triumphant glint in his eyes. His fist had missed, yet it abruptly curved around in an impossible 180-degree turn, accelerating as it chased Red-Haired from behind!
As if he hadn't noticed the attack behind him, Red-Haired continued charging toward Luffy. Only when he was close did he plant his feet and flash to the side.
"Hey!!"
Luffy stared in panic as the fist, now at full speed, came hurtling straight toward him!
Crash!!
The tremendous force of its acceleration sent Luffy flying. He tumbled across the ground more than a dozen times before slamming into the corner of the castle.
The already dilapidated ruins collapsed under the impact. Huge boulders tumbled down and buried Luffy beneath them.
"Still not going all out, Luffy? I mean that form from the newspapers."
A gust of sword wind swept the smoke aside. Shanks flicked his sword and strode out.
"If you don't show me everything you've got, you won't get another chance. I'm taking this seriously."
Crash!
Countless rocks burst out of the ruins as Luffy leaped free. He looked at Shanks, whose sword aura was raging, and smiled instead.
"I know. Shanks, you really are strong. Now I'll show you my strongest power!"
Luffy spread his legs and crouched low, stretching out his arms until his fists touched the ground. White gradually spread across the edges of his clothes and the tips of his hair, while snow-white flame clouds coiled around his shoulders like ribbons.
"Fifth Gear: Nika Form!!"
"Watch out, Shanks! Here I come!"
Luffy grinned, but his gaze was utterly serious. His feet blurred as he spun forward at breakneck speed, like a whirling wheel of fire.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Luffy. You're nowhere near ready to talk big to me."
Seeing Luffy's transformation, Red-Haired smiled faintly. He bent his legs, stomped hard, and launched himself forward with Gryphon in hand!
The two clashed once more. Meanwhile, the other members of the Straw Hat Crew were each finding opponents of their own.
Several pirates surrounded their target. One by one, they stared in disbelief.
"Hey, this guy's stronger than I expected."
"Isn't he the Straw Hat Crew's ship's doctor?"
"Huh? Isn't he a pet? Their ship's doctor is a talking raccoon dog?"
"I'm not a raccoon dog! I'm a reindeer! You idiots!"
Chopper roared and transformed into his towering human form, elbowing a pirate away.
"What incredible strength! What kind of form is that?"
"Be careful! He's Tony Tony Chopper, with a bounty of 300 million berries. Don't let his cute appearance fool you!"
A man with pale blond hair slicked back and tied into a short tail at the back leaped forward, holding a long staff.
The pirates brightened at the sight of him.
"Mr. Hongo!"
"Great, one of the officers is here!"
"I'll handle this guy."
Hongo smiled as he watched Chopper. He spun the long staff at his side.
"As it happens, I'm a doctor too. Let's have a little sparring match."
"A doctor...?"
Chopper murmured as he looked at the man before him.
Since setting out to sea, he had never fought another doctor. As the Red-Haired Pirates' ship's doctor—and an officer at that—Hongo's medical skills had to be amazing.
Thinking this, Chopper found himself growing strangely shy and excited.
Elsewhere.
Boom!! Boom!!
Two violent explosions sounded at once in an open area inside the ruins. Shattered stones flew as smoke and dust filled the air.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Franky tumbled out of the smoke and crouched down, shielding his face with one hand. His eyes were fixed on the other side, where a burly man stood. The man had long brown hair, wild as a lion's mane.
"What was that, a laser beam? Or something else? Is this guy a cyborg?"
Thinking of the energy shockwave the man had fired from his mouth, Franky's interest was piqued.
"So that's why you singled me out. Interesting! Then let's see whose modifications are better!"
"Weapon Left Hand!"
Ka-ka-ka!
Franky raised his left arm and aimed his curled fingers forward. The covers on his fingertips flipped open, revealing black gun barrels, and his entire palm began to spin!
"Franky Fire God Gatling!"
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Using the blueprints for all kinds of advanced weapons he had obtained from Vegapunk's lab, Franky had begun upgrading himself. He hadn't had much time, so he hadn't been able to overhaul his whole body, but he had still boosted the firepower of the weapons installed in him.
Flames burst from the barrels. At the terrifying rate of eighty rounds per second, bullets poured out in a stream denser than a curtain of rain. Their power was even more outrageous: they pulverized stone bricks over a meter thick.
The wall behind him was riddled with holes under the hail of bullets. Roaring Gab crossed his arms in front of his head and maintained full-body Armament Haki, at the cost of enormous stamina.
Sparks kept flying off every part of his body, accompanied by a dense series of crisp metallic pings.
Though he blocked the bullets with all his might, the tremendous force behind them kept driving Gab backward. His feet scraped across the ground, leaving blackened marks, until he slammed into the wall behind him.
Ka-ka-ka.
The hail of bullets abruptly stopped. The spinning palm slowed to a halt.
"Huh?"
Franky paused in confusion, then tried pulling the trigger again.
Ka-ka!
The wind blew past. Nothing happened.
"I'm out of bullets already?!"
Franky screamed, his face turning pale with shock as he realized that the thousand-odd rounds stored inside him had all been fired in just over ten seconds!
What a rip-off!
At this rate, he'd need tens of thousands of bullets just to make it worthwhile!
Franky fumed inwardly.
He'd simply had too little time. His total stay on Egghead had been less than three days, and he hadn't even had a chance to test out his newly installed weapons.
Never mind the ammunition; his left hand seemed to be overheating, and he couldn't use his cannons for the moment, either. The weapon, known as the "Fire God Gatling," had truly outrageous firing speed and power, but it clearly still had flaws.
More important than any of that was this:
This guy's defense was ridiculous!
Franky stared at the burly man across from him. White smoke rose from his body as the black Haki gradually faded. Franky couldn't help showing a hint of wariness.
They said the Red-Haired Pirates were the "Iron Wall Pirates," with the most evenly balanced bounties across the whole crew. Their core officers had all mastered powerful Armament Haki and Observation Haki. Now Franky could see there wasn't a shred of exaggeration in that rumor.
"That hurt like hell! You're next!"
Gab glared and stamped his right foot down hard. His knees bent slightly before he pushed off with tremendous force, charging forward with his massive frame.
"Ogre Power Arm!!"
Gab roared and drew back his arm, his elbow partly coated in black Haki as he struck with brutal force!
"Strong Right!"
Franky gritted his teeth and clenched his right fist. Cola Energy surged into his thick mechanical arm, steam blasted from behind his elbow, and his iron fist shot forward!
"Smash Short!!"
Crash!!
The hard iron fist collided with the penetrating elbow strike. A ring of shockwaves exploded outward from the two of them.
Crack—crack—
This guy...!
Franky watched in disbelief as fine cracks appeared across the surface of his iron fist. They were tiny, but his fist wasn't made of just any scrap metal.
The two remained locked in place. Gab opened his mouth wide, and energy began gathering inside.
"This is bad! Franky Radical Beam!!"
To force his opponent back, Franky opened the covers on his shoulders, revealing two heavy cannons. He aimed them at Gab and fired!
Boom!! Boom!!
Flames and smoke surged upward. Two figures flew out of the blast, each hurled backward.
At that range, Franky was caught in the explosion too. He rolled twice across the ground before stopping, his whole front scorched black in several places.
"You're really strong, hey. I'd love to know where you rank on your crew."
Franky grinned as he asked, unable to help thinking about Gab's crewmates. Their fights probably wouldn't be any easier.
Gab watched Franky, his thoughts unclear. After a couple of seconds, he said in a low voice:
"None of the officers on the crew are weaker than me."
"Huh? Is that supposed to be modest? You're already plenty strong."
Franky's expression didn't change much, but his heart grew heavy.
If what this guy said was true, the others could be in danger.
In fact, Gab's words were completely true.
At that moment, inside the main hall of the castle ruins.
"Too slow, too slow. What's going on, Usopp? These limp attacks are only good for clearing out small fry."
Yasopp crouched on the huge chandelier frame near the ceiling, looking down with a teasing smile. He held out his pitch-black palm, coated in Haki, caught the green-leaf shuriken flying toward him, and crushed it outright.
"As a sniper, there's no point in attacking if your shots can't threaten your enemy."
As he spoke, Yasopp lowered the rifle that had been resting against his shoulder and slowly aimed it at Usopp below.
"This is how a gun should be used."
Before you continue