Natural Enemies

"That's true, but first we need to figure out how to force our way through," Luffy said without looking back.

There was no path to charge straight up from here, and he couldn't rely on the Gum-Gum Fruit to get up there either. They couldn't even see where the top was, so they could only go forward.

"Force our way through..."

Bartolomeo stared at Luffy's back for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "I've got an idea!"

"Watch this!"

"Flowing Barrier: Staircase!"

The next moment, a barrier appeared before Bartolomeo. It twisted into a staircase at incredible speed and rapidly extended upward, soon reaching the edge of the highest point.

"Huh?"

"Whoa!!"

Luffy froze when he saw the staircase suddenly appear, then looked at Bartolomeo with excitement. "That's amazing! You really saved us!"

With this, he no longer had to worry about getting up there.

"Please, use it as much as you like~"

Praised by Luffy, Bartolomeo immediately began wriggling around in excitement. "No need to be polite, Luffy-senpai~"

"You're really something else," Cavendish said with disdain.

Was there something wrong with this guy's brain? He turned into this just because Straw Hat praised him once?

Cavendish then shifted his gaze to Bartolomeo's green hair.

For some reason, just looking at that hair irritated him, and this wasn't the first time he had felt that way.

What was going on?

"Thank you, Cockscomb Head," Luffy said with a smile.

"Th... thank you?"

As if struck by lightning, Bartolomeo fell straight onto the ground in excitement, while an image surfaced in his mind.

He was standing at the edge of a cliff, watching the distant sunrise slowly rise.

And Luffy stood before the rising sun.

The sunlight made Luffy look incomparably holy.

[Luffy: Thank you.]

"You honor me too