The Gum-Gum Fruit's First Battle Ends in Disaster!

The inn's wooden door had seen better days.

Dim yellow light seeped through the cracks, along with the crude sounds of men playing finger-guessing games.

The air reeked of cheap tobacco and sour alcohol.

Luffy stood at the entrance.

He took a deep breath.

His chest puffed up like a balloon about to burst.

"Hey! You ugly-faced bandit!"

"Get out here and face your death!"

Luffy put every ounce of strength he had into that shout.

His childish voice was surprisingly piercing.

It completely drowned out the noise inside.

Then—

Bang!

Ace did not waste a single word.

He swung the water pipe in his hand and smashed it viciously into the door.

The blow was powerful.

The battered wooden door let out a groan and tore free from its frame.

Amid a cloud of dust, it crashed into the room.

The laughter inside came to an abrupt halt.

More than a dozen bandits who had been drinking froze.

They held cups in their hands and cigarettes between their lips.

All of them stared in astonishment at the three little brats who did not even reach their waists.

Higuma, seated at the very back, set down his bowl of liquor.

His eight-million-Beli face twisted slightly.

When the door had fallen, the dust it kicked up had landed in his drink.

"You little brats again?"

Higuma narrowed his eyes.

He recognized the kid in the Straw Hat.

He was the thing that spineless pirate in the tavern had tried to protect earlier.

"I wasn't even looking for trouble with you, yet you came right to my doorstep."

Higuma casually splashed the dust-filled liquor onto the floor.

He rose to his feet.

His two-meter-tall body cast a huge shadow beneath the lamplight.

To five-year-old Luffy, he looked like a mountain of flesh.

"Apologize!"

Luffy pointed at Higuma's nose.

"Apologize to Shanks!"

"You bully who only picks on others!"

The moment Luffy finished speaking—

The bandits inside erupted into laughter.

They doubled over laughing.

Some even laughed so hard that they fell off their chairs.

"Boss, is this brat here to make us laugh?"

"Apologize to that red-haired coward?"

"Hahahaha! That's probably the funniest joke I've ever heard!"

Higuma laughed too.

He drew the long blade at his waist.

The edge glinted coldly under the light.

"Brat."

"In this world, only the weak demand apologies."

"And I've killed fifty-six people."

"I've killed plenty of ignorant little whelps like you too."

Higuma's tone carried the stench of blood.

He was not trying to scare anyone.

This was the malice of a true desperado who killed without batting an eye.

Luffy took half a step back, frightened by that pressure.

But he immediately straightened his back again.

"I'm not afraid of you!"

"I'm the man who'll become the King of the Pirates!"

"Gum-Gum—Pistol!"

Luffy shouted.

He recalled the movements Kahn usually made.

He had not learned them properly, but he felt that shouting the move's name would make it stronger.

Luffy threw his fist forward.

This was his first real battle after eating a Devil Fruit.

In his imagination—

His arm should have shot out like a bullet and sent that hateful bandit leader flying.

But reality was harsh.

Luffy's arm did stretch out.

Yet, with no control over it at all, the long slender arm flopped out like a limp noodle.

It did not hit Higuma.

Instead, it curved around.

Smack!

It whipped Ace across the back of the head.

Ace had been about to charge.

Instead, he was ambushed by one of his own.

He staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

"Damn it, Luffy!"

"Watch where you're hitting!"

Ace was so furious that smoke practically rose from his head.

Clutching the back of his head, he felt like this fight would kill him from anger before it even began.

The bandits laughed even louder.

"What was that?"

"Some kind of circus act?"

"His arm can stretch? He's a monster!"

Higuma looked at Luffy's limp arm, his disdain growing even deeper.

"So you're a monster who ate a Devil Fruit."

"What a shame. You're just useless."

Higuma waved a hand.

"Boys, play with these little brats."

"Don't kill them. Just break their legs."

"Let them learn that the title Bandit King isn't for show."

Upon receiving the order, the bandits immediately closed in with vicious grins.

They held machetes and spiked clubs.

In their eyes—

These three children were meat on the chopping block.

"Get them!"

Ace roared.

He no longer bothered with Luffy, who only knew how to make things worse.

The water pipe in his hand shot forward like a venomous snake.

Bang!

The bandit charging in front had no time to react.

A heavy blow slammed into his stomach.

Ace was only eight years old.

But after Garp's hellish training, his strength had long surpassed that of an ordinary adult.

The bandit screamed.

His body folded like a shrimp, even spraying saliva from his mouth.

"Don't underestimate us!"

Sabo followed right behind him.

He held a water pipe as well.

He moved as nimbly as a monkey.

Stepping on the fallen door, he leaped high into the air.

His water pipe smashed hard into a bandit's forehead.

Thunk!

The bandit's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

The battle erupted instantly.

At first—

Relying on the results of their years of training—

Ace and Sabo actually gained the upper hand.

The overconfident bandits were caught completely off guard.

Cries of pain rose one after another.

The inn's tables and chairs were smashed to pieces.

Liquor bottles shattered.

Ace was like a tiger descending the mountain.

Every blow was heavy and fierce.

He targeted joints and vital points.

Sabo was responsible for moving around the battlefield.

Whenever anyone tried to sneak up on Ace, he gave them a whack with his pipe.

The two worked together with remarkable coordination.

This was the coordination they had forged fighting their way through the garbage heaps of Gray Terminal.

On the roof—

Kahn sat cross-legged on a beam.

Through the gaps between the roof tiles, he could clearly see what was happening below.

"Tch."

"No Haki, no technique."

"Just brute force."

Kahn shook his head.

Ace and Sabo were indeed performing well.

Among ordinary children, they would absolutely be considered prodigies.

But in a real life-or-death fight—

This much ability was not enough.

They were too green.

They did not know how to manage their stamina.

They did not know how to conserve strength.

And they knew even less that when the enemy outnumbered you ten to one, facing them head-on was the stupidest choice.

Most importantly—

They had dead weight with them.

Below—

Luffy was still struggling with his own body.

He tried to kick.

His leg stretched too far and would not retract, tripping him flat on his face.

He tried to throw a punch.

His fist flew wildly, smashing a row of wine cabinets beside him.

Glass shards scattered all over the floor.

He did not hit a single enemy.

Instead, he became the most unstable factor on the battlefield.

"Hey! You, the monster brat over there!"

A bandit with a face full of pockmarks set his sights on Luffy.

He had figured it out.

This brat who could stretch his body was the weakest.

Pockmarked Face raised a rusty broadsword.

While Luffy was still untangling the arm wrapped around his neck,

he charged forward.

"Die, monster!"

The blade whistled through the air.

Luffy jumped in fright.

He tried to dodge.

But he forgot that he still could not swim, and he was not yet used to his body.

His foot slipped.

"Waaah!"

Luffy landed hard on his butt.

The broadsword scraped past his scalp and struck the wooden floor.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Luffy broke out in a cold sweat.