Decisive Battle with Luffy

"Nami, what are you trying to do?" Nami asked William nervously. At the same time, she shifted back slightly, one hand gripping the treasure she had stolen from Alvida. If William tried anything inappropriate, she would take the treasure and jump into the sea to escape.

What puzzled Nami was where the knife in William's hand had come from. How had a knife suddenly appeared in his hand?

"William, what are you trying to do?" Luffy, who had just been pulled aboard, asked in a panic when he saw William stepping on Koby while holding a knife to his own throat.

Luffy had not realized at all that his actions had nearly killed William, Nami, and Koby. Of the four of them, both William and Luffy were Devil Fruit users and could not possibly save themselves in the sea, while Koby had already fainted from fright while in the air.

If Luffy had smashed the ship apart, were they supposed to rely on Nami, a girl, to save the three men? Leaving aside the fact that Nami would probably choose to save her treasure first, she could only save one person at most—and that would be the only one she knew, William.

To Nami, Luffy and Koby were not merely strangers. They were also the people who had "attacked" her. William had no favorable feelings toward people who treated his life like a joke. This was not an anime; it was a real world.

If Koby had not woken up at the critical moment and dragged Luffy back aboard, William definitely would not have let either of them onto the ship, much less saved them.

"Of course I'm going to slaughter you, you idiot!" William said flatly. Although he had been in this world for some time now, he had spent nearly all of it drifting at sea. Nothing was more important to him than surviving, and Luffy had nearly gotten him killed just now.

As for Koby, William had no intention of killing him. Koby was a victim himself. Otherwise, William would not have pulled him from the sea. What William had not expected was that Koby had still been holding Luffy's hand. For the sake of that loyalty, William could not bring himself to kill Koby.

"I see. Could you let Koby go?" Luffy suddenly lowered his head, seeming to understand what William meant.

"Sure. I wasn't planning to take this kid's life anyway," William said indifferently.

"You aren't that old either, are you?" Nami asked. At least, William looked around the same age as them. No matter how she looked at him, he could not have been more than twenty.

"Nineteen." William had learned his body's age from its records.

William's hometown had been destroyed by pirates when he was one. He then joined a Marine academy and had once participated in the World Government's CP0 training program. That was why William was certain he knew the Six Powers.

At seventeen, he joined the Marine Science Unit's escort force as a Marine corporal. Later, he followed Rear Admiral Drake and rose from a Marine corporal to a Marine colonel in just two years.

However, the file was not detailed. It only recorded the period up to William's transfer to the East Blue. It contained no explanation for why William had been sent there, nor any records of his relationship with Drake or that person. Of course, such matters would not have been entered into the files anyway. And while he had still been aboard the Marine warship, William had not dared investigate information about himself for fear of arousing suspicion.

"Nami, steer the ship to the nearest island," William said, putting away the knife.

"Who exactly are you people?" Rather than immediately doing as William said, Nami asked warily.

Luffy and Koby had already been suspicious enough for falling from the sky. How could normal people possibly fall from the sky? And William even knew one of them. Whether they were companions or enemies, neither possibility was good news for Nami.

"My name is Luffy. I'm a pirate. William is my companion." The simple-minded Luffy seemed to have forgotten that William had wanted to kill him just moments ago and answered with a broad smile.

"Don't just claim we're connected!" William kicked Luffy away. Was this bastard trying to make people hate him?

Luffy did not dodge William's kick and was sent tumbling aside before slowly sitting back up. He had clearly realized that his earlier reckless actions had been somewhat "dangerous." Moreover, he could no longer sense killing intent from William and knew his anger had subsided, so he had not bothered dodging.

More importantly, Luffy believed that he was a rubber man. Ordinary blows could not hurt him at all, and were not even painful. A few hits from William would not cause him any damage.

"A pirate?" Nami asked suspiciously. The tiny bit of goodwill she had held toward William vanished because of his "pirate" identity.

"I'm not a pirate." Koby gathered his courage again. "My name is Koby, and I'm going to become a Marine. Please take care of me!"

After saying that, Koby actually bowed to William and Nami in respect. A man aspiring to become a Marine was asking pirates to take care of him? Nami found it utterly ridiculous.

"Kid, forget everything about me, or your dream of becoming a Marine will have to be fulfilled in the underworld!" William leaned close to Koby and warned him grimly. Before recovering his strength, William's situation was still very dangerous.

"Yes!" Koby hurriedly backed away several steps in fright.

"Though I'm not a pirate, it would still be troublesome if the Marines learned of my existence." William was not actually worried that the three of them would reveal his information to the Marines. He merely wanted to leave a better impression on Nami.

Koby aspired to become a Marine, but Marine intelligence should not be underestimated. Unless Koby could erase his time with the Alvida Pirates, he would never have a chance of joining the Marines in this lifetime.

As for Nami, she was a thief herself and had an unclear relationship with the Arlong Pirates. Would the Marines believe her? Clearly, Nami posed no threat to William.

As for Luffy, although he sometimes let things slip, would the Marines believe the words of such an "honest man"? Unless it was his grandfather, Vice Admiral Garp, who knew Luffy was a child incapable of lying. Still, William guessed Luffy probably had not seen Vice Admiral Garp for several years.

"Who are you?" Nami was not brainless like Luffy, nor was she someone who panicked at every little thing like Koby. If William was not a pirate, why was he afraid of the Marines knowing he existed?

"Just a passerby." William did not want to say much.

"This guy is my companion!" Luffy immediately corrected her.

"I'm going to slaughter you in a minute!" William was furious.

"So if I beat you, you'll become my companion?" Luffy had clearly misunderstood William's meaning.

"I never said that!" If William had not been a Devil Fruit user himself, he would have definitely slaughtered Luffy on the ship. Even idiots needed limits, didn't they?

Nami and Koby, standing nearby, no longer knew how to describe the two of them. Both were thinking, Are these two companions or not?

If William had wanted to slaughter Luffy earlier to vent his anger, now he wanted to use Luffy to regain his strength. Ordinary people were no match for him, while Luffy's strength met his requirements. More importantly, Luffy would not kill him.

Furthermore, when he had blasted Alvida away earlier, he had used that move unintentionally. Did that mean that whenever he faced danger, his body would "remember" how to use its techniques?

"Nami, head for that island ahead. I'm going to slaughter this idiot pirate!" William said, pointing toward an island he had just spotted in the distance.

"William, just wait and become my companion!" Luffy still had not given up on inviting William to join him. In Luffy's eyes, holding a banquet in a Castle would be truly impressive.

"Keep dreaming!" Although William was not entirely sure what Luffy wanted, he had no intention of becoming a pirate.

"Can't you two just not duel?" Koby asked weakly. In his view, since Luffy and William knew each other, they should have been friends. If they dueled, it would definitely hurt their friendship.

"No!" the two answered at the same time.

"I hate pirates the most," Nami muttered softly.

Uh? Had she included him in that insult too? William glared resentfully at Luffy, thinking that once they reached the island, he would beat Luffy into a pig's head to vent his anger.

"Nami, Koby, you two come ashore too," William said.

"What?" Nami and Koby asked in surprise at the same time.

William wanted Nami and Koby to come along mainly because he was afraid Nami would sail away with the ship while leaving them behind. He had no desire to live on a deserted island with Luffy, that idiot, and Koby, that coward—three men together.

"Luffy, I know your Devil Fruit ability very well!" William did not forget to remind him before the duel. William understood Luffy's Rubber Fruit far better than Luffy himself did.

"Same to you! As long as I don't get put inside that strange Castle, it'll be fine." Luffy thought William's ability was merely shrinking people and placing them inside the Castle in his body.

"That may not be the case!" Although the ability William had displayed before was Paramecia, Luffy did not know that William's Devil Fruit was actually a Zoan.

"What Devil Fruit ability?" Nami asked curiously. She still did not know Luffy was a Devil Fruit user.

"I'm a rubber man who ate the Rubber Fruit!" As he spoke, Luffy pulled on his face, instantly frightening Nami into helpless confusion.

"Then is Mr. William also a Devil Fruit user?" Koby asked curiously. After witnessing Luffy's rubber ability, he already believed Devil Fruits existed in this world.

"Luffy, are you ready to get beaten up?" William ignored Koby's question.

"You're the one who's going to get beaten up!" Luffy would never admit defeat when it came to fighting.

"Shave!" William rapidly stomped the ground, preparing to use Shave, the movement technique of the Six Powers.