I Surrender

"Rubber Gun!" Though Luffy had no idea what William was doing, he still unleashed his Rubber Gun without holding back. Since it was a duel, he had to take it seriously, or else he would be disrespecting his opponent.

"Iron Body!" When William realized he could not use Shave from the Six Powers to move, it was obvious that he had missed his chance to dodge. He could only use the defensive technique of the Six Powers—Iron Body.

Bang! Luffy's Rubber Gun struck William's body hard. Yet William failed to defend himself and was sent flying by the blow. Although William was certain that he knew the martial technique Six Powers: Iron Body, he had forgotten how to use it.

"Mr. William, are you all right?" Seeing William get punched away by Luffy, Koby became worried. He did not understand why William had not dodged just now and had simply stood there to take the hit.

"William! Why didn't you dodge?" Nami shouted in confusion. But how could Nami know that William had not chosen not to dodge? He had simply missed his chance.

"Pfft... That hurt!" Although Luffy's Rubber Gun had struck him painfully in the chest, William had not suffered any real injury. Even if he had forgotten how to use Six Powers: Iron Body, his body had still been tempered countless times. There was no way he would be injured by a single punch from Luffy.

Still, getting hit by Luffy's Rubber Gun really hurt. Although William had experienced Luffy's Rubber Gun before, this was, strictly speaking, the first time William's physical body had been struck by it. Inside the castle within his body, even the current William could instantly defeat Luffy before he developed Second Gear. But outside, William had to rely on hand-to-hand combat. After all, he had not yet equipped his castle with any gear.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy threw a barrage of punches at William!

Facing Luffy's countless fists, William no longer relied on "techniques" and instead used his own reflexes to evade Luffy's attacks. When he truly could not dodge, he met the attacks with his own fists. Luffy was already quite strong, and the stretch and recoil of his rubber body enhanced his power even further. Yet William was no weaker. Without any enhancement at all, he could match Luffy in strength, proving that William's arm strength exceeded Luffy's by quite a bit.

"Gum-Gum Balloon!" When he saw William actually closing in on him, Luffy hurriedly took a huge breath, swelling his stomach like a balloon and bouncing all of William's attacks back at him.

Without Armament Haki, even landing a hit on Luffy was meaningless for William. Instead, William took quite a bit of effective damage, leaving him looking thoroughly battered.

"William, you can't beat me." Luffy's meaning was clear: hurry up and surrender, then become his partner.

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" William shouted, pulling out the two swords stored inside his body. But he was quickly beaten flat onto the ground. The swords in his hands scattered across the floor, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"I finally won!" Looking at William lying on the ground, Luffy grinned smugly. To him, it was not simply about defeating William. More importantly, he had gained a dependable partner.

"Shave!" William, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly vanished and reappeared beside Luffy. Before Luffy could react, William kicked him flying.

When William had been knocked to the ground by Luffy just now, inspiration had suddenly struck. It was as if he had "remembered" something important.

"Ow! That hurt! It's like Grandpa's punches?" Luffy looked at William in confusion. Other than his grandfather, was there actually someone else in this world who could hurt him?

"My attacks worked pretty well too, didn't they?" William said as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Although he had released Armament Haki unintentionally just now, at least it proved that he had trained in Haki before.

"Isn't Luffy made of rubber? How could he feel pain?" Hearing Luffy cry out in pain, Nami and Koby asked each other in confusion.

But after exchanging a glance, they knew that neither of them understood why rubber-bodied Luffy had cried out after being punched. Even on the Grand Line, not many people knew about an ability like Haki.

William was the only one there who knew why Luffy had cried out in pain. He had definitely used Armament Haki unintentionally just now. This was merely a sign of Armament Haki awakening, but at least one thing was certain: he had once known how to use Armament Haki. He had simply forgotten how.

And that sudden burst of speed earlier had been Six Powers: Shave. This proved that his guess was right. Battle truly was the best way to recover his strength.

"Gum-Gum Stamp!" Although the long-forgotten pain distracted Luffy for a moment, he immediately got back up and kicked at William.

"Iron Body!" This time, William finally managed to use Six Powers: Iron Body successfully, though he only barely blocked Luffy's Gum-Gum Stamp.

If Luffy had used Gum-Gum Bazooka or Gum-Gum Rifle, William would have had a hard time enduring it. After all, he had only just "remembered" the basic ways to use these techniques. He was still far from recovering his former strength.

Even the Six Powers: Shave and Six Powers: Iron Body that he had just "mastered," along with Armament Haki, were not yet techniques he could use at will. If his opponent had been a real enemy rather than Luffy, William would have been killed several times already.

Bang!

For some reason, William suddenly froze and was punched flying by Luffy's Rubber Gun. Luffy stared at William in surprise. Even someone as simple-minded as Luffy had noticed that something was wrong with William just now.

"What was that just now?" William immediately came to his senses after taking Luffy's Rubber Gun. What were those bits of information that had suddenly appeared in his mind?

But when William tried to recall that information, he found it extremely disordered. Still, one thing was certain: it was some kind of formula and blueprint.

"I surrender!" After a moment, William chose to concede. He realized that he had too many secrets. If he did not uncover them, he would never be able to live a secluded life in peace.

Just like Nico Robin, merely being able to read Poneglyphs had made the World Government keep an eye on her for twenty years. If those secrets really had something to do with him, how many years would the World Government watch him? And what about that organization? He seemed to have some unclear connection with them as well.

"You're not fighting anymore?" Luffy asked disappointedly.

"No more, Captain." William had clearly agreed to join Luffy's Straw Hat Pirates.

That fierce battle with Luffy had set William's blood boiling and stirred an urge for adventure within him. Rather than living a life of hiding from place to place, why not follow Luffy and go adventuring? As long as he continued to grow stronger, until even Marine admirals could not underestimate him, would he still need to fear being hunted by the Marines?

"Hehehe, I finally found a partner!" Luffy said proudly. In his eyes, William had not only an interesting Devil Fruit ability, but also tremendous strength. He was a rare and valuable partner.

"Not one. Two!" William put an arm around Nami's shoulders and said smugly, "Let me make this clear first: if you can't protect us properly, I'll kill you."

"Huh? I don't want to be a pirate!" Nami hurriedly shoved William away and loudly refused.

"Why not? Being a pirate is fun." In Luffy's eyes, pirates were adventurers, symbols of freedom.

"Nami, our captain may be an idiot, but he's dependable. He'll become the future Pirate King!" William said, resting his hand on Nami's shoulder.

"Luffy, Nami is the finest navigator. If she doesn't join, then I won't join either!" Although Nami had joined Luffy's crew in the original story, who knew whether the plot would change because of his arrival?

"Is that so? So you're a navigator!" To Luffy, gaining two partners at once was an incredibly happy thing.

"Didn't you say you didn't want to join? Why did you suddenly surrender?" Only then did Nami realize that William had dragged her into this. She hated pirates most of all, yet she was going to become one?

"Who knows?" William said indifferently, as though none of it had anything to do with him.

In the East Blue, in Shells Town, inside a lavish and luxurious office at the Marine 15th Branch, a tall, burly blond middle-aged man sat behind a desk.

This tall, burly blond middle-aged man was clearly the owner of the office, as well as the supreme ruler of Shells Town and the Marine 15th Branch—Colonel Morgan.

"Boring!" Morgan held a document from Marine Headquarters in his left hand. But after reading it, he carelessly tossed it aside, as if its contents had nothing to do with him.

"Dad, I captured 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro!" Helmeppo, Colonel Morgan's only son, pushed open the door and announced happily. It was obvious that Helmeppo had come to claim credit.

"Get out, you useless trash. Who allowed you to come in without permission?" Colonel Morgan mercilessly berated Helmeppo, as though the person seeking praise were not his son.

"Yes!" Seeing the vicious look in Colonel Morgan's eyes, Helmeppo sadly closed the door. He had no idea why his father's personality had changed so drastically after arresting "Schemer" Kuro.

Even Colonel Morgan himself did not know that his capture of Kuro back then had been fake. It had all been a trap designed by "Schemer" Kuro. Kuro had his subordinate, the hypnotist Jango, hypnotize the badly injured Morgan and a fake Kuro. After the fake Kuro was executed by the Marines, Kuro successfully escaped Marine pursuit by using his own "death."