Armament Haki, Hardening!

While Zero was fighting Miss Valentine and Mr. 5, Nami, pretending to be drunk, happened to appear beside Roronoa Zoro. She was negotiating with the newly awakened Igaram, wanting to guarantee Vivi's safety in exchange for one billion Beli!

Igaram did not agree at first, but later, feeling that he might not be able to protect Vivi, he could only tell them to rescue Vivi first before discussing the terms.

Seeing that the negotiations had achieved preliminary results, Nami was in a much better mood. She even told Roronoa Zoro to help Zero fight, but Roronoa Zoro shook his head, saying there was no need for him to join. Zero could defeat them on his own, so they continued watching the battle.

"Kid, you actually dared to take on the two of us alone. Do you know that we're both Devil Fruit users?"

Miss Valentine covered her lips as she teased him, as though the battle's outcome had already been decided. Mr. 5 beside her nodded in agreement.

"Enough talk. Come on!"

With that, Zero slashed with his blade. The blade light swept across a nearby building and severed it cleanly through the middle!

Seeming to sense the invisible pressure within that attack, the two nodded at each other, and Mr. 5 launched the first attack.

He dug another small clump of black substance out of his nose and flicked it at Zero.

"Disgusting!"

Zero looked repulsed.

Unlike Roronoa Zoro, he would not let his beloved sword touch something so revolting. He immediately slashed out a blade light.

Bzzz!

Boom!

The instant the blade light collided with the booger bomb, a violent explosion erupted, whipping up a fierce gust. The windows of the houses on both sides shattered from the blast.

Once the disturbance subsided and the smoke cleared, Zero found that Miss Valentine had vanished from where she stood, while Mr. 5 was charging straight at him.

Zero slashed out another blade light.

Just as the azure blade light was about to reach Mr. 5, his figure shifted. When he appeared again, he had already passed through the blade light and arrived before Zero.

"Die!"

Mr. 5 threw a punch. Zero sensed the force hidden within it and raised his sword to block.

Boom!

Another explosion rang through the street.

The next moment, Zero rapidly retreated from the billowing smoke. Before he could steady himself, Miss Valentine's voice suddenly came from above.

"My ability lets me control my own weight. For example, like this—50 kilograms... 100 kilograms... 1,000 kilograms... 10,000 kilograms!"

Miss Valentine plummeted from the sky at tremendous speed, aiming directly at Zero's position!

Thud!

This impact sounded somewhat dull, but its power was clearly greater than the attacks the two had launched earlier!

Fortunately, Zero accelerated his retreat and narrowly avoided Miss Valentine's attack. Otherwise, he would have had trouble keeping up the act.

"Alright, no more playing around. It's time to seriously put an end to this farce!"

Hearing Zero's words, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world and burst out laughing. "What are you talking about? Standing before you are—"

"Devil Fruit users, right?"

Zero's figure suddenly vanished from the scene, while his voice now rang beside both of their ears!

What was going on? That speed—

The thought had barely crossed Mr. 5's mind when azure light suddenly erupted before his eyes!

Boom!

A massive explosion rang out. Mr. 5 flew away like a deflated ball, smashing hard into a house behind him. Smoke and dust instantly surged up, and Mr. 5 completely lost consciousness!

"You bastard!"

Miss Valentine flew into the sky again, then increased her weight to 10,000 kilograms and rapidly descended. Zero merely covered both arms up to his elbows with Armament Haki, then watched the imposing attack with a grave expression.

Thud!

"How is that possible?"

Miss Valentine's expression became one of disbelief.

Her attack, powerful enough to smash a several-meter-wide crater into the ground, had been blocked by Zero with only his two arms. And judging by his expressionless face, taking her attack did not seem to burden him much at all.

Miss Valentine wanted to rise again, but suddenly felt a sharp pain twisting through her abdomen. Then, everything before her went black.

Congratulations! You have completed a side quest. Obtained 750 experience points and 1 item lottery ticket!

Hearing the prompt in his mind, Zero shook his slightly numb hands. Fortunately, Miss Monday had not developed her Devil Fruit very deeply. If she had kept increasing the weight, he probably would not have caught her attack so easily.

Zero then saw Nami appear beside Roronoa Zoro. Just as he was about to walk over, Luffy's voice suddenly sounded from one side.

"Zero, I finally found you!"

"Hm?"

Zero noticed that something seemed off about Luffy's expression. He suddenly recalled the plot he had seen before and could not help feeling a headache coming on—

So, was he going to have to fight Luffy next?

Sure enough, Luffy directly stretched out his rubber arm and attacked him. Zero slightly turned aside to dodge. The rubber arm pierced into the building before them and blasted a huge hole through it. At that moment, he realized that Luffy was probably getting serious!

Roronoa Zoro and Nami were both baffled, unable to understand why Luffy was acting this way. They called out to him several times, but he did not listen and instead attacked Zero again.

"Gum-Gum—Headbutt!"

Because Luffy's body had become like a balloon, lowering the accuracy of his arms, he simply stretched out his neck and viciously slammed his head toward Zero.

As he attacked, he also questioned Zero, "Zero, why would you do this to people who treated us to food and drinks?! They're good people! I'll never forgive you, Zero!"

Roronoa Zoro and Nami, after hearing that: "This idiot."

Growing irritated by the attacks, Zero directly kicked Luffy away. Luffy crashed through the walls of several houses along the way before finally coming to a stop.

"Is Luffy okay?"

Nami was somewhat worried about Luffy, but Roronoa Zoro shook his head and told her not to worry. However, this instead made Nami notice that Roronoa Zoro was tightly gripping his sword hilt. Apparently, he was not as calm inside as he appeared.

So men really were creatures whose inner selves differed from their outward appearances?

Nami suddenly thought of Zero and unconsciously complained in her mind.

Not long after Luffy was kicked away, he appeared before Zero once more.

This time, his balloon-like body had returned to normal. Though his clothes were somewhat dirty and disheveled, he looked full of energy.

He suddenly stared deeply at Zero.

Just when Zero thought Luffy had come to his senses, Luffy suddenly spoke. "Zero, I know I'm no match for you, and I've been working hard to become stronger. So now, let me show you the results of my training! Zero!"

After saying that, Luffy assumed a stance again. Then, right before Zero's astonished eyes, both of Luffy's arms became coated in a bright black substance!

"Armament Haki, Hardening!"