Neither of them had any intention of backing down.
Their eyes remained locked.
Neither looked away first.
Luffy curled his lips into a wild grin.
He had never taken threats like this seriously.
He paid no mind whatsoever to the threat from the man across from him.
"I'll beat you into the ground, then head for the Grand Line."
"After all, I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King."
Smoker stood opposite him.
His gaze was as cold as ice.
He scoffed, his face full of disdain.
To him, Luffy was just a rookie who had no idea how close he was to death.
That contempt was practically written all over his face.
"Enough idle talk."
He raised both hands.
A cloud of white smoke billowed out.
In an instant, it wrapped tightly around Luffy.
There wasn't a single gap.
"I ate the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. I can turn my body into smoke whenever I want."
"How do you expect to fight me when I'm like this?"
"Within my smoke, I'm practically invincible."
"I should be far stronger than you."
"What could you possibly fight me with?"
With that, he casually flicked his hand.
The motion was as careless as tossing out trash.
Luffy was thrown to the ground.
Smoker couldn't have been more indifferent.
He couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids.
Luffy's face burned with anger.
His clenched fists creaked.
Rage almost seemed to pour from his eyes.
The fight hadn't even properly started yet.
Did he expect Luffy to admit defeat already?
Absolutely not.
He would never let that happen.
Admit defeat? Not a chance.
No one was going to make him bow his head.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!"
His fists flew one after another.
They slammed furiously into Smoker's chest.
But Smoker showed no intention of