Gear Second

Boom! For the first time ever, Enies Lobby had been breached by a group of unrelated people.

"Robin! Ming!" Luffy stood on the front island. "We're here to save you!"

"You really did a great job." Li Ziming sat atop a tall building, watching the battle at the island's entrance. He shook his head helplessly. "You've really made quite a mess. But this is exactly the feeling it should have." He felt his blood beginning to boil as well. "Since I can't get over there right now, I'll set off a little firework to add some fuel to the flames." Then, with a snap of his fingers, the gate before Luffy and the others collapsed.

"What happened?" Luffy froze for a moment.

"It was probably Li Ziming! Don't just stand there!" Nami hurriedly shouted. "We need to get to Robin as fast as possible!"

"Oh no, there are giants!" The three powerful brothers from the Franky Family who had come along with Luffy's group shouted.

"Don't worry!" Usopp—or rather, Sogeking—walked up before the giants in his mask. "I know how to deal with these two!"

"You?" The giant Oimo looked at Usopp disdainfully. "I could smash a little runt like you to death with one punch!"

"Wait! We're friends of the giant captains Dorry and Brogy! Don't you want to know what happened to your captains?" Sogeking's voice instantly reached both giants' ears.

"Impossible!" Kashii said in disbelief. "The people of Enies Lobby clearly told us our captains had been locked in prison! They said that if we guarded the gates for a hundred years, they would release our two bosses!"

"Want me to describe Dorry and Brogy's appearances and weapons for you? They're dueling in the garden of the East Blue right now. They're perfectly fine!" The conversation between Sogeking and the giants gave the Marines present a bad feeling.

"Kill those pirates!" At last, a Marine commander could not bear it any longer and directly gave the order, hoping to interrupt their conversation.

But before any Marine could carry out the command, a massive fist came crashing down.

"You actually dared to deceive us!" Oimo and Kashii had still been hesitant, but seeing how nervous the Marines were, they were not fools. They immediately realized they had been tricked. "I'll never forgive you!" The giants' destructive power was displayed in full at that moment. A casual movement sent huge numbers of Marine soldiers flying.

"Sogeking!" Oimo grabbed Usopp in one hand and set him on his shoulder. "Since you know Boss Dorry and Boss Brogy, you must be an incredible person too. Get on us, and we'll carry you inside!"

"Stay close to us!" Kashii roared as his enormous body charged toward the center of Enies Lobby.

"Waaah!" Luffy shouted unhappily. "I want a ride too!"

"Enough, rescuing people is what matters most right now!" Nami said irritably. "Still, I never expected these giants to be connected to Dorry and Brogy, much less that they'd switch sides because of this." Nami had been worried whether this rescue could succeed, but seeing the Marines' immense fighting force so easily turned against them put her somewhat at ease. "Cool Ball, Heat Ball, Thunderbolt Tempo!" A gigantic thundercloud instantly appeared over everyone, and countless bolts of lightning rained down, inflicting massive damage in an instant.

"That attack doesn't distinguish between friend and foe!" Zoro had dodged just in time. He had nearly been struck by lightning.

"Moss-head! How dare you talk about Nami like that!" Sanji kicked at Zoro.

"You wanna die, curlybrow?" Zoro cursed back without yielding.

"Too slow." Luffy apparently felt that this place could not let him fight to his heart's content. "I'm going on ahead!" He stretched out both arms, grabbed a rooftop, and vaulted over.

"He's here." Li Ziming, who had been hiding atop one of the high buildings to watch the show, saw Luffy leap over. "Then I'll go find something to eat. Luffy and Franky are both big eaters." He turned and headed toward the kitchen. "Wait, did I forget something?" Then Li Ziming snapped his fingers again.

"Damn it, where did those huge iron balls come from?!" The two giants and two Sea Kings had been leading the main force forward, but the sudden attack by giant iron balls caught everyone off guard. Then, the very next second, with a boom, every iron ball shattered into a pile of fragments.

"Was that Ming's doing too?" Nami said delightedly. "All right, our obstacles are gone now! Charge!" Everyone's morale surged instantly, and the Marines, despite their numerical advantage, were beaten back again and again.

"Where's Robin?" Luffy jumped onto a rooftop and looked around, searching for any sign of someone.

"Kid, you shouldn't have come here." Bruno's voice rang out. A door opened in the air, and Bruno stepped out through it.

"Do you know where Robin is?" Luffy had no interest whatsoever in listening to him.

"Foolish brat." Bruno did not want to say more either. His feet moved at extreme speed, and he instantly arrived before Luffy. But before he could attack, Luffy punched him flying.

"How is that possible?" Bruno crawled out from the broken wall in disbelief. "He can see the speed of Soru? No, that must have been an accident." Bruno refused to believe anyone could see the speed of Soru. He used Soru again and appeared behind Luffy. "Revolving Door!" He then slapped a palm toward Luffy's head.

But Luffy was just as fast. Without even turning around, he threw a punch and sent Bruno flying again. However, Luffy's face began spinning like a Revolving Door.

"Aaah! What is this thing?!" Luffy shouted in panic.

"My ability lets me open doors in any object. Naturally, your face is no exception." Bruno was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Luffy to truly see through his speed.

"Tekkai: Sai!" Bruno appeared above Luffy, preparing to finish him off directly.

"Waaah!" Luffy let out an exaggerated cry as he dodged the attack. "Whew, it closed." He covered his face with both hands, looking relieved.

"A door that can be opened can naturally be closed." Bruno felt somewhat regretful. He had been so close to taking Luffy down.

Is this guy seriously playing with danger? Li Ziming had actually hidden himself in the shadows. For a moment just now, he had nearly been unable to stop himself from intervening.

"What exactly are you doing this for?" Bruno asked. "Do you know what the flag behind me represents? It represents the united alliance of countless nations across the Grand Line and the Four Seas. Do you think a mere pirate crew like yours can stand against the World Government?"

"Huh?" Luffy picked his nose. "What does that have to do with me? All I know is that you captured my companion, and they want us to save them."

"You really are ignorant." Bruno seemed to have lost interest in continuing the conversation. "You should die here."

"You know?" Luffy suddenly became incomparably serious. "Someone once said that to me. That guy was strong. He could even kill me in an instant, so I was afraid back then. Some of my companions weren't even as strong as me, so I decided I had to become stronger! I want to make sure my companions will never be hurt again! So, to increase my strength, I upgraded my techniques!" Like a sumo wrestler, Luffy planted his legs at ninety-degree angles and placed his hands on his knees.

"Upgraded your techniques?" Bruno frowned.

"Gear shift! Gear Second!" Luffy's entire body turned red, and violent steam billowed from him.

"Steam? Are you a locomotive?" Bruno did not think that would be very useful.

"So this is Gear Second?" Li Ziming watched Luffy's state. "Seeing it live really is the best."

"Gum-Gum!" Luffy raised his left hand straight ahead and held his right fist beside his head.

"You want to aim and fire at me? Go ahead and try if you think you can hit me." Bruno's figure suddenly blurred.

"Jet Pistol!" But before Bruno could use Soru to escape, he had already been sent flying.

"Damn, what just happened?" Li Ziming said in astonishment. The next second, he activated Observation Haki, preparing to closely observe just how fast Luffy's movements had become.

Bruno, still flying through the air, had yet to react when Luffy instantly appeared behind him. "Stamp!"

The tremendous force made Bruno feel as though he had been rammed by a Sea King. The speed was so great that he could not even use Tekkai.

"No! He's using Soru!" Bruno was shocked at that moment. The Six Powers could only be mastered through intense training, yet the man before him had learned to use Soru so quickly. "Air Door!" Bruno swiftly used his ability to hide.

"This speed..." Li Ziming's gaze held a trace of envy. "He really does deserve that protagonist aura. Even with my Observation Haki, I can only see a few afterimages."

"He disappeared?" Luffy stood quietly in place. He did not believe the other man would simply leave.

"Open Door!" Bruno suddenly appeared behind Luffy, his hands ready to activate his ability. But the next second, Luffy vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Bruno.

"Gum-Gum!" Luffy stretched both arms behind him.

"Damn it!" Bruno had already prepared himself. "Tekkai: Steel!"

"Jet Rocket!" The violent impact even caused the air to ripple.

"That's really powerful." Li Ziming watched the scene before him in surprise.

"You're really tough." Luffy looked at Bruno, who was still standing, then brought his hand to his mouth. "Then let me show you something even more interesting."

"That won't be necessary. He's already unconscious." Li Ziming stepped out, walked to Bruno's side, and gave him a light push. Bruno fell over.

"What? I thought I'd get to try out a new move." Luffy looked somewhat dissatisfied.

"Hah, you'll have chances later. This guy is far weaker than that pigeon-raising guy. Later on, you can fight that pigeon-raising guy to your heart's content. Besides, these moves of yours have side effects, right?" Li Ziming took out a large bundle. "This has what you need."

"Meat!" Luffy looked delightedly at the bundle Li Ziming handed him. "Thanks! My body was starting to hurt!" The redness and steam around Luffy vanished, and he began wolfing down the meat.

"Luffy, Robin is up there." Li Ziming pointed toward the top floor of the building.

"Really?" Luffy stuffed the meat into his mouth in one bite. "Robin! We came to get you!"