Thump.
Thump, thump.
The drumbeat still echoed.
At the center of the ruins.
White-haired Luffy stood there, the white ribbons around his shoulders and neck fluttering in the wind, the smile on his face never having faded since before.
But the looks in Pizarro and the other two's eyes had completely changed.
Devon climbed out of the rubble and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Shot tightened his grip on his wine jug as well.
Pizarro stared at Luffy for several seconds before baring his teeth.
"Don't treat this brat like the person from before, meow."
Pitch-black Armament Haki gradually covered his claws.
"Kill him!"
Boom!
All three moved at once.
Pizarro was the fastest. His more-than-seven-meter-tall Human-Beast Form crushed the ground beneath him as his enormous body charged straight at Luffy.
His beast claw swept sideways.
Luffy grinned and leaned with the motion, his upper body folding sideways like paper.
Whoosh!
The claw's edge skimmed past his nose.
"Ha ha!"
The other beast claw came crashing down right after it.
Luffy's waist stretched straight backward, his whole body nearly bending into a semicircle as he dodged again.
Pizarro's face darkened.
"Again?!"
His right leg swept out.
Luffy had just been about to twist backward again when his laughter abruptly paused, and his expression changed.
In that instant.
The direction of Pizarro's shoulder turn, where his right foot would land.
Even where that beast claw would retract from next became exceptionally clear in his vision.
Even Luffy was stunned.
He did not know why, but instinctively felt that—striking back now would be just right!
"Hey!"
His body spun violently, his right leg rapidly stretching as Armament Haki covered it in an instant.
The next moment.
Crackle—!
Black-red lightning erupted along his leg.
Pizarro's pupils shrank sharply.
"This—"