Red-Haired's Clever Scheme to Remove the Mark

Trash? Coward?

Luffy gritted his teeth. Blood seeped from his gums, but he did not notice.

"I'm not trash! One day, I'm going out to sea and have adventures! I'm going to become the Pirate King! To do that... I have to master even greater power!"

He struggled to his feet. His legs were still shaking, but his hands reached for Kikoku again. The draining sensation returned, fiercer than before.

Second by second, the sun slowly climbed, passed overhead, and began to tilt westward. The light in the Forest gradually turned dim and yellow. Birds returned to their nests, and the chill of night began to spread. Twelve hours had passed since Luffy first touched Kikoku.

He had become skin and bones, his cheeks sunken and his eye sockets hollow, like a living skeleton. His breathing was so faint it was nearly inaudible, yet he still did not let go.

His consciousness began to blur, and the sensation of his brain being starved of oxygen grew stronger. Luffy forced his mind blank and recalled the theory Dawn had taught him.

Armament Haki was the power of will... pour your strongest emotions into it...

What was my strongest emotion?

Luffy was lost. Was it anger? Anger at the bandits? Anger at the people who mocked his dream? Or... something else?

In his haze, he remembered another dream of his, a wish he had never told anyone about, buried deep in the very bottom of his heart.

Beside the rocks, Dawn suddenly rose to his feet. He sensed a mercury-like fluid flowing over Luffy's arm, spreading from his fingertips and covering his entire forearm.

Clang!

Kikoku was pulled from its sheath. Luffy held the sword and turned toward Dawn, forcing a brilliant smile onto his gaunt face.

"I did it!"

The instant