Red-Haired Wisdom Removes the Mark

Trash? Coward?

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

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

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

Second by second, the sun slowly rose, passed overhead, and then tilted westward. The forest light gradually turned dim and yellow. Birds returned to their nests, and the chill of night began to spread. Twelve hours had passed since Luffy touched Kikoku.

He was already reduced to skin and bones, his cheeks hollow and his eye sockets sunken, 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 feeling of his brain being starved of oxygen grew stronger. Luffy forced himself to empty his mind and recalled the theories Dawn had taught him.

Armament Haki was the power of will... infuse it with the strongest emotion in your heart...

What was my strongest emotion?

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

In his daze, he remembered another dream of his, a wish he had never told anyone about, buried in the deepest part of his heart.

Beside the rock, Dawn suddenly stood. He sensed a mercury-like fluid flowing across Luffy's arm, spreading from his fingertips to cover his entire forearm.

Clang!

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

"I did it!"

The moment the words left his mouth,