Final Chapter (Twenty-Two)

Luffy and Joy Boy's battle continued. But Joy Boy no longer treated Luffy like an enemy. On the contrary, he was like an elder guiding a junior who had inherited his will!

Although Joy Boy's attacks were powerful and heavy, he had no intention of hurting Luffy. Every strike seemed to deepen Luffy's understanding of how to develop this fruit! If anyone in this world understood the Rubber-Rubber Fruit best, it was undoubtedly Joy Boy! He had once become the pinnacle of power in this world through the awakened Rubber-Rubber Fruit! Though Luffy had also developed this Devil Fruit to its awakened form, he was still far too inexperienced compared to Joy Boy of the past!

Luffy had not noticed that his understanding of his Nika Fruit was slowly improving. The only thing he noticed was that the giant fighting him was gradually weakening. At first, a single punch from his opponent had knocked him flat, but now he could barely exchange over a dozen moves with him. Perhaps Luffy's deeper understanding of the Nika Fruit played a part, but the most important reason was that Joy Boy's awakened soul power was rapidly weakening this body!

There were not many World Government soldiers left, and the Five Elders were beginning to panic! This war had drained every last bit of their reserves. Even the King of Heaven had entered the battlefield. They had originally succeeded in putting Imu into slumber, and they had been only one final step away from becoming eternal kings! Yet they had never imagined the gap between the World Government and the Pirate Alliance would be so enormous!

The World Government's Admiral level agents had suffered devastating casualties. Of the nineteen kings, only four still possessed the strength to fight. The four Five Elders themselves had