Fish-Man Island, Gyoncorde Plaza.
"Cough cough..."
A mouthful of blood spurted from Hody's mouth, his body went limp, and he collapsed to his knees.
He struggled to lift his head, looking at Luffy slowly Luffy towards him, his eyes filled with apprehension, even a hint of fear.
Hody struggled to his feet, pulled a handful of Energy Steroids from his pocket, and shoved them into his mouth.
"Ah! Roar!"
The moment he took the drug, countless blood vessels began to bulge from Hody's body, making him look incredibly ferocious.
Luffy watched this scene quietly, a hint of surprise in his eyes, and couldn't help but say something.
"You're really tenacious!"
"..."
After a while, Hody underwent another transformation, growing even larger, and exhaled heavily, laughing loudly:
"This is the will of us Fish-Man! We, who are filled with hatred for humans, can never be defeated by them!"
"But the reality is that your 100,000 men are now less than 30% of their former strength, and your crew's officers are also locked in a fierce battle. Their opponents could easily defeat them; they're just playing with them!"
" Hody, you... have already lost!"
Jinbe walked over and looked at Hody, speaking calmly.
Upon hearing this, Hody narrowed his eyes and scanned the field, finding that the result was indeed as Jinbe had said.
The army of 100,000 men has been reduced to less than half. Zeo and Ikaros have been completely overwhelmed by the enemy and have no chance to fight back. Even after taking the Energy Steroids, the result has not changed at all.
Just like when he faced Luffy, no matter how many Energy Steroids he took, he was still being beaten down by Luffy, even though he felt that his strength had improved a lot.
Seeing this, Hody felt a strong sense of resentment. He wasn't afraid of death; what he feared was not being able to bring pain to humanity, not being able to kill these filthy humans with his own hands!
He now knew they had no chance of winning, but what he couldn't understand was...
"Why is it that even after consuming so many Energy Steroids and gaining so much power, I'm still no match for you?"
Hody stared intently at Luffy, his eyes filled with intense resentment.
"Heh! Power enhanced by external objects is inherently weak; how much strength can it unleash?" Luffy didn't answer; instead, Jinbe said disdainfully.
" Jinbe, no need to talk to him anymore! I need to quickly defeat him. I'm getting a little hungry after fighting for so long. Let's finish this quickly and go back for some snacks!"
Luffy clenched his fist, making a cracking sound.
After saying that, Luffy step by step toward Hody, exuding an incomparably powerful aura.
Feeling the pressure emanating from Luffy, Hody couldn't help but take a few steps back, but immediately stopped.
He knew he couldn't retreat any longer, even though his biological instincts kept telling him that the man in front of him was someone he couldn't defeat.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't even have the courage to fight!
Hody clenched his fist, ready to charge at Luffy, but then a familiar voice came from behind him.
" Jinbe, where are my father and the others? I heard he was kidnapped. Is he alright? Waaaaah..."
"That voice is..." Hody's face lit up with joy. He instantly turned and rushed back.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Jinbe's face contorted with worry as he cried out, " Princess Shirahoshi..."
--
"Hmm~"
"Are you tired? I'm sleepy even if you're not!" Xia Chen couldn't help but stretch.
He looked at Vegito was relentlessly attacking his shield, with a slightly mocking expression.
However, the very next second after Xia Chen finished speaking, Vegito actually stopped attacking his shield and took a few steps back, looking at him with a deep gaze.
Although his face showed no expression, Xia Chen knew he must be feeling helpless and confused!
Sure enough, Vegito said quietly, "Why is your shell so hard?"
"That's all you've got? I've got something even tougher!" Xia Chen said calmly, dispelling the shield around his body.
Vegito:???
The world is going to the dogs! People these days can actually drive a car in front of a robot!
Before he could strongly condemn Xia Chen's behavior, Xia Chen's calm voice reached his ears.
"Here comes the tougher one!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a huge golden rod magnified in Vegito's mechanical eyes, raising several question marks above his head.
Was that big just now?
"Bang!"
In that instant of hesitation, the Jingu Bang slammed heavily into Vegito's defensive shield, producing a dull thud.
"Um??"
Seeing his strike blocked by Vegito's defensive shield again, Xia Chen showed a hint of surprise on his face.
You have to understand that the power of that blow was considerable; even Four Emperors would have no chance of taking it without getting injured!
But Vegito's defensive shield blocked it!
Impressive! That's impressive! Looks like the level of these ancient robots wasn't just hype!
If Xia Chen was surprised, Vegito was horrified.
His defensive shield has an energy bar, and he can see the value of the energy bar in real time. His defensive shield will not disappear until the energy bar is empty.
The strength of an opponent's attack can be judged by the amount of energy the energy bar decreases with each attack.
But what shocked him most was that Xia Chen's attack had actually shattered half of his defensive shield's energy bar.
Doesn't this mean that if another attack like this occurs, his energy shield will be broken?
Even if he can restore the energy of the defensive shield, the problem is that his energy reserves are not high. If he restores it several times, he won't even be able to maintain his lightsaber!
For a moment, Vegito fell into deep thought. Should he gamble that the human couldn't launch such attacks repeatedly and confront him head-on, or should he be more flexible and submit to him?
After a long pause of thought, Vegito's mechanical eyes filled with determination!
Although the human seemed to launch that attack with ease, he wasn't one of those mindless robots. This was definitely a ruse, a deliberate act of feigning nonchalance!
Ha! You think you can fool Grandpa Vegito? No way!
He, Vegito, will never be a slave!!!
Having made up his mind, Vegito decided to go head-to-head with Xia Chen —who's afraid of who!
However...
"I'd like to see just how much your turtle shell can withstand!"
Xia Chen's calm voice rang out, and the Jingu Bang in his hand returned to its normal size, then emitted a dazzling golden light.
At the same time, an incomparably powerful aura emanated from Xia Chen's body, pushing aside all the surrounding seawater and forming a spherical hollow area with a diameter of several hundred meters.
At this moment, Xia Chen was bathed in golden light, as if a god had descended to earth...
His gaze towards Vegito was indifferent as he spoke, "Are you ready?"
Vegito:???