"So fast!"
The Red Hair's pupils suddenly contracted, and he instantly positioned Gryphon in front of him.
Thump!
Unlike the previous sounds of attack, the Red Hair figure was instantly sent flying backward, tracing a trajectory in the air.
After flying quite a distance, the Red Hair wrapped his Gryphon in Armament Haki and plunged it into the ground.
"Sizzle!"
The friction between the Gryphon and the ground produced bursts of Mars.
Seeing this, the Red Hair was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.
For a moment, he forgot that the hardness of the ground in front of him was far beyond that of ordinary ground.
This made his method of using a knife to deflect the force less feasible.
Without hesitation, the Red Hair the knife in his hand and plunged it into the ground once more.
However, unlike before, Gryphon was now not only shrouded in Armament Haki, but also in Conqueror's Haki.
This time, Gryphon finally sank into the ground as expected. The incredibly hard rock caused the Red Hair to lose his momentum before he could fly very far.
"Phew~"
He pulled out Gryphon, Red Hair his arm, and whispered:
"Wow, that's really powerful! My arm is even a little numb!"
After saying that, Red Hair looked up at Luffy, who was laughing loudly in the distance, and a hint of amazement flashed in his eyes.
He hadn't expected Luffy to be so fast after transforming into Nika Form.
If he hadn't foreseen Luffy's attack using his Observation Haki and hadn't already positioned Gryphon in front of him, he might have been hit directly.
Red Hair brandished his sword, his gaze fixed intently on Luffy ahead, a flicker of excitement in his eyes.
"Interesting. A fruit bearing the name of a god is indeed extraordinary!"
"Now I can finally have some fun!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Red Hair's eyes narrowed, and an extremely strong Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body. Black and red Inazuma coiled around him, making him look like a Demon King king.
"Call out!"
With Red Hair, powerful swing of his right hand, a massive red sword wave shot out from Gryphon, Luffy towards Luffy in the distance.
"!!!"
Feeling the pressure from the red sword wave, Luffy's eyes widened, and then he quickly crouched down.
His entire body flattened out like soft, playdough, and the sword Luffy's cheek before continuing its flight backward.
After Luffy bounced up again, his gaze towards Red Hair filled with seriousness.
This type of Red Hair is the type he least wants to encounter, because even though he transforms into Nika Form, his weakness remains unchanged: slashing attacks.
Therefore, Red Hair ' moves were a bit troublesome for him; he couldn't simply rely on the properties of his Devil Fruit to directly block their attacks as he would with physical attacks.
For example, when fighting Kaido, Kaido's attacks would have a large portion of their power weakened by his Devil Fruit, so the damage he suffered was actually not significant.
But Red Hair ' slashes are different; getting hit by one is no joke.
Looks like we'll have to fight in close combat!
Luffy muttered something under his breath, then darted out with lightning speed.
He had a knack for dealing with swordsmen; melee combat wasn't a big problem for him, but ranged attacks would leave him vulnerable to being kited.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Red Hair unleashed a series of sword strikes, sending Flying Slash Luffy hurtling towards Luffy.
Luffy, on the other hand, kept moving left and right to dodge these Flying Slash.
Seeing this, the Red Hair's lips curled up slightly, and then he suddenly quickened the pace of his sword swing.
In an instant, he unleashed countless slashes.
"!!!"
Seeing the dense barrage of slashes coming towards him, Luffy's expression changed instantly, and his speed increased dramatically as he dodged the incoming attacks.
"Um?!"
Seeing that Luffy was able to dodge his attack even when he increased his speed, Red Hair showed a hint of surprise, but then a cryptic smile appeared on his face.
He slashed the blade in a certain direction.
Just as Luffy dodged one attack, he was shocked to find another attack already in front of him, causing his pupils to shrink in surprise.
At this point, it was unlikely that he could dodge the attack; his speed wasn't fast enough.
However, Luffy quickly calmed down without the slightest panic, and stomped his right foot hard on the ground.
The next moment--
The ground in front of Luffy instantly became as soft as putty, then bounced up, forming an earthen wall that stood between Luffy and the slash.
"Boom!"
The strike hit the earthen wall, producing a loud bang, but it didn't shatter the wall; it only left a mark on it.
A short while later, the earthen wall collapsed and re-embedded into the ground.
Looking at the not-too-deep mark on the ground, a strong light flashed in Luffy's eyes.
If his Devil Fruit ability can affect the ground, then Xia Chen has essentially done him a favor.
After all, the hardness of the rocks on this ground is incomparable to that of ordinary rocks.
This is clearly more advantageous for him!
Thinking of this, Luffy couldn't help but laugh again.
"Hahaha..."
When Red Hair saw Luffy block his attack like that, his eyes narrowed, and he muttered to himself:
"Did the ground also acquire rubber-like properties under the influence of the Devil Fruit's power?"
Before Red Hair could think too much, a glint flashed in his eyes, and with a powerful push of his legs, he immediately left the spot.
The very next second after he left, the ground where he had been standing suddenly sprang up, creating a loud bang as it struck the air.
Seeing that his attack had failed, Luffy shook his head.
" Observation Haki is such a hassle!"
From the battles we've fought so far, Luffy has also realized that Red Hair ' Observation Haki level is superior to his own.
Although Red Hair ' physique isn't as robust as Kaido, the problem is his smaller size, making him a smaller target.
In addition to his powerful Observation Haki, it would be extremely difficult for Luffy to hit him.
"But... that's what makes it interesting!"
Luffy murmured softly, then pushed off with both legs, causing the ground to cave in instantly and propelling him into the air.
He transformed into a blur and instantly charged towards the Red Hair...
--
On the other side, a series of booming sounds also came from where Ben Beckman and Zoro were.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, and a bullet coated with Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki was fired from Beckman's gun.
Slowly, it was just a small bullet, yet it carried immense power.
Sensing the immense power emanating from the bullet, Zoro immediately placed his two swords behind his back, leaped into the air, and slashed towards the shockwave created by the bullet.
"Extreme Tiger Hunt!"