Luffy stopped a few meters away, tilting his head to examine Loki, who was tied to the tree root.
Loki, who was bound, slowly raised his head and looked at Luffy who had appeared.
Beneath the bandages, the eerie vertical pupils gleamed in the dim light, like two lamps rising from beneath the tree roots.
"Boy..." His voice was deep and arrogant, as if it had been stuck in his throat for a long time before he finally spoke.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Luffy picked his nose, completely unmoved by Loki's imposing aura, grinning and standing with his hands on his hips, spouting his classic opening line about becoming the Pirate King.
" Pirate King! You?"
Loki's eyelids twitched.
"I am the Sun God of Elbaf, passed down through generations."
Loki puffed out his chest, his face radiating arrogance, as if he were the only one trapped there, not the rest of the world.
"You are talking to a god. Watch your attitude."
Luffy looked at him, paused for two seconds, and then said:
"Then can you tell me where Shanks is?"
Loki's lips twitched.
"Don't you understand the situation? Who do you think you're talking to? I—"
"Where is Shanks?" Luffy took a step forward.
Loki's pupils contracted slightly.
This kid wasn't intimidated by his aura at all.
Ordinary people—even giants—would instinctively take a step back if they stood before him, locked in by his imposing aura.
But the boy in the straw Straw Hat not only didn't back down, but also gave him a "you talk too much nonsense" look.
Loki stared at him for a while, then suddenly laughed.
"Okay. I like straightforward people."
He moved his wrist, and the chains rattled.
"How about we make a deal?"
What transaction?
Go find my keys.
Loki lowered his voice, each word carrying a seductive quality.
"Unlock my chains, and I can help you destroy any pirate crew."
Who do you want to fight? Red Hair? Beasts Pirates? Hachinosu?
Name one, and I'll wipe them out for you.
Luffy's expression remained unchanged.
Where is Shanks?
Loki's smile froze on his face.
"Haven't you understood what I said? I can give you—"
I'm not interested in that kind of thing.
Luffy interrupted him, his eyes unblinking.
"Tell me news about Shanks."
Loki noticed that Luffy kept mentioning who was the culprit who had imprisoned him.
His expression slowly turned cold, like a layer of ice rising from the surface of water.
"Who do you think you're negotiating with?"
He whistled.
The sound was sharp and piercing, echoing through the abyss.
Immediately afterwards, a rustling sound came from the dense forest behind them.
Luffy looked back and saw pairs of eyes shining in the darkness.
Five wild beasts emerged from the depths of the forest, each one enormous.
Giant wolves, giant pythons, giant bears, giant eagles, and a monster covered in bone armor; even the smallest of them was as big as an ordinary Sea Kings.
They formed a circle, surrounding Luffy and Loki in the middle, emitting low rumbling sounds from their throats.
"Now, let's talk again."
Loki tilted his head, a playful glint in his golden, vertical pupils.
"Remember, in the Underworld, I am the sole ruler."
Luffy looked at the five ferocious beasts and suddenly smiled.
That smile carried a hint of nostalgia, as if it were recalling something from long ago.
"It seems I've encountered a similar person before."
Loki frowned. "What?"
Luffy didn't answer.
His eyes changed.
It happened in an instant, but the air in the entire abyss changed.
Black and red Inazuma exploded from Luffy's body.
The Conqueror's Haki surged forth like a landslide and a tsunami, spreading wildly in all directions from Luffy's center.
The air was compressed so hard it made a popping sound, and the gravel on the ground instantly turned into powder.
The pupils of the five ferocious beasts trembled violently at the same time.
The giant wolf was the first to lie down, its front legs buckled, and its head pressed against the ground.
Then came the giant python, its entire body coiled up, its head buried beneath its body, barely daring to breathe loudly.
The giant bear let out a whimper and rolled over, exposing its belly.
The giant eagle fell from the branch to the ground, its wings tightly folded.
The bone-armored monster knelt on all fours, its body trembling like a leaf.
Without exception, all five beast kings submitted.
Loki's pupils contracted.
In the silence, a voice came from the edge of the forest.
"This... this is exactly the same as when Red-Haired Shanks came back then!"
One of Loki's men, terrified by the scene, stumbled out from the shadows and collapsed to the ground, his voice trembling.
Luffy suddenly turned his head. "You guys know Shanks?!"
The subordinate was so frightened by Luffy's gaze that he almost fainted, waving his hands repeatedly:
"No, no, no, I only saw him once from afar—"
" Shanks's here?" Luffy took a step forward.
Loki looked at Luffy's eager expression and suddenly laughed.
"That Red Hair? He's nothing but a coward."
Upon hearing Shanks being insulted, Luffy's body instantly vanished.
Gear Fourth.
The swollen giant fist rapidly magnified in Loki's pupils, black and red Inazuma coiled around the fist, and the entire arm turned dark red.
The force of the punch pressed down first, blasting a large crater into the tree trunk behind Loki, and splinters of wood exploded in all directions like bullets.
Loki tilted his head.
The force of the punch grazed his ear and tore a piece of bark off the tree behind him.
"Tsk." Loki glanced at the large crater behind him, secretly alarmed—if that punch had landed, even someone with his physique would have been injured.
Luffy's fist stopped beside Loki's face, the Conqueror's Haki Inazuma still crackling on his knuckles.
"Just kidding."
Loki dropped his nonchalant expression and said seriously,
"I do know something about Red Hair. But in exchange, you help me find the key, and I'll tell you his whereabouts."
"How about it?!"
Luffy stared at him for a long time.
"If you're lying to me," Luffy said, enunciating each word clearly, "I'll tie you up again."
"Ha." Loki grinned. "Deal."
He whistled into the darkness.
The first giant wolf to submit trotted over and obediently lowered its head.
Luffy climbed onto the wolf's back and glanced back at Loki one last time.
What does a key look like?
"You will know when you reach the upper realm."
Loki's smile disappeared into the shadows of the trees, and his golden vertical pupils gradually dimmed in the darkness.
When Luffy rode the giant wolf back to the upper world, he happened to meet Zoro, Nami, Hajrudin, and others.
" Luffy!" Nami rushed over and, seeing that Luffy was only slightly torn in his clothes and didn't have any serious injuries, breathed a sigh of relief. She then punched him squarely on the head.
"Are you crazy! You jumped without saying a word!"
"Hehe, I'm fine." Luffy chuckled, covering his head.
Hajrudin, leading the New Giant Warrior Pirates, chased after them from the other side of the bridge. Seeing Luffy standing there unharmed, his expression darkened even further.
"What were you doing down there? Did you see Loki?"
"I saw him."