"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Even in the depths of the Underworld, the sounds of flesh colliding echoed continuously.
Loki's cheek was dented from the blow, blood splattered from the corner of his mouth, yet he was still smiling.
The laughter grew louder and louder, mingling with the sound of fists slamming into flesh, like some kind of ritual from hell.
"That's it? That's it? You can't even make me angry!"
Gunko punched him in the ribs, the sound of bones breaking was crisp and piercing.
"That's enough," said Shamrock.
Gunko withdrew his fist and stepped aside expressionlessly.
Shamrock slowly drew his sword.
It was an extremely long knife, its blade gleaming with a cold, silvery light.
The moment the sword was drawn, the surrounding temperature plummeted, exhaled breath turned into white mist, and water vapor on the ground condensed into ice crystals, like shards of glass scattered all over the ground.
His knife began to deform.
The blade melted, then condensed again, finally transforming into a giant ice bird with its wings spread, sending waves of cold air surging in all directions.
The icebird held its head high, its sharp beak open, emitting a silent cry.
A beam of white light pierced through Loki's chest.
No blood spurted out; the wound was frozen the instant the blade pierced it.
Loki's body convulsed, and blood mixed with ice shards gushed from his mouth, dripping onto the ground beneath his feet.
Shamrock sheathed his sword.
"Contact us after you've thought it through."
He turned and walked outside. Gunko glanced back, said nothing, and followed him.
The two figures disappeared into the darkness, one after the other.
Loki's head slowly drooped down.
The large hole in his chest was sealed with ice, and the blood was gradually congealing beneath the ice.
His lips were still moving, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only uttered a few indistinct syllables.
·········
The Upper Realm.
Following the giant wolf's guidance, Luffy and his companions arrived at a dilapidated castle.
The Giant Tribe ' castle walls were ridiculously high; looking up from below, the spires looked like needles stuck in the clouds.
Luffy initially intended to jump over the wall, but he stopped when he reached the corner.
A faint but undeniably present sense of danger emanated from the other side of the wall.
"Who's there?" Luffy called out into the darkness.
A figure emerged from the shadows of the city wall.
The man wasn't much taller than him, but he exuded an intense aura of oppression, each step feeling like a nail being driven into the ground.
Grayish-white hair, old cloth clothes, bare feet.
His face was lined with wrinkles like weathered rock, and his eyes were half-open and half-closed, but those two glints of light peeking out from under his eyelids Luffy's hair stand on end.
"So you're Straw Hat Luffy?" The old man looked him up and down, his tone as if he were picking out fish at a market.
"Yes! Who are you!" Luffy answered confidently.
" Gaban," the old man said, "What's behind this wall is not something you should touch."
Luffy tilted his head. "But I need to go inside to find the key."
Gaban didn't reply.
He took a step forward and disappeared from the spot.
Luffy's Observation Haki went into overdrive and triggered alarms.
He instinctively jumped back, and a gust of wind from a punch grazed his nose, shattering the boulder behind him. The shards of rock struck his back like hailstones.
Wow, so fast!
As soon as Luffy landed, Gaban appeared in front of him, his knee striking Luffy's abdomen.
Luffy was propelled into the air, rising less than five meters before Gaban reappeared above him and slammed him back to the ground with a split kick.
With a loud "boom," Luffy was embedded in the ground, like a thumbtack driven into a wooden board.
"Too slow."
Gaban stood by the pit, one hand behind his back, his tone flat.
"With this level of skill, you think you can become the Pirate King like Roger?"
Luffy climbed out of the crater, his mouth full of dirt, and his left arm was still a little numb.
He shook his hand, looked up at Gaban, and his eyes, instead of dimming, shone even brighter.
"Do you know Roger? Do you know Shanks?" Luffy asked.
Gaban raised an eyebrow. "You're still asking these questions at a time like this?"
Of course!
Luffy activated Gear Fifth, and black and red Inazuma danced wildly around him like uncontrolled snakes.
"I came here to find out about Shanks!"
Gaban stared at him for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
That smile held appreciation, nostalgia, and a faint trace of melancholy.
"Win first, then we'll talk."
Luffy didn't waste any more words. He charged forward.
But three minutes later, he realized that none of his attacks were effective.
In Gear Fifth, his speed far exceeds the range of ordinary Observation Haki, but with each punch, Gaban's body appears in the opposite direction of the attack's landing point.
This is no longer a matter of superiority or inferiority in Observation Haki; it's an absolute crushing defeat in combat experience.
Luffy used every method imaginable, from frontal rubber punches to side kicks, from powerful downward strikes from high altitudes to ground-hugging attacks.
Gaban was like a moving city wall, always blocking his way and never giving him any chance to succeed.
Luffy sent flying by a punch, crashing through two giant trees and landing in a thicket of bushes.
You can't beat me.
Luffy walked towards the direction where Gaban had fallen, his hands behind his back.
"Your Devil Fruit ability is very strong, but your fighting style still relies too much on instinct."
This instinct can help you defeat many opponents, but against truly top-tier fighters, it will only make you die faster.
Luffy emerged from the bushes, half his face swollen, but he had no fatal wounds.
Gaban controlled his strength, each punch causing Jabba excruciating pain, but without truly crippling his fighting ability.
"Then I'll fight too." Luffy readjusted his fighting stance.
Gaban stopped and looked at him.
There was no ulterior motive in this kid's eyes, only a pure desire to keep fighting.
There was no fear, no hesitation, no assessment of their own situation, only a brute force charging forward.
"Okay," Gaban suddenly said.
He turned around, walked to an old tree at the foot of the city wall, took out a huge golden key from a hole in the tree, and threw it to Luffy.
Luffy caught it.
"Take it to the Underworld."
Gaban had his back to him, and his voice was somewhat muffled by the wind.
"But don't die underground."
The world still needs fools like you.
At the same time, the Giants' school was in complete chaos.
Monsters crawling out of the children's nightmares rampaged across the playground. Some looked like spiders with dozens of legs, some like half-rotten sea monsters, and others were simply a cloud of black mist with countless sharp claws extending out.
The giants charged forward, brandishing their swords and axes, but it was as if they had struck thin air.
The monsters' bodies were torn apart and then reformed, making them impossible to kill.
A young giant was pounced on by the monster, and several tentacles instantly wrapped around his arms and legs, which he could not break free from no matter how hard he struggled.
Saul approached the children, intending to wake them and stop them from sleepwalking.
But as he cradled the children in his hands, he was pricked by invisible thorns.