Chapter 13 East Blue Arc: The Conclusion of the Deadly Battle! A Spear of Blind Determination!

"Prepare yourself." Luffy declared. "This is a big enough foothold. With a foothold this size, I can kick your ass. With the spear blade broken, that's just a bomb on a stick. The power is cut by half."

"You think so?" Krieg mocked. "A bomb on a stick? So what of it? Given the shape you're in, it's more than enough force to blow you away. With your body falling apart like that, whatever you say sounds like just a bluff."

"It's not a bluff." Luffy grinned.

"Just give it up!" Krieg snapped. "The moment you defied me, you signed your death warrant!"

"I"m over here!" Luffy called out, stretched arms reaching up to the broken mast and heaving himself to safety after dodging Krieg's spear.

Krieg snorted and went for the still upright mast, swinging his spear and taking the wooden pillar down. "It's useless!" he barked, burning the piece of wood Luffy had broken off with a flamethrower.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy rained his numerous punches on Krieg's armor.

"Weak!" Krieg taunted, after Luffy's barrage ended. "Your punches are powerless against this wootz Steel Armor. You can't even make a dent in it."

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy charged in, his arm stretched back and slammed a fist straight into Krieg's armor.

"How imprudent!" Krieg blasted Luffy off. "How useless. This armor won't break, even with hundreds of monkey punches."

"I'm think I'm pretty close." Luffy noted.

"I"m right here!" Krieg declared, standing on top of a much taller mast. "Now listen, the ultimate force means the strongest equipment and the strongest power. The strong one is the one who survives."

"Then, it'll be me." Luffy threw himself right back into battle. "Gum-Gum..." he ran up the mast Krieg was standing on, both arms stretched backwards.

"It's useless." Krieg mocked, raising his spear. "Even pride will only get you so far."

"Bazooka!" Luffy charged straight through the dust cloud Krieg created when he swung his spear down and sent Krieg flying back with a thrust from his cupped hands.

"No good." Krieg laughed. "This is all you can do. What?" he looked down at his cracking armor. "The strongest armor is cracking? But it's too late. You're done for, anchor boy."

"It's a trap!" Sanji warned, seeing the bombs dropping into the water. "Get out!"

"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Luffy shot out from the collapsing ship, sending both fists into Krieg's cracking armor, the force shattering the body guard and sending Krieg falling into the sea.

"Aniki!" Sasha shouted, lifting the bubble shield once she deemed it safe. "The sea! The sea!"

"Don't get carried away, brat!" Krieg snapped and released a steel net trapping Luffy in it. "Can you escape? It's a steel net. Below us is the ocean. The game is over, anchor boy. I'm the one getting the last laugh!"

"If I can get my arms and legs out, the game is mine." Luffy grinned, stretching his limbs out from the holes of the net. "This is gonna end it... for sure!" he twisted his legs and grabbed Krieg's neck with them. "Gum-Gum Giant Gavel!" he ended the fight, slamming Krieg onto the restaurant's demolished platform.

"Sanji, please take care of my shoes." Sasha requested, untying her strapped sandals and diving into the ocean to save Luffy from drowning. I suppose it's a good thing I'm a better swimmer than aniki is, even before he ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. She mused. What a troublesome brother I have. She found the unconscious Luffy on a piece of debris and swum back to the surface with her freed sibling in tow. "Can someone help me pull him up?" she asked, reaching the edge of the platform. "Baka aniki..." she snorted, hearing Luffy's snores after Sanji pulled Luffy to the surface.

"I'm the strongest!" the still knocked-out Krieg suddenly stood up. "I win! No one defeats my force! I'll win! Using my force!" he threw his still surviving crew members off of him when they tried to subdue him. "I'm the strongest man!"

"Don Krieg, we lost." Ghin stated, knocking Krieg out with a punch to the stomach. "Let's withdraw gracefully and start afresh. Thanks for everything, Sanji. When he wakes up, please tell him I said I'll see you again in the Grand Line. When I think about it carefully, that's the only thing I want to do. It seems that Don Krieg's ambition became mine as well before I knew it. But this time, I want to do it with my own will, in my own way. The hell with loyalty towards Don. I've been running away using Don Kreig's name as a shield. Once you're resolved, you don't have to think about stupid things like fearing your enemy or how to keep getting hurt. I learned it from that guy."

"Hey, Ghin," Sasha voiced as they loaded Krieg's crew onto the boat the cooks used to grocery shopping. "When you get to the Grand Line, remind Krieg to be careful when facing the 'Inheritors of the Will of D'. What aniki showed today is merely a small fraction of what the 'Inheritors of the Will of D' are capable of."

"The 'Will of D', huh..." Zeff mused after the boat sailed out of sight. "It's been a while since I heard that name."

"And to think," Sasha looked at her dozing brother. "Aniki is the youngest of them."