Chapter 339: Haki Release, Combined Admiral
Boom!!
In this world of One Piece, Haki is definitely one of the most important aspects of combat power in the New World.
Luffy has been taught by Garp since he was young... or you could say, he was beaten into developing a strong resistance to Haki. His talent for understanding Haki is also genius-level. After the two years of training under "Dark King" Rayleigh, Luffy has mastered the use of Armament Haki. But: "Are you trying to get speed beyond the body's limits by accelerating blood flow?"
As the Marine Commandant, Zephyr immediately understood the principle behind Luffy's Gear Second. Luffy, whose skin turned pink and released steam while gaining incredible speed by speeding up his blood flow, had figured out "Soru" on his own. The tall man remained calm.
To others, all they could see was a blur of red light surrounding Zephyr, with no clear afterimage. Only when Luffy was about to attack did Zephyr suddenly 'appear' from the air, followed by a barrage of attacks like a storm from Hayate, crashing toward Zephyr! The clash of Armament Haki created explosions of light so intense that people couldn't look directly at it. The sound of the air being torn apart was horrifying, like wails of ghosts!
"Useless," Zephyr said.
Zephyr may not be known for his speed, and at 74 years old, trying to compete with someone as young as Luffy, who had activated an "acceleration skill," was clearly a losing battle. He couldn't keep up with Luffy, so his best option was to carefully plan his moves.
They say defense is bound to fail eventually, but can reckless attacks last forever? Zephyr only needed to move cleverly, using his large Sea Stone weapon as a shield to block Luffy's punches! Meanwhile, Luffy had to move quickly, looking for weaknesses, while also being wary of the Sea Stone's suppression...
"Kid, if you keep this up, I won't even need to take a step!"
During the intense battle, Zephyr still managed to speak with the tone of a mentor teaching his junior. Since the battle started, he hadn't moved from his spot at all. No matter how many punches and kicks Luffy threw, he couldn't make Zephyr budge.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
The volcanic rocks around them shattered into pieces from Luffy's attacks, yet Zephyr stood in the center, his feet untouched, as if a perfect circle had formed under him.
"Damn it, stop looking down on me, old man!!"
Though Luffy was already considered one of the top fighters in this world's second tier, he was still young and hot-headed. After failing again, he stepped back, canceling Gear Second, and immediately bit his thumb.
"Gear Third!"
Luffy's right fist suddenly inflated to the size of a house, and Armament Haki covered it fully! The entire fist glowed with a black light, a clear sign of high-level Armament Haki in action.
"Gomu Gomu no—"
As Luffy swung his fist, the air twisted and distorted, as if being torn apart by the punch! The punch, covered in Haki, whistled through the air, and the once-solid volcanic rocks beneath him shattered instantly. The ground trembled as if the very earth was shaking!
"You're sacrificing speed for a huge boost in power?"
Facing Luffy's Gear Third attack covered in Armament Haki, Zephyr didn't dodge. Instead, he took a simple stance with his feet firmly planted and held his Sea-Prism Stone weapon in front of Luffy's fist.
"Thunder God Elephant Gun!"
In the next moment, the two punches and the weapon collided without any fancy moves, creating a deafening sound like thunder and tsunami. The shockwave was so strong it caused the air to explode and the ground to howl, as if the world was coming to an end.
At the same time, the residual force of the Haki clash spread out in all directions, devastating everything in its path. The volcanic rocks beneath them cracked into pieces, and the ground shook violently. Soldiers from 'NEOMarine' around the battlefield were caught in the shockwave, vomiting blood and being sent flying. Only those powerful enough managed to shield themselves with their arms from the flying debris, retreating at the same time.
After the attack, a cloud of dust was scattered by the violent collision of Haki, revealing the two combatants. While they seemed evenly matched, Luffy's face suddenly changed!
Just as his fist was about to hit Zephyr, it was stopped by layers of invisible, tough "shields" that blocked his path! Although those "shields" were broken with one punch, when the force hit Zephyr's sea stone weapon, it was only a fraction of the full power.
It looked like Zephyr had taken Luffy's Gear Third punch head-on, but in reality, he cleverly weakened the punch in advance, standing firm without a single step back. Then, he said, "My turn, kid."
After the clash, the two Armament Haki attacks collided and canceled each other out, resulting in a brief pause. In that moment, Zephyr's left hand reached out and created a powerful pull, not giving Luffy enough time to retreat. Immediately after, his right hand, holding the sea stone weapon, pressed down!
A calm but incredibly strong Haki suddenly exploded from Zephyr! It came at Luffy like massive waves, crashing down from above.
The surroundings changed suddenly, twisting and warping, with waves of all sizes overlapping and shaking endlessly, like a distorted underwater world reflected in a stormy sea.
"This is...?"
Facing an attack that seemed to have the power of a Devil Fruit, Luffy felt immense pressure! It wasn't that Zephyr was much stronger than him, but because:
"These are the techniques of Armament Haki being released externally."
Zephyr explained as he kept Luffy under control, "Armament Haki, the ultimate technique. It can block almost all strange Devil Fruit powers. It can also bypass an enemy's powerful defense and strike internally—like this!"
As Zephyr's huge sea stone weapon pressed down on Luffy, his left hand quickly formed a fist and moved to his waist. With a powerful punch, he aimed directly at Luffy!
Boom!!
Luffy was blasted away by a solid punch! It was just a simple punch, like a new recruit from the Doukai army, but it made Luffy clutch his stomach, his face contorting in pain as he opened his mouth, unable to hold back the acid rising from his stomach.
"Cough, cough, cough~~"
"How could this... happen? I had... Haki defense..."
Luffy's Armament Haki was strong enough to defend against mid-tier Warlords of the Sea, like Doflamingo! But against Zephyr's punch, his defense was completely useless, easily bypassed, and the punch hit his internal organs.
Not only that, a calm but unyielding force continued to seep into Luffy's body, corroding his rubbery form, trying to destroy it, suppressing his veins, bones, flesh, and blood—completely wiping out his combat ability!
"If this is all you've got, you won't become Pirate King."
After nearly knocking Luffy out, Zephyr stretched his arm. To be fair, this boy was already very impressive! Even in Zephyr's decades of teaching, he was among the top few. But then Zephyr asked, "You say you want to be Pirate King?"
"That's right, I'm going to find 'One Piece!'"
The greatest strength of Luffy's Gomu Gomu Fruit wasn't just the ability to stretch his body or enlarge it, but the 'resilience' it gave him, allowing him to be as tough as a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
After wiping the corner of his mouth, Luffy once again took an attacking stance, and Zephyr nodded.
"Then, are you ready?"
"Of course!"
Since setting sail, Luffy has always been the one to fight the most dangerous enemies! No matter what the situation, he has never backed down.
"And your companions?"
Zephyr raised his Sea stone weapon in his right hand, and with a loud, ear-piercing sound like a jet engine, the "palm" in his large, rough hand began to spin rapidly in a clockwise direction.
"Smash Storm!"
In the next instant, a metal storm formed by high-explosive bullets fiercely charged toward Luffy!
Tat tat tat tat tat!!! This weapon, developed by Vegapunk, fired bullets with the power of grenades, and combined with a terrifying rate of fire, it was a true killing machine! Of course, compared to that, its weight of a few tons seemed insignificant.
"Do you have the determination to sacrifice your companions to uphold your beliefs, to step over their bodies and keep moving forward?"
Facing Zephyr's second question, Luffy, who was dodging rapidly with Observation Haki, immediately replied without hesitation:
"No sacrifice! Because I will bring my friends with me to get the 'One Piece.' So I have to defeat you!"
"Is that so?"
Is this the extent of your ambition, Straw Hat kid? Then—*click,*
Zephyr aimed his massive Sea King stone weapon at the nearby:
Explosive rocks and the straw hat!
"Now, what will you choose?"
"If I attack the explosive rocks, the volcanic eruption will destroy the town below, including your friends!"
Choose your friends or your dream? "I won't choose," Luffy instantly entered Gear Second and became a flash of light rushing toward the point Zephyr's weapon was aimed at.
"I want both!!!"
Tat tat tat—
Boom!!!
As Luffy sped past, the high-explosive bullets slammed into the "explosive rocks." With a deafening explosion, the entire volcano crater turned into a hell of flames, centered on the explosive rocks' location! The explosive rocks were already incredibly powerful, and they also blew through the volcano beneath them, triggering a magma eruption underground.
A series of explosions rang out, and the entire battlefield truly "shook the earth and mountains!" As the ground cracked open, hot, expanding lava shot out from the cracks, spreading and burning everything that could catch fire.
A true "natural disaster!"
"Hehe, luckily, the hat's fine."
?!
Seeing Luffy wearing the straw hat, Zephyr was stunned for a moment before his anger exploded.
"Straw Hat Kid—"
I misjudged you! *click click click,*
With a series of ground-shaking explosions, a massive, overwhelming force rose from Zephyr's body! This is the new wave they all favored? The man the pigeon praised as the one who could end the "Great Pirate Era"?
Bullshit!! "I'm going to crush you here!"
Zephyr's aura was completely different from before. If before it had been a mix of fighting and "guidance," now it was a full-on deadly battle.
"Sure enough, without the straw hat, you just can't be at ease."
Surrounded by erupting lava, flames, and giant rocks, Luffy and Zephyr stood fearless in the midst of the high heat.
"Next, I just need to defeat the old man."
"At this point, you still—?!"
Zephyr frowned, turning his head, and saw:
"Nami, let's start."
"Okay."
Hovering in the sky beside them, Nami, now back to her normal size, spread the book in her hands and focused on controlling the power from the pages, while Roman calmly pressed his hand to his chest:
"Jacket Pages!"
This was the ability of Kelly Funk, the professional assassin from the Dressrosa Arena, from the Kingdom of Moggalo. It allowed him to transform into a jacket and possess another person or creature. Once possession was successful, he could control them.
Of course, Roman didn't need to control Nami; instead, he used this ability to give Nami extra physical strength and control—after all, Nami right now was like a "glass cannon." She could output storm-level destruction, but her physical body...
Swoosh~~
With the activation of the "Jacket ability," Roman turned into flying white pages, wrapping around Nami's whole body, forming a magnificent Marine Admiral cloak. Nami's eyes flashed with light as she entered "Fusion" state.
"Ice!"
Nami pointed, and a blast of cold air, like a massive wave summoned by Doukai's roar, surged toward the erupting volcano.
As the cold air swept through, the surrounding air quickly spiraled around the chill, forming a massive whirlwind. The air that was affected by the cold instantly liquefied and froze, turning into sparkling snowflakes.
The low pressure of the vacuum state soon created a huge whirlwind, carrying countless swirling snowflakes as it descended upon the volcano, intending to suppress the magma! "River!"
Next, Nami spread her fingers, and from the sky, dark clouds appeared out of nowhere. Water poured down like a waterfall.
With the constant cold swirling around, the temperature on the ground around the volcano dropped to about minus two hundred degrees Celsius, nearing the melting point of many gases. The ground was covered with white frost formed from the air, and as the temperature rose due to the magma, a sizzling sound began.
The extreme cold and heat caused the white frost to turn into flowing liquid, bubbling up, as if water was being poured onto a hot iron plate, or like a highly corrosive acid splashing onto marble, creating a terrifying sight.
"Time!"
With a single downward motion of Nami's hand, a large amount of rainwater fell from the sky, joining this "battlefield" of ice and fire. The water entangled with the underground magma, seemingly at a standoff. But the outcome would be decided in an instant, because:
"Substitute!"
With a tight fist, a flash of white light swept across, ruthlessly pushing through the entire battlefield! Cold, merciless, unstoppable! Crack, crack, crack, crack—
In an instant, the massive raging fire and flowing lava had completely solidified, forming fiery red ice crystals that still retained their fierce, soaring shape. The scene was a magnificent spectacle. Then, this fiery red gradually faded, turning into a large area of clear, transparent, jagged ice.
A volcano that had just started erupting instantly turned into a snow-covered mountain, surrounded by a fierce cold wind!
" Hehe, as you can see, my partners will take care of the other problems. Now then..."
Luffy bit his arm and shouted, "I'm going in, old man!"
In an instant, Luffy's left arm began to swell up like Gear Third! But unlike Gear Third, which mainly focused on increasing strength, this expansion also covered it with Armament Haki, making his arm look like it was full of bulging muscles.
"Gear Fourth!!"
(End of chapter)
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