"You have nowhere to go, Monkey D. Luffy…"
Looking at Straw Hat surrounded at the center, Kizaru spoke in his usual drawn-out, lazy tone, as if everything happening was nothing more than a mildly annoying inconvenience—neither serious nor entirely trivial.
"Hahahahaha… nowhere to go?" Luffy couldn't hold back his laughter, the sound echoing across the devastated battlefield. "What made you think I want to run?"
To him, it was nothing but a joke.
From the very beginning, Luffy had no intention of retreating. On the contrary—he had stayed there for this exact moment. He had been waiting and watching, allowing everyone to come to him… so he could crush them one by one.
Especially that old man from the Five Elders.
He was at the top of Luffy's target list.
Hearing those arrogant words, Batis Ackroyd, one of the God's Knights, didn't hesitate for even a second.
His body began to deform grotesquely.
His mouth jutted forward, his skull flattened, and rows of sharp teeth grew into terrifying formations. Scales emerged across his body, and his posture shifted completely.
Wani Wani no Mi, Model: Deinosuchus.
With a heavy thud, he dropped onto all fours, abandoning any trace of human posture. Around his neck, a dark, flaming cloud formed—the unmistakable sign of an Awakened Zoan.
With a deafening roar, the massive crocodile surged forward like a living avalanche. Its jaws opened unnaturally wide, saliva dripping between fangs capable of crushing steel.
It bit down directly on Luffy's head.
Luffy… didn't move.
He didn't dodge. He didn't even try to block.
The white flames surrounding his body suddenly flared, radiating an almost divine light, intense enough to distort the air itself.
"Do you really think a mere Zoan could affect me…?"
BOOM!
The Deinosuchus snapped its jaws shut with full force, swallowing not only Luffy but also a massive chunk of the ground beneath him.
For a brief moment, it looked like victory.
But in the very next second—
A burning smell filled the air.
Black smoke began to seep through the gaps of the crocodile's mouth.
"It's too hot!!!"
Ackroyd screamed in agony, forcing his jaws open as he staggered backward. His massive body rolled across the ground, engulfed in pale flames that clung to him like parasites.
His transformation quickly unraveled, reverting to a partially humanoid state.
Even with the monstrous regeneration of an Awakened Ancient Zoan, his wounds did not heal immediately.
Luffy's flames… were different.
"Ridiculous."
Luffy walked forward calmly, a faint smile on his face, as if everything was nothing more than a game.
Perhaps the enemy had misunderstood.
Perhaps they thought he was just another Awakened Zoan user.
And that was why they had approached him so carelessly.
That… was a fatal mistake.
In the blink of an eye, Luffy moved.
His body wrapped in white flames, his fist coated in advanced Conqueror's Haki, he threw a direct punch.
But at that exact moment—
BOOM!
The ground exploded, and his attack struck empty air.
At the center of a newly formed crater… there was no one.
Luffy slightly raised his gaze.
His Observation Haki had already captured everything.
Not far away, a figure slowly emerged from the ground… as if the earth itself offered no resistance.
He held Ackroyd by the shoulder, pulling him out as though both of them were intangible.
There was no breaking. No digging.
They simply passed through.
"Too reckless, Lloyd…" the knight said, his hoarse voice echoing beneath the bandages covering his face.
"Sorry… brother…"
Ackroyd placed a hand over his mouth, still feeling the unbearable burn of the flames.
The two were brothers.
And that coordination was no coincidence.
The bandaged knight didn't even glance at him. His eyes were fixed solely on Luffy.
"I ate a Paramecia—the Piercing Fruit."
He spoke slowly.
"I can pass through anything."
Before awakening, the ability was limited to his own body.
But now…
"After awakening, anything I touch… can also pass through matter."
That was how he had saved Ackroyd—by making them both intangible to solid matter.
Luffy raised an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued.
"So all God's Knights are Devil Fruit users?"
A paper-based ability.
An Ancient Zoan.
And now… absolute penetration.
Among them all…
This one was undoubtedly the most troublesome.
Before he could continue, Kuma made his move.
Taking a sumo stance, he pushed the air forward with both hands.
The atmosphere condensed, forming enormous translucent bear paws.
Luffy answered with a single punch.
BOOM!
Without even using Armament Haki.
Pure brute force shattered all the bear paws, triggering a massive explosion that shook the battlefield.
At the same time—
A gigantic golden Buddha appeared.
"Luffy!"
It advanced with a crushing blow, its palm descending with overwhelming force.
"Do you really have to announce every attack?" Luffy replied casually. "My Observation Haki already saw it coming."
He struck using the power of the Gura Gura no Mi.
BOOM!
Fist against palm.
Space trembled violently.
The shockwave expanded over a hundred meters, pulverizing the ground as if it were sand.
But a blade of golden light cut through the chaos.
Kizaru's light saber extended, transforming into a colossal blade dozens of meters long.
It came down on Luffy like lightning.
Instantly, the ground beneath Luffy rose, forming a wall of wood controlled by his newly acquired ability.
Upon impact, the wall softened.
It turned into rubber and rebounded the attack.
BOOM!!
Kizaru's own strike was sent back at him.
At the same time, Kuma attacked again.
"Ursus Shock!"
BOOM!!!
Another colossal explosion.
The battlefield descended into absolute chaos.
Smoke, fire, and shockwaves.
At the center of it all, a white figure stood unmoving.
Watching this, Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro spoke coldly:
"No one here can defeat him alone… but together, the outcome is different."
When the smoke finally cleared—
Luffy stood unharmed.
The pale flames still danced around his body like a divine cloak.
He gave a slight nod.
"You're right."
His tone was calm.
"For anyone else… winning this fight would be impossible."
Even a Yonko would eventually be worn down.
But he wasn't "anyone else."
"But that only applies… to ordinary people."
His eyes gleamed.
"I don't get tired. I don't weaken. And I won't lose."
"You can't even touch him…" Ackroyd muttered, his eyes trembling.
The bandaged knight narrowed his eyes.
Without hesitation, he threw a small stone.
The moment it left his fingers—
It pierced through space.
It appeared behind Luffy's head at maximum speed.
But before it could even make contact, it was incinerated.
"…We can't even get close."
The knight understood.
Against this kind of enemy…
There was only one option.
Wait until he exhausted himself.
But Luffy vanished from his position.
His Observation Haki… had been completely nullified.
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Ackroyd.
His hand touched the enemy's head—and in that instant, he activated every one of his abilities simultaneously.
BOOM!!!
---
(End of Chapter)