"Luffy—!!"
Sanji's roar tore through the lingering smoke and heat.
Where he stood, the scorched ground was radially cracked, and gravel and metal fragments floated and trembled in the violent magnetic field surrounding him.
The once elegantly tailored black suit was now tattered, the fabric clinging to his lean, powerful body.
With his chest heaving violently,
Each breath pulled at the congealed blood scabs, oozing new, hotter crimson.
However, despite his battered body, his aura erupted like a volcano and surged like a tsunami.
A transformative power coursed through him, completely merging with his flesh and bones.
It was no longer the reluctant manipulation from when he first gained the ability, nor the sluggishness of lightning clashing with his body.
At this moment, the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had become an extension of his will, like his years of honed kicking techniques, transforming into an instinctive breath.
"Did you see it?"
His mouth curved into an almost maniacal grin, his golden hair stood on end with static electricity, and tiny sparks danced at the tips.
"This is ten times... no, a hundred times the power from before!"
"Zzz—Boom!!!"
Before his words finished, his tattered figure exploded into a dazzling azure lightning ball at his original spot, instantly crossing space to appear in mid-air.
His right leg was raised high above his head, and an unprecedentedly massive amount of lightning furiously condensed, compressed, and coiled around that slender leg!
The high-frequency vibrating current emitted a sharp shriek like a billion mad birds chirping in unison.
A visible force field distorted the surrounding light.
It was as if he was raising a blade of divine retribution, forged directly from the heavens' thunder, about to strike down.
That sneer incorporated the exhilaration of absolute control over power, and the sharp edge of transformation after experiencing deadly combat and breaking through limits.
"This 'gift'..."
He looked down, his eyes blazing with lightning like the sun.
"You better catch it properly, Captain!"
Before his leg descended, a majestic pressure, like a tangible pool of lightning, enveloped the entire battlefield.
It was ten times the power of the past, and a completely awakened, new form combining "Devil" and "Thunder God"... Luffy looked up, clicking his tongue, his expression one of undisguised disdain.
"Hey, hey, Sanji! You look like... did that rotten lightning fry your brain?"
He picked his ears, as if bothered by the noise of the current.
"Does this Rumble-Rumble Fruit come with 'mania'?"
"The last guy who ate it was just as bad, eyes stuck to the top of their head, really thinking they're the 'center of the world'?"
But the playfulness in his eyes settled into rock-solid focus the moment his words fell.
A circle of air pressure silently exploded at his feet, and the ground beneath him suddenly sank and cracked.
"Don't forget that you owe your progress to me!!"
"Chhh—!!"
He clenched his right fist, and Armament Haki, like living iron, surged from his shoulder, spiraling violently down his arm, tightening!
Each spiral indentation seemed to devour light, and the air was squeezed by the extreme hardness and density, emitting a sharp shriek.
It was no longer simple "hardening," but the twisting of will, conviction, and all power into an indestructible "spear"!
"Explosive Roast Steak!!"
"Serious Punch!!"
Boom!!
The moment fist and foot collided, it was like a meteor striking Earth.
A incandescent pillar of light suddenly pierced the sky, so brilliant it made the sun pale in comparison!
This irresistible energy surged out like a collapsing celestial river, sweeping in all directions with destructive force!
Boom!
Luffy's punch powerfully crushed Sanji's lightning, heavily slamming into his leg.
The annular shockwave from the collision arrived late, carving radial gullies into the ground.
Sanji's body, in its trajectory of flying backward,
Left a gradually dissipating trail of intertwined blue shattered electricity, like a fallen thunderbird.
"Sure enough, I still can't beat you... you monster."
Sanji struggled to prop himself up from the rubble, every muscle screaming in protest.
Blood mixed with sweat streamed from his temples, soaking his already tattered shirt.
He tried to move his fingers, but it only caused a spasm of sharp pain.
—That last heavy punch, imbued with Armament Haki, had almost shattered all the bones in his body.
He gasped, raising his gaze.
The swirling dust ahead slowly settled, revealing the figure sitting on a scorched boulder.
Luffy was propping his chin with his hand, his rubber arms hanging limply by his knees, and a few lingering electric sparks still danced at the brim of his straw hat.
Seeing Sanji look over, he immediately grinned, flashing his signature wide smile:
"Don't be like that! You're super strong!!"
That smile was so bright that it only deepened Sanji's doubts.
He wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth, narrowing his bruised eyes:
"You hit me so hard... it can't just be for training me, can it?"
The air suddenly went quiet for a second.
Luffy's smile froze on his face, his eyes involuntarily drifting to the upper right, and his fingers unconsciously picked at a hole in his knee.
"Eh?"
He uttered a short syllable.
"Stop playing dumb."
Sanji gritted his teeth, supporting himself with his still-functional left leg, his tattered pant leg flapping in the wind.
"That last move,'Serious Punch'... you clearly could have held back thirty percent of your strength, but you deliberately unleashed it all."
He pointed to the terrible bruise on his chest, stretching from his collarbone to his abdomen:
"The angle of this mark, you adjusted your punch path at the last minute, didn't you?"
"To ensure you hit my most vulnerable rib gap—this kind of precise malice isn't like ordinary combat guidance."
"You bastard, you treated me as an opponent, didn't you?!"
Luffy opened his mouth, his expression beneath the shadow of his straw hat beginning to become evasive.
He scratched the back of his head, his rubber fingers messing his hair into a tangled mess.
"Furthermore,"
Sanji staggered forward a step, but stared intently into Luffy's eyes.
"When you said 'Today we're going to fight seriously' before the battle, the corners of your mouth were turned down."
"—That's your sign of desperately trying to hold back laughter. I've been with you for so long, do you think I wouldn't notice?"
Luffy's body visibly stiffened.
"So,"
Sanji took a deep breath, the blood-tinged air stinging his lungs.
"You went to all this trouble, using'special training' as an excuse..."
"Thud."
Luffy slid off the stone and plopped onto the ground.
His entire face was flushed, his lips pursed into a wavy line, and his eyes were wide.
His hands gestured awkwardly in the air a few times, finally clapping over his face with a "pah."
"...I've been found out."
A muffled voice leaked through his fingers.
Sanji stood still, silent for three seconds.
Then he slowly raised his still-functional left hand, trembling as he pointed at the rubber idiot huddled on the ground.
"You fucking—"
Cursing words poured out like a floodgate, a medley of profanities from various languages echoing over the ruins.
Sanji didn't even care about the excruciating pain in his ribs, wishing he could hurl every curse word he had ever learned:
"I knew it! I knew it!"
"What 'Observation Haki pre-cognition training'! 'Armament Haki internal destruction teaching'! 'Devil Fruit awakening guidance'!..."
"It's all bullshit! You just had an itch to fight! You wanted a durable punching bag!"
Luffy peeked through his fingers, softly defending himself:
"But, but Sanji, you really have gotten so much stronger... that spinning kick almost hit my chin just now..."
"Is that the point?!"
"The point is, every bone in my body hurts right now!"
"My internal organs might even be displaced! And you, you bastard—"
Sanji was so angry he almost choked.
"You actually sat on that rock pretending to be profound! Pretending to be a coach after the fight!"
"And 'Don't be like that'—!!"
He mimicked Luffy's tone from earlier, his voice distorted with rage.
Luffy finally lowered his hands, his face a mix of conflicting emotions: "I'm screwed" and "but that was so much fun."
He tried to change the subject:
"Um... Sanji, are you hungry? I'll go catch a Sea Kings..."
"I just want to stew you into rubber soup right now!!"
Above the ruins, the golden-haired chef limped towards his Captain, completely forgetting his pain.
And the straw hat boy, while dodging with "Eh eh eh," couldn't help but laugh again.
In that smile, there was a little guilt, and a whole lot of unconcealed, childish exhilaration.