Soon, the center of the deck became a temporary training ground.
Luffy did not use his Devil Fruit abilities. Purely using his body, he wrapped his limbs in black-red Busoshoku Haki and collided hard with Zoro's arms, which were also covered in pitch-black Haki.
BOOM!
A dull impact sounded. An invisible wave of air spread outward from the two of them, blowing the hair of Usopp and Chopper, who were watching from the sidelines, every which way.
"S-So amazing!" Chopper clung to Usopp's leg, his eyes sparkling.
"This is a real man's romance!"
Franky struck his signature pose. "Super——!"
After the collision, the two quickly separated, then engaged again at even greater speed.
Fists, arms, and occasional hand-blade chops from Zoro—every clash of Haki against Haki unleashes stunning bursts of energy.
Luffy waved Brook over. "Come on, join in."
Brook had been watching for a moment. Unable to resist, he drew his Soul Solid. "Then this one will join as well! Yoake Kyoku: Choku Kansen!"
"Brook, you can't use Busoshoku Haki yet. You'll need to get hit a few times."
Luffy laughed, his body shifting. While responding to Zoro's onslaught, he threw a reverse punch that precisely struck the spine of Brook's sword, knocking it aside.
"Yohohoho! Even if I'm just bones, that still hurts."
The fight grew more intense, attracting more participants.
Vivi called out, "Luffy, watch out."
She swirled with wind, using her Fū Fū no Mi abilities to interfere with Luffy's movements.
Nika, meanwhile, yawned, looking bored.
Luffy shouted, "Don't slack off either. Get up and train."
Nika tried to argue, but one look from Luffy made her give in. She also joined the fray. In her white tanuki form, her strength was amazing. She swung a paw at Luffy, who steadily blocked it with his Haki-hardened arm.
"Everyone has gotten so strong." Usopp watched the several figures on the field, who had practically turned into blurs, and murmured to himself.
He also desires to become stronger, but this kind of close-quarters Haki brawl was not his domain.
He really should focus on honing his Kenbunshoku Haki instead.
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that this chaotic yet efficient morning workout came to a temporary halt when Luffy called for a stop, still wanting more.
Everyone was drenched in sweat, but their eyes were extraordinarily bright. Especially Zoro—though he had a few new bruises on his body, he seemed to have gained some new insights into the application of Haki.
Everyone prepared to rest. Sanji was already shouting that he was going to prepare lunch to replenish their energy.
From the lookout atop the mast came Merry's clear and urgent shout:
"Everyone! I see ships! It looks like the Navy is chasing some pirates!"
Everyone's gaze instantly turned toward the distance.
Luffy dashed to the bow in a few steps, put a hand over his eyes, and looked out. On the horizon, two small black dots appeared one ahead, one behind. The front ship looked smaller. The one behind was a standard Navy warship, with cannon fire occasionally flashing as it attacked the ship in front.
"What's the situation? Merry, can you make out the pirate flag?" Luffy called out loudly.
Merry stood on tiptoe, straining to see. "Mm! It's a red-lipped skull. And the skull seems to be... eating pizza?"
"A red-lipped skull eating pizza?"
Luffy stroked his chin, his eyes lighting up. "If a skull wants to eat pizza, maybe we're kindred spirits!"
A pirate crew's Jolly Roger often represents the captain's characteristics. If the skull was eating pizza, maybe the captain was also a food lover.
"It seems to be a pirate crew we haven't seen before." Luffy looked at Vivi. "Vivi, do you know them?"
Vivi walked over to Luffy's side, peered into the distance, and shook her head.
"With just that flag, there's too little information. I can't tell which crew it is."
There were countless pirates on this sea. Unless it was a highly iconic flag like the Straw Hats' or one of the Emperors', it was hard to identify.
Robin also stood up and walked to the ship's railing. Her tone was calm as she asked, "What should we do? Do we get involved?"
The current situation was that a Navy warship was chasing a pirate ship.
On the sea, unless necessary, most ships didn't want to proactively provoke the Navy. But if the other ship came toward them, or if the situation was special, that was another matter.
At that moment, the two ships seemed to have also noticed the large, uniquely shaped Thousand Sunny and Going Merry. They adjusted their course slightly and were heading directly toward them.
Luffy pressed down on the straw hat on his head and grinned. "Looks like we can't avoid them even if we wanted to. Get ready for battle!"
A naval battle was about to begin.
Not a single person on the ship showed any fear. Instead, everyone's face bore an eager expression.
One after another, defeating strong enemies had greatly boosted the Straw Hat crew's confidence.
Their captain was now called the Fifth Emperor.
"Yohohoho! Has my time to perform finally come?"
Usopp rubbed his hands together excitedly and shouted, "Let me fire the first shot! I want to test my newly formulated Usopp Special Gunpowder!"
"Super Idea!"
Franky immediately agreed, striking his classic pose. "The Franky Destruction Cannon we built into the Thousand Sunny still hasn't had a chance to be used! And the little cuties we newly installed on the Going Merry—they need to see the light of day too!"
"Then let's do it!"
Luffy waved his hand grandly. "Fire a few shots to test the situation. Say hello!"
Usopp and Franky dashed happily toward their respective gun positions.
Merry also excitedly raised her small hand. With a flash of Ruri Coating, she transformed back into her cool, pretty girly form and volunteered, "I want to try too! I can control Ruri Coating to make the cannonballs' trajectories more stable!"
Ruri Cannon?
Luffy said, "Go ahead. Vivi, keep an eye on Merry and make sure she doesn't get too excited and turn the cannon barrels into Liuli."
Vivi agreed, "Leave it to me."
She walked over to Merry's side.
Everyone quickly got into position, adjusting the cannon aims. A pre-battle excitement filled the air on the ship.
Luffy watched his crewmates bustling about and the polished cannon barrels. He felt a bit itchy himself. He murmured quietly, "Come to think of it, I've been out to sea for so long, but I've hardly had a chance to personally direct the firing cannons."
"Oh? Haven't you?"
Robin had somehow walked up beside him. Hearing his murmur, the corners of her lips curved into a dark arc. "You're lying."
Her gaze pointedly glanced at Luffy, then slowly looked away.
Luffy's mouth twitched. He instantly remembered the unique artillery guidance session in the Going Merry's dormitory last night.
Well, actually, now that he thought about it...
But this woman Robin was just too mean.
Seeing that no one nearby was paying attention, he couldn't resist reaching out and squeezing Robin's cool palm.
Robin let him squeeze, a doting smile on her face. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she said, "Ah, that's right. I recall that in the Going Merry's storage room, there's an even older cannon that's been sitting unused."
***
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