THUMP! THUMP!
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
His heart beat like a war drum, carrying the freest fighting style in the world. At this moment, the will of a man from eight hundred years ago had awakened inside Luffy.
Perhaps he could no longer be called Luffy.
He was…
Joy Boy.
CRACKLE!
Black-and-red lightning erupted across the sky, spreading in every direction as overwhelming Conqueror's Haki swallowed the surrounding area, crashing violently against Kojin's own aura.
BOOOOM!
A deep explosion rolled through the heavens as lightning twisted across the sky.
Kojin narrowed his eyes slightly, studying the figure in front of him with growing gravity. He had no way of knowing just how powerful this legendary will from eight hundred years ago had once been, but the Conqueror's Haki surging from Luffy right now had instantly pushed his presence to an entirely different level.
"This is the freest power there is!" Luffy grinned. "With it, I can do anything in the world!"
It was a confident, domineering smile, the smile of someone who believed he would never lose to anyone, who truly believed himself to be the strongest in the world.
"Is that so?" Kojin smiled. "Then show me."
He stretched out his right hand. Lightning crackled and gathered, forming an enormous spear twenty to thirty meters long, its surface covered in intricate patterns.
Kojin gripped the weapon, his eyes widening. "Spear of Longinus!"
With a shout, he slowly raised his arm, his entire body bending backward like a drawn bow.
Then, he snapped forward.
The Spear of Longinus erupted with brilliant black-and-red lightning as Kojin hurled it with all his strength.
WHOOSH!
Sparks and lightning filled the air as the space around the weapon distorted beneath its sheer force. The spear became a streak of blinding light, appearing directly in front of Luffy's forehead in an instant.
"Hahahahaha!"
Luffy suddenly burst out laughing, a red gleam flashing through his eyes. When the lightning spear was barely a meter away, he raised his right hand,
And caught it.
BUZZ!
The spear had been moving as fast as lightning itself, heavily infused with Conqueror's Haki. Yet Luffy held it firmly in a single hand. It couldn't move another inch.
"Here!" Luffy laughed. "Take it back!"
His waist suddenly twisted around like a rope, coiling several times before snapping back. The force traveled through his body like a compressed spring, building layer by layer until it reached his right arm.
And then, unbelievably, Luffy threw the lightning spear right back.
WHOOSH!
The Spear of Longinus tore back toward Kojin, leaving a brilliant trail of electricity through the air. It was terrifyingly fast, appearing in front of him in practically an instant.
Kojin merely smiled. He didn't dodge, allowing the spear to pierce straight through his forehead.
Yet the moment it passed through him, the entire lightning spear rapidly broke apart into countless electrical arcs that flowed right back into Kojin's body, merging with him.
"A god who controls lightning?" Luffy paused in surprise.
Then he laughed again and bent his knees slightly. As his legs compressed, the ground beneath his feet visibly changed, rippling and bouncing like rubber to give him an enormous burst of additional force.
His legs suddenly spun like wheels, sending him taking off across the ground at incredible speed.
DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!
The drums pounded heavily, Luffy's heart beating so hard it seemed ready to leap straight out of his chest. He launched himself high into the air, rising nearly a hundred meters above Kojin before swinging his fist downward.
The moment his right arm moved, it rapidly expanded.
Bigger.
And bigger.
Dense Conqueror's Haki coated the massive fist as black-and-red lightning crackled across it.
Kojin raised a hand and spread his fingers.
CRACKLE!
Lightning erupted upward, gathering into a massive pillar dozens of meters wide. It shot toward the sky and slammed head-on into Luffy's descending fist.
BOOM!
The collision produced a tremendous shockwave, but only for an instant. The giant fist smashed straight through the lightning pillar and continued crashing downward.
"So he's a natural counter to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit…" Kojin murmured.
He looked up at the enormous fist descending from above, and the lightning surrounding his body abruptly faded. The ribbon behind him vanished as well.
Sun God Nika possessed the power of rubber, he could even physically grab lightning. Electricity simply couldn't affect him. In that sense, he really was Kojin's natural enemy. No matter how high Kojin raised the voltage, it wouldn't cause Luffy any real damage.
Mythical Zoans truly were abnormalities, even among Devil Fruits.
"Luffy's ability naturally counters the Rumble-Rumble Fruit…" Rayleigh murmured as he slowly climbed back to his feet.
Then he hesitated. "Wait… is that still Luffy?"
He watched the battle with a grave expression. This was something he never could have imagined.
With his own strength, there was no way Rayleigh could overcome Kojin anymore. Age had weakened him, and unlike certain monsters in this world, he possessed no extraordinary bloodline or physical advantages to compensate. His aging body simply couldn't sustain such an intense, high-speed battle for long. No matter how refined his Haki was, defeat had become unavoidable.
Yet the boy he had taken an interest in had suddenly undergone this unbelievable transformation.
"So he stopped using the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?" Rayleigh murmured to himself. "Of course. Against the Gum-Gum Fruit, lightning won't do anything anyway."
He watched as every trace of electricity disappeared from Kojin's body and his awakened form dissolved.
"But if he gives up the boost from his awakening, what is he going to rely on in this fight?"
The strange version of Luffy standing before them had clearly mastered all three types of Haki. Not only that, he could use Conqueror's Haki infusion as well. Combined with the sudden surge in power from his rubber Devil Fruit abilities, his actual combat strength had likely already reached the absolute top tier of this world.
"He's surpassed me already…" Rayleigh sighed.
If he were a few years younger, perhaps he could still have fought him. But at his age, even Rayleigh had to admit the truth. How many people in this world could grow old and still maintain their peak strength?
"Whitebeard is one," he thought. "And Garp… I suppose he counts too."
As the battle continued, Rayleigh found himself reflecting on his own age. Yet he didn't feel frustrated or saddened by his defeat at Kojin's hands. Everyone grew old eventually; that was simply the natural order of things. Which was exactly why the younger generation existed, to inherit the spirit and will of those who came before them.
Then Rayleigh's pupils suddenly contracted. "What is that?!"
Kojin had already dismissed the signs of his previous awakening, including the purple ribbon behind him, but his body suddenly trembled once more.
From somewhere in the air came the faint sound of crashing waves as a black ribbon materialized behind Kojin's neck.
At the same time, his skin rapidly darkened, becoming tougher and more resilient. His three-meter frame expanded, reaching nearly nine meters tall in the blink of an eye and turning him into something resembling a small giant.
Black markings spread across his rugged face. His forehead became more pronounced, while his arms and legs thickened dramatically, every line of muscle standing out in sharp definition.
Then, the skin across his back stretched apart as a pair of pitch-black wings emerged. Dark, fluid-like flames curled around his body, giving him an eerie and imposing presence.
"If lightning doesn't work on you…" Kojin raised his head and grinned. "Then I'll just use something else."
Zoan.
Mythical Zoan.
Model: Kunpeng.
Awakening.
This was an entirely new form for Kojin, a power he had never displayed before. Unlike his lightning awakening, this form focused far more heavily on physical strength, speed, and raw durability.
"A second Devil Fruit awakening…?" Rayleigh drew in a slow breath, the shock in his eyes impossible to hide.
At that moment, his understanding of Kojin completely changed.
He had trained all three types of Haki to the highest level. He possessed two Devil Fruit powers. And he had awakened both of them.
Calling him a monster wasn't enough anymore, he was a monster among monsters. Rayleigh couldn't even imagine who in this world could defeat someone like that in a one-on-one fight.
While Rayleigh was still stunned, Kojin clenched his fist. Black-and-red lightning erupted around it, leaving thin trails through the air, and he punched upward.
BOOM!
The two fists collided, sending shockwaves rippling outward in every direction. The ground beneath Kojin shattered inch by inch, while the surrounding air distorted into a turbulent gale that let out strange howling sounds.
The fallen Straw Hats were swept up by the impact and thrown even farther away.
Rayleigh raised an arm against the violent wind and narrowed his eyes at the clash. He could see it clearly: their fists had never actually touched. They were colliding through the sheer force of their Haki alone.
"Infusing Conqueror's Haki to this extent… they've pushed it to the absolute limit. Kojin being able to do that makes sense, but Luffy… what the hell happened to him?"
Rayleigh still couldn't comprehend Luffy's current state.
Black-and-red lightning continued exploding around the two fighters, spreading farther and farther across the battlefield.
Luffy gave a shout and pulled his fist back.
Kojin looked up. The sky behind Luffy had changed color, black and red covered the heavens, while the clouds overhead had split wide open, leaving a massive gap straight through the middle.
When two overwhelming Conqueror's Haki users clashed, the sky itself split. By now, that much was common knowledge.
"You really are a troublesome guy," Luffy spoke in a low voice. "Show me everything you've got."
Kojin smiled. "You won't have much time."
A dark look flashed through Luffy's eyes. Kojin was right, this awakening wouldn't last long. After all, he was already dead. What had manifested now was nothing more than a remnant of his old will, temporarily reawakening inside another person.
Under normal circumstances, something like this shouldn't have been possible at all.
The next moment, Luffy slowly landed on the ground, his eyes widening as brilliant arcs of Haki lightning erupted all around him.
He suddenly plunged both hands into the earth.
With a violent pull,
RUMBLE!
The ground itself turned into rubber. Luffy ripped up a massive section of the earth and flipped it over, sending it crashing down toward Kojin like a giant wave.
"That won't work on me, Joy Boy," Kojin said with a calm smile.
He drew back his right fist and punched.
BOOM!
The overwhelming force shattered the massive slab of rubberized earth above him. Through the exploding debris, Luffy came charging forward with a huge grin, both fists already swinging.
Kojin froze for the briefest instant before his own grin widened, fighting spirit surging in his eyes. He launched himself upward to meet him.
"Then let's settle this face-to-face!"
(End of Chapter)
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