It wasn't until the large expanse of ground below was completely shattered and collapsed that Luffy finally exhausted his stamina.
Whoosh—smack!
Retracting his stretched arms, Luffy snorted two puffs of air from his nostrils and wiped his nose with his thumb, looking smug.
"Hmph! I told you I'd definitely send you flying today!"
"Tch, what's with this idiot? That Lightning Breath from just now isn't something that can be defended against with ordinary means," Sanji couldn't help but scoff.
Luffy landed back on the ground, put his hands on his hips, and shouted, "Because I'm a rubber human, lightning doesn't work on me!"
"Rubber? I see, the Devil Fruit ability grants the body the same insulating properties as rubber..." Sanji was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized, the corners of his mouth curling up instead. "If that's the case, then with a rubber constitution, you should have corresponding weaknesses too."
Hearing this, Luffy nodded very straightforwardly and said, "That's right, my weaknesses are slashes and fire."
Sanji rolled his eyes and glared fiercely, baring his teeth as he roared, "Is that something you just tell your enemy?!"
"Ah! I almost exposed it!" Luffy's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, hurriedly covering his mouth with both hands.
"You already exposed it!!" Sanji roared, baring his teeth in exasperation.
"Seriously, what am I doing, actually having this kind of idiot as an opponent!" Sanji's face darkened. He slapped his forehead with a large hand, feeling his intelligence had been severely insulted.
"Anyway! No matter what, I absolutely won't let this guy leave so easily. If you try to stop me, I'll just beat you up too!" Luffy shouted in a deep voice, glaring angrily at Sanji. Gas erupted from his feet as he burst forward with ultra-high movement speed to charge!
"Tch!" Sanji's eyes flashed with disdain. He raised his leg and delivered a sweeping kick through the air, unleashing countless wind blades!
"Demolition Gust: Flying Squirrel!!"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Countless crimson wind sickles shot out explosively. Scraping across the ground, they easily left smooth slash marks, densely cutting forward!
Facing this massive number of wind sickles, a glint flashed in Luffy's eyes. Pushing his Observation Haki to the limit, he used his agile body to dodge rapidly.
However, before his body could weave through the net of wind sickle attacks, Sanji tapped his toes and launched himself like a cannonball!
Flames wrapped around his entire body, turning into a beam of crimson-gold light that streaked across the ground. Sanji's foot condensed high-temperature flames comparable to magma, radiating a crimson glow.
"Diable Jambe: Poitrine Strike!!"
Sanji, with a cigarette clenched in his mouth, let out an explosive shout. Arriving in front of Luffy, under his shrinking pupils, a spinning flying kick viciously slammed into his chest!
Bang!!
The heavy, powerful kick sank into Luffy's body, caving his entire chest in. The high temperature pierced through his skin to scorch his bones, and fierce flames suddenly erupted!
"Gah—!!"
Luffy's eyes widened. With an expression of agony, he spat out a large mouthful of blood and was sent flying on the spot!
Boom!!!
His body flew backward like a human cannonball, his back plowing a trench over a hundred meters long into the ground, only coming to a halt when the back of his head violently smashed into a broken wall embedded in the earth.
"Cough, cough...!!"
The broken wall shattered into pieces, sending countless rubble flying. Luffy lay on the ground in pain, clutching his chest as he coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood, which splattered onto the ground and seeped into the dirt.
"Your speed is too slow, your strength is too weak, and your combat methods are nothing but simple punches and kicks. Stop joking around, Straw Hat kid. You have absolutely no chance of beating me," Sanji said, glancing at Luffy with a flat tone. He spat out the cigarette in his mouth, spread his legs, bent his knees into a half-squat, and opened his mouth to begin condensing flame energy.
In less than two breaths, a fireball compressed with terrifying high-temperature energy formed. Sanji faced Luffy in the distance, his eyes darkening, and suddenly erupted a pillar of magma from his mouth!
"Blast Breath!!"
Whoosh—!!
The crimson Blast Breath pierced through space, streaking straight across the ground, melting everything in its path to nothingness!
Luffy's pupils dilated. He hurriedly raised his arms to block in front of his face, Armament Haki rapidly covering his entire body.
The next instant.
Boom!!!
The Blast Breath crashed down! It instantly swallowed Luffy's entire body!
Compared to lightning, which was countered by rubber, fire, which naturally countered rubber, was absolutely one of Luffy's fatal weaknesses.
The moment his body was engulfed by the Blast Breath, the Gear Fourth form—which combined Armament Haki and the elastic properties of rubber to grant immense tension—was instantly deactivated. His skin cracked and split under the extreme heat.
Two breaths later, Sanji stopped the Blast Breath, a cluster of residual flames dissipating from his mouth.
As the firelight gradually dimmed, in the large expanse of ruins that had been completely turned into scorched earth, Luffy was covered in severe burns, his eyes rolled back as he completely lost consciousness.
Not far away, Doffy pressed a trembling arm against a boulder, crawling out of the rubble covered in dirt and grime.
"Straw Hat kid...!" Seeing the unconscious Luffy lying in the scorched earth, a dark look flashed across his face. He curled his fingers, releasing five sharp, thin strings from his fingertips.
Just as he was about to dash forward and sever Luffy's head...
Bang!!
A large foot suddenly kicked out violently from the side, sending Doffy flying over a dozen meters away. His body violently crashed into a broken wall before dropping down like a puddle of soft mud.
Doffy gritted his teeth, glaring angrily at Sanji.
"You bastard...!"
"If someone is going to die here today, you don't need to doubt for a second that the first one will absolutely be you," Sanji said in a cold tone, unhurriedly taking a cigarette case out of his pocket.
Taking out a cigarette and clenching it in his mouth, he lowered his head to light it, took a drag, and slowly exhaled a stream of smoke. Sanji turned around and said, "You should learn to be smart, Doffy. Not dying here or being taken away by the Marines is your greatest luck. Come back with me to see Allen."
"Tch!" Doffy gritted his teeth and scoffed. He stood up from the ground and patted the dust off his feathered coat.
Although he was very displeased, there was nothing to refute.
It was true that he had almost died at the hands of the Straw Hat kid. Even if he had luckily survived, that old blind man Fujitora wouldn't have just watched him leave.
"The one who won ended up falling, while the loser gets to survive. Reality truly is cruel..."
Looking up at the clear sky, Doffy slowly spread his arms, letting his body bathe freely in the gentle sunlight, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Fuffuffuffu~ The weak are meat for the strong, survival of the fittest. Only the one who survives to the end is the true victor, Fuhahahaha~"
His arrogant, untamed laughter echoed across the King's Plateau. Doffy shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away with a swaggering stride.
It wasn't until a long while later that three figures hurriedly ran over from the distance.
"How could this happen! Where is that bastard Doffy?!"
"Luffy!"
"Are you okay, Luffy?! Hey, wake up, Luffy!!"
Zoro, Vivi, and Chopper arrived beside Luffy with panicked expressions and knelt down.
"It's a burn! A very severe burn. We need to quickly find a clean place to treat him!" Chopper examined Luffy's injuries, then hurriedly took out the medical kit from his back to prepare for treatment.
Zoro frowned, his expression turning extremely grave. "Burns? Isn't Doflamingo a String-String Fruit user? What exactly happened here?"
"Samurai-ya..." Suddenly, a weak voice came from another pile of rubble not far away.
The three of them whipped their heads around, immediately spotting a pale and extremely weak Law lying in the ruins, struggling to raise a hand toward them.
Zoro immediately ran over and knelt down to help him up, quickly noticing a severed arm lying in a pool of blood nearby.
"Hey! Your arm...!" Zoro looked at Law's mangled shoulder; the wound was a shocking sight.
"It's fine... As long as I recover my stamina... I can reattach it with my ability..."
Law's voice was intermittent, his lips trembling as he spoke weakly, "Hurry and get... your people... leave this place... an Emperor has arrived...!"
"You mean the Demon Lion crew?!" Zoro's expression changed, and he hurriedly pressed, "Wait a minute, did they do all of this too?!"
"Th-That's right... The First Division Commander of the Demon Lion Pirates... defeated Straw Hat-ya and took Doffy away. Don't go... provoke them."
Law replied weakly, using the last of his strength. After speaking, his eyes closed, and unable to hold on any longer, he fainted.
"Hey! Damn it!" Zoro gritted his teeth and quickly supported Law. "We're leaving, Chopper! Let's take them to the sunflower field for treatment first!"
"Got it!"