Seeing Luffy in this form, Zephyr's eyes widened. They were filled with shock and confusion.
"Is this Life Return? No! It's an awakened form of a Devil Fruit?! How could a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit have a form like this?"
What surprised him even more was that as Luffy's form changed, the sinking, broken ship beneath them—the parts his body touched—also began to twist like rubber. The speed at which it was sinking visibly slowed!
Was this directly affecting the environment?
That really was the power of a Paramecia-type awakening.
Zephyr was completely confused.
"Gomu Gomu no White: Ryūsei!"
Luffy didn't care about Zephyr's shock. After entering Gear Fifth, his attacks became even more unrestrained.
He laughed as he threw a punch. His arm extended at an incredible angle and speed, his fist like a meteor crashing toward Zephyr.
Zephyr instinctively raised his prosthetic arm, wrapping it in Ryuo-level Busoshoku Haki, and collided with the white fist.
BOOM!
At the moment of impact, what was generated was no longer simple air pressure, but a terrifying halo mixing black-red lightning and white impact. It rapidly expanded outward, pressing down the surrounding sea surface!
Veins bulged on Zephyr's forehead and arms. He gritted his teeth.
Luffy's other fist also came from the side.
Zephyr had no choice. He threw both fists, fiercely clashing with Luffy's fists, which contained terrifying power.
They were locked in a stalemate!
His feet carved two deep furrows in the now rubberized deck.
The ultimate power of Haki and Devil Fruit clashed wildly. Both sides' stamina was draining at an alarming rate.
But it was clear that Luffy, now in Gear Fifth and fighting more fiercely than ever, was gradually gaining the upper hand!
"Your strength is fading."
Luffy suddenly put in more force. His fists turned into countless afterimages. Zephyr, after all, was old and frail, with chronic ailments. His defense was forcibly broken. He was sent flying again, collapsing the last somewhat intact section of the ship's railing.
"Gomu Gomu no White: Gatling Gun!!"
Luffy pressed his advantage, jumping into the air. His arms turned into countless huge white fists, pouring down like a storm, covering the entire area where Zephyr was!
Zephyr could only curl up and defend, pushing Tekkai and Busoshoku Haki to their limits, enduring the dense rain of blows.
What made him even more frustrated was that Luffy's attacks were not only powerful but, with the help of rubber catapults and the terrain, his fists would bounce back from all directions at all kinds of weird angles.
Impossible to defend against!
THUD THUD THUD!!
The broken hull completely disintegrated under this crazy assault. Countless fragments flew everywhere.
Zephyr was like a small boat in a storm, struggling to hold on. The light of his Haki flickered uncertainly under the sustained blow.
However, Zephyr was, after all, a battle-hardened veteran, not one to simply take a beating.
At the moment when Luffy's offensive took a break and he tried to close in for a decisive blow, a flash of red light appeared in Zephyr's pupils. He seized that fleeting opening and finally broke free from the suffocating blockade of fist shadows!
"Don't get too cocky, brat!"
Zephyr roared, suppressing the metallic taste rising in his throat and his breathing. He condensed his remaining Haki and his lifelong fighting spirit into his left fist, throwing out a flurry of fist shadows like a raging storm as well!
THUD THUD THUD THUD!
Their fists collided in mid-air again, so fast that only countless afterimages and the shock ripples and black-red lightning that exploded with each clash could be seen.
Neither retreated. On the wreckage of the sinking ship, they engaged in their final, most fierce confrontation!
On that stretch of sea, thunderous roars echoed continuously. The aftermath of the battle kicked up huge waves.
Meanwhile, near the Thousand Sunny, the main force of Zephyr's Marine Ranger Corps finally arrived, attempting to surround them.
"Looks like we can't just watch anymore." Sanji tossed away his cigarette butt.
"Hmph. No matter how many small fries come, they're still small fries."
Zoro bit down on Wado Ichimonji and slowly drew Kitetsu and Shusui from his waist, assuming his three-sword style stance.
Usopp shouted, "Leave the next battle to us! Usopp-sama is about to show his power!"
Chopper also took a Rumble Ball and entered his enhanced form.
"Super! Let them taste the power of the Franky Shogun—ah no, the Thousand Sunny's firepower!" Franky controls the ship's weapons systems.
Vivi raised both hands. Air currents surged. Robin also raised her hands. They were both Devil Fruit users.
"S-So amazing." Bonney murmured to herself.
Watching the Straw Hat crew instantly enter combat mode, each with their own role, working in unison like a precision machine, her eyes widened.
She had originally thought that Straw Hat's crew was only exceptional because their captain, Luffy, was ridiculously strong. But now she saw that the entire team's strength and coordination were terrifyingly high!
Several of them were ability users, too. And that Alabasta princess—she wasn't a hostage, but a powerful Logia-type user!
"What kind of background do these guys have?"
Bonney felt that her understanding of the Supernovas had been completely refreshed.
The Navy warships tried to close in, but faced with the Straw Hats' tacit cooperation and overwhelming strength, they couldn't effectively board.
Sanji and Zoro the so-called Wings of the King—moved like ghosts, clearing out any enemies who tried to board.
Usopp's long-range sniping and Chopper's monstrous strength dealt with mid-range threats. Franky's suppressive fire kept the enemies' heads down.
And then there were the Devil Fruit abilities that appeared from time to time.
However, seeing that they couldn't get close, the distant Navy warships, under the command of the adjutant Ain, changed tactics. All their cannons turned and aimed at the Thousand Sunny!
"All units! VOLLEY FIRE!!"
Ain gave the order through gritted teeth. She couldn't just watch her teacher fight alone.
KABOOOOM!!
Dozens of heavy cannons roared simultaneously. A overwhelming barrage of cannonballs tore across the sky, carrying the shriek of death, like a dark cloud descending upon the Thousand Sunny!
That intensive barrage seemed intent on tearing the ship apart, along with this entire stretch of sea.
This was the threat of the Navy's cannon fire.
"This is bad!"
Bonney's face changed. Against a barrage of this scale, no matter how strong the individual Straw Hats were, if the ship was destroyed, it was over.
She instinctively wanted to use her ability to do something.
Just then, a familiar, energetic voice echoed across the sea:
"Gomu Gomu no... HAKU!"
Luffy, who had just finished his fierce battle with Zephyr, had somehow already landed firmly on the bow of the Thousand Sunny.
His right hand expanded into a giant's fist, then contracted. Black-red Haoshoku lightning and white flame clouds intertwined wildly. Then, toward that deadly barrage, he threw a outrageous punch!
KABOOOOOM!!
A huge shock wave, far larger in diameter than before, mixed with the power of Haoshoku Infusion, like a shock wave piercing heaven and earth, collided with the barrage.
Instant annihilation!
All the cannonballs, the moment they touched the black-red shock wave, vanished without a trace, like snow meeting the blazing sun!
The shock wave continued, carving a deep trench in the sea surface, destroying the sails and parts of the superstructure of several distant Navy warships as well.
The sea fell silent.
Luffy landed steadily on the deck and brushed off his hands.
"Everyone! The obstacles are cleared! Set sail. We're leaving!"
"Huh?"
Bonney stared blankly at Luffy, then looked at the naval fleet in disarray in the distance, and at her own almost completely destroyed ship.
Her brain couldn't quite process it.
She quickly rushed to the ship's railing and looked back anxiously. "Hey! Straw Hat! What about Zephyr?"
Luffy pointed to several large wooden planks floating on the distant sea surface, and a burly but now somewhat hunched figure being hurriedly rescued by Navy ships. He said casually:
"He's an old man with asthma. He couldn't catch his breath halfway through the fight."
At his age, with his pension, why was he risking his life?
...
On the other side, Zephyr, who had been desperately rescued by Ain and his men onto a lifeboat, coughed violently. His face was an unhealthy shade of purple.
He removed his broken glasses with difficulty and looked toward the direction the Thousand Sunny had sailed, his gaze complicated.
No matter how strong Haki was, humans were, after all, humans—flesh and blood.
Aside from real monsters like Garp and Whitebeard, who possessed an almost inhuman physique, no matter how powerful a normal person was, age and illness would eat away at them relentlessly.
Zephyr, after all, was merely a twilight old man who had dedicated his entire life to justice and was now plagued by illness and pain.
The high-intensity battle with Luffy especially withstanding the Onslaught of Gear Fifth in the final stage had greatly consumed his stamina and energy. He was already an old man with asthma. If Luffy hadn't noticed his condition at the critical moment and deliberately restrained his strength one could even say he intentionally ended the fight Zephyr's state would probably be much, perhaps worse even life-threatening.
"Sensei! Quick, oxygen!"
Ain hurriedly pressed a portable oxygen mask to Zephyr's mouth and nose.
Zephyr grabbed the mask, greedily gasping for breath. Only after several deep breaths did his violently heaving chest—which looked like it might burst at any moment—calm slightly.
He leaned against the boat's railing, removed the oxygen mask, and closed his eyes tiredly.
After a long while, looking at the gradually calm sea level, he let out a deep sigh:
"What a terrifying brat."
He really had learned Haoshoku Infusion.
...
Far from that chaotic sea area, the Thousand Sunny sailed on gradually calm sea.
On the deck, the Straw Hat crew's attention was focused on the new passenger—Jewelry Bonney.
After the thrilling battle just now and Luffy's overwhelming performance, Bonney and her crew couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous under the scrutiny of the Straw Hats.
Bonney's heart was extremely unsettled. She had originally thought Luffy was just a Supernova like herself—maybe slightly stlonger.
But having witnessed him defeat the former Marine Admiral, Black Arm Zephyr, and casually defuse a fleet's vollery fire, she became acutely aware that the World Government and the Navy listing Straw Hat as a great pirate with a bounty in the hundreds of millions was no exaggeration.
This guy's strength had completely surpassed the category of Supernova. He was a true powerhouse capable of stirring up the seas of the New World!
***
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