The ground of Mock Town groaned.
At the center of the massive crater, Luffy stood shrouded in thick white steam. Within his six-meter-tall Vajra body, every blood vessel pulsed like a raging dragon, pumping surging Vajra Inner Energy into every cell.
"Fat bastard… take this!"
Luffy's legs slammed into the ground—
The earth collapsed beneath him.
His body turned into a crimson meteor, crossing a hundred meters in a fraction of a second.
His right arm stretched back to its absolute limit, elongated from the extreme draw. The Armament Haki coating it had condensed into near-solid form.
Driven by violently surging inner energy, arcs of crackling red lightning began to flicker around his fist.
That was the manifestation of power reaching a critical threshold—
The fusion of body and will compressed to the extreme.
"Gomu Gomu no—Vajra Giant Spear!!"
Blackbeard's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The mocking grin on his face twisted the moment he felt the crushing pressure behind that punch.
It was the kind of suffocating force that made his entire body tense, like his organs were being squeezed inside out.
He had miscalculated.
In his twenty years of patience, he had seen countless arrogant rookies—
But never one who could unleash such monstrous strength after only months at sea.
"Damn it! I shouldn't have held back!"
If he had used the Dark-Dark Fruit's gravity from the start, he might have restricted Luffy's movement.
But now—
The dense Armament Haki surrounding Luffy had cost him the initiative.
There was only one option left.
A direct clash.
"Zehaha… don't think turning into that will let you beat me! Come on!!"
Blackbeard roared, his massive arm swelling as killing intent and power surged through him.
Advanced Armament Haki coiled around his fist as he charged forward, meeting the lightning-wreathed punch head-on!
"BOOOOOM—!!!"
The instant their fists collided—
Mock Town felt like it had been struck by a meteor.
It wasn't just sound—
It was pure destructive force.
A visible shockwave, laced with red lightning, exploded outward in a circular blast.
Within a hundred meters—
Every structure—
Stone ruins, wooden buildings—
Collapsed instantly like sandcastles, reduced to dust.
Ships at the harbor rocked violently—
Some smaller vessels shattered outright from the aftershock alone.
"He actually… blocked it?!"
Burgess clung to a chunk of rubble, barely resisting the blast.
The arrogance in his eyes vanished—
Replaced by fear.
In all his time—
No one had ever pushed his captain back in a pure clash of strength.
As the dust settled—
The two stood locked in a fist clash.
Luffy's towering figure loomed through the steam, eyes fixed on Blackbeard.
Blackbeard's body trembled slightly, the ground beneath him already ground into fine sand.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Luffy took three steps back, each leaving deep craters.
Blackbeard also retreated, carving long trenches into the earth.
"Zehahahaha! Interesting! This is really interesting!"
Blackbeard wiped the blood from his mouth, that tyrannical grin returning.
"Brat, being this strong at your age is impressive. You've even made me feel a bit threatened… but today is where your journey ends!"
He had already seen the flaw.
Even with the Vajra body—
That level of accelerated energy and blood flow couldn't last.
"I'd like to see how long your Haki—and that overheated, steaming body of yours—can keep this up!"
With a roar, Blackbeard charged again.
The ruins erupted into continuous thunderous impacts, each collision like a hammer striking the sky.
While the two captains clashed—
Another battlefield reached its deadliest moment.
Van Augur knelt on one knee, his rifle "Senriku" steady as a scale.
His right eye gleamed coldly behind the lens.
That brief moment—
When Luffy exploded in power—
Had shaken Usopp's focus.
For a top-tier sniper—
That was all it took.
"Fate… has closed its loop."
He pulled the trigger.
"Bang—!"
A specially modified bullet tore through the air—
Faster than sound.
It carved a thin line of heat through the atmosphere—
Straight toward Usopp's forehead.
Usopp—
His attention still drawn to Luffy's lightning clash—
His mind blanked for a split second.
By the time the killing intent reached him—
The bullet was less than a meter away.
Death—
Was already touching his skin.
"Is this… where I die?"
His pupils shrank to their limit.
Time slowed.
He could see the bullet spinning.
Just as Van Augur's lips curled into a confident smile—
Murmuring—
"First one."
"Whoosh—!"
A black blur—
Instantly appeared.
No flames.
No warning.
Just pure speed—
Driven by inner energy surging through the legs.
"CLANG—!!!"
A sharp metallic crack exploded before Usopp's eyes.
At the final fraction of a second—
A shoe coated in Armament Haki whipped across like a venomous dragon's tail—
Striking the bullet from the side.
Sparks scattered.
The lethal shot was deflected—
Its trajectory forcibly changed—
And it shot off into distant ruins.
Sanji stood balanced on one leg.
His blond hair covered one eye.
A cigarette glowed faintly between his fingers.
"Hey, Usopp."
His voice was cold enough to freeze the air—
He didn't even turn his head.
"Don't lose focus in a fight."
"It's not time for you to zone out."
"That sniper… isn't someone you can take lightly."
Usopp trembled.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
He locked his gaze onto Van Augur—
Who was already chambering another round.
His hands shook—
But he gripped the alloy slingshot tightly.
"Thanks… Sanji."
"This time…"
"I won't let him fire a second shot."
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