Chapter 132 Luffy's Bankai: Frozen Auction House"What's going on? Why did it suddenly get so cold?"
"Where are the staff?! What are you doing?! Are you trying to freeze us to death?!"
The pampered nobles began to shout in discontent.
Just then, the stage curtain was pulled back, and Sanji, a cigarette dangling from his lips, hands in his pockets, slowly walked out.
"Today's auction is canceled, you bunch of scum."
Sanji looked at the repulsive faces below the stage, his eyes filled with disgust.
"Bastard! What are you?!"
"Where's the disco?! How did you let this blond kid come up here?!"
"Give us our money back! Are you trying to rip us off?!"
Instantly, the nobles were enraged, a cacophony of curses erupting.
"Bang!" A loud crash!
The heavy doors of the auction house were kicked open, and a blast of biting cold wind mixed with snow rushed in.
Several nobles near the door instantly shivered, frost forming on their eyebrows.
Everyone turned around in horror.
Luffy, clad in a cloak of justice and wielding the chilling Hyōrinmaru, strode in like a god of war.
"Oh? The Marines? Great! Quickly, arrest that troublemaker on stage!"
A reckless nobleman, thinking a savior had arrived, shouted excitedly.
"That's right! This guy dared to disregard the rules of the event; he must be that damned pirate's accomplice. Capture him and sell him into slavery!"
"Look at that skin, so smooth it could drip water, so handsome! I'll offer 1 million Berries, it's mine!"
The bloated nobles in the stands, seeing Luffy appear with such righteous indignation, mistook him for security guards and excitedly waved banknotes at Sanji on stage, shouting accusations.
Luffy's lips curled into a mischievous grin, his eyes sweeping mockingly over Sanji: "Not bad, you lecherous cook, huh? Prices are rising, aren't they? There's even a sucker willing to pay 1 million Berries for your stinking body."
Veins bulged on Sanji's forehead, his knuckles cracking as he gritted his teeth and spat out, "You bastard, believe me or not, I'll chop you up and feed you to the fish!"
Luffy laughed fearlessly, then asked seriously, "Where's Camie?"
"Rescued her a while ago, and let those poor wretches go too."
Sanji pulled a cigarette from his suit pocket, put it in his mouth, and gestured behind him with his thumb: "Perfectly according to your script, arranged for them to escape through the back door."
Only then did the oblivious nobles below realize something was amiss. This newly arrived Marine and that troublemaking blond guy on stage... they looked like they were in cahoots!
"You bastards! Do you know who I am? I am the hereditary duke of the Kingdom of Fia!"
"Let me tell you, if you don't arrest them, I'll call the Navy high command! My nephew is a Marine Headquarters captain; you'll regret this!"
The stands erupted instantly, spittle flying, threats and intimidation raining down on Luffy.
Luffy didn't even bother to lift an eyelid, completely ignoring this bunch of human trash. He turned to Sanji and whispered, "You retreat first. Make sure Camie is safely returned to the seabed. This place is about to become hell."
"Huh?" Sanji paused, his hand holding the cigarette still, staring blankly at Luffy. But trusting him, he quickly turned and disappeared behind the curtain.
Just as Sanji stepped out the back door, a bone-chilling cold swept over him.
Due to the sudden drop in temperature, visible ice crystals even formed in the air. Huge, crystal-clear ice pillars, radiating an aura of death, rose from the ground, instantly surrounding the entire auction house.
As he squeezed through the gaps between the ice pillars, like prison bars, the ice pillars behind him suddenly expanded and connected, completely sealing off the building, as if turning it into a giant refrigerator.
Standing atop the heights, Luffy looked down at the panicked nobles and beasts below, a devilish smile spreading across his face: "If you all die here, those old men in the World Government will probably lose sleep over it, won't they?"
"Are you insane?! What do you think you're doing?!"
"We are core officials of member states of the World Government!"
"You're openly declaring war on the World Government!"
"You're a Marine! Your duty is to protect us taxpayers! Remove this ice!"
At this point, even if the nobles' brains were completely scrambled, they finally reacted, pointing and roaring hysterically at Luffy, trying to intimidate him with their status.
Just then, Luffy's Zanpakuto, Hyōrinmaru, underwent a transformation. The crescent-shaped chains in its Shikai state silently melted away.
In its place appeared dragon wings, sharp claws, and a long tail made of solid ice, crackling and attaching themselves to Luffy, as if granting him the power to control winter.
"Bankai: Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, Celestial Phenomenon Descends!"
At that moment, Luffy was enveloped in a chilling aura, like an ice lord emerging from the deepest hell. His icy gaze made everyone present's hearts stop.
Meanwhile, outside the auction house, Zoro, the group of Marine soldiers, and the slaves who had just escaped all shivered involuntarily.
Nami looked up in astonishment, tightly hugging her trembling arms: "How is this possible? The air currents around here have completely changed!"
The once clear sky seemed to be stirred up by an invisible hand, as thick, dark, moisture-laden cumulonimbus clouds were forcibly pulled in from all directions.
In just a few breaths, the entire Sabaody Archipelago was oppressed by suffocating black clouds, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Luffy closed his eyes, sensing the rolling thunderclouds in the sky. A slight brow furrowed as he thought to himself: "As expected, even in this world, Toshiro Hitsugaya's inability to perfectly control his Bankai has been replicated. This body's power is still somewhat insufficient."
After all, he only has about ten percent of Toshiro's soul compatibility, making his power significantly weaker than the original.
"But it's more than enough to deal with these bastards."
Luffy radiated a holy and chilling white light, and the Hyōrinmaru in his hand suddenly erupted with an extremely dazzling white light.
A thick white beam of light shot into the sky, like a sword of divine punishment, piercing directly through the sturdy auction house roof and plunging into the rain clouds above!
BOOM—!
With a deafening roar, a massive hole was blasted through the dark sky by the white light. A dreamlike, pure white radiance, like a stage spotlight, pierced through the hole and precisely illuminated the entire auction house.
The marines on guard around the perimeter craned their necks, dumbfounded:
"Good heavens, what just happened?"
"It's like the sky has a gaping hole... What's going on inside the auction house?"
Then, crystal-clear snowflakes began to fall from the sky, each one possessing a deadly beauty.
Suddenly, a figure crashed through the supposedly indestructible thousand-year-old ice prison, flying backward like a kite with a broken string!
Everyone stared, their jaws nearly dropping to the floor: "Vice Admiral Luffy?! How is this possible?!"
Zoro and the others' pupils contracted sharply, staring intently at the hole in the ice prison, utterly unable to comprehend who in the first half of the Grand Line could possibly defeat the terrifyingly powerful Luffy like this.