"Who is it!! Who dares to cause trouble on my ship!!"
"I am the most beautiful person on these seas—Lady Alvida!"
Accompanying a roar loud enough to shatter eardrums, a massive woman with a bloated frame and a face full of freckles charged into the center of the deck, brandishing a giant iron mace studded with spikes. Every step she took made the wooden planks groan in agony.
"Which bastard just injured my men? Was it you, you short-stack Koby?!"
Alvida's tiny eyes, squeezed into slits by folds of fat, glared around before locking onto the trembling Koby.
"N-no, it wasn't me! Lady Alvida!" Koby wailed, snot and tears streaming down his face. He shook his head violently, pointing at Luffy and Viktor. "It's those two freaks who crawled out of the wine barrels!"
Alvida whipped her head around, her fierce gaze landing on the culprits. One was wearing a straw hat and casually picking his nose; the other was a black-haired youth with red eyes, leaning his head to the side with a faint, amused smile.
These two! They weren't taking her seriously at all!
"You bratty runts!"
Feeling her dignity severely insulted, Alvida hoisted her iron mace high and swung it down with crushing force toward Luffy, who looked the most punchable.
"If you want to challenge me, then turn into mincemeat!"
The whistling wind of the strike sent Koby and the nearby pirates scrambling for cover.
"Hey, uh... lady, who are you supposed to be?"
Luffy looked up with a blank expression, watching the mace descend without making any move to dodge.
THUMP—!!
A heavy, dull sound echoed. But the expected scene of blood and gore didn't happen.
Alvida felt as if she had struck a piece of incredibly tough, thick rubber. The massive recoil vibrated through her arms, numbing her grip and nearly sending the mace flying. Luffy's head had been smashed flat by the impact, only to snap back instantly like a spring, returning to its original shape.
"Waaaaah! That hurts! What are you doing, you crazy lady?!" Luffy yelled, clutching his head.
"You... you're fine?!" Alvida's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Are you a Devil Fruit user too?!"
Standing nearby, the red light in Viktor's eyes flickered. The Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber-Rubber Fruit)... seeing it in person is certainly unique, he thought, his mind racing through an analysis.
While he possessed the Sharingan and Chakra, his physical stats were still at a baseline human level—arguably less robust than these career pirates. Luffy's blunt-force immunity, however, was the ultimate "natural tank" physique.
"I don't care what power you have! In the East Blue, defying Alvida is a death sentence!" Enraged, Alvida swung her mace again, preparing a more violent assault.
"Gomu Gomu no—" Luffy squared his shoulders, stretching his arm back for a counter. "Pistol!"
However, just as his fist was about to fly...
Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle—!
A thunderous sound, louder than Koby's crying, erupted from Luffy's stomach. His extended arm suddenly went limp like a deflated balloon. He collapsed onto the deck like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
"Ah... I can't do it... too hungry... no strength left..." Luffy muttered feebly, face-down on the planks.
The entire deck went silent. Even Alvida's mace froze mid-air, her mouth twitching uncontrollably. "Are you playing games with me, boy?!"
Viktor sighed, rubbing his forehead. He really couldn't count on this single-celled organism. But wait—according to his memories, shouldn't Luffy have sent her flying in one punch?
"Hey, you! Red-eyed kid!"
Feeling thoroughly mocked, Alvida redirected her mounting fury toward Viktor, who at least looked like a sane human being. "Since you're with him, you can die in his place!"
The spiked mace tore through the air, horizontal-slashing toward Viktor's waist. It was a heavy, lethal blow; if it connected, a normal person would be snapped in half.
"Mr. Viktor! Run!" Koby screamed in despair from behind a barrel.
Viktor stood his ground, motionless. His crimson, single-tomoe Sharingan spun slightly, and the world slowed down once more. Alvida's seemingly ferocious attack was, in his eyes, riddled with openings.
The tension in her muscles, the lightness of her footwork, the shift in her center of gravity... everything was exposed.
"Too sloppy."
The moment the mace was about to graze his clothes, Viktor moved. He didn't retreat; instead, he took a step forward, ghosting into Alvida's blind spot. The mace whistled past his back, the draft of the swing whipping his shirt against his skin.
"What?!" Alvida's strike hit nothing but air, and the sheer momentum of her bulk sent her stumbling forward.
"Rubber... Pistol Leg!"
"Whoa! Isn't that my move name?!" Luffy chirped from the floor.
Viktor appeared at her side. His right leg snapped out with precision, striking the back of Alvida's knee joint—the anchor point of her weight.
CRACK!
"AAAGH!!"
Alvida let out a scream like a slaughtered pig. Her massive body lost all balance, tilting dangerously. Before she could hit the deck, Viktor's silhouette blurred again, reappearing right in front of her.
Alvida was wide open. She looked up in terror into those two emotionless, blood-red eyes.
"It's over."
Viktor clenched his right fist, channeling Chakra to his knuckles, and drove it upward without mercy into Alvida's bloated jaw.
BOOM!
A heavy impact resonated. To the absolute horror of everyone watching, the three-hundred-pound Alvida was lifted off her feet by the seemingly slender youth. She spun two and a half times in the air before crashing violently into the main mast.
Her eyes rolled back, foam bubbled at her lips, and she slumped to the deck, completely unconscious.
A deathly silence fell over the ship, broken only by the sound of the sea breeze. The pirate lackeys who had been ready to charge stood like statues, their weapons clattering to the deck one by one.
The woman known as the most terrifying pirate in the East Blue... was one-shotted? And by a boy who looked like he could be blown over by a stiff breeze?
Viktor slowly withdrew his fist and flexed his wrist. The red light in his eyes faded, returning to their natural black. He exhaled a long breath; for someone not yet used to this power, that sequence took effort.
"So... so strong..." Koby's jaw dropped so low his glasses almost fell off.
"AWESOME!!!!"
Luffy, who had been lying limply on the ground, suddenly sprang up like a coiled wire. His eyes turned into glowing stars again as he rushed over to Viktor.
"You really are amazing! Those red eyes, and that punch—so cool!" Luffy grabbed Viktor's shoulders and began shaking him vigorously.
"Hey, hey, Viktor! Be my teammate! Join my crew! Let's go find the ONE PIECE together!"