"Roar—!"
Looking at the drastically transformed Luffy, Otto let out a low growl. Possessing the primal instincts of a beast, he felt an overwhelming sense of crisis.
"A new combat form...?"
Zoro, while locked in combat with Hakuba, stole a glance at the "transformed" Luffy.
"That body... he can't even stand still. Is this the result of his two years of training?" Sanji, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, braced himself against a wall. He watched in amazement as Luffy bounced incessantly, held aloft by the sheer elasticity of his rubber body.
Zzzt— Zzzt—
Franky, sparks flickering from various parts of his mechanical body, staggered over to Sanji's side. He sized up Luffy and remarked, "He's grown a lot bulkier. Looks pretty formidable."
Seeing Luffy in Gear 4 for the first time, the Straw Hat crew was utterly stunned.
"What?! You mean the power the Straw Hat kid showed before wasn't his full strength?" Caesar's eyes bulged as he screamed in shock. "Impossible! It has to be a trick! It's impossible!"
"We underestimated him. To make such a name for himself at the Paramount War, he clearly has the skills to back it up," Monet said, her beautiful face darkening with gravity. As an operative for the Donquixote Family, she always calculated for the worst-case scenario.
This unseen form was likely his hidden trump card!
"A new form... So the Straw Hats really did spend those two years in bitter training," Tashigi mused inwardly, watching the bouncing "giant" that was Luffy.
"Tch~ So this is the 'Gear 4' the Captain mentioned? Doesn't look like much. The rubber recoil won't even let him stand straight. Did the Captain exaggerate about this 'elasticity'?" Jason frowned, confused by Luffy's inability to keep his feet on the ground.
His own Captain was a man who obsessed over intelligence. In Luffy's personal file, he had noted that the emergence of Gear 4 transformed Luffy from a mere Supernova rookie into a combatant capable of rivaling the Great Pirates of the sea.
But to Jason, aside from the intimidating bulk, it wasn't clear what the benefit was.
Boing, boing, boing...
Luffy's gaze was sharp as he locked onto Otto. His body bounced rhythmically while his thick, muscular arms began to retract into his shoulders like heavy-duty springs.
The next instant, Luffy kicked off the air. His massive frame vanished with a whoosh so sudden that sound itself seemed to struggle to keep up. He was moving faster than the naked eye could track.
As he hurtled forward, his entire fist pulled deep into his forearm, resembling a spring compressed to its absolute limit.
"Gomu Gomu no… Kong Gun!!!"
In the blink of an eye, Luffy was in Otto's face. The retracted fist fired out, the displacement of air so violent it nearly imploded. The strike landed flush on Otto's face.
WHAM—!
The moment the punch connected, Otto's face caved inward as if struck by a massive wrecking ball. A shockwave of air exploded outward. His head snapped back, dragging his colossal body into a violent backward flight.
RUMBLE—!
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the massive dark shadow tore through the air. The atmosphere became a physical barrier, triggering a succession of sonic booms. The compressed air formed a howling gale that swept across the room, forcing everyone to shield their eyes against the blinding dust.
Carrying terrifying momentum, Otto traversed nearly a hundred meters before slamming into a wall. He tore right through the meter-thick masonry, sending shattered bricks flying through a choking shroud of dust.
But the wall didn't stop him. With his speed barely diminished, he continued to hurtle backward, smashing through five or six more walls in a cacophony of destruction before finally coming to a halt.
Clatter... crash...
Massive seven-meter-wide holes were punched through the walls, with debris raining down as dust filled the air. The sight left everyone paralyzed with shock.
"The elasticity of rubber... I was an idiot to doubt the Captain's words!" Jason stared at the scene, unable to believe his eyes.
The rest of the onlookers stood with mouths agape, speechless.
Boing, boing, boing...
"This technique isn't quite perfected yet, but it's enough to handle you!" Luffy's face was grimly serious. His feet kicked the air at speeds invisible to the eye, keeping him suspended in mid-air.
"He can do that too...? Tch!" Sanji clicked his tongue, watching Luffy "walk" on the air.
"ROOOAARRR—!"
A monstrous howl erupted through the holes in the walls, accompanied by a blast of hot air. A massive shadow came charging back at high speed. Despite his size, the beast was anything but slow, bringing a localized gale with his approach.
Seeing Otto appearing relatively unscathed, Luffy's expression grew even more solemn. He didn't waste breath on words; having fought him twice, he knew how durable the beast was.
Kicking the air, Luffy used the recoil to rocket forward. He flew through the ruined walls, meeting Otto head-on in the middle of another room.
"Gomu Gomu no… Kong Gun!!!"
"Orc: Heavy Hammer!!!"
KABOOM—!
RUMBLE—!
A deafening explosion rocked the facility. The ground buckled and groaned under successive tremors as violent winds kicked up a pillar of dust that reached for the ceiling.
Two combatants with titan-like physiques, yet both possessing incredible agility and speed, clashed in a frenzy of violence.
"Roar—!"
Otto bellowed as he lunged, swinging his right hand, tipped with razor-sharp beast claws, in a wide, lethal arc.
Luffy felt the biting pressure of the incoming strike. He didn't dare take it head-on and twisted his body mid-air to dodge.
SLASH—!
Five sharp blades of pressurized air tore past Luffy's face like literal knives. They sliced through a thick wall thirty meters away as if it were wet paper, leaving five jagged, see-through gashes over ten meters long.
"Gomu Gomu no… Leo Bazooka!!!"
Luffy accelerated, both hands retracting into his body like springs. As he closed in on Otto, he fired them both simultaneously. The impact was more violent than a heavy artillery shell, slamming directly into Otto's chest.
THUD—!
CRACK—!
A dull, heavy sound echoed, followed by a ripple of air and the distinct, sickening snap of bone.
"PUGH—!"
Otto took the full brunt of the blow. His entire chest caved in under the force of Luffy's attack. He spat a fountain of blood and was sent hurtling backward, crashing into a massive steel machine.
CRASH—!
The heavy machinery twisted into a wreck, embedded deep into the wall behind it. The entire wall was now covered in a web of cracks, looking as though it might crumble at the slightest touch.
"Grrr..."
Otto shook his head, his beastly eyes glowing blood-red as he glared at Luffy in the air. A low, menacing growl vibrated in his throat.
Then, his collapsed chest began to swell, as if being inflated with air. Within just a few breaths, it had popped back into place, looking completely normal.
Luffy gritted his teeth, his face turning pale as he watched Otto's chest recover so quickly.
This level of regeneration was even more twisted than the Jailer Beasts in Impel Down.
"This monster…!"