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After walking through the gates of death, Straw Hat Luffy seemed like a completely different person. His Haki had greatly improved, and his movements were much more agile.
This time, Straw Hat didn't activate his strongest Fourth Gear, but instead activated Second Gear, with steam emanating from his entire body.
"Whoosh!"
In Second Gear, his physical abilities were greatly enhanced.
Luffy used Soru to disappear, instantly appearing above Daichi.
Luffy roared as he threw a punch.
"Gomu Gomu no: Red Hawk!!!"
His elongated and enlarged fist burned with flames!
Daichi's eyes narrowed, and he raised his greatsword, thrusting it toward the sky.
At this moment, Straw Hat's attack was already capable of threatening him.
"Zzz-lah!"
The blade struck the surface of the fist, clashing with black lightning.
After less than three seconds of stalemate, the tip of the sword pierced through the skin!
"Pfft!"
Blood bloomed!
"Ugh!"
Luffy grunted in pain, but he didn't pull back his bleeding fist.
Instead, he swung it even harder, his fist directly engulfing the blade.
Daichi's expression subtly changed.
Even if his palm was pierced, he still wanted to land a punch?
"Your determination to go down with me is commendable, but unfortunately, you've chosen the wrong target."
Daichi shook his head, then stomped his foot.
Several pillars of magma erupted from his sides, propping up Straw Hat's fist.
The scorching heat made Straw Hat's eyes bloodshot.
"Wah ah ah ah, so hot!"
"Hoo~ hoo~ hoo~~~!"
Luffy screamed as he pulled back his fist, blowing hard on his swollen hand to cool it down, only managing to alleviate some of the pain with great difficulty.
But during this brief moment of pain relief, a dozen magma pillars enveloped him, squeezing and compressing like a cage, trapping him within.
"This kind of thing!"
Luffy's fist was wrapped in Haki, ready to punch a hole, but a scene suddenly flashed in his mind.
The magma glowed, and surging flames shot into the sky!
He foresaw the future!
Using Future Sight requires maintaining absolute calmness, so it's difficult to maintain it during combat, especially when crewmates are on the verge of death.
But at this moment, the crisis of death instinctively allowed him to see the future.
Luffy looked at the opening in the sky, stretched out his hands, and gripped the top of the magma pillars.
The scorching heat made his hands smoke, but he had no other choice.
"Gomu Gomu no: Escape Rocket!"
"Boom!!!"
The magma pillars exploded, and a cloud of flames rose into the sky.
"Wah ah ah ah!"
Straw Hat was ejected from the flames, and upon landing, he immediately slapped at the flames on his body, screaming loudly from the burns, but at least he avoided serious injury.
"Did he sense the danger?"
Daichi raised an eyebrow.
Straw Hat's reaction was a bit unexpected.
In his prediction, the single-minded Straw Hat was most likely to choose a head-on confrontation.
Future Sight?
Daichi's mind stirred, and he used Observation Haki to mask his aura.
This way, even if Straw Hat had mastered Future Sight, he wouldn't be able to sense him.
Future Sight isn't invincible. There are corresponding countermeasures.
"What's going on?!"
Luffy immediately noticed the anomaly.
He couldn't sense Daichi. The opponent seemed to have completely disappeared, and there was no trace of him in the future world either.
Only his eyes could see Daichi.
"Damn it, I don't care!"
Luffy couldn't understand, so he simply stopped thinking about these messy things, and moved his feet, rushing toward Daichi at his fastest speed.
He wanted to try that power!
"Head-on attack?"
Daichi watched Luffy charging at him and directly raised his greatsword to slash down.
Luffy, seeing this, leaped up, his right foot, clad in a sandal, fully kicking at the descending greatsword.
"Clang!"
Black lightning exploded!
The blade and the sandal didn't touch!
"Advanced Conqueror's Haki!"
Daichi's eyes were calm, and the right hand gripping the greatsword gradually exerted force, veins bulging on the skin of his arm.
"Straw Hat, being able to master Advanced Conqueror's Haki so quickly is indeed commendable, but there are also differences between Conqueror's Haki users."
As his words fell, Daichi's Haki surged violently, even manifesting the translucent phantom of Groudon.
"!!!"
Groudon roared, and a terrifying Haki impact enveloped Straw Hat Luffy, instantly shattering his fragile Conqueror's Haki!
The Conqueror's Haki of both sides weren't on the same level at all!
"It's over!"
The greatsword slashed down!
"Pfft!"
Straw Hat Luffy bled profusely, falling straight to the ground.
A huge bloody mark from his shoulder to his waist almost split him in two!
"Cough~ cough~~~"
Luffy coughed up blood, his eyes had rolled back, and his slightly fluctuating chest proved he still had a breath, but death was only a matter of time.
"Drip~ drip~~~"
Daichi lowered his greatsword, blood beads constantly dripping from its tip.
Straw Hat's strength was quite good, but the disparity between them was simply too vast.
Being able to fight him until now was already due to him holding back.
In this world, the only one he couldn't figure out was Imu.
As for everyone else, even Kaido, his older brother, he was confident he could defeat him.
"Clang!"
The greatsword was thrust into the ground.
"Rumble!"
The ground trembled slightly, and soon, rocks rose from the earth.
In less than a minute, a rugged and magnificent stone throne appeared.
Daichi sat on the throne, propping his chin with one hand, his calm gaze looking down at the Straw Hat who was waiting to die below.
He wanted to see if the Straw Hat would die from excessive blood loss, or if he could perform a miracle, be reborn from the ashes, and transform into Nika.
"Tap~ tap~"
Blood dripping from his abdomen, the man wearing a bandana walked over.
Roronoa Zoro.
Daichi looked at Zoro who'd arrived below, a playful smile on his lips.
"You're not dead yet."
"I'm a man who will become the world's greatest swordsman. I won't die so easily!"
Zoro clutched his abdomen, his body as precarious as a candle in the wind, and his three treasured swords were nowhere to be seen.
Being able to break free and come here was entirely due to his conviction.
"Thud!"
The man knelt on both knees, his hands and forehead pressed to the ground.
"Please spare our captain!"
This scene had happened before.
Only one step away from his dream, Zoro was filled with unwillingness at this moment, but he had no other choice.
"In return, take my head!"
"Your head?"
Daichi's smile was playful.
"And mine!"
Sanji also arrived beneath the throne.
Just a pierced abdomen, this injury wasn't enough to kill him.
Sanji gasped for breath.
"Daichi-sama, my head, that of the former chef of the Hoenn government, is ten times more valuable than this damn moss-head's head."
"If you're going to kill, kill me, but please, for the sake of our past acquaintance, spare their lives!"
"Hmm, that's true."
Daichi stroked his chin.
"However, have you two perhaps misunderstood something?"
"You're now my prisoners."
"Everyone's lives are in my hands."
"What right do you have to negotiate with me?"
Both of their faces turned ugly.
The situation was indeed like that. Negotiations were supposed to be based on relatively equal standing, and they were merely defeated opponents.
Daichi snorted coldly.
"I can spare Straw Hat. I have no real grudge against him."
"But can you guarantee that he'll give up the great treasure and withdraw from this competition?"
Zoro and Sanji remained silent.
Luffy wouldn't listen.
Daichi stood up, pulled out his greatsword, and walked toward Straw Hat Luffy.
After waiting for a long time, he still hadn't seen Straw Hat transform into Nika, and he'd lost his patience.
Zoro and Sanji wanted to stop him, but they felt the air was as heavy as mud, making it difficult for them to move an inch.
It was Daichi's Haki!
Daichi raised his greatsword, its blade glinting in the sunlight, then swung it down toward the Straw Hat below.
"Swish!"
The iconic straw hat split in two.
Along with it, one of Straw Hat's arms and one of his legs were also severed.
This single slash cut off Nika's future.
"I'm taking Robin with me. You don't need to worry about her safety."
"And you, Sanji, remember to go back to work."
"The soldiers of the Hoenn headquarters miss your cooking very much. Don't make them wait too long."
Daichi coldly put away his greatsword, looked back at the trembling Zoro and Sanji, and announced the fate of the Straw Hat pirates.
"The Straw Hat Pirates are hereby disbanded!"