"No… no way?" Usopp's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he stared at the giant monster that had only taken a single step back.
Monsters he'd faced before, even if not outright destroyed, would at least fall down after his attacks. But this one…
Hum!
Not only did the monster not fall, but a multitude of red dots suddenly appeared in front of its mouth. These dots instantly condensed into a ball, a massive surge of spiritual energy held within, aimed directly at the tall tower where Usopp stood.
If it was allowed to unleash that power, this tower he'd worked so hard to build would surely be destroyed in an instant!
Usopp hastily tried to jump down, but before he could move, Luffy, who had already fired and missed, acted.
As the monster gathered spiritual particles into a glowing mass, its form seemed to become more solid. Luffy could see it more clearly now, still a blurry silhouette, but much clearer than before when it was flickering in and out of view.
"Perfect to test this out on!"
Luffy's legs compressed downwards like a pump, and his skin suddenly turned bright red, even steaming. This was a technique he'd figured out during his fight with Kibutsuji Muzan.
By speeding up his blood flow, he could become more excited, stronger!
Gear Second!
A bit of black appeared on his bright red arms, and Luffy threw a powerful punch. His speed was much faster than before, and he struck the monster's back just as it was about to unleash the ball of light.
Luffy thought he heard something and then genuinely felt the sensation of hitting something. Soon after, he felt a jolt.
Luffy only saw the ground in front of him, which had been empty, suddenly crack open, creating a massive, gaping hole!
In Usopp's eyes, he saw Luffy's punch hit the monster's back. It looked like an ant attacking an adult's back, but despite the huge difference in size, the ant was victorious!
The powerful punch sent the monster tilting, and the Cero, which had been aimed at Usopp, suddenly changed direction. As the monster fell, it blasted into the ground below.
Instantly, a colossal energy erupted from beneath the monster, blasting the ground into a spiderweb pattern. The earth cracked open in an instant, forming a huge crater.
"Huh?!" Usopp exclaimed in shock. "Can a human do that?!"
His own attack, the Rain of Light, had only made the monster step back a single pace. Yet, that straw-hatted guy had knocked the monster down with one punch?
Looking at it that way, maybe he was the monster?!
However, after his surprise, Usopp didn't forget his duty. His figure vanished from the watchtower, and the next moment he appeared not far from Luffy.
This was the Quincy technique, Flying Dragon Feet. In appearance, it was similar to the Marine's Soru, both being a form of instant movement. However, since no one had taught him, Usopp had mostly figured out these skills himself.
He looked at the monster, which was trying to get back up, and was about to take aim for a close-range kill. But before he could act, a large mass of darkness appeared behind the blurry figure of the monster.
To Usopp's shocked gaze, a section of space in front of him suddenly shattered. A mass of darkness invaded from the fractured space, dyeing a corner of the world pitch black.
The next moment, it was as if something was spreading from the darkness – a chilling fear, or perhaps a greed. Then, the fallen Great Hollow was pulled into the darkness by a black claw.
Watching the gradually closing darkness, Usopp thought he heard chewing sounds coming from within. He couldn't help but swallow, staring intently at the dissipating darkness.
"Huh? Why did it suddenly disappear?" Luffy, who was preparing to attack again, suddenly found that the blurry silhouette he'd been seeing was gone.
Usopp watched as the darkness completely vanished and the space sealed itself back up. He shook his head and said to Luffy, "It… it got eaten."
"Huh? Eaten!" Luffy immediately deactivated Gear Second, and a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He stuck out his tongue, looking tired but also somewhat excited, and said, "A monster you can't see, it must have tasted good!"
"How could it taste good?!" Usopp shouted. Luffy's interruption finally jolted him out of the fear brought on by the sudden darkness. He looked at Luffy wearing the straw hat and asked, a bit confused, "By the way, who exactly are you?"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!" Luffy grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth, and held up his fingers.
"Pirate…" Usopp remembered his father, who had left when he was two years old. He shook his head, feeling a little dejected. "Really, if only you had come a few years earlier."
When he was little, to make his mother happy, he would often tell people in the village that pirates had arrived, hoping that pretending pirates were coming would bring him some news of his father. But because the East Blue was so peaceful, pirates never came.
So, his mother died with longing for his father. In the following years, he found a way to become stronger. He had originally planned to set sail to find that irresponsible father, but he discovered that monsters only he could see were approaching the village.
He could only stay in the village, eliminating those monsters. Later, he encountered some demons that could only move in darkness, which made it even more impossible for him to leave.
And now, this was the first time he had actually seen pirates arrive.
Wait, pirates?!
Usopp's hair stood on end. He quickly retreated ten meters, then materialized his crossbow and aimed it at Luffy. "Get out of here! There's nothing in our village worth you robbing! If you don't leave, I'll inform the Marines!"
They were pirates!
Though he'd never seen one before, newspapers often portrayed pirates as the epitome of evil, committing all sorts of atrocities. This pirate named Luffy must be here to rob the village of food and treasure!
What to do, what to do, what to do? He had knocked that monster down with one punch. I'm no match for him!
"No, I have to find clues about the demons here!" Luffy had no intention of leaving. After all, Jellal had said there might be clues related to Kibutsuji Muzan here. Whether it was his whereabouts or a way to defeat him, Luffy was determined to find out.
"Demons? They do indeed come here, but I've already defeated them all. How could there be any clues here?" Usopp said cautiously.
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