Saint Shamrock watched the resurrected Luffy advancing toward them, his expression tightening in disbelief.
"What exactly is going on," he said sharply, "I clearly killed him just now. That appearance… could it be…"
Saint Garling also turned his gaze toward Luffy, whose entire body had turned pure white, surrounded by drifting white flame clouds.
"This is Devil Fruit Awakening," Garling said gravely. "How is this possible? This power has never awakened in eight hundred years. Could this inferior pirate truly be the reincarnation of Joy Boy?"
"Luffy…" Hancock stared at him from a distance, her despair momentarily broken by shock. Her eyes widened as she cried out, "Luffy, save me, please save me…"
"Shut up."
Saint Shamrock stepped down hard on Hancock's head, forcing her face into the ground with brutal force.
Hancock did not resist. She felt no anger, only overwhelming fear.
Shamrock's voice was cold. "A mere slave dares to speak. It seems your years of escape have made you forget your place. When we return, I will personally correct that mistake."
Luffy, meanwhile, let out a strange laugh as he looked at Hancock's condition.
"Hahahaha, it's Hancock. What's going on with you?"
His laughter echoed unnaturally, carrying a tone that made Hancock hesitate.
It did not feel like comfort. It felt distant, almost unfamiliar.
Hancock's lips trembled. "Luffy…"
She whispered his name, uncertain if the person standing there was truly him anymore.
Shamrock narrowed his eyes. "This is different from before. A failed awakening? Has some Sun God consciousness taken over his body?"
He paused only briefly before continuing.
"It does not matter what you are. Straw Hat Luffy, Joy Boy's successor, or a failed Sun God manifestation. I only need to kill you one more time."
He kicked off the ground, charging straight at Luffy.
Saint Garling's voice immediately echoed through telepathy. "Be careful, Shamrock. This one is not normal."
"I know, Father," Shamrock replied instantly.
Shamrock's body shifted, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed asura-like form as he closed in.
But the moment he reached Luffy, the battlefield itself changed.
The ground beneath Luffy turned elastic, bouncing Shamrock upward like a spring.
"What is this…" Shamrock muttered in shock as his body was launched into the air. "Not only his body, but even the environment is changing…"
Before he could stabilize himself, Luffy appeared mid-motion with impossible speed.
He struck Shamrock in the abdomen.
The impact did not behave like a normal blow. Shamrock's body stretched unnaturally, then snapped back with violent recoil, sending him flying.
He coughed blood as he skidded across the ground, one hand clutching his stomach.
"You lowly ant…" Shamrock growled through gritted teeth.
His expression twisted with rage.
"I will kill you."
He surged forward again.
"Six Consecutive Light Slashes."
Six sharp sword energies tore through the air toward Luffy.
Luffy raised both hands casually.
A massive shield rose from the ground, forming instantly in front of him.
The attacks struck it with metallic clashes, each one absorbed completely.
Luffy laughed again.
"Hahahahaha, this is fun."
He stomped once.
The ground beneath Shamrock suddenly bulged, forming a massive leg-shaped structure that shot upward like a whip.
Bang.
It slammed into Shamrock's face, sending him flying backward again.
Blood dripped from his nose as he staggered midair.
His voice shook with rage. "A mere ant made me bleed…"
He landed heavily, his expression darkening.
"I will destroy you."
Luffy continued moving like he was playing, running across the elastic ground. Every step created waves in the terrain, which surged toward Shamrock like living traps.
Shamrock slashed downward repeatedly, destroying the incoming formations, then shot upward again.
"No matter what you are," Shamrock roared, "Sun God, Joy Boy, or Straw Hat Luffy, you will die here."
Luffy laughed louder, sprinting across the shifting ground as if it were a playground. The terrain bent and rolled under him like a living carpet.
Shamrock landed again but immediately lost balance as the ground shifted beneath him.
"Stop running, Straw Hat Luffy," he shouted furiously.
At that moment, Saint Garling's voice cut through the battlefield again as he lifted the heavily injured Rayleigh.
"Stop right there, Straw Hat Luffy," Garling said coldly. "If you don't want him to die…"