The Tower of Law didn't just stand; it loomed like a giant, obsidian monolith of 'System Authority'. As Luffy stormed the main hall, his steam-filled body leaving scorched footprints on the marble floor, the air suddenly turned a sickly, digital green. Amine, following close behind, felt his system screen scream a high-pitched, piercing alarm.
[CRITICAL ALERT: External Malware Injection Detected.]
[Source: The Senior Editor's Office – Level 9 Permission.]
[Payload: The 'Oblivion Virus'. Target: The Scholar's Consciousness.]
"Luffy, stop!" Amine shouted, his hand gripping his chest. His Golden Stylus was vibrating so hard it started to crack the air around it. "The Admin is no longer just watching. He's 'Injecting' a virus into this floor! The walls... they're not walls anymore! They're 'Data-Eaters'!"
As he spoke, the stones of the tower began to melt into a liquid, green sludge that reached out like tentacles toward Luffy's legs. "Gomu Gomu no... Jet Gatling!" Luffy's fists were a blur, but instead of breaking the sludge, his arms just passed through it.
"It's 'Phasing'!" Amine realized, his purple HUD flickering wildly. "He's changing the 'Collision-Logic' of your rubber, Luffy! To the virus, you don't even exist as a solid object!"
Luffy skidded to a halt, his chest heaving. "Amine! I can't hit what I can't touch! My Gear 2nd is 'Overclocking', but it's like I'm punching ghosts!"
Amine fell to his knees, his vision blurring. A voice, cold and echoing like a thousand crashing servers, whispered in his mind. 'You are a bug, Reda. A minor error in a 25-year-old story. It is time to 'Clean' the drive.'
"I'm not... a bug," Amine hissed, blood—dark, violet ink—spilling from his mouth and staining the floor. "I'm the Author's Shadow! I am the one who knows how this story really ends!"
[Ability Triggered: Narrative Defiance – The Ink-Shield Protocol.]
Amine didn't just draw a line; he 'Spilled' his own 'Life-Ink' onto the floor. The violet liquid collided with the green virus, creating a massive explosion of 'Code-Sparks' that lit up the entire tower. The sludge recoiled, hissing like a deleted file.
"Luffy! I've 'Hard-Coded' your fists with my own life-force!" Amine roared, his eyes turning a brilliant, burning violet. "You can touch the virus now! Punch the 'Source Code' and don't stop until the green disappears!"
Luffy didn't hesitate. He pulled back his arm, the steam around him turning a deep, rebellious purple. "Gomu Gomu no... JET BAZOOKA: SYSTEM CRASH!"
The impact hit the center of the virus-sludge. The building shook to its foundations. For a split second, the entire Enies Lobby island flickered, revealing the vast, empty ocean of 'Original Data' underneath. The green virus shattered into a million useless pixels.
[Status: Malware Successfully Quarantined. Integrity: 0.5%.]
[Warning: Hardware Failure Imminent. User 'Amine' requires Immediate 'System Rest'.]
"We did it, Scholar!" Luffy laughed, helping Amine to his feet. But Amine could barely hear him. He looked up and saw Rob Lucci standing at the end of the hallway, his eyes cold and ready for the final execution.
The 'Final Frame' of the battle was approaching.