Chapter 223: Reward
Three consecutive max rounds of Six King Gun.
Luffy kept coughing up blood, staining the yellow sand under his feet red and making the red vest on his body even more vivid. Even so, he still stood firmly on the land, like a pillar in the wind and waves—let the gales and rough seas rage, I remain unmoved.
“Iron Body?”
Rather than asking Lucci, it was more like he was talking to himself.
“He even mastered Iron Body? Hoo hoo~~”
His breathing was as heavy as a broken bellows wailing. As the attacker, Lucci wasn’t relaxed at all. The stamina consumption of max round Six King Gun far exceeded his expectations. In fact, though he created this move, he had hardly used it, and every time he did, it was usually a one-hit victory.
Never before had he used it like now: one normal Six King Gun followed by five max rounds of Six King Gun······ After taking so many hits, even a large Sea King would have been beaten to a pulp long ago, but this Straw Hat kid in front of him was still standing.
Simply,
It made even Lucci have to praise him as a monster.
“Had enough? If you’re done, it’s my turn to strike back.”
Luffy still had the strength to speak. During the beating, he had mastered Iron Body. Of the Six Powers, he only hadn’t learned Geppo and Tempest Kick. As for Finger Pistol······ Though he hadn’t mastered the basic Finger Pistol technique, he had mastered the Finger Pistol variant Beast Strictness, which barely counted.
This made four of the Six Powers learned.
Even more, the six consecutive Six King Guns had let him vaguely touch upon that unique technique of unleashing a shockwave.
Precisely because he had mastered Iron Body, combined with the Rubber-Rubber Fruit’s resistance to physical attacks, he had forcibly withstood Lucci’s attacks. Moreover, in the later hits, he had deliberately not resisted. He had seen that Lucci’s attacks consumed a lot of stamina, so he stubbornly held still, successfully causing Lucci’s stamina to drop sharply.
He reached out and grabbed Lucci’s leopard tail, erupting with all his strength to yank Lucci into a mad dash. Lucci wrapping his leopard tail around Luffy’s left foot had indeed restricted Luffy’s movement, but wasn’t it also restricting himself? When his strength was sufficient, he could suppress Luffy, but now, one Six King Gun after another gave him a sense of emptiness like being drained.
Being yanked by Luffy, he surprisingly couldn’t resist at all and could only be forced to move along.
“Bang!!!”
Luffy yanked Lucci’s tail, smashing him viciously into the ground like swinging a massive hammer.
The tail wrapped around Luffy’s left foot loosened. Lucci, gasping roughly, lay sprawled on his back in the yellow sand, barely opening his eyes to look at the blue sky. A sense of powerlessness spread in his heart. He never imagined he would be defeated due to lack of stamina.
Straw Hat kid, what kind of monster is this!
Doesn’t he get tired?
Clearly, before fighting him, he had already fought Fukurou······ His stamina seemed endless.
“It’s over.”
Luffy raised his fist. “Rubber Jet Six King Gun!!!”
Under Lucci’s stunned gaze, that Gear Second fist glowing with a reddish light and wrapped in steam slammed heavily into his chest. The shockwave pierced through Iron Body’s defense first, acting on his internals, followed by the fist landing. Flesh and bone issued cries of unbearable strain.
The sand beneath him sank directly, and the rock land under the yellow sand was shattered.
“Pfft!!!”
A mouthful of blood sprayed three or four meters high.
Before fainting, only one phrase echoed in Lucci’s mind: he had even stolen Six King Gun. What kind of monster is this exactly!!!
“Hoo!!!”
Luffy let out a long breath.
Finally······ he had defeated this tough guy. His whole body ached everywhere—he had been beaten badly by this guy! And honestly, he now felt waves of weakness crashing over him like tides. Especially that imitation of Lucci’s Six King Gun, the Rubber Jet Six King Gun—it inherited the trait of extreme stamina consumption along with its immense power.
“Nami!!”
He softly called his companion’s name.
Drawing courage and strength from it, supporting himself not to fall.
At this moment,
An air door suddenly opened beside Lucci. Inside the door was a world of lush green. A iron-colored chain shot out like a swimming snake, wrapping fiercely around Lucci’s waist and yanking him back into the door with a whoosh.
At the same time,
A Straw Hat was tossed out from it.
“Don’t run!”
Luffy instantly used Shaving to rush over.
But by the time he reached out, the air door had already closed, as if it had never appeared. No matter how he flailed in the air, he got nothing.
After a few futile tries, Luffy decisively stopped, picked up the Straw Hat from the ground and put it on his head, turned around, and cast his gaze toward that two-story building serving as the police station. At the second-floor window, he saw Nami standing there, and······ Black Prince, Sokachio Elus.
“Black Prince!!!”
His angry roar echoed through the sky.
“Luffy!!”
“Luffy!!”
Before Luffy could charge up, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates finally arrived. Robin had found the lost Zoro on the way, and they came together. Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper also converged from different directions. Straw Hat Pirates······ all assembled.
“Everyone!!! You’re all here!”
His anger subsided. Seeing his companions, all injured but successfully arrived, he immediately cheered up.
“Nami-san!!!”
Sanji saw Nami, his eyes instantly turning into hearts.
“Is this the enemy’s main base?” Zoro stared at the unremarkable two-story building, glanced at Nami for a few seconds and saw she was fine, then shifted his gaze to Elus, his hands involuntarily gripping the hilts.
“Is that the guy who kidnapped Nami?”
It was Usopp’s first time seeing Elus. He had been unconscious when Nami was taken, and only learned the story from Zoro and Sanji after waking. He curiously looked through his telescope and instantly locked eyes with Elus.
Then,
“Ahhh!!!”
Usopp jerked back several steps like he was electrocuted.
“What’s wrong? Hey, Usopp, you okay?”
Luffy turned to look.
“I’m fine, just······ I locked eyes with that guy, felt······ felt like a monster.” Usopp looked shaken, panting roughly, hands and feet trembling. In that instant, it was like he saw a monstrous beast with overwhelming ferocity beyond words!!!
His brain felt like it had been hammered hard.
“That’s right, that’s a real monster!”
Sanji returned to normal and lit a cigarette.
“Monster or human, anyway, anyone who dares block us from saving Nami······ we’ll beat them down.”
Luffy pressed the Straw Hat on his head. That familiar feel filled his heart with fearless courage.
Behind the window,
“Eh?”
Elus activated the Gaze-Gaze Fruit’s power, sizing up the trembling Usopp. “Sniper······ interesting.” In that instant, he had vaguely sensed the budding form of Observation Haki on Usopp.
This future god Usopp’s Observation Haki talent is quite high!
However,
It still needs enough tempering for the raw gem to shine with true brilliance.
“Nami, your companions are here to pick you up. You······ can leave.” Elus turned his gaze to Nami.
“Eh?”
Nami stared blankly at Elus.
Her suspicious gaze was obvious. She hadn’t expected Elus to let her go so easily. Then why kidnap her in the first place? Really just to help Luffy and the others get stronger?
“You’ll really let me go?”
“Really.”
“······What exactly are you plotting with all this?”
“Haha!”
Elus burst into laughter,
“You mean the reason I invited you here?”
“Taking someone without permission isn’t inviting.” Nami muttered softly. She nodded. “Right, I want to know what you’re plotting. If you plan to use me against Luffy and them, I’ll die before letting that happen.”
“The reason is simple—I think it’s fun!” Elus said with a smile.
“Fun?”
Nami looked baffled.
“You······ you, you’re doing all this just for that······”
“This isn’t just that—it’s my entertainment. People don’t live just to live simply. So many fun things in this world are what drive us to keep living. The more you crave this fun world, the more you feel how wonderful it is to be alive······”
“Aren’t you the same? Becoming pirates, chasing freedom and dreams······ Maybe the forms differ, but we’re all striving for a life full of fun.”
Nami felt like she understood, yet was still confused.
But she got that she and the others had probably been toyed with by Elus like toys.
Nami said no more. As a pirate, she knew such things weren’t strange at all, just like how Arlong once treated them as slaves······ Not as malicious as Arlong, but essentially the same.
Talking reason at a time like this was pointless.
Fists were the only universal reason.
Besides, as pirates, they were inherently in the wrong. Dealing with pirates meant no holds barred.
She directly flipped over the windowsill and jumped down. Her physical fitness couldn’t compare to Luffy, Zoro, or Sanji, but jumping from a second-floor window wouldn’t twist her ankle. Seeing Elus really wasn’t stopping her, she immediately ran toward Luffy and the others.
————
“Nami?”
Seeing Nami running back,
Luffy and the others were dumbfounded.
They were about to gather strength for a full assault to take down the final boss Black Prince, but the boss directly released the captive Princess. Now······ what to do? Still fight?
Keep fighting? She’s back.
Don’t fight! But it feels off······
“Nami-san, you okay?”
Sanji rushed up in a flash, twisting his waist and circling Nami.
“I’m fine, not hurt at all.” Nami looked at the familiar······ mixed with unfamiliar faces in front of her (she’d seen Robin before, but didn’t know Chopper at all), holding back tears so they wouldn’t fall. “Luffy, I’m fine, totally fine! Not hurt at all.”
“······Welcome back, Nami!”
Luffy pressed the Straw Hat on his head, showing that radiant smile full of hope like the sunrise.
“I-I’m back.”
Nami responded loudly, her smile as beautiful as a blooming flower.
Straw Hat Pirates, finally reassembled.
After a chaotic commotion for a while, they quieted down and had to face the unresolved issue. Since Nami was back, was there still need to fight the Black Prince?
“Luffy, let’s go back to the Going Merry!”
Nami didn’t want to see Luffy and them challenge the Black Prince. She clearly knew they still needed time to grow. Maybe in the future they could beat the Black Prince, but now it was impossible to bridge that chasm-like gap and create a miracle.
“······”
Luffy said nothing, staring at the two-story building not far away.
“We’re going back.”
Having the courage to challenge a tough foe was different from recklessly courting death. Just beating Lucci had exhausted all his strength. The Black Prince, countless times stronger than Lucci, wasn’t an opponent he could beat now. He had that much self-awareness.
“But someday, I’ll definitely defeat him.”
Luffy raised his fist, swearing to his heart.
“Leaving already?” Hearing that familiar voice, Nami shuddered. Looking at the opened air door, Elus strolled out casually, reached down to scoop up Chopper, and vigorously rubbed Chopper’s fluffy belly. “Yo, Chopper, long time no see.”
“Black Prince! What are you doing? Let go of Chopper!”
Luffy assumed a combat stance. Zoro’s hand went to his hilt, and Sanji lifted his heel.
“Relax, relax. I’m not here to cause trouble this time—I’m delivering your reward.” Elus released Chopper. The reindeer doctor scurried away in panic, hiding behind Luffy.
“Reward?”
The only calm one, Robin, repeated the word.
“Right. For your valiant fighting, here’s some good news: after leaving Alabasta, go to Magra Town. It hides clues to Skypiea!” Elus grinned as he revealed a secret worth little.
“Skypiea? An island floating in the sky—is that real?”
Luffy’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Hey, Luffy.”
Zoro and Sanji looked at their captain with headaches.
“Haha! Don’t worry, fooling you does me no good, and you can judge if it’s real or fake when you get to Magra Town.” Elus laughed happily. He had his eye on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, planning to consume it as his first Logia Devil Fruit. He could use the Straw Hat Pirates to help conquer Enel, then go harvest the fruit.
During the long time Nami had been his guest, he had collected her fingernails to make a Life Card. He could totally follow the Straw Hat Pirates using Nami’s Life Card to find Enel’s Skypiea.
Though he could search himself, spending time and effort would probably find Enel too, but that seemed troublesome. Better to ride the Straw Hat Pirates’ coattails—saves time and effort.
