Gon looked at Luffy, who had already taken up a fighting stance, and excitement blazed in his eyes.
He wanted to know just how strong he had become after training at Heavens Arena.
Boom!
His Ren erupted in an instant, and the powerful aura sweeping from his body stirred the fine dust across the ground.
The sudden change immediately wiped the carefree expression from Luffy’s face.
In its place appeared the intense focus he showed when facing a powerful opponent.
Zoro’s gaze grew even sharper, and his hand unconsciously moved to the hilt of his sword.
“Luffy, don’t let your guard down.
This kid is no ordinary fighter.”
“Yeah!”
Luffy nodded heavily.
A moment later, however, a huge smile spread across his face as he issued his usual invitation.
“You’re strong!
Join my crew!”
“Join your crew?”
The aura surrounding Gon abruptly became fiercer, his anger causing his Nen to surge even more violently.
“You want me to become a pirate?”
As far as Gon understood, pirates were no different from thieves—villains who plundered and destroyed whatever they pleased.
Luffy patted his straw hat and was about to explain, but Gon gave him no opportunity.
Gon moved.
Explosive speed carried him across the distance between them in an instant.
His fist, wrapped in pure aura, shot straight toward Luffy’s face.
Seeing that it was merely an ordinary punch, Luffy made no attempt to dodge.
He was confident that his rubber body would render blunt attacks ineffective.
However, the moment Gon’s fist struck his cheek—
Bang!
A force far beyond anything Luffy had expected slammed into him.
Agony exploded across his face, and his entire body was sent flying uncontrollably backward.
He crashed into a pile of cargo crates with a deafening impact.
“Luffy!”
Zoro stared in shock.
“How is that possible?
He’s made of rubber!
Physical attacks shouldn’t work on him!”
Even more alarming was the thin trail of blood that had appeared at the corner of Luffy’s mouth while he was still in the air.
It completely defied common sense.
Kael had seen everything clearly from the side and immediately understood what had happened.
Nen was life energy, and direct attacks infused with it possessed an extremely high level of effectiveness.
Even though Nen was not the Armament Haki of this world, it could still inflict real damage on ability users.
Luffy quickly sprang out of the wreckage and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
His face was filled with confusion.
Rather than becoming frightened, he curiously grabbed the cheek Gon had struck and pulled it hard in both directions.
“It hurts!
But it’s still rubber!”
He muttered like a child faced with an impossible puzzle.
“Why can your punches hurt me?
That’s so weird!”
One of Luffy’s defining traits was that whenever he could not understand something, he simply stopped thinking about it.
He pressed down on his straw hat, and his smile became even brighter.
“I don’t get it, but you really are strong!
Now I want you as my crewmate even more!”
The battle erupted again, this time with even greater intensity.
Using his extraordinary powers of observation and the protection offered by Nen, Gon fought against Luffy’s wildly imaginative rubber techniques and freely extending limbs.
Not far away, Kael could clearly feel everything that was happening.
Every shift between attack and defense.
Every bizarre angle from which Luffy launched an attack.
Every improvised block and counterattack Gon performed.
All of it transformed into direct combat experience and insight, flowing endlessly into Kael through their spiritual connection.
It was as though Kael himself stood on the battlefield.
Although his body remained weak, his soul was simultaneously learning, adapting, and even refining those techniques.
This was the terrifying power of the Book of World Resonance.
It allowed the training results and combat instincts of a contracted partner to be shared with its host without reservation.
“Gum-Gum Pistol!”
“Gum-Gum Bazooka!”
Luffy cast aside every last trace of underestimation, and his offensive became increasingly fierce.
Using his body’s elasticity, he launched himself forward like a meteor.
Stretching both arms far behind him, he unleashed an enormously powerful attack.
Gon, however, seemed to have anticipated it.
At the exact moment Luffy’s power reached its peak, Gon swiftly sidestepped the attack.
He then stomped against the ground and leapt upward, seizing the brief opening when Luffy’s previous momentum had been exhausted and his next movement had yet to begin.
Gon’s fist, surrounded by dense aura, crashed into Luffy’s face once more like a sledgehammer.
Boom!
Luffy was smashed directly into the ground, creating a shallow crater and leaving his body momentarily lodged within it.
Gon immediately stepped forward.
He raised his right fist high, and the concentrated aura surrounding it emitted a dangerous pressure.
Staring seriously at Luffy, he said, “Give up on being a pirate, and I’ll spare you.”
“No.”
Luffy answered without even a moment’s hesitation.
Even when faced with the threat of death, his eyes remained clear and unwavering.
“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“Of course I am,” Luffy replied as though it were obvious.
“But even if I die, I’m still gonna become King of the Pirates!”
Gon froze.
He could see neither deception nor wickedness in Luffy’s eyes.
There was only a childlike, utterly pure determination.
It was completely different from the cruel image of pirates Gon had always imagined.
His descending fist faltered for the briefest instant.
At that exact moment—
“Captain!”
A chilling wave of killing intent locked onto Gon from the side.
Zoro charged toward him at tremendous speed.
The instant he drew close, he swung his blades at Gon without the slightest hesitation.
Relying on the exceptional instincts he had developed as a Hunter, Gon instinctively ducked.
An invisible, razor-sharp pressure swept past his hair.
He immediately leapt backward, opening a gap between himself and Zoro, who now had all three swords unsheathed.
“You all right, Captain?”
“Heh-heh!
I almost died!”
Luffy casually jumped out of the crater and stretched his arms and legs.
Zoro kept his eyes fixed on Gon.
Without turning around, he spoke quietly to Luffy.
“This guy is strong.
Things are looking bad.
Get ready to retreat.
I’ll hold him off.”
“No way!”
Luffy rejected the idea without hesitation.
“If we run, we run together!”
Hearing the complete trust and sense of responsibility between them only deepened Gon’s confusion.
These pirates were nothing like the ones he had imagined.
Sensing Gon’s gaze, Kael slowly walked forward.
A fair amount of his strength had already returned.
His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable firmness.
“Different people pursue different things.”
“Someone who appears to be good isn’t necessarily a good person, and someone called evil isn’t necessarily truly evil.”
“Most of this world consists of oceans and islands.
That has given rise to countless dreamers and ambitious people who seek adventure.”
“‘Pirate’ simply became the title most of them adopted.”
“Some pursue wealth, power, and slaughter.
Others… merely seek the ultimate freedom.”
“They are no different from the Hunters of our world.
Their titles and ambitions are simply different.
There is no absolute right or wrong inherent in the name itself.”
As Gon listened to Kael, the anger and confusion in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by contemplation.
Only then did Kael formally turn his gaze toward Luffy.
A smile containing both appreciation and rivalry appeared on his face.
“You’re Monkey D.
Luffy, aren’t you?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.
My name is Kael Link.”
He paused, and his clear voice carried across the entire harbor.
“So I look forward to the day when, at the very end of our paths toward the summit, we fight once again!”
His words struck the scene like a massive boulder thrown into a tranquil lake.
How could Luffy fail to understand Kael’s meaning?
This was not merely an acknowledgment.
It was an open declaration of challenge.
Kael also intended to become King of the Pirates—and he had already recognized Luffy as an opponent he would eventually have to overcome.
In an instant, every trace of playfulness vanished from Luffy’s face.
He adjusted the straw hat atop his head.
Beneath its lowered brim, the corners of his mouth spread into an enormous grin filled with excitement and fighting spirit.
His gaze became as sharp as a hawk’s.
“All right!
Bring it on!”
His voice rang loudly through the harbor as he displayed an expression of absolute confidence.
“Because I’m the man who’s gonna become King of the Pirates!”
(End of Chapter)