“Luffy!
Karl!
I finished tying up all the pirates!”
At that moment, a flash of pink appeared at the top of the staircase.
It was Koby.
Karl said nothing.
That’s exactly what I’d expect from you.
Couldn’t you at least look at the situation before opening your mouth?
Since Koby was facing Karl and Luffy, his back was completely turned toward Alvida.
It wasn’t until an enormous shadow swallowed him whole that he realized something was wrong.
“Koby!”
Alvida’s voice boomed across the deck like thunder.
“Even you?
The weakest, most useless coward on this ship has chosen to betray me?”
“L-Lady Alvida, I…
I…”
Koby spun around, his words stumbling over one another.
“KOBY!!!”
Seeing him shake so badly he looked ready to burst into tears at any second, Alvida felt a familiar sense of superiority wash over her.
Then she asked the question she always demanded.
“Tell me.”
“Who is the most beautiful woman on the seas?”
“I-It’s…
It’s…”
Faced with Alvida’s towering figure and the bloodstained iron mace resting across her shoulder, Koby’s fear surged uncontrollably.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Sweat poured down his face.
It felt as though he were standing at the edge of a bottomless abyss.
Instinctively, he almost gave the same answer he had repeated countless times over the past three years.
Then a voice echoed through his mind.
The moment I set sail, I bet everything on my dream.
Luffy’s words.
Steady.
Determined.
Unshakable.
Even your life?
The thought suddenly surfaced.
And like a spark landing on dry grass, it spread throughout his entire body.
A courage he had never possessed before erupted from deep within.
Grinding his teeth together, Koby squeezed his eyes shut and screamed with everything he had.
“Definitely not you, you freckled old hag!”
The words burst out before he could stop them.
This time—
Even if it cost him his life.
Even if he lost everything.
He would never bow his head to this woman again.
“I’m Koby!”
“The man who’s going to become Fleet Admiral!”
“One day, I’ll arrest you myself and throw you behind bars!”
“KOBY!!!”
Alvida’s eyes widened in disbelief and fury.
Never in a million years had she imagined that Koby—the weakest, most insignificant, most spineless person on her ship—would openly defy her.
Rage instantly drowned out every trace of reason.
With a furious roar, she brought her massive iron mace crashing downward.
She would make him suffer.
She would teach him exactly what betrayal cost.
Then—
Just as the spiked weapon was about to reduce Koby to a bloody smear—
Luffy appeared.
Like a flash of lightning.
He planted himself directly between Koby and Alvida.
His body became an unbreakable shield.
Perhaps this was what people meant when they said:
When the sky collapses, the tallest person holds it up.
CRASH!
The iron mace slammed directly into Luffy’s head.
Even his Straw Hat compressed dramatically beneath the impact.
A victorious smile appeared on Alvida’s face.
Then it froze.
“Wahahaha!”
Luffy burst into laughter.
“Koby, that was awesome!”
Despite the fact that his head had visibly flattened, he looked completely unharmed.
“H-How?!”
Alvida stared in shock.
“My mace…”
“Because I’m a Rubber Human!”
Luffy proudly declared.
The moment those words left his mouth, Karl covered his face.
“I seriously need to teach him some combat awareness one day.”
Karl muttered under his breath.
“Who reveals their own abilities during a fight?”
“Would it kill him to keep a secret for once?”
“Rubber…”
Alvida repeated blankly.
The color immediately drained from her face.
She had heard stories about Devil Fruits.
Everyone had.
But hearing rumors and facing one in person were entirely different matters.
“Then it’s my turn!”
As everyone knew, battles worked on turns.
Alvida had already attacked.
Now it was Luffy’s chance.
The same punch that had launched her flying before was already being prepared.
One strike.
One finish.
However, Karl had no intention of standing around as a spectator.
“My captain,” he said calmly,
“is someone only I’m allowed to hit.”
The metallic rod in his hand suddenly shot forward.
It pierced directly into Alvida’s iron mace.
Then—
Under the stunned gaze of everyone present—
The massive weapon began to melt.
Not in the way ordinary metal melts.
Not like molten lava.
It simply softened and transformed into liquid metal.
The metallic fluid flowed upward instead of dripping down.
It crawled across Alvida’s body.
“M-My mace!”
“What is this?!”
For the first time, genuine panic entered her voice.
Only now did Alvida realize she had chosen the wrong opponents.
Devil Fruit users.
The kind of people she had only heard about in newspapers and tavern gossip. The source of this chapter is g.com.
And now there were two of them standing before her.
Her defeat was already guaranteed.
“Lock.”
Karl snapped his fingers.
The liquid metal instantly hardened.
It wrapped around Alvida’s body from the neck downward like a steel prison.
At the same moment, dozens of metallic cables shot outward.
They embedded themselves deeply into various sections of the ship.
In the blink of an eye, Alvida was completely restrained.
The entire sequence had taken only a few seconds.
And at that exact instant—
Luffy finished charging his attack.
His arm had stretched dozens of meters behind him.
Like an enormous rubber spring, it snapped back toward its target.
The force generated was terrifying.
The speed was overwhelming.
Alvida desperately tried to evade.
Inside her mind, a single desperate plea repeated itself.
Not my face.
Please, not my face.
Unfortunately, the metal restraints held her firmly in place.
She couldn’t move at all.
“Gum-Gum Pistol!”
BOOM!
The punch connected squarely with her face.
A violent shockwave erupted across the deck.
Alvida was launched backward with tremendous force.
Thankfully, Karl’s metal cables held.
Otherwise, she might have been blasted completely off the ship.
Instead, she spun wildly through the air several times before the cables snapped taut and dragged her back.
Then—
BAM!
She slammed heavily onto the deck.
Karl walked over.
He intended to completely wrap up the battle.
Then he stopped.
Alvida was already unconscious.
Whether Luffy’s punch had knocked her out—
Or the emotional trauma of being punched in the face had done the job—
Karl honestly had no idea.
“Aw…
it’s over already?”
Luffy scratched his head.
He sounded genuinely disappointed.
As though the fight had ended before it had become entertaining.
Karl rolled his eyes.
“What exactly were you expecting?”
Then he added:
“And next time, stop blocking attacks with your face.”
“It’s fine!”
Luffy flashed a grin.
“I’m made of rubber!”
“Rubber people don’t feel pain!”
Karl stared at him silently.
There were so many things wrong with that statement that he didn’t even know where to begin.