Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blazing pillars of magma burst from the ground one after another.
The surging heat waves caused the temperature around the plaza to soar.
The spectators had long since retreated again and again to avoid being caught in the scorching blast.
Yet despite the danger, everyone’s eyes remained fixed on the lone figure calmly weaving through the eruptions.
As shocked as they were, they couldn’t help but break into cold sweats.
They were terrified that Lucas would make a single mistake and be swallowed by the magma, reduced to ashes in an instant.
Seconds ticked by.
After enduring hundreds of erupting magma pillars...
One lone figure emerged completely unharmed.
If this wasn’t Observation Haki—
What else could it possibly be?
"He... he really awakened Observation Haki after seeing it demonstrated just once?"
Zephyr was utterly stunned.
"Garp..."
"You didn’t hide anything when you submitted his records, did you?"
Everyone around them shared the same disbelief.
If anyone still doubted it...
They were welcome to walk through that field of magma themselves.
Could this really be the result of years of accumulated experience suddenly bearing fruit?
Or...
Had Lucas been hiding his true abilities all along?
"Zephyr, you old fool!"
Garp finally snapped out of his daze.
"Do you think I’m the type to hide things like Sengoku?"
"If this brat had already mastered Haki, I’d have been bragging about it to everyone!"
"Why would I have gone through the trouble of submitting an Admiral nomination for him?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Sengoku kicked him flying.
Even Sengoku, despite everything he’d witnessed, was deeply shaken.
If Garp was telling the truth...
Then Lucas’s talent bordered on the monstrous.
"Brat."
Sakazuki’s expression darkened.
"I don’t care whether you really learned it after watching once..."
"Or whether you’ve been hiding your strength."
"But Observation Haki alone isn’t enough to justify your arrogance."
"Come."
"Attack me."
"Show me what gives you such confidence."
As his words fell...
The magma within Sakazuki erupted violently.
He shot forward like a rocket, wrapped in overwhelming force as he charged straight toward Lucas.
The distance between them vanished almost instantly.
The sudden assault caused countless faces to pale.
Before anyone could react...
Sakazuki’s magma-covered fist had already descended.
"...Why does that sound familiar?"
Garp blinked.
"Didn’t Zephyr say exactly the same thing yesterday?"
"Garp, you idiot!"
Sengoku roared.
"Forget the jokes!"
"Hurry up and save him!"
"That brat may have mastered the ultimate techniques of the Six Powers and awakened Observation Haki..."
"But he has no chance of confronting Sakazuki’s Devil Fruit head-on!"
Sengoku charged forward first.
It had taken the Marines far too long to discover a talent like Lucas.
Whether he ultimately became an Admiral or not...
Sengoku absolutely refused to let such a promising young Marine lose heart.
"Sengoku, wait!"
Zephyr suddenly shouted.
"I think we’ve underestimated that kid again!"
Sengoku had only advanced a few meters before abruptly stopping.
His eyes locked onto Lucas.
The young man, who had seemed rooted to the spot...
Suddenly moved.
He took a heavy step forward.
Boom!
The instant his foot struck the ground...
The arena floor shattered beneath him.
Every Marine who had witnessed Zephyr being sent flying the previous day immediately recognized the stance.
Their pupils shrank.
Someone couldn’t help crying out,
"H-He isn’t planning to fight magma with his bare hands, is he?"
"Admiral Sakazuki is a Logia user!"
"With elemental transformation, he won’t even be able to touch him!"
"Hmph."
Sakazuki snorted.
"Brat."
"You’re still too inexperienced."
"I’m a Logia user."
As he spoke, the magma covering his body began to recede slightly.
He had intended to teach the overconfident rookie a lesson.
But with Zephyr, Garp, and Sengoku all placing such high hopes on Lucas...
He had no intention of seriously injuring him.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
A shout rang out.
"Sakazuki!"
"Be careful!"
Sakazuki froze.
His movements slowed for just an instant.
Wait...
Shouldn’t they be warning the kid instead?
He was the Logia user here.
Bzzzt—
The air trembled.
A powerful sense of danger swept through his body.
Looking at Lucas, now only a step away...
Sakazuki’s pupils contracted violently.
Dark-black arcs of Haki crackled across Lucas’s fists like streaks of lightning.
He hadn’t only awakened Observation Haki...
He had mastered Armament Haki as well!
Looking at those fists completely coated in jet-black Armament Haki...
Who cared about elemental transformation anymore?
"Flowing Water, Crushing Rock Fist!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lucas planted his feet firmly.
His fists exploded forward like cannon shells.
With Armament Haki reinforcing every strike...
Even Sakazuki’s magma seemed powerless.
A torrent of punches engulfed him.
Each blow landed with the thunderous force of heavenly war drums, echoing across the entire plaza.
Caught beneath the relentless barrage...
Sakazuki was forced back.
One step.
Then another.
And another.
"Full Body Armament Haki!"
Sakazuki roared.
After retreating more than a dozen steps, he finally stabilized himself.
Jet-black Armament Haki spread across his entire body.
But at that very moment...
He saw Lucas’s right arm suddenly swell to nearly twice its original size.
Coils of Haki swirled around it like a raging cyclone.
"That’s..."
Sengoku’s pupils shrank.
"Emission!"
"That kid has already mastered advanced Armament Haki!"
"Sakazuki!"
"Move!"
"Don’t try to block that attack head-on!"
Move?
Sakazuki froze.
If he’d had the chance...
He would have gladly avoided it.
But after being caught completely off guard...
There was nowhere left to retreat.
One mistake had led to another.
Lucas had seized the initiative completely.
"Ryuo—Crushing Rock Impact!"
BOOM!!
Lucas stepped forward once more.
The instant his final punch shot out...
He instinctively fused his mastery of the Six Powers with the advanced application of Armament Haki.
Everything flowed together naturally.
The technique reached the level that others recognized as Ryuo—the advanced form of Armament Haki.
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield.
Centered on Sakazuki...
The arena within a hundred-meter radius shattered and collapsed.
A violent shockwave swept across the entire plaza like a hurricane.
The explosive force compressed within Lucas’s right fist erupted like a volcanic eruption.
The ground split apart, leaving an enormous trench stretching across the battlefield.
Despite coating his entire body in Armament Haki...
Sakazuki was blasted away like a cannonball.
So...
After saying the exact same words as Zephyr yesterday...
He ended up taking an even harder punch.