Luffy walked calmly out of the tavern.
There he saw Marshall D. Teach sitting on the ground.
A bottle of liquor rested at his right hand, while a cherry pie sat beside his left.
He drank and ate at the same time.
"Zehahaha! This cherry pie is delicious!" Teach said with a satisfied grin.
"All that nonsense that guy said earlier was complete trash."
"Some outdated legend, my ass."
Teach slammed the bottle down.
"Zehahaha! A man's dreams will never die!"
"You already know why I'm here, don't you?" Luffy said calmly.
"Zehahaha!" Teach laughed loudly.
"I don't know why you hate me so much… but I'm not someone you can deal with that easily!"
An endless darkness began spreading from his body.
At the same time, an overwhelming aura erupted from him—one that seemed to dominate everything around it.
Luffy's eyes widened.
A completely different yet equally powerful force burst from his body.
Two terrifying auras collided.
The ground shook violently.
Even the clouds in the sky were blasted apart.
All the pirates who had been laughing moments earlier suddenly collapsed unconscious.
Inside the tavern—
Bellamy stared in shock at the fallen pirates.
He knew exactly what this power was.
Conqueror's Haki.
Even in the New World, it was a power possessed by only one in a million.
It was the same power possessed by the man he admired most—Donquixote Doflamingo.
Because of that, Bellamy had always carried a sense of superiority while sailing in the first half of the Grand Line.
But now—
Why?
Why would monsters like this appear in Paradise?
Bellamy couldn't move.
Remaining conscious under this level of Conqueror's Haki was already his limit.
Beside him, Zoro frowned and looked outside.
That power suffocated him as well.
But he had grown stronger.
He had trained relentlessly so he would never feel that helpless again.
Even if he couldn't match those monsters—
He refused to collapse like this.
"Move… MOVE!"
Zoro roared.
A thin layer of Armament Haki appeared on his blade.
It was incredibly weak—barely visible.
Yet it was unyielding.
Even under the raging pressure, it remained.
Gradually—
Zoro realized he could move again.
"One-Sword Style—Lion's Song!"
Bellamy collapsed.
He fell because of his own ignorance.
His future ended here.
Zoro stared grimly toward the distance.
There, an endless darkness was spreading.
"Conqueror's Haki… what a terrifying brat," Teach muttered.
"Black Hole!"
Teach placed his hand on the ground.
Darkness radiated outward from him.
In an instant—
The entire Mock Town was swallowed by darkness.
Luffy grabbed the edge of a building and leapt onto the roof.
His arm turned black as Armament Haki coated it.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
Teach dodged sideways.
Luffy's fist smashed into the wall.
Using the elasticity, Luffy pulled himself forward and threw another punch.
Teach was blasted backward.
"Ahh! That hurts! That hurts!"
Teach rolled on the ground before slowly getting up.
"So… you're a Devil Fruit user too."
"Black Vortex!"
A swirling vortex of darkness appeared in his palm.
A powerful suction force spread outward.
Luffy was dragged toward him uncontrollably.
Then—
Teach swung another punch.
This time, Luffy was sent flying.
Damn it…
Even though I know his abilities, fighting him for the first time is still difficult.
Information advantage could decide a battle.
If he couldn't defeat Teach now, things would only become harder later.
"Black Hole—Release!"
A massive sphere of darkness rose into the sky.
Then—
All the destroyed buildings, trees, soil, and rubble collapsed toward the center of Mock Town.
"W-What the hell is that?!" Zoro exclaimed.
Meanwhile, the Blackbeard Pirates noticed the commotion.
"Hey, isn't that the captain's move?"
"No way… someone on this island is strong enough to make the captain take things seriously?"
They immediately rushed toward the center.
On the coast—
"What the hell is that?!" Usopp shouted while repairing the ship.
"This sea really isn't simple," Sanji muttered.
"Luffy… Luffy won't be okay, right?" Nami asked anxiously.
Robin looked toward the endless darkness.
Her pupils shrank.
She clearly remembered something terrifying.
A powerful Logia Devil Fruit was often called a natural disaster.
The Dark-Dark Fruit was one of them.
"Dark Sphere!"
Luffy and Teach dashed through the ruins.
Teach continuously hurled spheres of darkness.
Luffy dodged them desperately.
"Soru… Geppo?" Teach said in surprise.
"Aren't you supposed to be a pirate?"
Teach had spent years in the New World.
He had the experience to recognize those techniques.
"Shut up!"
Luffy instantly appeared beside Teach.
His leg, coated with Armament Haki, smashed down.
BOOM!
Teach was blown away.
Luffy dodged again as another dark sphere obliterated the ground where he had been standing.
Luffy panted heavily.
"You've done well… brat," Teach said coldly.
Darkness gathered around his right hand.
At the same time, Armament Haki spread over it.
"Darkness Fist!"
Luffy could only cross his arms and block with Armament Haki.
BOOM!
He was blasted over a thousand meters, smashing through multiple buildings.
"Zehahaha!"
Teach laughed wildly.
Darkness mixed with Conqueror's Haki spread everywhere.
"You ignorant fools!"
"Your existence is an insult to the sacred profession of pirate!"
"So disappear!"
Pirates who had been laughing earlier now ran toward the coast like stray dogs.
Behind them surged an endless tide of darkness.
Elsewhere—
Zoro faced a towering man.
Champion Wrestler—Jesus Burgess.
"Hahaha! You want to challenge me?" Burgess laughed.
"I'm a champion fighter!"
He threw a powerful punch.
Zoro dodged and slashed three times.
Three bloody wounds appeared across Burgess's body.
But Burgess ignored them and punched again.
Zoro crossed his swords to block.
CLANG!
The clash of fist and blade sent powerful winds scattering debris.
The ground beneath Zoro cracked.
"What terrifying strength…" Zoro muttered as he staggered back.
His arms were numb.
The two immediately clashed again.
Meanwhile—
"Zehahaha!" Teach continued laughing.
Suddenly—
His Observation Haki screamed a warning.
In the next moment—
Steam erupted.
Gear Second Luffy appeared beside him.
"Jet Bazooka!"
Both fists slammed into Teach.
Teach was blasted hundreds of meters away, blood spraying from his broken teeth.
"Gah—! That hurts!" Teach gasped in shock.
"How is that possible? That speed… that power…"
Gear Second Luffy appeared again.
He kicked Teach into the air.
Then appeared above him—
Kicking him again like a ball.
But just as Luffy prepared to continue the combo—
His Observation Haki warned him.
Luffy instantly retreated.
A bullet tore through the air.
It passed beside his hair and pierced deep into the ground.
Luffy looked toward the direction of the shot.
With Observation Haki, he saw a man holding a sniper rifle.
Van Augur.
"Not good!"
Suddenly Luffy sensed a massive threat.
Teach had already stood up.
Covered in blood, he released a terrifying aura.
Luffy's instincts screamed.
That attack could kill him instantly.
Luffy compressed his blood flow further and shot away.
"Zehahaha! Thanks, Van Augur!"
"Straw Hat boy—take this!"
An enormous sphere of darkness condensed in Teach's hands.
It continued expanding.
Meanwhile—
Zoro was still fighting Burgess.
Both of them were heavily injured.
At that moment—
Gear Second Luffy suddenly appeared.
He grabbed Zoro and ran toward the coast.
"Luffy! What are you doing?! I was about to—"
Zoro stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes widened.
Above Mock Town—
A gigantic sphere of darkness hovered in the sky.
It was large enough to cover the entire town.
Everyone stared at it in horror.
"What the hell is that?!" Usopp cried in despair.
Fear spread among the crew.
Suddenly—
Nami realized something.
She rushed toward Mock Town.
But Sanji grabbed her.
"Nami-swan! What are you doing?!"
"Let go!"
"Luffy… Luffy is still there!"
"But what can you do if you go?" Sanji shouted.
Nami fell to her knees.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I thought… I thought…"
Robin spoke quietly.
"No one could survive that kind of power."
Despair filled the ship.
Then—
"Look! What's that?!" Sanji shouted.
Everyone looked up.
Gear Second Luffy was rushing toward them at near sonic speed—
carrying Zoro.
"LUFFY!"
"Start the ship!" Luffy shouted.
The crew hurriedly set sail.
Luffy landed on the deck.
At that moment—
The massive sphere began descending onto Mock Town.
"Dark Emperor!"
It exploded like a nuclear blast.
A giant mushroom cloud rose over the town.
"Hold on tight!" Luffy shouted.
A massive shockwave swept across the sea.
The Going Merry rocked violently.
Planks flew off the deck.
The ship nearly broke apart.
But eventually—
Everything calmed.
Luffy deactivated Gear Second and collapsed on the deck, exhausted.
"That was a tough fight," he said with a grin.
"Luffy!"
Nami threw herself onto him and hugged him tightly.
"I thought… I thought you…"
"It's okay," Luffy said gently, stroking her orange hair.
"I'm fine."
Meanwhile—
At the center of the ruins—
Teach laughed.
"Zehahaha! It actually worked!"
"My imitation of Ace's 'Flame Emperor'—the 'Dark Emperor'!"
"But the charge time is too long… and the energy consumption is huge."
"I need to improve it."
"Captain, you're pathetic," Burgess mocked.
"You couldn't even capture a kid worth 30 million Berries."
"30 million?!" Teach roared.
"What outdated information are you using?!"
"Straw Hat Luffy now has a bounty of 300 million Berries!"
Van Augur held up two bounty posters.
"And this one—Roronoa Zoro. 60 million Berries."
"So that's who injured you," Van Augur said calmly while looking at Burgess's wounds.
"What exactly did Straw Hat Luffy do in Alabasta to raise his bounty from 30 million to 300 million?" Burgess wondered.
Teach lay on the ground, staring at the sky.
"Zehahaha… Alabasta."
"Isn't it obvious?"
"You mean…"
"Crocodile?" Burgess said in shock.
Van Augur adjusted his rifle.
"Do you really believe a random Marine captain captured one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
"If that were true… what would be the point of the Warlords system?"
"Zehahaha! Next time…"
"You won't escape!"
"Next time," Luffy said in the distance,
"I'll defeat you."
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