The Lord of the Coast was clearly uninterested in the two little specks on the boat; its gaze was drawn to the sinking bag of bait exuding a strong smell of blood, but its massive body merely made an upward movement, and the resulting waves were enough to capsize the small boat!
A giant wave crashed down!
Luna made a judgment in that split second.
Save Higuma?
Unnecessary, this bastard deserved to die, but the boat couldn’t capsize—before completely adapting to seawater, falling into the water was still extremely dangerous for her.
“Rubber…” Her arms suddenly stretched backward, not aiming at the Lord of the Coast, but toward the direction of Windmill Village’s coast!
The moment the waves were about to swallow the small boat, her arms, stretched to their limit, released like a slingshot’s rubber band.
Her ten fingers transformed into grappling hooks once again, not wrapping around the mast, but shooting toward a protruding reef on the shoreline!
“——Catapult!”
The grappling hooks accurately wrapped around the reef, and a tremendous pulling force came!
Luna did not fight this pulling force; instead, she went with the flow, using the pull to fling her entire body backward!
At the same time, her feet kicked heavily against the bow of the boat!
The small boat’s center of gravity was changed by this kick, and it perilously shifted sideways by a few meters while swaying at the edge of the giant wave, avoiding the fate of being directly smashed to pieces.
But Higuma wasn’t so lucky; his location happened to be the very forefront of the wave’s impact.
He was swept up by the seawater, let out a short scream, and disappeared into the churning white foam.
Driven by the rubber grappling hooks, Luna’s body flew backward toward the coast like a humanoid cannonball!
The sea wind whistled by her ears, below her was the dark and turbulent sea surface, and in the distance was the heart-stopping, massive figure of the Lord of the Coast.
She could feel that the Lord of the Coast seemed to have reacted to the sound of Higuma falling into the water.
Its huge head turned toward the direction of her flight, and its chilling vertical pupils locked onto the “flying prey” in the air.
Trouble.
Luna adjusted her posture in the air, her brain working at high speed.
Rubber Constitution could not be used in seawater, but now she was out of the seawater, and her abilities had recovered.
However, there was nowhere to leverage force in the air; once the Lord of the Coast attacked…
As if to verify her thoughts, the massive tail of the Lord of the Coast fiercely slapped the sea surface.
Its entire upper body rose again, its bloody mouth wide open, snapping right along Luna’s flight path in the air!
The speed was astonishingly fast!
On the coast, Shanks and the members of the Red Hair Pirates had already rushed to the very front of the beach.
“Luna!” Shanks’s gaze was sharp, his hand already pressed against the hilt of Gryphon at his waist.
Yasopp’s gun had long been raised, but he didn’t dare to shoot—Luna’s flight path and the attack route of the Lord of the Coast were too close; stray bullets might accidentally injure her.
Luna saw the rapidly approaching giant mouth filled with sharp teeth, and a stench hit her face.
She couldn’t block it head-on, and she couldn’t panic.
The countless battle scenes she had watched in her past life, the imaginative applications of the Rubber Fruit discussed with AI, and the combat instincts repeatedly tempered over the past seven days collided and fused wildly at this moment.
She took a deep breath and made an incredible movement in the air—contraction!
It wasn’t curling her body up, but compressing and condensing her limbs and torso inward like plasticine!
Her entire volume instantly shrank by a circle, looking more like a dense rubber ball.
At the same time, she fiercely swung the grappling hook on her right arm, which was still connected to the reef.
Not pulling, but like swinging a meteor hammer, she forcibly shifted her falling trajectory horizontally!
The giant mouth of the Lord of the Coast bit empty, brushing past her side.
Its death-white sharp teeth gleamed coldly under the moonlight, and the closest one was less than half a meter away from her waist!
But the crisis was not over yet.
The moment the Lord of the Coast missed its bite, its huge head swung sideways with momentum, slamming toward Luna like a battering ram!
This time, Luna didn’t completely dodge it.
“Bang!!!”
A heavy impact exploded over the sea surface.
Luna felt as if she had been grazed on the side by a speeding truck, and her entire body flew sideways out of control.
The rubber grappling hook connected to the reef was snapped raw!
“Luna!!!” Makino’s scream came from the shore.
Shanks’s figure had already rushed out like an arrow released from a string, speeding across the sea surface—Geppo?
No, it was a purer burst of strength and speed, leaving a series of exploding splashes where he stepped on the sea!
Luna tumbled in the air, a sharp pain coming from her flank, but she clenched her teeth, and Form Control activated instantly.
The skin and muscles of the impacted area were rubberized layer by layer to cushion and dissipate the force.
She could feel that her ribs might be cracked, but not broken; her internal organs were churning violently from the shock, but she could still hold on.
The experience points for Willpower Resistance were jumping wildly.
She couldn’t just take a beating passively!
Having succeeded in its first strike, the massive body of the Lord of the Coast had already twisted around, preparing to launch a third attack—this time a deadlier tail whip!
Luna suddenly opened her eyes wide while falling.
Her pupils reflected the sweeping, giant steel whip-like tail, as well as behind the tail—the direction of the coast.
A crazy plan instantly formed in her mind.
She no longer tried to stabilize her posture, but instead actively adjusted her position, curling her body into a spherical shape more conducive to withstanding impact.
At the same time, her arms stretched backward, not toward the coast, but…
toward the sweeping tail of the Lord of the Coast!
“Want to hit me?” Luna’s mouth twitched into a bloody, mad smile.
“Then let me give you a boost!”
The moment before the giant tail was about to lash her, her arms, stretched to their limit, snapped forward like a slingshot, her palms slamming heavily against the scales of the Lord of the Coast’s tail!
Not resisting, but following the direction of the tail’s sweep, she applied a thrust in the same direction!
“Rubber Boost!!”
Bang!!!
Luna’s body was whipped away at an even faster speed than before!
But this time, her flight path was no longer a chaotic tumble, but a straight line backward, just like a cannonball leaving the barrel!
The direction—was precisely the Windmill Village coast!
The Lord of the Coast clearly didn’t expect this twist.
The power of its tail sweep was disturbed by Luna’s push, its trajectory deviated slightly, and it lashed against the sea surface, blasting a towering column of water into the sky.
As for Luna, she turned into a dark shadow, cutting through the night sky and shooting backward toward the coast!
Shanks had already rushed to the shallow water area.
Seeing this scene, a sharp glint burst in his eyes.
Instead of catching Luna, he slammed his feet against the water and leaped up, turning in mid-air as Gryphon was unsheathed!
Not to attack the Lord of the Coast, but—to slash at the air behind Luna!
Clang!!!
The clear ringing of the sword resounded through the night sky.
Invisible sword qi opened up behind Luna like a soft barrier, precisely neutralizing most of the violent impact on her body while supporting her falling body, letting her land lightly in waist-deep seawater like a fallen leaf.
“Cough cough…” Luna staggered to a standing position, coughing up a few mouthfuls of saliva carrying a metallic rust taste.
Her flank burned with pain, and her whole body’s bones were groaning, but her mind was clear, and she was even somewhat euphoric due to surviving a catastrophe and that crazy maneuver just now.
Shanks landed beside her, the seawater soaking up to his thighs.
He glanced at Luna’s pale yet shining face, then looked toward the Lord of the Coast on the sea surface, which was roaring angrily because the prey had “escaped,” kicking up waves.
“Can you still move?” Shanks asked.
“Won’t die.” Luna grinned, her smile somewhat ugly.
“That guy…
really packs a punch.”
“One of the overlords of the East Blue coastal waters, it’s not just for show.” Shanks sheathed Gryphon, looking calmly at the giant beast.
“You did very well, better than I imagined.”
The appreciation in his tone was genuine.
To be able to not only calmly maneuver when first encountering a sea beast of the Lord of the Coast’s caliber, but even use the opponent’s attack to accelerate out of danger—this quick-wittedness and audacity were far beyond what an ordinary five-year-old child—let alone many fledgling pirates—could possess.
Looking at Luna’s pale yet excited profile, Shanks seemed to see himself from many years ago, and also saw a certain expectation for the new era that occasionally flashed in Captain Roger’s eyes.