As Luffy's words fell, the air fell into a deathly silence for a moment.
Everyone stared blankly at Luffy, his words echoing in their minds.
"Lah hahahaha…"
Suddenly, a loud laugh broke the silence.
Aramaki, in his treeman state, opened his huge tree mouth, his warship-sized body shaking, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, laughing non-stop.
The stunned Marines were now pulled back to their senses by Aramaki's loud laughter, and one by one, they couldn't help but burst into laughter as well.
"Hahahaha… What foolishness is Straw Hat saying!"
"He actually said he wants to defeat Aramaki in one blow! Aramaki is a man who can fight an Admiral, how could he be defeated by him in one blow?"
"Exactly! Exactly! I think Straw Hat has been in the first half of the Grand Line for too long and really thinks he's invincible! In truth, he doesn't know that in the New World, the latter half of the Grand Line, that's the most terrifying place on this sea. If those Four Emperors there said something like that, I might not doubt it. But Straw Hat…hahahahaha…"
All the Marines found Luffy's presumptuousness amusing.
It was as if they had heard the biggest joke ever.
Even the Vice Admirals currently fighting the Straw Hat all showed disdain and sneers.
On Doberman's side, he was fiercely battling Uta.
Hearing Luffy's words, he immediately snorted disdainfully.
"Hmph! What an arrogant fellow!"
"Are all of you Straw Hat such fools who don't know your place?"
"Whether it's you or your Captain, so far I've only witnessed your impressive mouth skills!"
"Your strength is completely different from what you just said!"
Doberman mocked Uta, his face full of disdain.
The strength Uta was currently displaying, while not weak, was not as impressive as she had previously shown, not enough to make him disregard her.
However, Uta, who had always worn a slight smile and a relaxed, leisurely expression, suddenly had her face sink after hearing Doberman's words.
She suddenly leaped, creating distance from Doberman.
Doberman looked at Uta in confusion, not knowing what this woman was up to.
Just then, he heard Uta slowly and deeply say, "I originally thought that defeating you too early would leave me with nothing to do and be boring."
"So I just wanted to play with you."
"But…"
"I will not allow you to…"
"Insult Luffy!!!"
As her words fell.
Before Doberman could react, he watched in shock as Uta's figure suddenly vanished from her spot.
The next second.
He suddenly narrowed his eyes and raised his sword to block in one direction.
Bang!
A loud collision, Uta's attack was blocked by him.
However, before he could counterattack, Uta's figure vanished from her spot again.
Then she attacked continuously from other different directions.
Doberman was immediately startled, and cold sweat quickly seeped from his forehead.
Uta seemed to have changed into a different person in an instant, her speed so fast that it was difficult for him to even track her.
…
After Spider Monkey began fighting Sanji, he had been facing Sanji's full-power attacks.
For Sanji, he desperately wanted to defeat a Vice Admiral and raise his bounty.
Otherwise, he was always being teased about it by that moss-head, and he couldn't even retort.
And Spider Monkey, facing Sanji's storm-like attacks, simply couldn't afford to be distracted by anything else.
He was also the one among the five Vice Admirals who was fighting the most intensely.
Although he heard Luffy's boastful words at this moment, he had no time to say anything, only constantly marveling in his heart, just like Doberman.
Marveling at Sanji's growth rate, which was visible to the naked eye.
As for Usopp and Nojiko, they continued to calmly and steadily engage their opponents.
Their opponents, Yamakaji and Strawberry, were both men of few words, focusing entirely on their battles.
But in their hearts, they shared the same shock as Mole and Spider Monkey.
All the Vice Admirals were now realizing that if things continued this way, they would all soon be defeated!
...
Over on Luffy's side.
After laughing for a long time, Aramaki gradually stopped.
He looked at Luffy with a playful expression, scoffing, "One-shot me?"
"Can you do that?"
Aramaki was quite confident in his own strength.
Although he hadn't appeared much in the world before, he was very clear about the world's power structure and divisions.
He was confident that few people in this world could defeat him with a single blow.
Even the Four Emperors would probably need to go all out and use their strongest move to possibly defeat him in one hit, and that would only be if he didn't dodge and clashed head-on with a Four Emperors.
If it were a real battle, he wouldn't be foolish enough to clash head-on with a Four Emperors' strongest move!
Hearing such words from a pirate who hadn't even been to the New World yet, how could Aramaki not find it amusing?
Facing Aramaki's mockery and disdain, Luffy gave no response.
He just slowly spoke, pondering, "Eight Gates!"
Aramaki was stunned!
He had indeed heard Luffy say something, but he hadn't heard it clearly.
He couldn't help but ask, "What?"
However, as soon as his voice fell, Aramaki's mind suddenly shook, and his eyes widened.
Luffy's body suddenly erupted with an unparalleled and astonishing aura.
And this incredibly astonishing aura was rapidly climbing at an unimaginable speed.
"Seventh Gate of Shock! Open!" Luffy roared, directly opening the Seventh Gate.
Immediately, an energy that seemed capable of shaking heaven and earth surged skyward, gushing forth from Luffy's body.
His skin instantly turned blood red.
Blue mist steamed from his entire body, enveloping him.
The mist surged upward, sharp as thorns.
Like a colossal azure beast, it surged, tearing the Marine ship beneath him to shreds.
Countless wooden fragments were lifted by the surging mist, flying skyward.
However, the moment they touched the blue mist, they seemed to be swallowed and torn apart, turning into dust and vanishing.
And Luffy, who had torn the Marine ship beneath him to shreds, now stood as if in mid-air.
The surging blue mist was like an impenetrable energy shield, lifting him into the air.
Preventing him from falling after losing his footing.
At this moment, Luffy was like a true god descended, his aura reaching an unparalleled peak.
This scene left everyone present utterly shocked and captivated.
Because the aura and energy emanating from Luffy at this moment were simply unheard of by everyone, causing them to be wary.
It was even so powerful that countless people felt no desire to resist at all, a fear stemming from their very core.
The Marines who witnessed this scene had their mouths agape, their expressions astonished, their foreheads covered in cold sweat, staring blankly at Luffy, filled with endless shock and awe.
"Wh-what's going on? Straw Hat looks unimaginably strong now!"
"Is Straw Hat really that strong? This level is even more monstrous than a monster!"
"No way?! Didn't that Straw Hat just set sail not long ago? How could he be this strong?!"
"Am I really not dreaming?"
"Can Admiral Aramaki still win?"
...
The five Vice Admirals were already struggling to cope with the increasingly strong Straw Hat.
However, when they suddenly saw the astonishing energy and aura gushing from Luffy, their bodies trembled, and their eyes were filled with disbelief and shock.
Such a powerful aura even made them feel it surpassed the Admirals they were familiar with.
In an instant, their hearts couldn't help but race.
Doberman was already gradually unable to cope with Uta, and after seeing the aura and power displayed by Luffy, his entire being was even more greatly shaken.
"H-how is this possible?! How could that Straw Hat be so strong?!"
"That aura... it looks even stronger than an Admiral!"
Spider Monkey frowned, shocked yet puzzled.
"Hey! Is that for real?!"
"This aura... it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's a Four Emperors!"
"Did all of us underestimate Straw Hat?"
Mole's brow furrowed more and more tightly, and the shock in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
"The Straw Hat... they've exceeded all our expectations!"
"Given the current situation, all hope rests on Admiral Aramaki."
"If Aramaki is no match for Straw Hat, this Buster Call... will end in a crushing defeat!!!"
The other two Vice Admirals were in a similar mood at this moment.
All the Vice Admirals now placed all their hopes on Aramaki.
...
As for Aramaki, he was starting to feel a bit nervous looking at Luffy.
Only by personally facing an opponent can one truly feel how strong they are.
So Aramaki's feelings were stronger than those of the Vice Admirals and the rest of the Marines.
However, Luffy hadn't yet specifically displayed his true strength; his aura just looked intimidating, so it wasn't enough to make Aramaki afraid to fight.
"What kind of ability is this?" Aramaki asked with a frown.
Such an ability was unheard of to him; even in the New World, he had never seen it before.
Facing Aramaki's question, Luffy simply replied coldly, "You don't need to know! Because you'll be a corpse soon!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, Aramaki immediately frowned, his eyes blazing with anger.
"You bastard... you underestimate me too much!"
However, as soon as Aramaki's voice fell, he suddenly saw Luffy's figure flash and disappear from his original spot.
The next instant, when he found Luffy's figure, the other party had already left the Marine ship and appeared in the air ahead.
Just as Aramaki felt puzzled by this, suddenly, his pupils constricted sharply, and his mind was greatly alarmed.
Luffy, in mid-air, suddenly clenched both fists.
A hint of black immediately appeared on them.
The next instant, Luffy's body suddenly erupted like a volcano, an incredibly vast amount of energy gushing out all at once.
Appearing with it were purple-black lightning bolts, shooting out from Luffy's arms like lasers.
Crackling!
Crackling!
Terrifying purple-black lightning bolts, like winding giant dragons, emitted bursts of frightening crackles, spreading rapidly in all directions.
In the blink of an eye, the world changed color.
With Luffy at the center, an area tens of kilometers in radius became dim and dark.
The coverage of this Haoshoku far exceeded any previous instance.
The energy and intensity emanating from it also reached an unprecedented height.
Making everyone feel a deep fear, as if witnessing the end of the world.
And on Luffy's side, on his arms, a translucent purple-black orb of light seemed to have formed at this moment.
The orb radiated unparalleled and astonishing energy, like a primordial beast, seeming to possess the power to devour everything.
Then, Luffy began to slowly gather the orb, which was enveloped in surging energy, to his abdomen.
The moment the two energies touched, they began to merge into one, becoming a perfectly round orb of light.
Just then! The merged orb of light seemed to truly transform into a primordial beast at this moment, actually beginning to absorb, devour, and merge the purple-black lightning storm between heaven and earth.
The purple-black lightning, which obscured the sky and covered the earth, extending boundlessly, converged madly towards the orb in Luffy's hand at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
And this constantly absorbed and gathered energy was still being continuously compressed.
The orb also became smaller and smaller, and darker and darker.
Until finally, it even became an incredibly dark, slightly larger than a fist, small orb, attached to Luffy's right fist.
At this moment, the world regained its light.
As if nothing had happened.
However...
What was slightly different from before was that the air was now absolutely silent.
All battlefields had stopped fighting at this moment.
At this moment, everyone seemed to turn into puppets, their mouths agape, expressions astonished, staring blankly at the figure standing in mid-air, wearing a Straw Hat.
The sudden change just now completely shocked everyone.
Even the Straw Hat.
The earth-shattering energy made everyone feel a deep sense of fear.
"Is it... over?"
The dead silence was broken by the innocent voice of a Marine.
The next second, everyone reacted as if activated.
"All units, attention! Get away from here quickly!"
"As far as possible!"
"Hurry!!!"
Doberman suddenly opened his mouth wide and roared with extreme excitement, giving orders to all the Marines.
Ordinary Marines might not see it, but how could he not see it?
How terrifying that seemingly unremarkable black sphere in Luffy's hand was.
Although he didn't know the exact power within it, his combat intuition told him that this attack would be world-destroying.
With Doberman's order, all the warships went full throttle and began to sail further away.
And the Straw Hat were also startled at this moment.
Sanji, who had been ignited by battle intent, finally calmed down at this moment, looking at Luffy's figure, he couldn't help but sweat on his forehead.
"No way?! That move... it can't be that, can it?!"
Zoro had the same expression at this moment, astonished.
"That guy, Luffy... he's too reckless, isn't he?! He didn't even bother to warn us."
Some of the Straw Hat who knew the situation were already nervous and worried, while those who didn't were still in the dark.
"Huh? Wh-what's wrong? Why are you guys, Zoro, so nervous?"
Nami asked curiously.
However, before Zoro could answer, Uta suddenly spoke.
"Everyone, quickly go to Karu and enter Karu's alternate dimension!"
Although they didn't know what was happening, seeing Uta so nervous.
Everyone immediately gathered towards Karu.
Just as the crowd began to stir, Aramaki was already sweating profusely, wanting to escape.
He felt extreme danger from Luffy's small sphere.
However, before he could make a move, Luffy's figure had already swooped down towards him.