"What the hell's going on?!"
"The Captain's attack... It didn't work?!"
"Why ain't that guy even scratched?!"
"He can tank the Captain's hits without his shield?!"
The smoke cleared, showing Krieg's fist jammed against Ignis' cheek, unable to go any further.
The armor from Randuin's Omen made those punches tickle at best!
Sanji, who was in the middle of his own fight, let out a sigh of relief. He was also blown away by Ignis' sheer toughness! Blocking bullets with his bare skin was just the tip of the iceberg!
"Told ya, no need to sweat it."
Ignis casually shoved Krieg's arm aside, his face still wearing that same cool expression.
He flicked his hammer, and WHAM! Krieg went flying again!
Krieg, stubborn as a mule, charged back in after crash-landing! Thanks to his body, he wasn't too busted up.
"Impossible!"
He started unloading a barrage of punches on Ignis, every single one connecting!
"Impossible!!!"
The punches came faster and faster!
"IMPOSSIBLE!!!"
A blur of fists hammered at the figure in front of him, but Ignis stood there like a mountain, not even flinching!
"Damn you! Why are you so freaking strong?!"
"How the hell did someone like you end up in the East Blue?!"
When his fists stopped working, Krieg pulled out some kinda freaky, giant gun and swung it at Ignis!
Ignis still didn't move a muscle. Physical attacks, fists or weapons, couldn't even scratch his high-armor hide!
The giant gun shattered the second it touched Ignis! Krieg, totally spent, dropped to his knees, his eyes full of disbelief!
"Too weak."
"You call those punches?"
"You a masseuse or something?"
"Your attacks feel like flirting!"
Ignis hadn't felt a freaking thing! He was almost falling asleep!
"I figured something out."
"No matter who becomes King of the Pirates, it ain't gonna be you."
Krieg gnashed his teeth and glared at Ignis, but he wasn't a freaking Eyeball Fruit user! His glare was about as scary as a kitten!
"You know why?"
Ignis stepped closer to Krieg, looking down at him.
" 'Cause a warrior who falls in a puddle is still a warrior."
"But a maggot, even if you put him on a freaking podium, is still a maggot! And you? You ain't even close to that podium!"
He raised his hammer and sent Krieg flying again!
While Krieg was still airborne, Ignis Searing Charged under him and hammered him even higher!
Krieg crashed onto the deck, his rage burning like a supernova! But he was helpless against this guy!
He couldn't beat him, and he couldn't even trash-talk him!
"Damn you! You can't even hurt me!"
Ignis chuckled. Even now, this guy was clinging to his stupid confidence! He wasn't worried about Krieg's Uginu body!
"I'm done messing around! Game over! Time to send you back to the maggot pile!"
Bellows Breath! Ignis stomped forward, and a torrent of scorching flames spewed from his mouth! Bellows Breath!
Krieg threw his arms up to shield his face!
The fiery blast turned his armor red-hot!
Ignis picked up his little hammer and tapped the armor lightly!
Ding!
The armor shattered into a million pieces!
The other goons on the ship were freaking shell-shocked!
"Hey, hey! Did you see that?!"
"Yeah! What's up with our boss getting used as a freaking pinball?!"
"The boss can't even get a word in edgewise!!!"
"Why can that guy breathe fire?!"
"Is he some kinda Devil Fruit user?!"
"Captain Krieg's super-tough armor just got smashed!"
"The Captain can't even fight back!"
Sanji finally understood what Luffy had meant.
This guy was way stronger than he'd thought!
Watching Krieg's armor turn to dust, Ignis didn't hesitate! He swung his hammer down, seeing the pure terror in Krieg's eyes before the hammer fell!
Krieg, out cold!
Ignis slung Krieg's limp body over his shoulder. The bum was worthless, but the bounty was something!
Over on the other side of the ship, Luffy and Sanji were locked in a freaking firestorm of a battle!
"Whoa! You guys are freaking slow!"
Luffy saw that Ignis was already done and was fighting even harder!
Ignis didn't have anything better to do, so he pitched in and started cleaning up the small fry. Free experience and gold!
Before long, the last of Krieg's officers went down after a Gomu Gomu no Pistol to the face!
The pirate crew that had been terrorizing the East Blue for years had finally met its end!
The fight was over! Everyone headed back to the Baratie for a victory feast!
Ignis tied up Captain Krieg and the other bounty-worthy pirates with rope and dumped 'em in a heap in front of Head Chef Zeff.
"My captain caused you some trouble."
"We're pirates, we can't collect bounties."
"Have someone cash 'em in! Consider it payment for the damages and the food! Keep the change!"
Zeff didn't say a word. He just nodded to his cooks to crank up the heat! The crew was starving after that throwdown!
Luffy was back to bugging Sanji about joining his crew, and this time, Sanji was looking mighty tempted!
He was still playing hard to get, but Sanji finally decided to join Luffy's crew!
He had a dream that needed a sea voyage to come true!
Everyone was singing and chugging booze after the feast! That's when those bounty hunters, Yosaku and Johnny, stumbled in with some freaking bombshell news!
"Nami ran off with all our treasure?!"
"WHAT?!?!"
"Our navigator's ditching us! We gotta chase her down!"
...
Far away, on the Going Merry, Nami was counting her freaking loot!
She loved this adventure, and she felt like dirt for betraying Luffy and the others!
But she had her own freaking reasons! She needed to scrape together 100 million Berries to save her village!
Tears streamed down her face, silent and hot.
Could she ever be their friend again after this?
Suddenly, a little package tumbled outta the pile of treasure! She opened it and found a charm and a note!
She wiped her tears and picked up the note.
"Bad woman, if you're feeling lost about the future, wear this."
The charm was shaped like a wooden shield, simple but solid.
Nami recognized the handwriting. It was Ignis's!
That stoic, broody, but secretly kind guy... He'd figured something out, huh?
If it was him, could he save her village?
Nami didn't dare to gamble on it! Arlong's power had crushed any hope of fighting back!
She thought for a minute, then slipped the charm around her neck. She lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep, a tiny smile touching her lips.
In her dream, Arlong was getting his butt kicked, and her village was peaceful again! No more oppression, just happy people living their lives! And she could keep having adventures!
It was her own little miracle, a freaking daydream!
...
"Ship! Go faster! Faster!!!"
Luffy was screaming at the sky!
"Wind's bad! How's the ship gonna go faster? You got that much energy, try praying to the sky gods!"
Hearing Ignis's words, Luffy shut his trap and clasped his hands together, looking all pious!
"Achoo!"
Someone's thinking about yours truly! Ignis was chilling with a fishing rod, looking totally relaxed!
"Are we really gonna catch up to Nami-san?"
"Relax! We got this!"
After all, his Doran's Shield was still on her! He could feel the gear's location!
They'd find Nami, no problem!