At the same time,
Luffy had already confronted Smoker head-on, his body steaming with crimson vapor, his blood boiling like lava in his Gear Second state.
Dark Armament Haki coiled around his fist, gleaming with a metallic luster under the setting sun.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol!"
His fist shot through the air, so fast that it left a trail of afterimages.
Smoker hastily tried to elementalize and dodge, but to his horror, the dark fist landed squarely on his chest!
"Bang!"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of breaking ribs, Smoker was sent flying back like a cannonball, crashing through three stone walls before stopping.
Amidst the rubble, he struggled to prop himself up, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his white greatcoat covered in dust.
"What the hell…" Smoker wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief, "Newcomers from the East Blue can use Haki now?"
Luffy adjusted his straw hat, revealing his signature grin: "Now, can we go?"
This sentence completely ignited Smoker's fury!
He suddenly stood up, white smoke billowing like angry waves: "Arrogant brat! So what if you can use Armament Haki?"
His jitte weapon was suddenly covered in a layer of dark color, "I'm a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, and an elite Marineford Marine!"
With that, he transformed into a white afterimage and lunged forward, his jitte cutting through the air straight for Luffy's face.
Luffy calmly dodged to the side, his movements as fast as lightning due to the super-high speed brought by Gear Second.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Their fists collided fiercely in the air, each clash erupting in deafening explosions.
The more Smoker fought, the more alarmed he became; this Straw Hat's speed was completely suppressing his own!
Even more terrifying was that the opponent's Armament Haki was used with masterful skill, every punch precisely anticipating his elementalization trajectory.
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling!"
Luffy suddenly changed his move, his fists turning into countless afterimages attacking from all directions.
Smoker barely had time to guard his vital points, immediately taking dozens of heavy blows to his body.
The most lethal part was that all these fists were imbued with Armament Haki, each strike landing solidly on his physical form!
"Wah ah!" Smoker spat out a mouthful of blood, kneeling on one knee.
His proud Logia-type advantage was completely nullified by Armament Haki, and in the physical combat, he was suppressed by Luffy's speed, making him no match for Luffy at all.
Luffy didn't give him a chance to breathe, lunging forward in one swift motion, pulling back his right fist to gather power: "Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!"
This punch, carrying a whistling gust of wind, slammed heavily into Smoker's abdomen.
Smoker's eyes bulged, and he flew dozens of meters like a broken kite, finally crashing into the base of the execution platform, completely knocked unconscious.
As the dust settled, Luffy lowered his stance, the steam on his body gradually dissipating.
He glanced at the unconscious Smoker, then turned and ran towards his crewmates: "Done! Let's go!"
The Marines watching from a distance had long been terrified.
Their invincible "White Hunter" had actually been defeated head-on by a newcomer from the East Blue!
Someone threw down their weapon first, and soon, the clanking sound of metal hitting the ground became widespread; they weren't fighting anymore!
The Marine encirclement had already collapsed, Ron easily 'broke through' with a still-shaken Nami in his arms, Usopp frantically fired to cover their retreat, and Zoro and Sanji cleared the way on either side.
When the last obstructing Marine was sent flying by one of Usopp's shots, the Straw Hat successfully returned to the Starship.
"Hoist the sails! Set sail!" Luffy shouted from the bow, the sea breeze making his red vest flap loudly.
Nami finally broke free from Ron's embrace, her face flushed as she punched him hard: "Next time you jump down so suddenly like that, I'll punch you to death with my little fists!"
But her threat clearly had no deterrent effect, because the next second she turned to adjust the sails.
Ron smiled and shook his head, looking at Loguetown gradually receding in the distance, the execution platform now just a silhouette in the sunset.
...
Inside Marineford Fleet Admiral Sengoku's office,
Sengoku's hands were clasped under his chin, his brows furrowed so tightly they almost formed a knot.
On the projection screen in front of him, the golden phantom on the Loguetown execution platform was frozen—Gol D. Roger's signature smile was vividly rendered in the image.
"Crunch, crunch!"
A grating chewing sound broke the silence of the office.
Garp was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, holding a senbei he had snagged from Sengoku's drawer, eating it with relish, crumbs falling onto his dog-patterned cloak, rustling down with his movements.
"Hey, Sengoku," Garp took a sip of tea, mumbling, "Didn't Luffy crush that Eternal Pose already? Why are you still frowning so much?"
He shook the senbei bag, "Come on, have some senbei to change your mood."
Sengoku slammed his hand on the table, sending the documents flying: "The problem right now isn't the Eternal Pose at all!"
His roar made the windows hum, "It's why someone who died over twenty years ago reappeared! What exactly is the ability of that little girl named Nami? Not only did she summon Roger's phantom, but she can also make the phantom produce physical objects! This has completely exceeded the common sense of Devil Fruit abilities!"
Garp picked his ear, shrugging indifferently: "It's just a little girl, why are you so scared?"
He yawned, stretching as he stood up, "I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap. If you're really worried…"
He walked to the door, then turned back with a sly smile, "Why don't you send Kizaru to meet them?"
"Get out!" Sengoku grabbed an ink bottle and threw it, which Garp deftly dodged, leaving a string of carefree laughter in the hallway.
After the office returned to silence, Sengoku wearily sat back in his chair.
He pulled up the surveillance footage and repeatedly played the segment where Roger's phantom appeared.
In the footage, the deceased Pirate King was smiling at the void, as if looking back at him across the river of time. Sengoku's fingers unconsciously tapped on the desk, the rhythm growing faster and faster.
"It's not the Soul-Soul Fruit… it's not the Revive-Revive Fruit…" he murmured, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, "Could it be the power of some Ancient Weapon?"
Whatever it was, he absolutely could not sit idly by!
"Someone!" Sengoku barked, "Contact Aokiji, tell Aokiji to head towards Loguetown to investigate the specific circumstances of Roger's phantom appearance, and if necessary, capture the Cat Burglar Nami! Also, pull up all entries in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia related to 'materialization' type abilities!"
The setting sun outside the window cast his long shadow onto the wanted poster on the desk.
Sengoku frowned, staring at Nami's figure in the footage, a terrifying conjecture forming in his mind:
This seemingly ordinary navigator might possess some power capable of overturning the world…
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