Brilliant sunlight, a Flower Capital.
This place was filled with gigantic flowers and vegetation, covered in strange, massive blooms, with constant sunlight pouring in from a domed ceiling above.
Luffy looked up and could see a distant Empty Throne and an enormous straw hat.
That straw hat looked very familiar. It dawned on Luffy belatedly—wasn't that the one he wore? But so huge that only a legendary giant could wear it, or perhaps if he entered his Gear Third mode? Not just the mode where a single arm or leg becomes giant, but one where his entire body transforms into a complete giant.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
He had just been applying medicine to Vivi, the soft sensation from touching her still lingering in his heart. How could he suddenly be in this place?
The sea was full of wonders.
Luffy's first thought was that it was some strange power of a Devil Fruit.
But with his Kenbunshoku Haki fully deployed, he couldn't detect any presence at all.
No, wait.
Luffy suddenly froze because he saw a person suddenly appear on the Empty Throne.
He walked over.
It was a woman. Wavy, light blue hair, with two long strands hanging down past her shoulders on either side of her forehead. A graceful figure, her snow-white legs crossed at the knees, eyes closed.
Huh? Vivi?
Why would she be here?
Luffy crouched down and leaned in for a closer look. Those delicate features were indeed hers.
She looked like a sleeping princess.
What's going on? Is this one of those scenarios where she needs a kiss to wake up? Luffy shook his head, as if trying to shake certain inappropriate images out of his mind.
The whole situation seemed utterly bizarre.
He had just been on the Going Merry, in the same room with her moments ago.
Could it be that Vivi is a Devil Fruit user too? She hid it well. Or maybe both of us were brought here by someone.
What's the purpose?
If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't dwell on it. Luffy reached out and gently kneaded Vivi's cheek. It was soft and pliant, the texture pleasant. No wonder Nami liked pinching his face so much.
Vivi leaned back against the throne, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically, seemingly just asleep.
Luffy increased the pressure slightly.
Then, Vivi's eyes snapped open. She gasped for air in big, heaving breaths like a drowning person.
"W-where is this?" Vivi shrank back.
"I'd like to know too. Don't you have any clue?"
"How should I know! I fell asleep and woke up here. Besides, it's all because of you..." Vivi stood up angrily.
But the next second, Luffy's fist was already there, landing squarely on Vivi's abdomen.
Vivi was sent flying, but her movements were extremely agile. After creating distance, she glared at Luffy with fierce eyes.
"How did you figure it out?"
"Obviously! I'm the one who hit her. Even with medicine, it wouldn't heal that fast. If the real Vivi woke up and found herself sitting, her first reaction would be to jump up," Luffy said.
"...Pervert."
The fake Vivi sneered coldly, and the surrounding scene slowly began to change.
The bright, sunny Flower Capital transformed into a dark, damp prison cage.
Luffy was now certain that the one who brought him here was this fake in front of him.
This was his own mental space. He could vaguely feel his connection to it.
So, who was this thing that had appeared in his mental space?
Judging by its attitude, it didn't plan on explaining voluntarily. For situations like this, Luffy had his usual method.
Beat the crap out of it.
Gear Second!
In under two minutes, the fake Vivi was tied up by Luffy, unable to move.
There was a sense of déjà vu.
Right, this exact situation had happened not long ago.
The fake Vivi didn't seem to mind its predicament and let out a sinister laugh.
"Go ahead and kill me if you have the guts!"
Its words were clearly meant to provoke him. Luffy felt a bit speechless. Had his inherent impression of this world changed? Why did these people keep saying "go ahead and kill me"?
Weren't they afraid of death?
"Seems like you won't talk honestly."
Luffy stared at the fake Vivi. "Then you'd better hope you can endure it as well as the real Vivi."
Stubborn refusal to yield was a plus—for the real Vivi, that is. Back then, Luffy had already decided to make her his nakama, so it was a plus.
But if it's an enemy stubbornly refusing to yield? What does that have to do with me?
He was just that hypocritical.
Anyway, the goal was humiliation. Luffy had learned quite a bit from Merry. Besides the so-called "cold shoulder effect," breaking the body was the best form of punishment.
"Hey, I told you to kill me! What are you trying to do?!"
"Moron. What good would killing you do me?"
Luffy wouldn't treat it like he did the real Vivi, letting her lie face down.
His arms stretched out, binding it with a serpentine wrap, suspending it in a humiliating position mid-air. As expected, the fake Vivi grew furious. It wanted Luffy to kill it, not to be humiliated here.
"Hey, you bastard—"
Before it could finish its sentence, a fist hardened with Busoshoku Haki was stuffed into its mouth.
Tears instantly welled up in its eyes.
A flash of brutality passed through Luffy's eyes as he struck without mercy.
Against someone who wasn't a nakama, he had no reservations.
Besides, maintaining relative restraint in a situation like this was actually quite difficult.
As the saying goes, blocking is worse than channeling, and channeling is worse than releasing. Luffy gave himself a good release.
THWACK!
With a final crack, unable to bear this humiliation, the fake Vivi's body shattered like glass. Immediately after, Luffy saw a pair of blood-red eyes within the huge cage, followed by a massive, snow-white, tanuki-like head slowly emerging.
A name involuntarily surfaced in Luffy's mind.
He grinned, staring at the giant tanuki, and said,
"So, you're Nika?"
"You bastard!"
Nika, flushed with rage, erupted with white vapor. "Kill that Nefertari wretch immediately! Otherwise, you're not qualified to be my host!"
"Nefertari?"
Luffy looked up at the furious Nika. "You mean Vivi?"
"Exactly! That one with the blood of that clan. The reason I chose you was to overthrow the rule of that clan! Since you're using my power, you should obey my commands."
"Your power? Since when did the Gomu Gomu no Mi become your power?"
"Fool! That name was just fabricated by that clan to cover up the truth!"
Nika laughed arrogantly. "Listen well! My true name is the Mythical Zoan type, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika! The Sun God Nika—a fruit that bears the name of a god!"
Not a Paramecia, but a Zoan?
Well, that didn't really matter anymore.
"So what? Whether it's the Gum-Gum Fruit or the Nika Fruit, the owner is me."
Luffy fixed his gaze on Nika before him. "In other words, I am your master. And you want to harm my nakama?"
Whoosh! He leaped into the air.
Nika's eyes widened as a giant-sized fist came from afar, growing larger until—
BOOM!
***
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