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Chapter 14
BOOM!
After throwing that punch, Kam went completely numb.
In just five minutes, he had already thrown no less than a hundred punches!
Every single one landed solidly!
But King Luffy was like a damn cockroach—he just wouldn't die no matter how hard Kam hit him.
Meanwhile, Kam's own stamina was rapidly draining. His 30% Healing Fruit ability could only heal injuries—it couldn't restore energy! Whereas Luffy, as an eater of a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, had terrifying vitality and recovery power.
In other words, Kam couldn't win a war of attrition!
"Hmm?"
Just as Kam prepared to throw the next punch, he suddenly noticed something strange.
Luffy had gone quiet!
"Hiss… Did he finally die?"
Dead or not, Kam kept unloading on him anyway.
Finishing blows—Kam was a professional!
He smashed Luffy's head open like a watermelon, and still not satisfied, twisted his neck a full 3600 degrees!
Still not satisfied, he ripped Luffy's head clean off—complete decapitation.
"Kekekekeke!"
"Now it's really over!"
Kam laughed sinisterly. Still paranoid, he was already thinking about finding a big sword to chop Luffy into pieces, scrambling the nearby eggs, slicing the nearby earthworms vertically in half…
The next moment—
Like a bubble.
It shattered at the slightest touch!
Something unbelievable happened. Golden light suddenly surged from Luffy's "corpse," and the head that should have been separated…
Duang—snapped right back into place.
Like two droplets of water merging into one—perfectly seamless!
"What the hell?! This has to be fake!"
Kam was dumbfounded. He even wondered if he was dreaming!
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass rang out. Everything cleared up in an instant. Luffy did more sit-ups and climbed back to his feet.
"Hahahaha!!"
Luffy glared at Kam with fierce eyes. His pupils flickered with an almost imperceptible golden light. He roared with laughter: "Until I send you flying, how could I possibly die!"
"Illu… illusion?"
Kam muttered thoughtfully, but something still felt off.
BOOM!!
Before he could think further, Luffy's fist smashed toward him!
Kam didn't have time to hesitate. He threw a punch back: "Whatever it is—I refuse to believe I can't kill you!"
BOOM!!
A massive explosion rang out. But this time, Luffy didn't go flying with one hit. He staggered backward, taking three full punches before finally crashing down.
Kam shouted in shock: "What the hell is going on?!"
He didn't know if he was getting weaker or if King Luffy had suddenly found a new teacher.
From this moment on, the turning point began!
Boom boom boom!!
Luffy blocked the fourth punch, the sixth, the eighth…
After who-knows-how-many punches, he gradually reached parity with Kam. Eventually, he even started gaining the upper hand.
Luffy swung both fists: "Rubber Rubber—Machine Gun!!"
"What the hell is this?! Is this guy even human?!"
Kam no longer had the arrogance of one-shotting people. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and could only defend passively.
"Hahaha! I told you—I'm gonna send you flying!"
Luffy laughed wildly, for reasons even he didn't fully understand.
His pupils flickered faintly with gold. His rubber fists poured down like a torrential rain!
"No, no, no!"
"If this keeps up, I'm actually going to get beaten to death."
"System—can you advance me some abilities first?"
[...]
"System daddy!"
[...]
"Damn it, damn it!"
"This shitty system probably wants me dead."
Seeing no response from the system, Kam narrowed his eyes toward the distant fight between Hina's group. He immediately had an idea.
"Even though I don't know why they still haven't dealt with World's remnants, they're clearly gaining the upper hand."
"If I can just get closer to them…"
"I'll be saved!"
Important note: The safest option for Kam would be to seek Kizaru's protection—but right now, he didn't trust the old man at all. He had already mentally branded Kizaru as "second uncle."
"But…"
Thinking this, Kam glanced back at the pursuing King Luffy.
The direction he was fleeing in was opposite to Hina's group. To reach them, he'd have to turn around—and turning around meant inevitably passing right by Luffy.
"With the Healing Fruit, I can tank several hits. But I need a moment to rest, or I'll really die of exhaustion!"
After brief consideration, Kam deliberately slowed his pace and raised his hand in a stopping gesture.
"Stop!"
"Stop right now!"
"Rubber Rubber—!"
Unlike in anime where enemies actually stop when told, Luffy completely ignored him.
His golden pupils flickered faintly. He just kept roaring: "Aaaahhh! I'm gonna send you flying!"
"As expected, anime lies to kids,"
Kam mentally complained, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then, putting on an extremely unwilling, furious expression, he shouted: "Monkey D. Luffy! This Saint is here on World Government orders to subjugate World! Why the hell do you keep coming after me?!"
"As far as I know, those two women who always give you food—weren't they kidnapped by World? Shouldn't you be beating him up instead?!"
While shouting, Kam subtly shifted his body—both to change direction and to buy time for his stamina to recover!
"Hmm?!"
Hearing Kam's words, Luffy suddenly froze: "Yeah… why am I?"
The golden light in his pupils gradually dimmed!
He lowered his head, muttering to himself:
"Let me think…"
"Back then I felt someone really annoying nearby, so I kept running and running. Then I bumped into that annoying guy. He even tried to scam me for food… but I didn't know him, so I apologized. Then, then… huh? I don't remember anymore. Let me think harder…"
Kam listened to Luffy's muttering, the corner of his mouth twitching violently.
"You still say I tried to scam you?! If my body wasn't tough, I'd already be dead!"
"And wait—you didn't even know I was a Celestial Dragon at first? You just attacked me on pure feeling?!"
Even though the result was the same, to Kam this was completely unprovoked disaster!
Was King Luffy really this unreasonable?
Kam refocused, glancing at the still-scratching-head Luffy, and felt another surge of joy: "I don't know what's wrong with King Luffy's memory, but this is the perfect chance to escape!"
Thinking this, Kam increased the subtlety of his movements.
Though he could still trade a few blows with Luffy right now, he had a very bad premonition: if he didn't leave soon, he'd become Luffy's experience fodder!
He had to run!
One step, two steps.
One step, two steps…
Run!
"I remember now!"
Suddenly, Luffy shouted loudly and jerked his head up: "You're a Celestial Dragon! You're one of the bastards trying to buy Camie! You're one of the guys who hurt Little Eight!"
But by then, Kam's figure was long gone—he had already bolted!
At this moment—
Kam pushed his speed to the absolute limit. His legs spun like wind-and-fire wheels as he sprinted frantically toward Hina, Gion, and the others.
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