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Chapter 16
"Shanks is a Celestial Dragon too!"
Kam, not noticing Luffy's change, blurted out: "Are you going to beat up Shanks too?!"
"What do you mean?!"
Luffy suddenly became manic, roaring: "I'm asking you what you mean!"
"Hmm?!"
Only then did Kam finally notice the subtle change in Luffy.
After a brief moment of thought, he spoke:
"I mean exactly what I said!"
"Your guiding figure, Red-Haired Shanks. He's the illegitimate child left outside by the Figarland family! He carries the purest Celestial Dragon bloodline in his veins! And in terms of seniority, I'm even one generation above him—he'd have to call me uncle!"
Kam wasn't making this up.
In terms of pure seniority, he was even higher-ranked than some Celestial Dragons who had already been buried.
But whether Shanks would actually call him uncle was another matter entirely.
"This…"
Luffy might be dumb, but he could tell when someone was lying.
Clearly, what Kam said was the truth.
At this moment, the golden light flickering in Luffy's pupils completely vanished. His eyes had never been clearer, yet at the same time, they were filled with confusion.
"And moreover…"
Kam spoke again.
He had already discovered that as long as he threw dirt on people Luffy cared about—
No.
What do you mean "throw dirt"?
This was just the truth!
As long as he stated facts, Luffy would calm down, and his explosive strength would return to normal.
"And moreover… if we're only talking about bloodline."
Kam declared loudly: "One of your crewmates is also a Celestial Dragon!"
"What!?"
Luffy's eyes bulged like dumbbells—he looked like he wanted to glare Kam to death!
Slander! This was absolute slander!
He knew his crewmates inside and out. There was no way any of them could be a Celestial Dragon he hated!
"You're lying!"
Luffy immediately flew into a rage and swung a sandbag-sized fist straight toward Kam's head.
"Vivi!"
Kam hurriedly interrupted Luffy's "casting," shouting sternly: "Alabasta, Princess Vivi—don't tell me you're going to say she's not your crewmate!"
"Vivi…"
Luffy's body trembled violently. His fist immediately loosened.
Kam pressed the advantage: "The Alabasta royal family are descendants of the 20 Kings from 800 years ago. Their ancestors refused to move to the Holy Land and become Celestial Dragons. But that doesn't change the fact that they are descendants of the 20 Kings! After 800 years, in terms of pure bloodline, they are the only remaining untainted royal bloodline in the world."
(PS: Here "King" refers to emperor/royal.)
This wasn't Kam talking nonsense.
Over 800 years, the Celestial Dragons interbred chaotically. The bloodlines of the original 19 Kings had long since become hopelessly mixed!
The most obvious sign was that Conqueror's Haki had almost completely vanished among the Celestial Dragons.
Among the higher-ups of the Celestial Dragons, some even more open-minded individuals hoped the Alabasta royal family would return to the Holy Land, or that someone from the Holy Land would marry into the Alabasta line, in order to revitalize the Celestial Dragon bloodline.
"Impossible! It's impossible!"
Luffy roared, insisting it absolutely couldn't be!
Vivi was so kind, so gentle, so considerate of the people.
There was no way Luffy could ever associate Vivi with those beastly, evil-doing Celestial Dragons.
But his instinct for reading people also told him: the Celestial Dragon in front of him wasn't lying!
Mind vs. fact.
Fact vs. crewmate.
Crewmate vs. self.
All of it was warring against the [golden voice] in his heart!
"No… even if Vivi really has that bloodline, she will always be my crewmate! I can't—"
Luffy clutched his head, rolling on the ground in painful struggle: "Aaaahhh! Get out of me!!"
But the next second—
Luffy instantly became calm. A towering figure suddenly appeared in his mind!
Whitebeard: "Father's debt, son pays"—how ridiculous…
That man had once described his older brother that way.
Father's debt, son pays. Bloodline judgment.
Ridiculous!
How utterly ridiculous!
"Judging good and evil by bloodline—how ridiculous is that!"
Luffy pointed at Kam and roared: "That's right! Even if Vivi really has that bloodline, it doesn't mean she's one of you filthy, subhuman bastards! Bloodline doesn't decide anything!"
Seeing King Luffy's righteous, indignant appearance, Kam instantly became furious from the heart.
Damn it!
Vivi isn't, but I am?
How much double standard do you have?!
If we're really talking about it, I'm not even from this world!
Even setting aside his transmigrated soul, the original host had never left Mariejois for years due to various reasons!
Kam stood up, pointed at Luffy, and roared back: "Then why the hell am I?!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
These words hit like a bolt from the blue!
Luffy felt the world in front of him shattering. Something inexplicable was collapsing.
"Judging by bloodline… how ridiculous…"
"Since it's ridiculous…"
"Then why should I beat up this Celestial Dragon I've never even met before…?"
Luffy couldn't understand.
He really couldn't understand!
He scratched his head frantically, wishing he could rip his own skull open to look inside.
But the next moment, he suddenly became calm again!
"I get it!"
"I get it!"
"You're lying to me! You must be lying! Vivi isn't a Celestial Dragon! Shanks isn't a Celestial Dragon either!"
"It's all because your deception is too clever!"
"I can't see through it!"
After a brief moment of calm, Luffy instantly went berserk again. Like a madman, he swung both fists toward Kam's head.
(Author note: This chapter is not finished—click next page to continue reading!)
People will choose to believe what they want to believe. Since he refused to believe from the beginning,
It was better to deny everything from the start!
"Rubber Rubber—Machine Gun!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Clang clang clang!!
At this moment, though Luffy was in a frenzied state, it was no longer the same berserk mode as before. His combat power had greatly decreased!
Kam, relying on his beginner-level two-color Haki, could barely defend!
And just as he was about to shout for help—
Suddenly,
[Ding== Detection complete: Luffy's theatrical version invincibility buff]
A mechanical voice rang in Kam's mind, immediately stunning him.
And in that moment of daze, Luffy found the opening.
BOOM!
One punch sent Kam flying!
…
…
Ship Island.
On the rooftop of a white building.
Kam lay sprawled out, grimacing from extreme pain, but his whole demeanor was that of someone who had narrowly escaped death!
"Thank goodness, thank goodness,"
Kam rubbed his face, relieved: "When King Luffy sent me flying, he was in his normal state. Otherwise, I'd really be done for!"
Kam asked the system: "System, what did you mean just now about Luffy's invincibility buff?"
[Ding== Host, don't you know that in the theatrical versions (special episodes), Luffy can even beat Roger when he's the boss?]
"Huh???"
Hearing the system's words, Kam's face was filled with a giant question mark.
"This… this is just a meme, right?"
Kam considered himself fairly rational. The rumor that Kizaru was the "second uncle" was widespread, but at least it had some basis!
But Luffy being invincible in theatrical versions was mostly just a joke.
[Ding== After system detection, this is related to the Nika Fruit that Luffy ate]
[Remember those golden pupils from earlier? That's Nika]
[Nika is the will residing within Luffy's body! When Luffy encounters an unbeatable opponent, Nika will assist him]
[Theatrical versions, including special episodes…]
[...]
The system rambled on at length. The gist was that Nika could boost Luffy's strength and weaken his opponents.
"So you're saying World is actually very strong!"
"He was only defeated by King Luffy because Luffy had a cheat!"
[Bingo!]
"But that doesn't add up. Those five old men said World wasn't my match!"
Kam suddenly remembered the meaningful smiles the five old men had given him.
They had no reason to trick him, right?
[Ding== According to system detection, those five old men didn't want to crush your confidence, so they didn't tell you the truth.]
"F*** me!"
Hearing this, Kam was furious beyond words.
If he had known earlier how badass World really was!
He would have spent more money to bring extra people. How could he have ended up nearly losing his life like this?
"No way!"
"When I get back, I'm definitely extorting them dry! If it weren't for Kizaru being there, I'd have really become a hostage—"
"Hiss!!"
At that thought, Kam suddenly froze in shock!
He realized something.
"If World is actually that strong! Then Kizaru fighting him to a stalemate at the end wasn't acting after all!"
"Then… does that mean Kizaru really isn't Luffy's second uncle??"
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