Purple lightning flashed, and Kyle appeared beside Luffy.
"The reason you don't feel pain is because you ate the Gum-Gum Fruit and became a rubber man. You don't feel pain from ordinary blows!"
"What?! Gum-Gum Fruit??"
Garp, standing to the side, suddenly widened his eyes. His previously somewhat confused gaze instantly cleared.
In a flash, he appeared next to Kyle, pointing at Luffy as he spoke:
"You're saying this brat ate a Devil Fruit? Where did he get a Devil Fruit to eat?"
"What kind of question is that? Who else but his dear older brother would give it to him?"
"Of course you share good things!"
Kyle revealed a big, toothy grin.
"You little brat, becoming a landlubber yourself wasn't enough, you had to make Luffy a landlubber too!"
"No big deal! Landlubbers are fine. Dry is healthier!"
Listening to their conversation, Luffy couldn't help but raise his hand to ask:
"Um, what's a landlubber?"
Garp crossed his arms and glanced at him.
"It's nothing. It just means you can never touch seawater again. You won't be able to swim like you used to!"
"What?! Can't swim??"
Hearing this, Luffy jumped up, his eyes wide.
Can't swim, can't swim...
The words echoed in his mind, tears welling up in his eyes.
At that moment, an untimely voice interrupted Luffy's sorrow.
"It's just not being able to swim. What's the big deal? Relax!"
Hearing this, Luffy sharply turned his head to look at Kyle. The sorrow in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by anger.
"It's all your fault, Kyle. You gave me that fruit to eat. I'm gonna punch you to death!"
As he finished speaking, Luffy jumped up and charged towards Kyle.
Thump!
Luffy flew backward, crashing into the ship's cabin.
Still no pain!!
Luffy's eyes instantly became incredibly bright.
If Kyle's attacks couldn't make him feel pain...
Hehe!
The wheel of fortune turns, but Luffy truly didn't expect it to turn so fast.
All the sadness and anger from a moment ago had completely disappeared, replaced by intense excitement.
Today was the day he would turn the tables, take charge, and sing his song.
He was going to punch Kyle flying!!!
Thinking this, Luffy let out a wild howl and charged towards Kyle again...
——
"Life is really pleasant!"
Kyle lay on the warship's figurehead, wearing sunglasses, enjoying the gentle sunlight.
On the deck not far behind him, a child with pitch-black, puffy hair lay peacefully, motionless.
Regarding this situation, Kyle could only say that some people, even without being drunk, easily do irrational things.
Therefore, he found it necessary to make such people recognize reality.
The surroundings were extremely quiet, with only occasional noises coming from the back of the warship.
This was the Calm Belt of the sea.
To travel from Marine Headquarters to the East Blue, passing through the Calm Belt was undoubtedly the fastest route.
Although the Calm Belt is the nest of large Sea Kings, Marine warships are basically equipped with propulsion systems, and their hulls are fitted with seastone to minimize attacks from Sea Kings.
While it's only minimizing, not guaranteeing, the chance of an accident is pitifully small.
Basically, only one out of a hundred warships might have the bad luck to run into a Sea King.
Suddenly, the warship's figurehead sharply tilted upward, leaning backward.
The sudden movement didn't throw Kyle off, but Luffy, who was lying "dead" on the deck, was flung away.
"Ah!! Help!!!"
"Wh...what happened?"
Some alarmed voices came from the warship.
Suddenly, a dark shadow emerged from the spot where the warship had been, the churning waves pushing the warship further back.
Looking up, they saw an enormous yellow sea snake appear in front of the warship.
Its vertical snake pupils gazed at the people on the warship with a faint green glow.
The snake tongue flicking out from time to time made many Marines on the warship swallow their saliva, instinctively taking a few steps back, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
"H...how can this be?"
"Isn't our hull fitted with seastone? Why is a Sea King attacking us?"
However, these Marines only panicked for a short while before regaining their composure.
Their fear just now was probably due to biological instinct. Now they weren't afraid because they had someone.
What a joke?!
Can't they see the figurehead on this warship? A snake, just because it's a bit big, dares to come looking for death? Truly preposterous!!
Thinking this, many Marines uniformly turned their gaze in a certain direction, then shouted in unison:
"Vice Admiral Garp!!!"
"What's all the shouting for? Since when do I need to personally deal with a little snake like this?"
Bogard, standing nearby, immediately understood. He drew his sword, ready to prepare some sashimi from this snake.
But before he could make a move, a bolt of purple lightning descended from the sky, striking directly onto the giant snake before them.
With a 'BOOM'.
Thick black smoke rose from the snake's body. Its eyes rolled back, its entire body charred black. A faint smell of roasted meat drifted over.
Its massive body fell into the sea, splashing up waves once more.
At that moment, a childish voice came from the figurehead at the ship's bow.
"What are you all standing around for? Go pull it up!"
"Sea King meat isn't something you can eat every day!"
On the ship, many Marines were wide-eyed, their gazes blank, as if they hadn't heard Kyle's words at all.
It wasn't until a loud roar from Garp came that they snapped back to reality.
"Go on! Even the Kyle kid knows not to waste the spoils of battle. What are you guys standing around for?"
"Huh? Oh!!"
After Garp's loud shout, the Marines immediately sprang into action.
But everyone would occasionally glance towards the small figure lying on the figurehead.
Seriously?!
Does he have to be this overpowered?
Is it reasonable for a six-year-old brat to take down a Sea King that big with one move?
Think about it, when they were six, they were still playing in the mud. Why are you so exceptionally talented?
Forget their six-year-old selves. Even now, if they faced Kyle, it would definitely be a one-to-nine split.
Kyle makes one move, they split into nine pieces!
Indeed, the worst thing for a person is to compare themselves to someone excellent. It makes the already useless seem even more useless.
Sigh!
They'd better just stick to their menial tasks!
On the other side, the look Garp now directed at Kyle also held a trace of shock.
He had anticipated that Kyle could handle this Sea King, but he hadn't expected it to be solved with one move.
"This brat, his strength is a bit exaggerated!!"
Garp murmured, stroking his chin, then involuntarily cast his gaze towards the other side, where Luffy stood, but with bright, shining eyes, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth, staring intently at the sea snake.
For some reason, anger welled up from the bottom of Garp's heart, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
Why was his grandson so much worse than Sengoku's grandson?
Where exactly did things go wrong?
Hmm! It must be that Luffy isn't working hard enough. Otherwise, how could this be?
Thinking this, the more Garp thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help but roar at Luffy:
"Luffy!! Old man says, suck that drool back in!!!"
...