Chapter 71: Ralph: Luffy, I'll Teach You How To Get "Hard"!
"AAAAAAAAAGH—MY NOSE! Damn bastard! A Fish-man will never lose—!!!"
Arlong clutched his bent nose, blood gushing between his fingers.
His voice twisted with agony and rage, pupils burning with near-mad flames.
He staggered back several steps before suddenly punching through the wall behind him!
Debris flew everywhere.
From behind the wall, he pulled out a weapon.
A massive, vicious serrated blade—Kiribachi.
Its edge gleamed like a shark's teeth under the moonlight, radiating a chilling cold.
The blade was thick and heavy, seemingly designed not for "cutting" but for "tearing" and "sawing."
Arlong gripped the hilt, muscles bulging.
He glared at Ralph.
His eyes burned with profound hatred.
But Ralph didn't even grant him a proper glance.
He turned instead to Lufia, his tone gentle:
"That guy's got a weapon now. You... gonna be okay?"
Lufia pressed her fists together, knuckles cracking with crisp pops.
She lifted her head, eyes beneath her straw hat bright and resolute:
"Absolutely no problem!"
Her voice brimmed with confidence:
"His tricks... can't touch me anymore!"
With that, Lufia did something that surprised everyone.
She took off her straw hat and gently placed it in Ralph's hands.
"My treasure," she said, beaming at him, "I'm entrusting it to you!"
Ralph accepted the hat.
It was light, carrying Lufia's warmth and a faint scent of sea breeze.
He gripped the brim firmly and nodded solemnly:
"I'll guard it with my life."
After a pause, he added, a hint of laughter in his voice:
"After we deal with Arlong... I'll teach you how get hard."
Lufia's eyes instantly shone like two miniature suns.
"That'd be amazing!" She clenched her fists, fighting spirit blazing around her like tangible fire, "Let's hurry up and knock this guy flying to end this!"
"You two—filthy humans—!!!"
Arlong's roar cut through their conversation.
He brandished Kiribachi, pointing its tip at Lufia and Ralph:
"Don't talk like you've already beaten me! I'll kill you both—!!!"
Before the words faded, Arlong moved.
Gripping the sword with both hands, he raised it overhead and—
Slashed down viciously!
"BOOM—!!!"
The Peak Cutter shrieked through the air, cleaving into the ground!
The stone-paved courtyard split open like tofu, a deep trench torn through it! Rubble flew and dust billowed!
This strike was far more terrifying than any previous attack!
But Lufia and Ralph were long gone from their original positions.
The moment Arlong raised his blade, the two had leaped nimbly aside—one left, one right.
Ralph retreated to the courtyard's edge, still holding the straw hat securely.
Lufia landed at Arlong's flank, falling into a combat stance.
Arlong's initial target had been Ralph—the bastard who'd bent his nose, shattered his teeth, and exposed his past.
But Lufia's fist was already rocketing toward him!
"Your opponent—is me!"
Arlong gritted his teeth, forced to turn and block the punch with his Kiribachi.
However, Lufia's fist this time wasn't a straightforward "Pistol"—
Instead—
"Gomu Gomu..."
Her arms began rapidly stretching, retracting, and stretching again!
So fast it left afterimages in the air!
"Gatling!!!"
"Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam—!!!"
Fist strikes dense as a torrential downpour!
Each punch carried the astonishing elastic force accumulated from rubber stretching, crashing toward Arlong from different angles and trajectories!
Arlong didn't even have time to swing his sword to block.
He could only barely hold his weapon in front of him.
But Lufia's fists, as if alive, curved around the blade, slamming into his shoulders, chest, abdomen, cheeks...
"Ugh! Ah! Ugh ah—!"
Arlong grunted, his body continuously forced backward under the storm-like barrage of punches.
The weak, powerless human fists he had once mocked now left clear marks on his indigo-blue skin with every impact.
"Crack—!"
A crisp sound.
Arlong looked down.
A crack had actually appeared on the blade of his Kiribachi greatsword!
Then, the crack rapidly spread.
"Bang!"
Under another heavy punch, Kiribachi... shattered.
Shattered blade fragments flew everywhere.
Arlong, holding only the remaining hilt, stood frozen.
In the courtyard, silence fell.
The villagers stared wide-eyed at the short-haired girl wearing a straw hat.
Watching her use those seemingly slender arms to deliver such terrifying attacks.
Watching her... completely shatter Arlong's fearsome greatsword.
"M-Monster..." someone muttered.
"No, she's a hero," Genzo said quietly, tightening his grip on his Cutlass.
Johnny and Yosaku exchanged a glance, excitement in both their eyes.
"Big Sis Lufia... is so strong!"
"But Big Bro Ralph is even scarier... If he had stepped in, Arlong would've been..."
Right at that moment—
"Damn it—!!! How could I—be defeated by lowly races like you—!!!"
Arlong threw away the hilt.
He opened his mouth, revealing his newly grown, pale-white fangs.
Then, he began to spin.
Spinning at high speed like a top!
His body whipped up a whirlwind, his sharp teeth transforming into a deadly ring of cogs as he spun!
"Shark Cogwheel—!!!"
Arlong became a lethal whirlwind, charging straight at Lufia!
Wherever he passed, the ground was plowed into deep trenches!
Lufia stood her ground, not dodging.
She just took a deep breath, then—
Raised one leg, kicking it into the air.
The rubber leg began to stretch upward, stretch, stretch again...
Until it extended dozens of meters into the sky!
From a distance, that leg looked like a pillar holding up the heavens.
"Gomu Gomu—"
Lufia's voice, clear and powerful
"—Ono!!!"
The suspended leg, like a battle axe—
Slammed down fiercely!
"Boom—!!!"
With perfect precision, it stomped directly onto Arlong's head!
The spinning "Shark Cogwheel" came to an abrupt halt.
Arlong was stomped into the ground by that single step!
Stone slabs shattered, dust billowed into the sky.
As the dust slowly cleared...
Arlong lay in a human-shaped crater, eyes rolled back, foam spewing from his mouth.
Most of his full set of fangs had shattered once again.
His nose... was completely flattened.
He twitched twice, then lay still.
Lying on the ground like a dead fish!
A brief silence.
Then—
"W-Win.... we won?!"
"Arlong... was defeated?!"
"Are we... are we free?!"
The first voice rang out, trembling with disbelief.
Then a second, a third...
Until all voices merged into one, transforming into earth-shaking cheers!
"Woooooh——!!!"
"We won—!!! We won—!!!"
"We're free—!!!"
The villagers of Cocoyashi embraced, wept, and shouted.
Eight years.
The dark days of exploitation, enslavement, and fear...
Had finally ended.
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