Chapter 149: The Final Round! The Afro is a Man's Soul
On the coastline of Long Ring Long Land, the setting sun dyed the sea the color of blood.
The once arrogant "Silver Fox" Foxy was now kneeling on the beach, pounding the ground with both hands, weeping bitterly.
The blow of losing two consecutive rounds had completely shattered his psychological defenses.
He now looked like a bedraggled fox that had fallen into the water and been plucked bare.
"Wuuu... lost... lost everything..."
Foxy lifted his tear-streaked, snot-covered face, stared fixedly at Luffy, and roared hoarsely:
"Straw Hat!! One more round! One last round!!"
"This time it's the final round of the Davy Back Fight—Captain's Duel!!"
Foxy pointed at the massive "Sexy Foxy" behind him, then pointed at his only remaining dignity:
"If I win, I want my crew back... and all the gold on your ship!!"
"What?! Gold?!"
Nami on the sidelines immediately bristled, just about to rush up and refuse.
"Sure!"
Luffy tipped his Straw Hat, without even thinking, wearing that signature confident smile:
"Anyway, I haven't fought enough yet! Watching those last few rounds made my hands itch. Let's do it, Split-head!"
"Idiot!!!!"
Nami transformed into her sharp-toothed form, rushed up, grabbed Luffy by the collar, and shook him frantically:
"What are you agreeing to?! That's five hundred million Berries!! If we lose, not only will we have no money to fix the ship, but we'll have to drink the northwest wind!!"
Luffy was shaken like a rattle, but still grinned:
"Don't worry, Nami, I won't lose."
"I'm the man who will become the Pirate King, how could I lose to a Split-head like this?"
...
On the eve of the final battle, inside the Straw Hat Pirates' temporary locker room.
"Listen up, Luffy."
Usopp looked solemn, holding a black object in both hands as if it were a holy relic.
He turned around slowly and displayed the object to Luffy.
It was a huge, fluffy, perfectly round—black Afro wig.
"This is..." Luffy blinked, somewhat puzzled.
"This is the symbol of the 'Boxing King'."
Tatsuya, who had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke up.
His expression was extremely solemn:
"Luffy, you might not know this. In the distant past, true boxers would wear this hairstyle in pursuit of the ultimate power."
"According to statistics, by wearing this Afro, your inner wildness will be completely unleashed.
"It can increase your punch weight by 200% and your evasion rate by 300%!!"
"R-really?!" Luffy's eyes instantly turned into stars, his mouth wide open.
"That's right!"
Usopp fought back his laughter and chimed in with a pained expression:
"Luffy, this isn't just hair... this is a man's soul!
"The moment you put it on, you are no longer Straw Hat Luffy, you are—Afro Luffy!!"
"Whether we win or not depends on whether you can master this wild power!!"
"Ohhhhhh!!!!"
Luffy was stirred into a frenzy, snatched the Afro, and solemnly placed it on his head.
In that instant, Luffy's aura changed.
Although he looked ridiculous, the fighting spirit in his eyes burned to the peak.
He struck a boxing pose in front of the mirror and threw a couple of punches:
"So strong... I can feel the power surging up!! Now, I can do anything!!"
Watching Luffy acting like he'd been injected with adrenaline, Tatsuya and Usopp exchanged a glance and silently gave a thumbs up.
Psychological suggestion is part of combat power, after all.
...
The stage for the final battle was set on Foxy's massive "Sexy Foxy".
The ship itself was designed for cheating, filled with traps and mechanisms everywhere.
"Fufufufufu! Welcome to my domain, Afro boy!"
Foxy stood at the top of the mast, holding the Slow-Slow Beam emitter, a sinister smile on his face.
Although his physical skills were average, the power of his "Slow-Slow Fruit" was extremely disgusting.
"I'm going to blow you away!!"
Luffy roared and charged onto the deck.
The battle fell into a stalemate as soon as it began.
"Slow-Slow Beam!!"
Foxy formed his fingers into a graceful pose, and a pink beam of light shot out.
Although Luffy had the Afro boost, he still suffered greatly against this unreasonable, rule-based ability.
Whenever Luffy tried to get close, Foxy would use the various mirrors set up around the ship to reflect the beams.
Those pink beams refracted between the mirrors, forming a barrage net with no blind spots.
"So slow... body... can't move..."
Luffy accidentally got hit by a reflected beam and instantly turned into slow motion.
His fist was clearly right in front of Foxy's face, but it would take a full 30 seconds to connect.
"Fufufu! Too slow, too slow!"
Foxy took the opportunity to circle behind Luffy and beat the slow-motion Luffy to a pulp.
Although the damage per hit wasn't high, the insult was extremely strong.
"Damn it! If you've got the guts, stop running!!"
After the 30 seconds wore off, Luffy yelled in anger and chased Foxy all over the ship.
But Foxy was like a slippery loach, using mechanisms, smoke bombs, and a mirror maze to run Luffy in circles.
At this moment, in the spectator area.
"Luffy! Go! Beat up that Split-head!"
Nami, Chopper, and the others stood on the shore, shouting anxiously to cheer him on.
Foxy, who had been on the defensive, suddenly had a sinister look in his eyes.
He realized he couldn't easily inflict fatal damage on Luffy head-on, so he hatched a plan.
"Fufufu... since I can't hit you, I'll just make you distracted!"
Foxy stopped suddenly, not aiming at Luffy, but pointing his fingers at the spectator area on the shore.
"No! Nami-san!" Sanji exclaimed in shock.
"Slow-Slow Beam!!"
The pink beam of light flew out, heading straight for Nami.
"Despicable!!" Luffy wanted to save her, but the distance was too great.
Nami watched the incoming beam in horror; there was no time to dodge.
Just a second before the beam was about to hit Nami.
"Clang—!"
A crisp sound of a blade rang out across the field.
Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and a black figure appeared in front of Nami as if teleporting.
Tatsuya.
At the moment of contact, the black blade in Tatsuya's hand was held horizontally at an extremely subtle angle.
The polished, mirror-like blade flashed a cold light under the setting sun.
"Hum—"
The Slow-Slow Beam struck the smooth blade surface and didn't take effect; instead, like hitting a mirror, it was perfectly reflected back.
"What?!"
Foxy, in the distance, was still gloating when he suddenly saw his beam take a turn and fly back.
"Pfft!"
The pink beam of light accurately struck Foxy's upturned butt.
"Woooooh..."
Foxy let out a distorted scream, frozen in that sleazy, butt-out pose, trapped in the gray-white slow-motion state.
Tatsuya, from a great distance, coldly glanced at the fox on the ship:
"If you're going to fight, just fight... don't look over here."
The whole place was silent for a second, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Well done!! Tatsuya!!"
"So cool!!!"
On the ship, Luffy saw this scene, the stone in his heart dropped, replaced by an even greater rage.
"To dare to lay a hand on my crewmate..."
Luffy lowered his Afro, his eyes becoming as fierce as a wild beast:
"Foxy... you're finished."
Taking advantage of the 30-second window where Foxy's butt was slowed and he was immobile, Luffy rushed into the ship's cabin.
He didn't rush to attack, but instead smashed one of Foxy's large mirrors with a punch.
Luffy picked up a large mirror shard and hid it in the Afro.
The 30 seconds ended. Foxy recovered, scared out of his wits.
"Slow-Slow Beam!!" He frantically fired beams, trying to protect himself.
"It's useless!!"
Luffy didn't dodge, and the moment the beam shot toward him, he whipped the mirror shard out of his Afro.
"Reflect!!"
The beam was reflected again, and this time, it hit Foxy's entire body!
"Ahhhhh!! Foxy completely turned into a slow-motion statue, watching death arrive with his own eyes.
"This is... the end!!"
Luffy stepped back a few paces; that was the distance for a running start.
He stretched his arms backward, stretching to the limit of hundreds of meters; that was the ultimate elasticity of rubber.
"For the old man's horse... for Nami's gold... and for this damn Afro!!"
"Gomu Gomu—Champion Bazooka!!!!"
Boom—!!
Luffy's palms, carrying a mountain-toppling force, slammed fiercely into Foxy's chest.
The power of this blow was so great that it even generated a visible shockwave.
"Puff-ha!!!"
Foxy couldn't even scream; he flew backward like a cannonball fired from a cannon.
He smashed through the railing, snapped the main mast, and finally, along with that massive mast, was blasted right out of the range of Long Ring Long Land, disappearing into the end of the vast sea.
"Won... we won!!!"
The announcer announced the results, trembling.
The Straw Hat Pirates, Davy Back Fight, total victory!
Under the setting sun, Luffy, with that slightly crooked Afro, raised his hands in celebration.
...
After the match, the spoils distribution phase.
According to the rules, the winner can take anything from the loser.
Foxy's pirate crew members trembled, terrified of being taken away by the terrifying Straw Hat Pirates.
However, Luffy just walked up to that Jolly Roger, which symbolized the glory of the Foxy Pirates.
"I don't want your people."
Luffy picked up a pen, and in full view of everyone, drew an extremely ugly, crooked pattern on the black flag that was indistinguishable as either a fox or a pile of poop.
"From now on, you sail with this flag!!"
"What... what is this?!"
Foxy's subordinates looked at the graffiti that was ugly beyond imagination, and let out a wail more painful than death.
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