The sheer magnitude of his physical form was entirely on par with that of a giant or the terrifying Numbers of the Ancient Giant race.
While everyone stood frozen in absolute shock, Daolang's colossal blade had already sundered the air. Luffy's pupils shrank to pinpricks; before he could even register a defense, he was brutally hammered straight into the ground.
KABOOM!
The blade crashed down from the high heavens, causing the entire island to execute a violent shudder. With a single strike, Luffy was driven deep into the bedrock.
CRASH!
Daolang slammed his massive foot onto the terrain. The island groaned under the crushing weight, looking as though it might collapse into the ocean at any fraction of a second. The exact microsecond his boot anchored, he drove a gargantuan fist straight down toward Luffy's coordinate.
BOOM!
Volleys of shattered stone erupted across the perimeter as the earth collapsed under the impact.
Drake's gaze turned incredibly sharp. This... old man's raw power has reached a truly terrifying tier. He undeniably possessed the ultimate combat metrics of a Marine Admiral.
Luffy, on the other hand, was still a bit unrefined in this tier. If he failed to trigger an immediate breakthrough mid-combat, overcoming an adversary of this caliber would be an absolute impossibility. Since when did the Red Hair Pirates harbor a powerhouse of this magnitude?
"Luffy!!" Usopp screamed, his face a mask of absolute horror.
Even from his distant vantage point, that sequence of strikes looked like a textbook apocalypse, yet Luffy had endured the absolute brunt of the kinetic force. How catastrophically dangerous was this duel?
"Luffy..." The expressions of the Straw Hat crew darkened in unison. Even Zoro's casual posture vanished, replaced by an expression of supreme gravity.
"Gum-Gum..."
Suddenly, a distinct voice resonated from an entirely unexpected sector of the clearing.
Before anyone could process the tactical shift, a serpentine fist began carving through the air currents at blinding speed, weaving a frantic trajectory until it materialized right before Daolang's face.
"Jet Culverin!!"
KABOOM!
The strike connected square in the center of the giant's visage.
"WHAT?!" This time, the entire vanguard of the Red Hair Pirates gasped in pure, unadulterated astonishment.
They had clearly witnessed Daolang's preceding assault land a definitive, direct hit on Luffy, yet the young captain had magically emerged from an entirely different coordinate. This defied logical consistency!
Only Shanks and Drake shared a faint flicker of understanding within their eyes.
Luffy's frantic maneuvering had seamlessly integrated the high-velocity displacement of Soru with the elastic trajectory of Gear 4 Snakeman. Of course, raw speed alone was insufficient. The linchpin of the entire maneuver was his utilization of Future Sight. His timing, resource allocation, and spatial positioning had been masterfully coordinated. It was a flawless display of combat execution.
What truly astonished Drake, however, was that Luffy's Observation Haki had evidently undergone another sudden evolution.
Daolang's offensive sequence had been perfectly continuous, leaving zero mechanical windows to execute a defensive pivot. At that fraction of a second, even with a brief glimpse into the immediate future, ordinary reaction times would have failed to buffer the blow. Yet Luffy had not only evaded the impact but had transitioned into a counter-strike with absolute, effortless grace.
If anyone claimed that Luffy relied solely on reckless bravado without strategic intellect, Drake would flatly dismiss the theory. But at the very least, one fundamental attribute was glaringly obvious: his pure combat genius!
Drake was absolutely certain that Luffy hadn't rationalized this complex chain of calculations before initiating the movement. It was a product of pure, subconscious instinct. And that was precisely what rendered it terrifying.
Forging his own vessel through the flames of active combat had always been Luffy's defining operational style.
Furthermore, what sent a deeper jolt of surprise through Drake was that Luffy's Conqueror's Haki appeared to be generating a fresh surge of power. Was this some kind of joke?
Thunder and lightning instantly fractured the heavens as Luffy's presence exploded violently. His Conqueror's Haki began to condense into a physical, visible density, rapidly breaking past the boundaries of a mere psychological aura.
Almost concurrently, he infused his fist with Advanced Conqueror's Haki, driving the full weight of the strike straight into Daolang's face.
Compressing his absolute presence across his physical vessel while completely discharging Advanced Conqueror's Haki from his fist caused his kinetic output to scale at an exponential rate.
The surrounding space vibrated violently under the impact of the blow.
With the exchange finalized, Luffy smoothly coiled his fist back, re-anchoring his combat stance as a fierce, burning passion ignited in his eyes.
Daolang spat a heavy spray of blood, his eyes rolling back slightly as his gargantuan frame dropped heavily onto one knee. A few brief seconds later, his massive physical mass began to rapidly dissolve, returning to his standard human proportions in a matter of breaths.
"Cough... wheeze!"
Daolang executed a series of sharp coughs, before pushing himself back onto his feet to stand directly in front of Luffy.
Luffy's gaze remained lethal, his muscles coiled to launch an immediate follow-up strike.
Right then, Daolang suddenly slapped a heavy, approving hand onto Luffy's shoulder, bursting into a booming laugh. "Splendid! Magnificent, truly magnificent! You thoroughly deserve the title of an Emperor of the Sea. I concede absolute defeat!"
Luffy, who had been on the absolute verge of unleashing his arsenal, nearly lost his balance from the sudden shift in narrative. What on earth is the script layout here?
Amidst the cadence of approaching footsteps, the core elite of the Red Hair Pirates slowly emerged from the trees, walking toward the Straw Hat vanguard.
"Luffy!"
"It truly has been an incredibly long time, Luffy."
"Bwahahaha... I can't believe the little brat from back then has actually grown into a towering powerhouse. It appears we old bastards are truly turning into ancient history."
"Hahaha..."
Luffy's frame went slightly rigid, a radiant smile slowly painting his face. Although he had been interacting with members of the Red Hair crew since hitting the coast, not a single one had been a familiar face. The data disparity had briefly led him to suspect he had dropped into a counterfeit camp.
But these booming voices conclusively verified that he was standing in the true sanctuary of the Red Hair Pirates. Each familiar tone seemed to call out to the long-buried memories of his childhood—the exact soil where the initial seed of his voyage had germinated.
Turning his body around to face the legendary figures of his past, Luffy opened his mouth to articulate a sentence, but in the end, the words faltered. Slowly, a proud, unbridled smile bloomed across his face.
There were certain realities across this ocean that required zero verbal translation. Even if you remained silent, a true comrade understood everything.
"Luffy!" Shanks stepped forward, placing himself directly opposite the young captain. "I trust you still maintain a firm hold on our sacred promise?"
"Absolutely!" Luffy stated with absolute gravity.
"Excellent. Under those parameters... does your vessel currently possess the strength to claim you have finally surpassed me?" Shanks asked, a faint, unreadable smile playing lazily upon his lips.
BANG!
Luffy took a violent step forward, clenching both fists as he bellowed in pure, explosive excitement: "I traveled across this entire ocean precisely to defeat you!"
"Shanks!"
The rest of the world seemed to dissolve into a sterile white expanse, leaving Luffy and Shanks standing alone within their own self-contained dimension. The promise forged so many years ago and the initial awakening of his soul felt as vivid as if it had transpired yesterday—the towering Emperor and the little boy, with a single straw hat acting as their eternal covenant.
The absolute covenant of a man, the pure romance of a voyager, the ultimate dream of a pirate... everything was anchored within this single horizon.
They locked eyes across the short distance, sharing a silent, knowing smile that required zero further dialogue.
Slowly and meticulously, Luffy untied the straw hat from around his neck—the asset he had protected as his ultimate, sacred treasure throughout his entire life—and gently brushed his fingers across the woven straw.
"This hat... I failed to protect it perfectly..."
Emblazoned across the crown of the straw hat were three prominent, stitched scars—a glaring testament to the agonizing hardships, brutal trials, and unyielding resolve that had defined his adventure.
Yet Shanks merely shook his head gently.
"No! You have protected it masterfully. Not a single soul on this ocean could have cherished it with greater devotion than you."
Merely deciphering the intense focus harboring within Luffy's eyes as he cradled the hat, Shanks knew. This straw hat—or rather, the sacred promise it represented—was the absolute apex of Luffy's soul.
Shanks's gaze suddenly turned razor-sharp, his presence intensifying. "Luffy! Are you... truly prepared to anchor the line?"
"Hmph..."
Luffy grinned broadly, casually placing the straw hat onto a massive boulder resting nearby.
"Shanks! I am going to bring you down! There are zero shortcuts along the path to becoming the Pirate King—which means you are officially my adversary!"
With those words, Luffy snapped his head up, his eyes blazing with absolute, unyielding conviction.
"Because I am the man who will become the Pirate King!"