The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

"Straw Hat Boy... I don't acknowledge your so-called 'Four Emperors'."

"And what's printed on your wanted poster...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Lucci activated his Devil Fruit Awakening without hesitation!

In his awakened form, Lucci's appearance is more slender compared to his beast form, with the lower half of his face retaining a human-like appearance, and dark flames swirling around his shoulders.

The wild power of the Zoan type merges and boils—Awakening Zoan type: Cat-Cat Fruit, Leopard Form, Human-Beast Form!

Upon awakening, Lucci's height nearly doubled, his muscles bulging like cast steel, and his ten fingers transformed into gleaming black claws.

A thick, powerful leopard tail extended from its tailbone, and with a light sweep, it plowed three deep marks into the alloy wall beside it, exuding a fierce aura.

Luffy grinned at Lucci's curious, or rather provocative, gaze and his new form, without saying a word.

Similarly, he casually took off the slightly cumbersome technological protective suit, revealing his lean and muscular physique.

"Curious?" Luffy tilted his head, his smile still bright, but his eyes suddenly sharpened!

"Since you're curious..."

He raised his right hand, made a fist, and gently tapped his left chest, near his heart, twice.

"Boom! Boom!"

The sound of war drums erupted!

"They're here, they're here... they're here, they're here!!!"

"Boom!!!"

In an instant, dark red Conqueror's Haki lightning exploded from Luffy's body!

The imposing Razer snake flashed in the air!

"That domineering aura, Straw Hat Boy, you..."

As Lucci's pupils suddenly contracted, reflecting a shocking image, Luffy's form underwent a dramatic transformation at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Her hair and eyebrows transformed into flowing, pure white, and joyful white steam rose from her body, giving her skin a rubbery texture and sheen.

The boy stood there, becoming a walking "possibility," exuding an almost absurdly joyful aura that made one's heart flutter.

Fifth Gear - Nika Mode!

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

"Then... I'll let you see as much as you want!!"

Luffy laughed loudly, his voice filled with exhilaration!

During this time, Luffy has completely digested and perfectly adapted to the power of Gear Fifth.

so.......

The title of 'Emperor' is truly fitting!

Luffy vanished from his spot in an instant!

It wasn't a high-speed movement like "shaving," but something even more bizarre, like... a frame-skipping disappearance.

Lucci's beastly instincts combined with his Observation Haki caused all his muscles to tense instantly, and he fully covered himself with Armament Haki, crossing his arms to protect his chest.

Almost at the same instant!

"boom!!!"

A white fist crackling with dark red electricity slammed solidly into his crossed arms!

"Snap!!"

A chilling sound of bones cracking rang out!

Lucci felt a sharp pain in both arms as the terrifying impact penetrated his defenses and slammed into his chest.

A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he was thrown backward like a cannonball, his feet carving two fiery trails across the ground before he could barely stop after being dragged for more than ten meters.

"Cough...!" Lu Qi coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

How can it be? !

His awakened form, coupled with top-tier Armament Haki, yet he could barely block even a single punch?!

"It's not over yet!" Luffy's cheerful voice followed closely behind.

Lucci's vision blurred, and he saw Luffy's figure defy the laws of physics as it made a right-angle turn in mid-air.

The right leg lashed out like a rubber whip, but expanded rapidly at the moment of impact.

"Rubber Rubber Giant Whip!"

A white thigh, as thick as a giant log, tore through the air, sweeping down with a muffled sound of wind and thunder!

Lucky's pupils contracted sharply, and he leaped up, attempting to fly over from above.

But in the path the giant leg swept across, the air seemed to turn into sticky rubber.

A strange suction force was generated, slowing his leap by half a beat!

"Bang!" The edge of the leg whip grazed Lucci's side.

Even a mere graze sent a sharp, piercing pain through his ribs, a sensation of bone fracture.

Lucci twisted his body forcefully in mid-air, his claws digging fiercely into the pillar. Sparks flew amidst the ear-piercing scraping sound. He barely managed to steady himself, kneeling on one knee on the pillar, panting heavily.

"Your movements... are too 'stiff'!" Luffy stood not far away with a grin, his body swaying from side to side like ramen noodles, seemingly boneless.

"Awakening your Zoan-type isn't about making you harder, it's about making you more 'free'!"

"Stop talking big, Straw Hat Boy!!!" Lucci roared, his beastly eyes flashing with ferocity.

Being so thoroughly toyed with by a former adversary who had once fought so hard to defeat him ignited his pride and murderous intent.

The next moment, Lucci's leg muscles bulged, the pillar beneath his feet exploded, and his figure transformed into a black lightning bolt, rushing straight towards Luffy!

"Six Styles Ultimate Technique: Maximum Wheel - Leopard King Thrust!"

With its claws extended forward, Armament Haki condensed into two deep black points, tearing the air apart with a shriek!

Luffy simply smiled, neither dodging nor avoiding, and even opened his arms.

Just as the claws were about to touch his body, his chest suddenly caved in in an exaggerated arc, creating a hole out of thin air.

Lucci's seemingly inevitable strike futilely pierced through the empty "rubber hole."

"What?!" Lu Qi's pupils dilated in shock.

"Gum-Gum..." Luffy's sunken chest instantly bounced back to its original shape, the immense elastic potential energy transforming into violent kinetic energy.

His upper body swung forward like a slingshot, his forehead slamming into Lucci's face!

"Nika Headbutt!"

"Boom!!!"

Lu Qi's nose collapsed, blood splattered, and he saw stars before his eyes. He was thrown into the air and flipped over.

Before he could even adjust his stance, Luffy was already above him.

His hands had somehow swelled into two enormous white palms, his ten fingers clenched together like a cage.

"Gum-Gum Giant Gauntlet!"

The two giant hands clasped together with a bang, gripping Lucci tightly in their palms!

A terrifying gripping force pressed in from all directions, causing the bones to groan under the unbearable pressure.

Lucci roared, unleashing his full domineering aura. His claws frantically tore at the rubber in his palms, but it was like being stuck in mud. Every strike was cushioned and dispersed by the extremely resilient material.

"You know what?" Luffy's voice came from above, filled with childlike excitement, "The most fun thing about Gear Fifth is..."

"That's possible!"

His huge hand, gripping Lucci's, suddenly began to spin rapidly, faster and faster, until it transformed into a blurry white whirlwind!

Lucci was spinning so hard that his insides almost came out of his throat.

Immediately afterwards, Luffy slammed the "Whirlwind" downwards!

Boom!!!

Lucci crashed into the warehouse area below, which was filled with discarded parts, like a meteorite, kicking up a cloud of metal fragments and dust.

The ground was smashed into a crater several meters in diameter, with cracks spreading out like a spider web.

At the bottom of the pit, Lucci, his clothes torn and covered in blood and dust, struggled to get up.

The tenacious vitality granted by his awakened animal form sustained him, but the excruciating pain in his internal organs and the agonizing sounds from his bones clearly told him...

The difference is huge!!!

This is not a battle at all; it is a one-sided toy and crushing defeat.

The rubber boy who had to risk his life to barely defeat him on Enies Lobby has now reached a height that he can't comprehend.

"Damn it... I don't acknowledge your 'Four Emperors' title at all..."

Lu Qi clenched his teeth, and blood seeped from between them.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Just as Luffy was having so much fun that he was almost about to treat Lucci like a new toy...

Nami's sharp, anxious cries echoed from afar, interspersed with the sounds of explosions and Usopp's strange shouts.

"Luffy!! We need help here!!"

"Ah! They're here!"

Upon hearing his companion's voice, Luffy's playful expression vanished instantly, and his eyes sharpened.

He looked down at Lu Qi, who was struggling at the bottom of the pit, and curled his lip.

"I don't have time to play with you anymore."

As soon as he finished speaking, Luffy stepped down from the air and landed silently.

Next, bend forward slightly and stretch your right arm backward, not in a normal way.

Instead, the entire arm is like an infinitely extended rubber band, spiraling and compressing around the shoulder and back.

The dark red, domineering lightning crackled and coiled around the fist, which was gradually emitting a blazing white light.

"Rubber, rubber..."

Lucky's pupils constricted, and the shadow of death suddenly loomed over him.

He exhausted his last bit of strength and activated his final, strongest defense.

"Iron block!!!"

"Nika Jet pistol!!!"

The white fist shadow instantly traversed space, and wherever it passed, the air was compressed into milky white ripples!

Before the fist even landed, the violent wind pressure had already pressed Lucci firmly to the bottom of the pit, causing the ground to crack and sink inch by inch!

"boom!!!!"

The fist landed squarely on the center of Lucci's crossed arms as he parried.

Time stood still for a moment.

Immediately afterwards...

"Snap! Splash!"

The crisp crack of the arm bone breaking and the muffled thud of internal organs rupturing erupted simultaneously!

Lucky's arms were bent unnaturally, and his chest was visibly sunken.

He couldn't even scream; the blood that spurted from his mouth was mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

He was shot backward like a cannonball hurled by a giant!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

One, two, three... it crashed through seven thick alloy isolation walls in succession!