Taking advantage of the moment right after Luffy had just launched such a huge attack—when his old force had just been expended Zephyr lunged to Luffy and swung his heavy mechanical arm down at him.
"Mōkō!"
CRACK!
The blow landed solidly on Luffy.
Luffy barely swung a punch back, but was still knocked downward, crashing through several layers of cabin walls before finally stopping in a pile of wreckage.
The next second, however, Luffy nonchalantly pushed aside the wooden planks on top of him and stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "That hurt. But I think I gained something."
Zephyr did not answer. His face was dark as he looked at the spot on his mechanical arm that had just collided with Luffy's fist.
There, clearly left a punch mark that was not shallow!
This thing was forged from several of the world's hardest alloys, and its internal framework was even doped with high-purity Kairoseki. Its hardness far exceeded ordinary steel. Even a full-power attack from a Marine Vice Admiral would barely scratch it.
To leave such a clear mark on it and with a hurried counterattack at that...
"Aren't you unable to use Haoshoku Infusion?" Zephyr asked in a low voice.
That punch just now, though terrifying in power, still felt like pure Busoshoku Haki and physical strength.
It clearly wasn't Haoshoku Haki Infusion.
"I really can't use it yet." Luffy twisted his neck, producing a cracking sound. "But earlier, when I was fighting some old man, he hit me with a few good ones. I vaguely had a clue, but I just couldn't find the feeling.
The contact just now gave me a lot of insight. So now I'm asking you, old man, to help me properly verify it. I don't think the relationship between Haoshoku Infusion and ordinary Busoshoku Infusion is that shallow."
He directly stated his purpose.
"Using me as a whetstone?"
Zephyr was first stunned, then so angry he laughed. "Fine! Very well! Brat, since you're so confident in yourself, then bring it on! Using this old man as a whetstone will consume quite a lot of Haki. Let's see if your Haki runs out first, or if this old man beats you into Impel Down first!"
Though angry, seeing a talented young prospect, the instincts of the former Chief Instructor deep inside him still made him want to offer some guidance.
Moreover, Luffy possessed that kind of bold, unrestrained, pure, and direct temperament that reminded him of Garp—the kind that easily inspired admiration.
Zephyr himself didn't know whether indulging Luffy in using him to test the prototype of Haoshoku Infusion was right or wrong.
But at this point in the fight, there was no choice but to go all out!
What he really wanted to know was who Luffy had fought against.
Haoshoku Haki users were already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Those who could use Haoshoku Infusion in actual combat were even fewer.
At this moment, Luffy slightly crouched his body, like a cheetah poised for attack, and charged at Zephyr again.
His fist was covered in solid Busoshoku Haki, but beneath that pitch-black surface, there seemed to be a barely noticeable dark red streamer that occasionally flickered.
His fist turned into an afterimage, swinging out again.
THUD THUD!!
His fists rained down like a storm on Zephyr's raised mechanical arm, producing dull thuds.
That hard alloy shell, under such dense and heavy blows, actually began to show subtle deformations and dents.
"Your personality is exactly like Garp's,"
Zephyr felt the violent vibration from the mechanical arm and the strange wave that was vaguely penetrating his defense. He spoke with a lesson tone.
"You really are a complete reckless man. Using up your stamina and Haki so without restraint—even with your natural talent, you won't last long! The one who laughs last will definitely be this old man, who can fight longer!"
"Who knows!"
Luffy grinned, his offensive unabated. "How will I know where my limit is if I don't try?!"
Zephyr was a bit annoyed by Luffy's almost rogue response. He saw the moment when Luffy was gasping for strength after a round of onslaught. His left hand shot out as fast as an iron pincer, grabbing Luffy's wrist with precision just after he had swung.
At the same time, his eyes widened, and he let out a thunderous cry. Using his waist and abdominal strength, he relied on his absolute strength, far surpassing Luffy's, to forcibly swing Luffy's rubber body up and then slam it heavily down onto the already battered deck.
"Haki and stamina aren't something you can solve just by being reckless. Get sober, brat!"
CRASH—!
With a huge impact, Luffy was deeply slammed into the deck. A humanoid depression instantly formed, sending wood splinters and debris flying in all directions.
Almost at the same moment he slammed Luffy down, Zephyr pulled on his mechanical arm without pause. The front muzzle again aimed at Luffy in the depression. The gun barrels and energy conduits inside the mechanical arm hummed as they began to rotate rapidly to warm up!
"It's over, Straw Hat!"
"Gomu Gomu no: Rasen Kenbu!!"
A low shout came from the depression.
Then, a pitch-black blade, like a hidden dragon emerging from an abyss, suddenly slashed upward from Below.
On that blade was wrapped around Busoshoku Haki, and more—a faint sharpness that seemed capable of cutting through anything.
CRACK!
SHRIIIIP!
The energy delivery pipe and main drive structure connecting to the mechanical arm were,
before this sudden pitch-black blade, cut through like a hot knife through butter. They broke with a sound.
Then, as if triggering a chain collapse, the entire complex mechanical arm connected to his right shoulder began disintegrating from the inside under the vibration of the sword energy, falling apart into countless parts and fragments that crashed to the deck with a clatter. This revealed the somewhat slender metal prosthetic of Zephyr's right arm.
And that pitch-black blade, its momentum undiminished, carried a sharp that could cut through anything. With a piercing sound, it slashed straight at Zephyr's face.
Zephyr's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks. This sudden change completely exceeded his expectations.
At this critical moment, acting almost purely on decades of hardened fighting instinct, his good left hand instantly pushed his Busoshoku Haki to its limit. His entire forearm turned as black as black steel. Instinctively, he swung a punch up to meet the slashing black blade!
CRACK!
Fist and blade met, producing the loud noise of metal clashing.
A sharp, unparalleled sword energy and a fierce fist force collided fiercely.
Zephyr's body shook violently. He uncontrollably staggered back several steps, each step leaving a deep footprint in the deck, before he barely managed to steady his stance.
He looked incredulously at the mechanical arm parts scattered on the ground, then at Luffy, who had leaped out of the depression, holding a powerful, long black knife.
"You're actually a swordsman too?!" Zephyr said, shocked.
Garp's grandson—that old man who only knew how to recklessly fight with his fists—had a swordsman grandson? And one who had grown into a swordsman capable of cutting through his custom-made mechanical arm?!
The impact of this revelation was such that even the battle-hardened former Admiral Zephyr couldn't fully recover for a moment!
***
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