Pirates: Martial Arts Masters on the Straw Hat Ship

Luffy did not answer.

He stood on the rocks on the shore, looked up, and gazed into Rab's bloodshot eyes, filled with sorrow and madness.

The next second, Luffy's eyes became incredibly determined, even carrying a hint of unprecedented, extremely aggressive, and provocative anger.

"Hey!!! Big guy!!!"

Luffy took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar that drowned out the waves:

"Fight me!!!"

"Huh?!"

Everyone was astonished.

Before he could finish speaking, Luffy had already pushed off the ground and shot into the air like a red rocket.

Luffy showed no fear when facing an island whale thousands of times his size.

He stretched his right arm in the air, his eyes sharp.

With a thought, the Armament Haki he had just mastered instantly covered his right arm.

Its black metallic sheen gleamed in the sunlight, exuding an aura of indestructibility.

"Rubber rubber—rocket launcher!!!"

"boom!!!"

This was no ordinary rubber-like blow; it was a heavy strike imbued with Armament Haki!

Luffy's palms slammed solidly into Laboon's scarred head, right where his most sensitive and painful wounds were!

"roar----!!!"

The excruciating pain instantly ignited Raab's fury.

Its enormous body, which had been immersed in grief, suddenly trembled.

It let out a deafening roar, the sound waves spreading like a tangible force, shaking even the lighthouse.

Raab is furious!

Its enormous tail slammed against the water, creating towering waves tens of meters high.

Those sorrowful eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, locking onto that ignorant little thing that dared to attack its wound!

"Luffy! What are you doing?!"

Usopp was terrified, clinging to Nami and screaming, "You'll kill it! Or it will kill you! Why did you provoke it?!"

"Damn Luffy..." Sanji was also stunned, and prepared to rush up to save the whale.

"Don't move."

A hand was placed in front of Sanji and Zoro.

Ronan stopped the two people who wanted to come forward.

He looked at Luffy's small yet imposing figure and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

"Just you wait and see."

"That's Luffy's gentleness."

"Since waiting is too painful, since that promise has become a curse that torments it... let's destroy the old promise and give it a new reason to live."

On the battlefield.

"Boom!"

Enraged, Laboon rammed his head into Luffy.

Although Luffy used "Gum Balloon" to defend himself, he was still knocked away by the terrifying force and slammed into the rock wall on the shore, creating a deep crater.

"Cough cough..."

Luffy climbed out of the pile of rubble and dusted himself off.

Although somewhat disheveled, he grinned, revealing an extremely arrogant smile:

"It's a close call, everyone!"

He pointed at the roaring Raab and shouted:

"I'm amazing, aren't I! You can feel it too!"

"You really want to beat me, don't you! I want to beat you too!"

"We haven't decided a winner yet! So... we have to keep fighting!"

Raab was stunned.

In its enormous eyes, the savagery gradually faded, replaced by a sense of bewilderment and... a long-lost glimmer of life.

Luffy picked up his straw hat from the ground, put it back on, and his tone became serious and earnest:

"Although your comrade is dead... I am still your opponent!"

"We absolutely have to fight again and see who's stronger!"

Luffy pointed deep into the Grand Line and issued a new declaration:

"We'll definitely come back to find you after we've circled the Grand Line once!!"

"Let's duel again sometime!!!"

The sea breeze howled.

Labuna's massive body remained still on the sea surface.

It understood.

Fifty years have passed.

His companions did not return.

But today, a boy wearing a straw hat gave it a new promise.

A promise about "fighting" and "goodbye".

"Waaah—"

Lab let out a low cry, no longer a mournful wail, but a response.

Large teardrops rolled down from its huge eye sockets and splashed onto the sea.

It agreed.

"Hehehe!"

Upon seeing this, Luffy immediately ran towards the Going Merry, and soon returned carrying a bucket of paint and a huge brush.

Amidst everyone's astonished gazes, Luffy jumped onto Laboon's head and began to draw clumsily but earnestly on the scarred skin.

It was an extremely abstract, crooked logo—a straw hat and skull.

"alright!"

Luffy tossed aside the brush, looking at his "masterpiece" with satisfaction, and shouted to Laboon:

"This is the symbol of our agreement!"

"Listen up, Laboon! You're absolutely not allowed to bang your head against the rock wall until you get another fight with him!"

"If you damage the sign... I'm not fighting you anymore!"

Lab looked at the comical pattern reflected in the water. Although it was ugly, it was a "band-aid" on the wound, a new bond.

It slapped its tail happily, splashing water all over Luffy.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

On the shore, Ronan, Zoro, Sanji, and the others watched this scene with knowing smiles.

"You've got some skills, our captain." Zoro said, holding his sword with a smile in his eyes.

"Yeah." Nami wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. "Even though she's a bit of a goofball, sometimes... she's surprisingly reliable."

Ronan looked at the sign on Labour's head and thought to himself:

now it's right.

Live on with this promise, Rabbi.

When we return... that old skeleton Brook will sing Binks's Wine and come back to you.

With Raab's inner conflict resolved, everyone felt much more relaxed.

Beside the lighthouse, in front of the stone table.

Sanji was preparing a sumptuous lunch, the aroma filling the air.

Zoro was wiping his new sword, while Usopp was repairing the ship's side, which had been slightly damaged.

Nami sat on the stone bench, solemnly unfolding the huge sea chart.

"Now that we've entered the Grand Line, we can't be as carefree as we were in the East China Sea."

Nami took out a pen, pointed to the sea chart, and said, "We must plan a reasonable route. The first thing we need to determine is our first stop..."

Just then, Nami glanced at the nautical compass as usual.

"what?"

Nami paused for a moment, thinking she was seeing things.

She rubbed her eyes and looked again.

The compass needle was spinning wildly.

"What happened?"

Nami's expression changed, and she took out a spare compass.

The result was the same; the pointer spun wildly as if it were having a seizure.

"ah--!!!"

A terrified scream shattered the afternoon tranquility.

"What's wrong?!"

Ronan and his group rushed to Nami's side in an instant.

"Something terrible has happened!!"

Nami, pale-faced, pointed at the compass on the table, her voice trembling, "The compass... it's broken! It doesn't give any directions!"

"On this vast ocean, if we lose our way... we're doomed!!"