Translator: PapaSmurf0700
GUM-GUM GIANT PISTOL!
As Luffy's roar echoed, his enormous fist slammed into Hody Jones's face. He seemed to have intentionally held back his Conqueror's Haki, relying on pure physical force. Even so, the impact caved in Hody's cheek, shattering several of his fangs.
The monstrous fish-man was thrown backward but managed to stabilize himself. He spun around, his eyes blazing with a renewed, deeper fury.
"Building your ideals on the pain of others? Isn't that what you humans excel at?!" Hody bellowed, lunging at Luffy. "To prove your own nobility, you capture and enslave my people for your amusement! Is that not the way of humans?!"
"Fish-Man Karate: Murasame!"
His question was a roar of anguish. Hody's speed surged. Luffy twisted in the water, blocking the fish-man's claws with his legs and using the momentum to kick away. But Hody was relentless. He opened his mouth and fired several drops of water that shot toward Luffy like cannonballs. Luffy crossed his massive, Haki-clad arm in front of him, blocking the barrage.
"For hundreds of years, how many of my people have been dragged from their homes to be kept as pets and slaves?! Why should we beg for mercy from a race like that?!"
"Answer me, Straw Hat Luffy!"
Hody thrust his palm forward, unleashing a volley of dozens more water bullets, each faster and more powerful than the last.
"Fish-Man Karate: Yabusame!"
"Gum-Gum... Whirlwind!"
With no leverage in the water, Luffy could only spin his giant arms into a defensive vortex, deflecting the attack once more. Unfazed, Hody closed the distance.
"Do you feel this power?" he snarled, his voice a low growl. "With this, the New Fish-Man Pirates will rule the seas! Fish-Man Island will no longer be a playground for you pirates and your human kings! It will be a true underwater kingdom, feared by all!"
He cocked back his giant fist, compressing the water before him until it was as dense as steel, then unleashed it. A powerful, penetrating shockwave erupted outward, engulfing Luffy.
"Fish-Man Karate: Umidaiko!"
BOOM!
Caught in the blast, Luffy was powerless to resist. He was blasted out of the water and sent crashing down onto Gyoncorde Plaza. He landed hard, one arm braced against the ground, seemingly at a disadvantage.
"Shouldn't we be helping Mr. Luffy?" Princess Shirahoshi asked, her voice trembling with concern as she watched from beside the Sunshine Merry.
"Don't waste your energy worrying," Zoro answered flatly without looking at her. "An enemy of this level can't even scratch Luffy."
Though he meant to reassure her, his dead-serious expression and the slight, predatory smile on his lips terrified the princess. She shrank back, hiding behind Jinbe's massive frame.
Zoro blinked, confused. "???"
"Don't worry, Princess," Nami said, assuming her big-sister role. She hopped onto Shirahoshi's shoulder and smiled warmly. "Luffy might be unreliable in almost every other way, but when it comes to a fight, you can count on him."
As if to prove her words, Luffy rose from the crater he'd made. He shook his now-normal-sized arm. Just as Zoro had said, Hody's attack was fierce, but it hadn't left a mark.
Luffy watched Hody stalking toward him and he finally spoke, his voice low and steady. "No. You're wrong."
"Hah?" Hody heard him and saw that Luffy had no intention of dodging. He grinned, channeling even more power into his next attack. The Energy Steroids were taking their toll; tiny cracks spiderwebbed across his skin, leaking thin trickles of blood. He ignored it. All that mattered was killing the man before him.
"What gives you the right to decide what's wrong?!" Hody roared. "The fate of Fish-Man Island belongs to the fish-men! Die!"
BANG!
His foot came down on Luffy, but the moment it made contact, Hody's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't press down. Not even a millimeter.
Luffy's voice rose from beneath him, filled with an unshakeable conviction. "If your path was truly the right one, then why isn't a single person on this entire island smiling?!"
"You bastard!" Hody's face twisted in rage as he felt an incredible force surge up from below.
"GEAR THIRD!"
"GUM-GUM... ELEPHANT GUN!"
With a tremendous heave, Luffy's expanding fist lifted Hody's colossal body into the air, then completely overturned him.
How can such power exist? The thought flashed through Hody's mind, but it was too late. Luffy was already above him, his right leg now swollen to gigantic proportions and coated in gleaming black Armament Haki. The anger in his eyes was gone, replaced by something else: pity.
"If you really want to fight for this island," Luffy declared, his voice booming across the plaza, "then open your eyes and look at your people!"
"They're terrified of you!"
"Wake up, you fool!"
"GUM-GUM... GIANT BATTLE AXE!"
Luffy's leg, charged with all his power, came crashing down.
The impact was absolute. Countless gruesome wounds burst open across Hody's body as the sheer force of the blow drove him deep into the plaza's foundation, shattering it completely.
Hody lay broken in the rubble, coughing up blood. The red haze of the drugs began to fade from his eyes, replaced by a wave of crushing powerlessness.
"Hody. That's your name, right?" Luffy said, walking over to him. He adjusted his straw hat, his expression grim. "Take a good look. At your crew. At the people of this island. Look at their faces. Feel what they're feeling."
Hody weakly turned his head. He saw the fish-men and merfolk gathered at the edges of the square. The eyes of his remaining crewmates held only fear and uncertainty—not a shred of sorrow for their fallen leader. And the citizens of Fish-Man Island… their expressions were a mixture of terror and profound relief.
In that moment, the man who had been blinded by hatred his entire life felt an unbearable, soul-crushing loneliness. He closed his eyes, saying nothing.
Luffy stood beside him in silence for a long time.
Watching from afar, Bai Ye was also moved by the scene. "This is a far better end than you deserved," he murmured.
The leader of the New Fish-Man Pirates, Hody Jones, drew his last breath on Gyoncorde Plaza.