Luffy, in a diving posture, launched the machine gun version of "Ape King Gun" at Hawkeye.
In mid-air, six continuous giant fist phantoms seemed to form, spraying out, accompanied by roars, continuously pounding towards Hawkeye.
Hawkeye's sharp, hawkish eyes rotated rapidly, tracking the dense, extremely fast attacks of the massive group attack Ape King Gun in the air.
The black blade in his hand also suddenly accelerated, swinging out a series of phantoms.
The clash of powerful Armament Haki, coupled with Luffy's torrential attacks, quickly shattered the half of the giant ship beneath their feet.
Hawkeye immediately leaped to the remaining half of the giant ship.
After unleashing a continuous combo, Luffy's Armament Haki was once again enhanced and strengthened.
Hawkeye couldn't help but exclaim at this point, saying,
"What a reckless way to attack."
Luffy continued without stopping, launching another attack.
Maintaining Gear Fourth already consumed Haki, and he didn't want to waste Haki on simply maintaining this state.
"Gum-Gum: Rhino Schneider!"
"Gum-Gum: Lion Bazooka!"
"Gum-Gum: Great Ape King Gun!"
...
Luffy unleashed various attack skills at Hawkeye one after another.
And his Armament Haki was strengthened repeatedly.
Hawkeye truly lived up to his reputation as a world-class powerhouse; Luffy had almost elevated his Armament Haki to another level through him, now reaching top-tier status.
"Gum-Gum: Lion King Bazooka!"
Luffy roared.
On top of his already enlarged state, he blew more air into his arms.
Soon, two super-gigantic arms, comparable to a giant ship, appeared.
Luffy cupped his hands into tiger claw shapes and compressed them into his body.
Then he unleashed them with full force, the enormous roar comparable to thunder.
Accompanied by an unparalleled momentum, Luffy's ship-sized arms, like super bazookas, charged towards Hawkeye.
Hawkeye, at this moment, frowned, his face showing a grave expression, and his eyes held intense confusion.
He always had a strange feeling that as Luffy fought him, his Armament Haki seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.
So much so that now, when Luffy used this move, even he found it tricky.
"As expected of the man Red Hair favors!"
Hawkeye exclaimed from the bottom of his heart; at this moment, he had already acknowledged Luffy.
"Then, I shall let you witness the world's greatest slash!"
With that, Hawkeye tightened his grip on the black blade once more.
An astonishing aura erupted from his body.
The next moment, green energy swirled around his black blade, spreading outwards like ripples.
Then he suddenly swung towards Luffy, and a slash that seemed to cleave the sea flew towards Luffy.
Boom!
The moment the slash collided with Luffy's "Lion King Bazooka."
Heaven and earth roared, and the sea surged.
The powerful energy collision stirred up gusts of fierce winds.
The sea within dozens of kilometers immediately became turbulent, with continuous towering waves.
The giant sea restaurant Baratie seemed as if it would be overturned and torn apart.
And under this violent shaking, many people who were still quite strong gradually woke up at this moment.
Zeff, Sanji, Usopp, Krieg, Gin, and dozens of others, as well as Zoro, who had just fainted from the Haoshoku, all regained consciousness.
Before they could wonder why they had suddenly fainted, everyone looked as if they had seen a ghost, staring at the shocking scene in the distant sky: the colossal slash soaring upwards colliding with Luffy, who was as massive as a warship.
Krieg's eyes were wide open, his pupils shrunk to a pinpoint, and his mouth hung open as if dislocated, stretched long.
"Ahhhhhhh... What... what kind of monster is that?! Can a human create a slash that cleaves the sea? And that fist, bigger than my giant ship, are they really human?!"
Gin's cold sweat poured down like rain, his pupils trembled, and his body shook.
"Is... is this the true power of that Hawkeye guy? So, when he chopped down our 50 ships, he was just playing around? Is that what a Grand Line powerhouse is like? Then what are we...?"
Gin suddenly clutched his head in fear, questioning his life.
Usopp's eyes popped out like springs, his chin dropped directly to the ground, his thighs, body, and even his tongue were trembling.
"Such... such terrifying combat. I think I suddenly contracted a disease where I'll die if I go to the Grand Line."
When Sanji saw this scene, the cigarette butt he had been holding in his mouth when he fainted dropped in shock, and his curly eyebrows twitched up and down incessantly.
"Luffy... is he really this strong?! He can actually hold his own against that Hawkeye guy, who's known as the world's greatest swordsman!!!"
Zoro looked at the sea cleaved open by Hawkeye's slash and fell into deep shock.
"Is there such a huge gap between me and the world's strongest...?"
The next second, he clenched his fists tightly, his eyes becoming even more resolute.
Uta's gaze had been fixed on Luffy, and at this moment, it was filled with worry.
"Luffy, please don't push yourself too hard!"
She could tell that this wasn't Hawkeye's full power; when Hawkeye sparred with Shanks, their slashes collided and could even cleave the sky.
And now it hadn't reached that level, yet Luffy seemed to be giving his all.
After falling into a momentary shock like the others, Zeff was the first to react, shouting to the several chefs who had woken up beside him.
"Quickly, raise the anchor! If we don't get away, our ship will be caught in the crossfire and destroyed!"
At his words, everyone immediately moved in a panic.
Soon, they set the Baratie sailing away into the distance.
Meanwhile, Luffy, after holding his ground against Hawkeye's slash for a while, suddenly raised his hand and tossed the weakened slash into the sky.
"Your comprehension is prodigious! Through direct combat experience, your Armament Haki has been strengthened."
This time, Luffy's Armament Haki was greatly enhanced; he could clearly feel his Armament Haki improving another notch.
But for now, he didn't plan to continue using this form.
The amount of Armament Haki in his body was almost depleted.
Next, it was time to improve his Observation Haki.
Although Luffy was tired, he was in an extremely joyful mood.
This scene utterly bewildered Hawkeye.
He didn't understand why Luffy was so happy, despite not having inflicted even a tiny bit of damage on him.
At this moment, Luffy's body suddenly began to change rapidly.
At the same time, large amounts of cloud-like steam, generated from sweat, permeated the air, completely obscuring his figure.
After an instant transformation, the white "auspicious clouds" seemed to transform into the head of a king cobra, revealing two sharp fangs.
And as the "auspicious clouds" dispersed, Luffy's figure also became visible.
His body was slightly taller than his normal form, but his arms and legs, like those of the enlarged Gear Fourth, were completely covered in black and red, and his face still carried a hint of wickedness.
His hair stood completely upright, like a Saiyan's, swaying and dancing.
"Gear Fourth - Snake-Man Form!"