"What do you know!"
A dazzling white light erupted from Joy Boy's body. At this moment, his expression carried an unusual mixture of vexation and embarrassment.
Lloyd suddenly released the Demon Blade Muramasa, allowing it to fall into the ground below.
The instant the blade struck the earth, darkness spread outward like countless venomous serpents, crawling rapidly across the entire battlefield.
"Being your companion truly is the most tragic thing in this world."
Zunesha suddenly trembled violently.
Its enormous flesh and blood visibly withered and shriveled at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. In an instant, its colossal body had contracted by more than half, while its eyes became increasingly cloudy, resembling those of an old man whose life was nearing its end.
Not even a sound could escape its throat.
Two streams of bloody tears flowed from the eyes of the ancient elephant that had lived for a thousand years, staining a large section of the surrounding sea crimson.
"Zunesha!"
Seeing Zunesha's tragic condition, Joy Boy immediately swooped downward.
White light flickered around his hand as he attempted to dispel the Dark Power covering Zunesha's body.
A dangerous curve appeared at the corner of Lloyd's mouth.
The instant Joy Boy landed, Lloyd hooked one finger.
A gigantic dark maw suddenly opened beneath Joy Boy's feet.
Before Joy Boy could react, the abyssal mouth swallowed him whole, instantly forming a massive black sphere.
Boom!
Fist-shaped bulges continuously appeared across the surface of the dark sphere.
Dense white cracks spread through it.
At that moment, Lloyd moved.
He pulled the Demon Blade Muramasa from the ground and drove it directly into the black sphere.
The next second, the sphere exploded.
Joy Boy's figure was blasted backward, skidding across the ground for several thousand meters before finally coming to a stop.
After a brief pause, Joy Boy slowly rose.
His expression had become cold.
One hand covered the area around his left shoulder blade.
A long, narrow wound pierced through the flesh there, with wisps of black Haki-like energy lingering around its edges.
He had been careless in his haste.
Joy Boy had fallen directly into Lloyd's trap.
After taking that strike, however, he had regained his composure.
Joy Boy inhaled deeply and simultaneously mobilized the Nika Power within his body to repair the injury.
By the time Lloyd appeared before him again, the wound had already recovered by roughly seventy to eighty percent.
Joy Boy raised his head.
"You deliberately provoked me, didn't you?"
Lloyd smiled without confirming or denying it.
"If you didn't have a guilty conscience to begin with, you wouldn't have been so easily provoked. You should understand that better than anyone."
Joy Boy nodded.
Then he let out a quiet sigh.
"Perhaps you're right. Eight hundred years have changed too many people and too many things. I became too fixated on all of it, and that fixation eventually turned into an obsession."
"Hmm?"
Lloyd raised an eyebrow.
Judging from Joy Boy's words, it almost sounded as though this man had suddenly reached some kind of enlightenment.
If that were the case, then the next step should naturally be an explosive increase in power.
The thought had barely crossed Lloyd's mind when Joy Boy suddenly lowered his head.
His body began to twitch.
An intermittent laugh escaped his throat.
At first, it was faint and fragmented.
Then the laughter became continuous.
The sound grew louder and louder until Joy Boy finally threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
The force carried by Joy Boy's laughter was astonishing.
The resulting sound waves tore a gigantic gap through the dark curtain covering the sky.
Joy Boy covered his face with one hand.
White liquid flowed from between his fingers.
At the same time, the Nika Power surrounding his body began surging violently, rising at an astonishing rate.
Lloyd's brow furrowed slightly.
So Joy Boy really had erupted with power.
Wasn't this the kind of treatment normally reserved for the protagonist?
Could it be that Joy Boy had not only taken over Luffy's body, but had also inherited the so-called protagonist's luck?
The reason Lloyd had deliberately provoked Joy Boy was because he had already discovered that Joy Boy's strength was closely connected to his emotional state.
Nika Power could also be described as the power of happiness.
After doing so many things against his own wishes, Joy Boy had remained trapped in a state of internal conflict.
The clearest indication was that he rarely laughed genuinely anymore.
That depressed emotional state had clearly weakened his power considerably.
Since Joy Boy possessed such an exploitable weakness, Lloyd naturally had no reason to ignore it.
He had no interest in discussing so-called battle etiquette.
In a life-or-death confrontation, adhering to such principles would be even more foolish.
And now, Lloyd had no intention of simply standing there and watching Joy Boy become stronger.
He raised his hand.
Muramasa descended.
A black sword slash tore through the air and shot toward Joy Boy.
This was not the first time Joy Boy had fought Lloyd.
What made the situation somewhat amusing was that even while laughing so hard that tears streamed from his eyes, Joy Boy had never completely lowered his guard.
The instant the black sword slash arrived, Joy Boy released Conqueror's Haki.
The overwhelming Haki collided with the sword energy and shattered it into nothingness.
Joy Boy slowly lowered his hand and smiled.
"Celestial Dragon, in some ways, you really should learn from your ancestor, Cassilias. He didn't like taking advantage of another person's vulnerabilities."
Lloyd smiled faintly.
"If that old man were still here, I believe he would say that when dealing with something as disgusting and hypocritical as you, the sooner it is eliminated, the better."
Faced with Lloyd's ridicule, Joy Boy did not become angry this time.
He merely shook his head.
His body swayed with a strange rhythm.
Then he chuckled softly.
He spread his arms.
His body suddenly dropped toward the ground, until he was lying prone against the earth.
Lloyd naturally did not believe Joy Boy intended to bow his head and submit.
As Joy Boy moved, Lloyd sensed a strange fluctuation spreading through the ground.
The sensation was strangely familiar.
It resembled the feeling Lloyd had experienced when he first encountered Imu.
Joy Boy remained lying against the ground and spoke softly.
"Nika's Vow: All Things Promised."
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Zunesha's enormous body began trembling rhythmically.
Its massive body, which reached thirty-five thousand meters in length, suddenly began shrinking at an astonishing rate.
Lloyd's eyes shifted slightly.
He lightly tapped the ground with the tips of his toes, and his body rose into the high sky.
In only a few seconds, Zunesha had already shrunk to the size of an ordinary elephant.
The transformation was so dramatic that even Lloyd could not help but take notice.
Yet after its size had been reduced, Zunesha appeared considerably more energetic.
It raised its trunk and sprayed a tremendous amount of seawater over its own body.
The saltwater did not irritate the wounds covering its back.
Instead, nourished by the seawater, those hideous injuries gradually began to heal.
Four milky-white halos surrounded its enormous feet, lifting its massive body into the air.
Joy Boy sat upon Zunesha's back.
He reached out and gently stroked Zunesha's head, a smile spreading across his face.
"My companion, I made you suffer just now. Next, let the Celestial Dragon properly experience your power!"
Zunesha's eyes widened.
Within its golden pupils, concentric black ripples appeared.
It raised its trunk and released an excited trumpet toward the heavens.
Then its entire body became enveloped in white light.
Like a white comet descending from the heavens, Zunesha charged directly toward Lloyd.
Its speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, it had already arrived before him.
Lloyd immediately raised the Demon Blade Muramasa horizontally across his chest.
Boom!
A thunderous roar reverberated throughout the heavens and earth.
The immense force of the collision sent Lloyd's body flying backward.
After stabilizing himself, a solemn look appeared in Lloyd's eyes.
From the force behind Zunesha's charge, he had realized something important.
Although Zunesha's body had shrunk to such an incredible degree, its power had not diminished in the slightest.
Lloyd stared at the enormous elephant suspended in the air.
What was this supposed to be?
The Ruyi Jingu Bang's elephant version?
___
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