Gon stared at Luffy, who had dropped into a loose, bouncy stance. A fire lit up in the young Hunter's eyes.
He needed this. After days of visualizing the fight with Hisoka, he needed to know exactly how strong he had become since the Exam.
Boom!
Gon's Ren detonated. His aura flared outward in a violent gust, kicking up dust and grit from the wooden planks.
The sudden shift in pressure wiped the goofy grin off Luffy's face. His expression tightened, the playful curiosity replaced by the focused glare he reserved for serious threats.
Beside him, Zoro's hand tightened on his white scabbard, his thumb popping the blade loose by an inch. "Luffy, don't play around. This kid isn't normal."
"Yeah!" Luffy nodded sharply. But a second later, the tension broke, and he beamed with that same blinding, illogical smile. "You're really strong! Join my crew!"
"Join your crew?"
The aura around Gon spiked, turning jagged and volatile. His anger fueled the Nen, making the air vibrate.
"You want me to become a pirate?" To Gon, the word 'pirate' was synonymous with 'thief'—criminals who stole, killed, and destroyed for pleasure.
Luffy tapped his straw hat, opening his mouth to explain, but Gon didn't give him the chance.
The young Hunter vanished.
Exploding with terrifying speed, Gon closed the distance in a heartbeat. His fist, wrapped in a dense, glowing shroud of pure aura, hammered toward Luffy's face.
Seeing a simple punch, Luffy didn't dodge. He stood his ground, confident in his rubber body's immunity to blunt force.
But when the knuckles connected with his cheek—
BANG!
A force far beyond simple physics slammed into him. Pain—sharp, shocking, and impossible—exploded in Luffy's skull. He was launched backward like a cannonball, smashing through a stack of crates with a deafening crash.
"Luffy!" Zoro's eyes widened in genuine shock. "How? He's a rubber man! Physical attacks shouldn't work!"
What alarmed the swordsman even more was the trickle of blood visible at the corner of Luffy's mouth as he flew. It defied the laws of their world.
Watching from the sidelines, Kyle understood perfectly.
Nen was life energy. It commanded a high priority in the hierarchy of supernatural systems. While it wasn't Haki, this concentrated life force could bypass the passive defenses of a Devil Fruit, delivering damage directly to the entity beneath the rubber.
Luffy burst out of the debris, wiping the blood from his lip. He didn't look scared; he looked utterly baffled.
He grabbed his own cheek, stretching it a foot away from his face and letting it snap back.
"It hurts! But I'm still rubber!" He muttered, tilting his head like a child trying to solve a puzzle. "Why did your punch hurt me? That's so weird!"
But Luffy had a simple rule: if he couldn't understand it, he wouldn't think about it.
He pressed his straw hat down firmly, his grin widening. "I don't get it, but you're definitely strong! Now I want you on my crew even more!"
The fight resumed, escalating instantly.
Gon utilized his terrifying dynamic vision and Nen defense to weave through Luffy's chaotic barrage. It was a clash of styles—the disciplined, instinctual brawling of a Hunter against the wild, stretching unpredictability of a Devil Fruit user.
Kyle, leaning against the crate, felt every impact.
Through the Resonance Contract, he was a silent observer in Gon's soul. Every dodge, every block, every moment Gon adapted to a rubber limb coming from a blind spot—it all flowed into Kyle.
It was a download of combat experience. Despite his physical weakness, his soul was learning, adapting, and optimizing these reflexes in real-time.
"Gum-Gum... Pistol!"
"Gum-Gum... Bazooka!"
Luffy stopped holding back. He used his elasticity to turn his limbs into whips and siege weapons. He stretched both arms back, snapping them forward with enough force to shatter stone.
But Gon had already read the rhythm.
At the apex of the attack, just as Luffy's arms extended fully, Gon sidestepped. He slammed his foot into the ground, launching himself into the opening left by Luffy's recoil.
His fist, heavy with Nen, crashed into Luffy's face like a sledgehammer.
Thud!
Luffy was driven into the ground, his body embedding into the earth.
Gon stood over him, his right fist raised, the aura humming with dangerous potential. He stared down at the pirate with deadly seriousness. "Give up on being a pirate, and I'll let you go."
"No," Luffy answered instantly. There was no hesitation, no fear, even with a glowing fist inches from his face.
"Aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Yeah," Luffy said, as if stating the weather. "But even if I die, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."
Gon froze.
He searched Luffy's eyes for malice, for greed, for the darkness he associated with criminals. He found none. There was only a child-like, diamond-hard conviction. It was completely at odds with the image of a ruthless pirate.
The hesitation cost him.
"Captain!"
Killing intent, cold and sharp as a razor, locked onto Gon from the side.
Zoro was a blur of motion, three swords drawn, slashing toward Gon with lethal intent to save his captain.
Gon's Hunter instincts screamed. He ducked violently, feeling the wind of the blade shear past his hair. He kicked off the ground, backflipping away to create distance between himself and the swordsman.
"You okay, Captain?"
"Shishishi! That was close!" Luffy hopped out of the crater, dusting himself off as if he hadn't just been threatened with execution.
Zoro didn't look back, his single eye fixed on Gon. "This guy is dangerous. We need to leave. I'll hold him off."
"No way!" Luffy shouted. "If we run, we run together!"
Listening to their exchange—the absolute trust, the willingness to die for one another—Gon felt his confusion deepen.
These weren't the villains he had imagined.
Kyle, having recovered enough stamina to walk, stepped forward. His voice was calm but cut through the tension.
"People pursue different paths, Gon. 'Good' and 'Bad' are just labels. In this world, the sea dominates everything. 'Pirate' is just the title given to those who sail freely. Some chase gold and blood, yes. But others... they just want freedom."
He looked at Gon. "It's no different from Hunters. There are bad Hunters and good Hunters. The title doesn't define the soul."
Gon's aura settled. The anger drained away, replaced by contemplation.
Kyle turned his gaze to Luffy, offering a smile that was half-respect, half-challenge.
"You're Monkey D. Luffy, right? I'm Kyle Link."
He paused, letting his next words ring out clearly across the silent dock.
"I look forward to the day we meet again on the final stretch to the peak."
The words hit the group like a stone in a pond. Luffy understood immediately. This wasn't just a greeting; it was a declaration of war. Kyle was declaring himself a rival for the throne.
The playfulness vanished from Luffy's face.
He adjusted his hat, shadowing his eyes, but his grin stretched wide—predatory and thrilled.
"Oh?" Luffy's voice boomed with confidence. "Bring it on! I'm the one who's gonna be King of the Pirates!"