"Destroy...the entire New World!?"
"Is that...even possible?"
The rest of the crew were unable to believe such a thing.
The New World stretches half of the world...to say that someone wants to destroy it…how can that be!?
Lucas nodded with a grim expression and continued to explain.
"In the New World, there are three islands called Endpoints. These are islands that seal a huge subterranean amount of magma. Once these Endpoints are destroyed, the seal will be released and along with it, release enough magma to wash over the entire world in molten rocks and the people in it."
Everyone paled as they heard that.
Nami asked frantically.
"Isn't it just a legend!?"
"The World Government and Marines hid its existence to everyone else. Most likely, only people like Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr knew about it. Aokiji will probably know about it soon as well as the new Fleet Admiral."
Lucas shook his head and sighed.
"Zephyr has grown mad from his ambition of wanting to end the age of pirates. Only, just how many innocent lives will die from this ambition of his…?"
At the side, Luffy gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"I won't let him…"
He glared at the horizon, seemingly trying to glare at Zephyr whose location was still unknown.
"I won't let him destroy the New World!"
Lucas smiled wryly and shrugged.
"I knew you won't. Anyway, that comes later. Right now, we still need to save Lily's dad."
"Hmph! If those Neo Marine guys show up, I'll kick their asses!"
"Kick their asses!"
Lucas was surprised to hear a cute voice echo Luffy and turned to look.
He saw Luna pumping her fist while copying Luffy. Suddenly, a vein popped in his and Nami's forehead as two fists clad in haki came crashing down on Luffy's head!
""Stop teaching Luna strange words!""
"Ahh!!!"
Everyone laughed for a while before finally getting to the serious part as they planned how to rescue Lily's dad.
A few minutes later, everyone decided that having a plan is useless with Luffy around so might as well launch an attack head-on!
Nami held her forehead as if it hurt from Luffy's stupidity while Lucas just tried to console her.
"Well then...let's start!"
Luffy laughed and jumped off the ship.
Lucas wore his Shark Knight outfit and jumped to the waters as well.
As soon as he did, he unleashed his move.
Freeze! 2nd Degree - Frostbite!
Lucas shot straight towards the marine warships underwater while freezing the water above him to create a path for Luffy and the others to run.
Beside them, Nami rode the Channel 1 - Shiro Mokuba while Robin clung to her behind.
Brook was also running on the water on the other side while laughing.
The only ones left on the ship were Chopper, Franky, and Kaya who were watching over Luna and the ship.
The marines at the distance started to notice them and fired their canons.
"That's...Strawhat Luffy!"
"Fire! Fire at them!"
Vice-admiral Momonga saw the ice they were using as a platform and frowned.
What is this...ice? Who else other than Aokiji can generate ice like this?
While he was thinking about this, Luffy and the rest started to deflect all the cannons fired at them. Soon, they were already near the warships.
Lucas started to spread the ice wider to provide everyone with a good enough foothold while fighting.
Once that was done, he emerged from the water and landed on the ice he made.
Momonga and the other marines were shocked to see his appearance!
How...no, why...is this man here!?
"Is that...Shark Knight!?"
"The man who once stood side-by-side with the Pirate King himself!?"
"Why is such a legendary character appearing here!?"
Momonga gritted his teeth and jumped from the ship, landing in front of Lucas.
"Shark Knight...what is the meaning of this!?"
"Hooh, what do you mean?"
"For you to side with Strawhat Luffy...does this mean you want him to replace Roger!?"
Lucas laughed.
"Hahaha, stop guessing. My relationship with the Strawhats...isn't as simple as you think!"
Lucas said no more and generated a water scythe clad in haki, turning it jet black.
Momonga gritted his teeth and met the attack with his sword as well.
The instant they made contact, Momonga was pushed back by a few meters!
"Gh-!"
"Hehe, don't bother fighting. We only came to get Panz Fry."
Momonga frowned.
What was so special about this Panz Fry? Why is even Shark Knight taking action? Is he thinking of recruiting him? Is he saving him to get in touch with the island of the Giants and gaining their favor? If the Strawhats were to gain the forces of the Giants...
All sorts of wild suspicions appeared in his mind.
If Lucas can hear what he was thinking, he would probably be torn between laughing and crying.
Bro, don't read too much into this...not everything has a conspiracy!
Meanwhile, Zoro and Kuina had already cut off the chains on Panz Fry. Everyone else was fending off the other marines from getting close.
Suddenly, torpedoes started to shoot from underwater.
Since Lucas had already warned them about it, Luffy was able to react immediately and blocked the torpedoes from attacking Panz Fry.
"They're here!"
Sure enough, another figure shot out from underwater as he spun and attempted to attach a warship.
Luffy's arm expanded and turned black.
"Gomu gomu no...Elephant Gun!"
"!!!"
The person who appeared was surprised to see someone intercept him.
He was blown away from the impact but was still able to land properly on the ice platform.
He wiped off the blood on his mouth and glared at Luffy.
"You…!? You're Strawhat Luffy!"
"Hmph! That's right! I'm gonna be the Pirate King! I won't let you destroy the New World!"
"!!!"
The man who appeared was someone from the Long-arm race who had two elbow joints on their arms.
Momonga's eyes widened when he saw him appear as well.
"Shuzo!?"
Shuzo acted as if he didn't hear Momonga as he continued to glare at Luffy.
"You...how did you know about our plan!?"
"Doesn't matter how...I am going to put an end to it no matter what!"
"You…! Sansetsu Lariat!"
"Gomu gomu no...Red Hawk!"
*Boom*
The two collided and created a shockwave that pushed everyone back.
Momonga looked pissed when he saw the two fighting while ignoring him.
"Did you really think...I will let you all do whatever you like here!? Don't underestimate us Marines!"
Momonga no longer cared about Lucas and attacked Luffy and Shuzo instead but before he could reach them, Zoro had already intercepted him.
"Roronoa Zoro!"
"Heh, can't let you get in the way of our captain's fight."
Zoro was about to keep attacking when he was suddenly kicked away by Kuina.
"...Oi! Why did you have to kick me!? Aren't you a swordsman!?"
"Shut up! It's swordswoman! Also, let me deal with this guy! I've been itching to fight someone!"
Momonga frowned when he saw Kuina.
"Tashigi? No...who are you!?"
"Me? I am...Roronoa Kuina!"
"Pft-!!!"
Zoro, who was about to bicker with her again, froze and tripped when he heard that.
Sanji also heard it and the fire of jealousy started to burn in his heart.
"Mosshead you bastard!!! How dare you get a girl before me!!!???"
At the side, as if shocked with Kuina's revelation, Hancock started to squirm.
"W-what do I do? Should I call myself Monkey D. Hancock now as well? Kyaaa!!!"
Eh? Why did she have to include the D as well? Well...calling herself Monkey Hancock isn't really a good thing either…
Watching over the weird situation in front of him, Lucas lost all motivation to keep attacking and simply sighed and continued to watch.
Anyway, they are plenty strong enough. Shuzo or Momonga won't be able to defeat them.
Nami, Robin, Usopp, and Brook approached him.
"Lucas...we're gonna go back to the ship. Those guys can handle this on their own."
"Fufu, they're quite a handful aren't they?"
"Sigh, when is it gonna be my time to shine?"
"Yohohoho! We can't lose to them either! Let's sing!"
Lucas laughed as well.
"Alright, you guys head back then. I'll also-"
Before Lucas could finish his sentence, he saw a huge shadow loom over them.
Turning around, he saw...Luffy in Giant size with horns.
Everyone's jaws dropped when they saw him as well.
"Did Lily...go inside him then returned to normal size?"
"...Probably…"
"Sigh...that Luffy...he probably just wanted to experience being a Giant…"
Lucas was truly speechless with how this world works.
Even if Luffy is made of rubber, if Lily enlarged herself while in Luffy's stomach...won't his stomach be the only thing that should turn big!? I mean, it's not like Lily is just wearing Luffy's skin or something…
Going by this logic, won't Luffy be permanently a Giant if he could eat a Giant whole?
Since his mouth can stretch, that shouldn't be impossible…
Lucas shook his head with these weird thoughts.
Then, Giant Luffy grinned while holding onto his knees.
"Gear...Second!"
!!!
Suddenly, huge steam covered the area and everyone was blown back as well.
What is this? Why does this look similar to the Colossal Titan in Attack on Titan!? Is there a crossover!?
Lucas paled as he knew what Luffy was about to do.
"Everyone! Retreat!!!"
Lucas and the others quickly ran away while Luffy jumped to the air with both feet stuck together.
"Gomu gomu no...JET LANCE!!!"
*BOOM!!!*
…
"Ahahahaha! Sorry about that! I just thought being a Giant is a lot of fun!"
A few minutes after the battle, they had managed to save Lily's dad and retreated while leaving chaos behind them.
Because Luffy's power was too big, the ice platform naturally collapsed and they both sank to the sea.
Lucas had to go find Luffy and Lily who were sinking underwater and pull them back to the ship.
Once they woke up, Luffy started laughing while everyone glared at him.
A few more days passed since then.
Panz Fry managed to recover and cooked the Heavenly Dish for the whole crew.
After tasting the meal, Lucas' eyes gleamed and he immediately asked them to join the crew on the floating island which he agreed.
Lily went with her dad as well to the floating island and followed along with Zeff and the other chefs.
Today, everyone was relaxing when ashes fell from the sky.
"Snow?"
"No...not snow. This is an ash cloud! A volcano must've erupted from somewhere..."
Nami frowned and looked at her Log Pose. For some reason, one of the arrows which were stable earlier was now shaking like crazy! Even more than the one they were originally heading towards!
A foreboding sense of danger rose from within her. She felt a presence beside her and sure enough, Luffy's head was staring at the Log Pose with a stupid grin.
"Hehe...that island looks like fun!"
"Luffy! Stop joking! Who knows how dangerous that place is!?"
Usopp paled when he heard Luffy's tone and quickly tried to dissuade him. Alas, it didn't work.
Lucas smiled wryly and shrugged.
"Well, you're right that it's dangerous. If I'm not mistaken, the island where that arrow is pointed is one of the Endpoints I mentioned earlier. For it to shake like that...means that Zephyr has already destroyed it."
"!!!"
Everyone tensed up and looked back at Luffy.
Luffy grinned and pointed to the horizon.
"Everyone! I've decided on our course! We'll go to that Endpoint and kick Zephyr's ass!"
Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.
Since the captain has decided, what else can they say?
However, Lucas seemed to have other things in mind.
More than Zephyr, Lucas was worried about Momonosuke. If things had remained the same or at least similar, then Momonosuke may be in danger in Punk Hazard.
Lucas wasn't sure about the timeline of the original manga and the movies. He can't expect the scenes to play out in Punk Hazard right after the Zephyr's arc.
Since this was the case…
"Luffy. I believe you all can take care of Zephyr and his crew on your own. Right now, I am worried about someone in Punk Hazard."
"Someone?"
Lucas nodded.
"Un. He's a kid of someone I know from when I traveled back in time. I...owe his mother a lot. I'm worried that he's in danger on the next island right now so I want to go ahead first while you all deal with Zephyr."
Luffy went silent while Nami and Robin looked at Lucas worriedly.
"You're leaving again?"
"How about I come with as well?"
Lucas shook his head.
"No need. You guys deal with Zephyr. Ah, but I'll take Luna with me. Don't worry, it isn't really dangerous. It's more dangerous to let her stay here while you guys fight Zephyr."
While saying so, Lucas smiled and picked up Luna before looking back at Luffy.
After a while, Luffy grinned and nodded.
"Alright! Since this is important to you, I won't stop you. As for that Zephyr guy, we'll deal with him!"
"Hehe, I'll count on you guys then."
With that, Lucas went down and found Going Merry in Channel 2 or Sunny's Soldier Dock System.
Looking at the familiar ship, Lucas let out a smile again as he was filled with nostalgia.
"Merry, it's been a while...time to set sail once again!"
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AN: Sorry for the super delay! Was very busy during the weekend T_T as always. Just managed to sneak a chap while working...
Anyway, as you can see from this chap, Lucas will act separately again and even have Luna to tag along! Father-daughter duo wrecking the world! XD
Meanwhile, Luffy and the rest will fight Zephyr. As for Ain that a lot of readers has been asking about...just wait and see :P
Next up! Punk Hazard with a twist!
See ya next chap!