Luke raised a brow at this attack of Akainu. He didn't expect the guy to make the first move, a big one at that.
He then steppped forward and took out his Special Gun Homie. In order to destroy this flying lava punch, he needed a full ammo. However, he doesn't want to show off the full capacity of his Special Gun Homie.
Usopp and Chopper almost peed their pants in fear when they saw that lava fist.
Although Usopp already considered a strong individual, his cautious nature still remains. Sometimes, he forgot how capable he was.
Luke simultaneously fired three shots towards the massive lava fist that's equivalent of 50 percent of an ammo capacity. It's already a great feat and natural since he's stopping a powerful attack of a Marine Admiral.
The hurling massive lava fist instantly stopped it's advances. It then lost it's luster and became a dark stone before dropping mid way.
BOOM!!
Everyone watched the massive lava fist earlier had now turned into a black stone silently laying on the sand while producing bits of smoke.
"They're not running at all." Guernica commented in surprise.
SWISH!!
Before anyone could process what's going on, Luffy traveled 200 meters in distance and arrived in front of Crocodile and others.
"Crocodile! You bast-" Luffy didn't finished his words when he felt danger.
"Atomic Slash!"
ZING! ZING! ZING! ZING!
Kamikaze has no chill as he executed a powerful skill towards Luffy.
Luffy barely managed to dodge every slice of Kamikaze. He was sweating bullets by how lethal this person was. Fortunately, he greatly evolved his Observation Haki because of Bang or else, he'd be a mincemeat by now.
Akainu's eyes flickered seeing Luffy's agile moves. It only proves that this little man is not someone to be underestimated.
"Usopp, scatter them all. Others, assist Luffy and find your targets." Luke issued a command.
"Exploding Star! More More : 10 times!" Usopp fired.
SWOOSH! BOOM!!
Akainu and his group scattered all over the place.
Crocodile didn't get to land yet when he felt pain in his gut. He saw Luffy's stretching foot that connected on his stomach.
BOOM!!
His Logia body indeed got affected by this so called concept of Haki. He will have to change his own battle tactics or else, he'd be defeated without putting up a fight.
Sables!
He then created the most destructive sandstorm he could create. With the help of the desert it expanded into the size of a town in an instant.
As for him, he transformed into sand to freely glide in the strong wind while waiting for a perfect opportunity to kill his enemy.
Luffy was standing in the middle of the sandstorm. He was on full alert when he noticed his enemy was a Logia Devil Fruit Holder. The only thing that can defeat a Logia user is to use the concept of Haki according to Luke.
Luke also started to levitate which surprised others who didn't saw his battle before.
In fact, it will be the first time they will see him in action.
Tashigi now know why the Strawhats are so confident when facing enemies. She finally witnessed how capable they are.
The battle already started and chaos ensued the desert.
...
Luke slowly headed towards Akainu. His flying speed was slow and mild while his crimson eyes were glowing.
"What's your name, pirate?" Akainu asked with a cold voice. Of all the Strawhats, this man in front of him looks more dangerous than the rest.
"You're not qualified to know my name." Luke replied in a neutral tone. He was staring down at Akainu like a superior being.
"Hmph! Pretentious pirate! You all are going to die here today!" Akainu's both arm transformed into magma. He then flashed towards Luke and issued a powerful punch coated with Haki.
"Oh I'm scared now." Luke grinned sarcastically as he also coated his fist with Armament Haki.
BOOM!!!!
Their clash caused the desert sand around a kilometer wide to blast upwards from the impact.
Massive earthquake ensued, dark thunder ravaged all over the sand.
Dark cloud formed in the sky, strong wind formed that it creates a powerful sand storm that it blended with Crocodile's.
Their strength seems to be equal. Their fist never made a contact but it caused wreaking havoc which alarmed everyone. The intensity continues to grow with each party having no intention to stop this clash.
"This is the real power of Luke?!" Usopp exclaimed in amazement.
All the Strawhats except for Luffy felt the same.
They were shocked just how powerful their Vice Captain was.
However, it was all the same with that Marine Admiral. He was crazy powerful as well.
Tashigi desperately held Merry's wooden rail in order to not get dragged away by the chaotic wind. She was equally shocked as others. Just who is this Vice Captain of the Strawhats?! This man can actually rival their powerful Admiral.
Luke let the Going Merry drift away while focusing his clash on Akainu.
This Admiral has a heavy punch due to his powerful Logia Devil Fruit, the Magma Magma power. It allows his body to transform into hot magma. It's basically a perfect Devil Fruit for both defense and offense.
However, the flaw of this Devil Fruit lies on the user. Akainu is indeed a very good vessel for this Devil Fruit. He's strong and durable, but he can't keep up with flashy opponents.
Luke found Akainu as a target practice to improve the lethality of his combat skills.
His Color of Arms made a slow improvement these days. Perhaps of him not bothering to learn Conquerors that there's no more excess Haki to fuel his Color of Arms.
Although he has a destructive Haki to contend an Emperor, he wasn't satisfied with it in the slightest.
How could he relax when there are so many powerful people invading this world?
The current him wasn't enough to contend all of these people at all. In fact, he felt unsafe if he can't fill his lifespan to the brim.
Improving Strawhats is one of his option.. for now.
...
Zoro faced Kamikaze alone. He let Yosaku and Johnny watch over those Cipher Pol agents instead on assisting him.
Meanwhile, Kamikaze never put his attention on Zoro. He was staring at Luke in the distance while clashing with Akainu.
Zoro felt insulted when being ignored by a fellow swordsman. This means he was being underestimated by his opponent.
"So you're the number one bounty hunter of the East Blue? A shame you became pirate you once used to hunt." Kamikaze finally focused his sharp gaze at Zoro. His face have a slight disdain though.
"You marines pushed me to become one in the first place." Zoro coated his swords with Haki. He will be facing an infamous swordsman. This will be a tough duel for him.
"Three swords style? That's a very unique style in this age." Kamikaze got surprised when he saw the stance of Zoro.
"You are one hell of a chatterbox for a Vice Admiral." Zoro dashed to initiate the attack.
SWISH!
Kamikaze snorted and made a simple vertical slice, sending a blade of compressed air at Zoro.
Zoro continued to move while successfully dispersed the incoming air blade.
If it were the old him, this lethal air blade might cause him to a complete stop or even stepped back a little. However, after fighting with the powerful Grimmjow, he finally realized how weak he was even when he clearly got strong after training.
Day after day he tripled his training routine and added more suppression of his body. He was closing in to Luffy little by little in the short period of time.
Luke indeed trained Zoro more rigorously after leaving the Drum Kingdom, that was his promise before he trained all of them. He used Haki Embued nuts to train Zoro. Every flicked nuts was as fast as lightning speed or even faster.
Sanji also caught up a little bit, but not as much as Zoro.
SWISH! SWISH!
Zoro was more cautious of his attacks. He sent dozens of air blades which were dodged by Kamikazi with ease.
Kamikaze only used one sword, but he has a reserved sword on his waist which puzzled Zoro.
Both men equally exchanged attacks.
However, their exchange are nothing compared to Luke and Akainu who were trying to destroy everything in their path. Their clashing Haki alone caused rumbling earthquake in the surroundings.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
Akainu was on a passive state as he received all of Luke's punches with equal caliber.
Magma started to erupt from the sand as it tries to envelope their battlefield into boiling lake of lava.
Luke never minded the surroundings since he can easily levitate in the air. Right now, he was slowly spreading his Conquerors Haki.
He won't let this opportunity to get himself more stronger now that he has a target practice.
Akainu was famous for his tenacious endurance during a battle.
Luke grinned menacingly. It is the best time to pummel this lava man to his hearts content.
Akainu started to frown. His punch alone is enough to violently rock an island, but this person in front of him can easily released such punches in succession without stopping. In fact, it was getting stronger than ever.
He doesn't rely too much on Haki. His Devil Fruit can give him immense strength to defeat an enemy. He didn't go all out yet, but he wasn't far to it either. Even Embuing his Devil Fruit with Haki, he is starting to get buried in the sand mixed with lava.
"Don't mess with me, filthy pirate!"
BOOM!! BOOM!!!
Massive lava eruption in the surroundings making the temperature a bit unbearble even with elite pirates out there.
Luke stared at Akainu without showing any surprise. He still continued to exchange punches to the latter with even more momentum than before.
Meanwhile, Akainu's arms exploded with so much lava than before.
Great Eruption!
Akainu condensed another magma attack and punched at Luke. He wanted to show that he's not to be mess with.
Luke still faced the giant punch with his own. Although he was clearly bothered by the intense heat, he didn't show it on his face.
However this time, he coated his fists with Color of Arms. This is his real goal for facing Akainu, to improve this concept more.
BOOM!!!!
Akainu got surprised when his giant magma fist got scattered into bits. He clearly felt the difference this time. His enemy was clearly using an evolved Armament Haki which he only saw on Garp and Sengoku before.
Alarmed by this outcome, he strengthen his Armament Haki more.
However, everything was futile.
BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
Every Luke's punch caused Akainu to winced in pain. He was slowly getting hurt by this exchange.
Galaxy Divide!
BOOM!!!!