To the two warrior women standing before him, Luffy's words were the ultimate insult, ringing in their ears like a personal affront.
"'Play around?'" the swordswoman said, her voice filled with indignation. "Luffy-sama, you can't be serious," she added, her tone laced with disdain. Luffy's words were as carefree as his attitude, lighthearted and almost arrogant, filled with the kind of confidence that only furthered their irritation. His expression, unbothered and almost mocking, made them grit their teeth in frustration.
"Bwahahaha!" Luffy laughed, unphased. "What's the problem?" he asked. "Everyone else here is either training or having fun! What's wrong with the two of you? Don't you want to join the group? Go along with the flow?"
He smirked, gesturing around the room with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Look around! Everyone else is having a blast. Look at Aimee over there; she's practically wiped herself out having so much fun. Are you two feeling too superior for this? Too high and mighty to join in?" Luffy's tone was almost challenging, and it stung. The two women were clearly fuming, each word of his hitting a nerve.
The swordswoman shook her head, an expression of utter disbelief on her face. "This is infuriating!" she muttered under her breath. "Luffy-sama!" she snapped, louder this time. "If it weren't for our Empress's favor toward you, I would have dealt with you already. Believe me!"
Her voice carried a weight of sincerity and conviction, the kind of warning that left no room for doubt. Luffy could tell these were her true feelings, sentiments coming straight from her heart.
"Hahahahaha!" Luffy's laughter only grew louder. "Oh really?" he taunted, "Then go ahead, don't hold back—I'd love to see what you're capable of. Show me what you've got. Let's see if you're bold enough to speak to Hancock's first love like that!"
That last line hit a nerve. The words "first love" and "Hancock" struck like daggers. The two women's expressions darkened immediately.
"How dare you!" the swordswoman hissed, her eyes blazing. "Not only do you show no respect to our Empress, but you dare to speak her name so casually. And then… calling yourself her 'first love'? Enough! I won't let you get away with such mockery!"
Without another word, her fury reached a boiling point, and her hand went to her blade. In one swift, powerful movement, she drew her sword, the metallic hiss slicing through the tension in the room. Gasps erupted from the others, who watched wide-eyed as her rage took shape. With a quick, deadly move, she launched forward, her blade slicing through the air with the swiftness of a storm wind. The edge of her sword gleamed, its lethal intent clear.
But Luffy wasn't fazed. Instead, he laughed even louder, his voice filling the room with wild, uninhibited amusement. "Come on then!" he called out with an unbothered grin, "Let's play! I'm looking forward to it!"
In a flash, he moved, slipping to the side just as her blade passed by him, narrowly missing its mark. His reflexes were quick and seamless, a perfect evasion that only fueled her anger further.
The swordswoman paused, momentarily surprised by his speed. She knew she was fast—she had honed her skills to be one of the swiftest fighters under the Empress's command. She hadn't gone all out, of course. After all, Luffy was still a guest of the Empress. She wasn't about to cross the line completely but had only meant to give him a taste of her strength, a hint of her ability to make him reconsider his arrogance.
"Not bad!" she thought to herself, grudgingly impressed. She remembered hearing the name Monkey D. Luffy recently—a man who had caught the world's attention with a bounty of three hundred million berries. But to her, bounties were just numbers. Strength was proven on the battlefield, not in the bounty posters.
No matter how high his bounty, anyone who dared to mock the Empress didn't deserve any consideration. She would strike him down regardless. She was one of Hancock's elite, after all, and she would not retreat for anything, not even Luffy's reputation.
Seeing her resolve, the swordswoman's aura flared as she stopped holding back. Her eyes hardened, and she released her full intent, a powerful killing aura flooding the room. "Boom!" The air around her pulsed with energy, and everyone in the room could feel it—she was going all in.
Luffy laughed again, clearly delighted by her display of power. "Now that's more like it!" he said, beaming. "Come on then—let's have some fun together! Let's go wild!"
His words, simple and reckless, struck a nerve once again. The swordswoman felt her rage surge, boiling up from deep within her. She forgot all titles and duties; all that mattered now was the man in front of her. To her, Luffy was nothing but a disrespectful adversary who needed to be cut down, a pest that needed to be dealt with.
"Ahhhhh!" she cried, charging forward with explosive speed. This time, she unleashed her full strength, her movements so fast that Aimee and the others could hardly follow. All they could see were faint traces, like shadows darting across the room, her image blurring from the sheer velocity.
"What?" Aimee gasped, wide-eyed. "She's moving so fast… I can barely keep up. All I see is her afterimage."
Lori nodded in awe. "Yes, she's the head guard of the Empress, one of her most trusted! She's practically a second-in-command, right behind her sisters. Only the most loyal and powerful warriors stay this close to the Empress."
A woman with green shorts chimed in, equally impressed. "Exactly! Her strength is among the best on the island. She's a top officer, a powerful ally, and a right hand of the Empress herself."
Her words, simple and direct, reached Luffy's ears too, though he was already well aware of the caliber of his opponents.
Even without anyone explicitly saying it, Luffy had already deduced her identity. As one of the Seven Warlords under the King's banner, the Empress Boa Hancock had powerful allies—high-ranking, elite warriors close to her. Some, like the two "Serpent Sisters," stood out. But Luffy could sense that, aside from the Serpent Sisters, the swordswoman and her archer companion here were likely among the strongest in Hancock's circle, both fearsome in skill and beauty.
"Bwahahaha!" Luffy laughed again, his voice echoing in the room. He continued to chuckle as the swordswoman's blade drew closer, its sharp edge flashing with deadly intent.
"Whoosh!" With a quick, fluid motion, Luffy dodged gracefully, barely shifting his posture. He smirked as he evaded each strike, but the swordswoman refused to accept defeat. She pressed her attack, her blade moving in a whirlwind, striking dozens of times in a single second, each slash aimed to corner him, making it impossible for him to escape.
And yet…somehow, Luffy's body moved like lightning, his every dodge perfectly timed. His movements were fluid and almost effortless, each evasion like a dance that carried him just out of harm's way.
"Shwing-shwing-shwing-shwing!" The swordswoman's strikes were precise and fast, but every single one missed by a mere fraction. "Swish-swish-swish-swish!" Luffy's dodges were impeccable, his every move timed so finely that her blade barely missed grazing him. Her sword would come within a hair's breadth of his head, missing him by mere millimeters, but each time it seemed she was about to land a blow, he'd slip away as though he could predict her every intention.
The beauty of his movements was mesmerizing, and the other women, even the archer by her side, stood in awe, astonished at the display.
"What?" the archer murmured, wide-eyed. "Is this…Haki?" she asked, her voice filled with shock. "Such terrifying strength."
As an archer, she had trained her Observation Haki to a high degree—precision was crucial in her line of attack, where every strike had to hit with pinpoint accuracy. Observation Haki was her forte, essential to her craft. And yet…even with her trained senses, she realized she could never achieve such flawless dodges as Luffy was doing now.
"This is unbelievable. He's…terrifying," she whispered to herself, her voice filled with an involuntary sense of dread. She had never witnessed anything like it, such skill with Haki, or whatever this was.
"Swish-swish-swish-swish!" The swordswoman continued her relentless assault.
"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!" Luffy slipped around every attack with a lighthearted ease, moving fluidly as if this were all some carefree game. His grin was infectious, and his demeanor utterly relaxed.
"Bwahahahaha!" Luffy laughed, still smiling even as he spoke. "Beautiful warrior, aren't you tired yet? You should take a break!" His stamina seemed endless, his energy unwavering as he continued to evade her strikes without the slightest sign of fatigue.
But the swordswoman, breathing heavily now, was starting to tire. Sweat began to form on her brow, her breaths coming faster, her shoulders rising and falling with the effort she was exerting.
"What's going on?" she thought, bewildered and frustrated. "How is he able to dodge my attacks every single time with such precision?" Each of her strikes was fast, each angle carefully calculated, yet no matter how she tried, Luffy's movements remained impossibly fluid and perfect. His timing, his control—everything was impeccable. It was as though he could see every attack before it even began, predicting her every thought, every motion.
She could tell that her sword had come close enough to cut his hair—so close that it was almost brushing against his scalp. And yet, no matter how many times it seemed certain that her blade would find its mark, she couldn't manage to land a single blow. It was beyond reason, beyond anything she'd ever encountered.
"Bwahahahaha!" Luffy continued his dance-like dodges, chuckling. Though she and the others assumed it was his Observation Haki at work, it was, in fact, Luffy's Conqueror's Haki, his supreme willpower, honed to a level that allowed him to anticipate not just movements but intentions. This advanced level of Conqueror's Haki enabled him to invade her mind and sense her every thought, feeling out every subtle impulse and countering it effortlessly.
In essence, he could read her mind, predicting every single move—the speed, angle, timing, and force behind each swing of her blade. All of it fell under his control, his mind working with a skill that seemed almost supernatural. Right now, her every intention was like an open book before him, each new thought allowing him to playfully dodge and maneuver around her attacks as if they were just part of his own personal game.
It was as though he was in an arcade game, hitting every command at the right moment, effortlessly responding with split-second accuracy. If she had been even stronger, she might have posed more of a challenge, but Luffy could handle her current strength, dodging with ease, his senses attuned to everything she did.
Of course, if she'd been more powerful—if her strength had exceeded her current level of one or two hundred million berries—Luffy's dodging might not have been as easy. However, his Conqueror's Haki enabled him to read the minds of even those whose strength reached five or six hundred million. Their awareness and intentions would still be readable to him, each thought leaving them vulnerable to his control.
For now, though, Luffy was having too much fun to end it. He was savoring this moment, enjoying the fruits of his recent Haki training and testing out the extent of his new powers.
"Oh, look!" he said cheerfully, glancing over. "What a delicious-looking snack!" With a quick move, he reached out and grabbed a piece of bread from the table nearby—a large, fluffy breadstick, golden-brown and crisp on the outside.
"Chomp!" He took a big bite, savoring it with a satisfied grin.
"Hmm!" He nodded approvingly as he chewed. "Not bad at all. Crispy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside." Between dodges, he managed to snack on the bread, each bite looking impossibly casual in the midst of the chaos.
The other women were stunned. "What?!" Aimee exclaimed, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Luffy-sama! He's just standing there eating bread as if this is nothing!"
They could barely keep up with his speed, his movements so swift they appeared as blurs, yet, out of nowhere, he was holding a piece of bread, eating it as if this were a relaxing afternoon.
"Luffy-sama…" murmured Lori, her eyes filled with wonder. "He really is eating it! This is unreal."
None of them could see his movements clearly, but as they watched, they could tell the bread in his hand was slowly disappearing, each bite reducing it bit by bit. It was an image beyond their wildest imagination.
"Bwahahahaha!" Luffy's laughter echoed again. But the swordswoman, growing more and more desperate, began to lose control. Her frustration reached its peak as she swung wildly, unable to land even one successful hit.
"Damn it!" she muttered, furious, her voice laced with frustration. "His speed and ability to read my movements… it's terrifying. I'm no match for him."
Inwardly, she was beginning to realize the truth—she was simply no match for Luffy. But even if she couldn't defeat him, she refused to give up. He had insulted her Empress, her fellow warriors, her sisters in arms. For that alone, she couldn't forgive him, couldn't let his arrogance go unanswered.
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T/N:
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