Starting as a Roger Pirates Apprentice

Chapter 580: Chapter 580: The Confused Son Needs His Dad’s Care

"What kind of joke is this?!!!"

"This isn’t funny at all!!!"

"Why do we have to wait for those two monsters to finish fighting?!!!"

"Who are you? Someone from Kaido’s side?"

Some people expressed dissatisfaction with rules that resembled a gladiator arena and strongly demanded to withdraw.

There were also samurai who questioned O-Tama’s identity.

Orin said nothing. With a mere flick of his finger, he teleported the protesters into the "box within a box" where Dante and Luffy were dueling.

Before they could even react, the aftershock of one of Dante’s punches turned them into ashes.

Everyone was completely terrified, clutching their mouths tightly in fear of being mistaken for having objections.

At this moment, the charm of raw numerical values was displayed to the fullest. A monster that was already heaven-defying had its speed and strength multiplied a hundred times.

If the space itself hadn’t possessed a "rule-based" nature, it might have been blown apart by a single punch as well.

Within the vast space, Luffy could only dodge and weave, relying on Nika’s unreasonable nature and the power of idealism to redirect Dante’s force and fling him around.

But in the end, it was still somewhat forced.

After all, Nika was merely a Mythical Zoan with its own combat characteristics.

It wasn’t like the other Paramecia fruits that specialized purely in mechanisms.

Whenever Nika’s body occasionally took one of Dante’s punches, Luffy didn’t feel good either. It felt as though his internal organs were shifting out of place.

However, the Nika Fruit could also move those displaced organs back again.

With his art style completely collapsing, Luffy could even push his eyeballs back into place after they popped out, continuing to entangle with Dante through sheer shameless persistence.

But if this continued, the one destined to lose would still be him.

Because Gear Five had its limits.

Once the time ran out, he would turn into a shriveled old man. At that point, even the slightest brush of Dante’s punching wind might send him straight to the afterlife.

Meanwhile, those watching Luffy and Dante’s decisive battle were cheering him on.

"Come on!!! Straw Hat!!!"

"Luffy-kun!!! You must not lose!!!"

"We believe in you!!!"

Luffy felt everyone’s wishes. The cheerful grin on his face now carried firm determination.

"I will absolutely not die!!!"

"Because I’m going to make sure the people of Wano can all eat their fill! I’m going to open Wano’s borders!!!"

It seemed that Dante heard the crowd’s shouts and Luffy’s determination, regaining a bit of awareness.

"Absolutely?"

"Shouldn’t that kind of thing be decided by me?"

"Because only I am absolutely strong~"

The power of Conqueror’s Haki surrounded Dante’s entire body. Dense black-and-red lightning storms constantly overflowed, making the people outside the space tremble in fear.

"I carry the power of my dad and mom. The world recognizes me as the future ruler."

"You’re merely someone carrying the hopes of a single country. What could you possibly count for?"

Hundredfold strength gathered in his palm. The surrounding space creaked as if it could no longer bear the strain.

Dante looked at Luffy, who still wore a wide grin.

Dante had been taught by Azure Orin that no matter what, you must never lose a battle verbally.

"I admit that you might be stronger than Kaido and my mom were before."

"But that doesn’t mean their ideals were wrong. They just couldn’t defeat you."

"The fact that you’ve raised your fist already proves it, doesn’t it? The world is decided by the strong."

"And I... am the strongest."

All of his Conqueror’s Haki gathered onto his fist as Dante resolved to end the battle with a single strike.

[Hundredfold Speed]

[Hundredfold Strength]

[Hundredfold Form]

The More-More Fruit was pushed to its absolute limit. Dante’s enormous giant body was brewing the ultimate strike.

Luffy also intended to decide victory with a single move, because Nika’s time was about to run out.

A ridiculously massive fist appeared within the seemingly infinite space, facing Dante from afar.

Gear Five + Conqueror’s Haki Infusion—

At the same time, Dante was also accumulating the strongest strike in the world.

At that exact moment, the black cube pendant around his neck—left to him by his grandfather—began to glow.

It transformed into clusters of black power that wrapped around his fist.

[Strongest Punch]!!!

Extreme power exploded within the "box within a box." The dazzling light was bright enough to scorch people’s eyes, and everyone watched the collision in panic.

Even worse—

Some people faintly heard something cracking.

"What’s happening?!!!"

"Is this barrier going to break?!"

"The aftershocks from those two monsters’ attacks will definitely kill all of us!!!"

Everyone fell to the ground in panic. Even O-Tama, standing outside the arena, had sweat forming on her small forehead.

But she still spread her arms wide and stood in front of everyone.

After Orin’s teachings, she had already accepted that the Kozuki family had perished completely, and that she must shoulder the future of Wano herself.

"Don’t worry, I’ll protect you all!!!"

The many samurai looked at the small figure with complicated expressions.

Even Orin was somewhat surprised.

I skip using future sight for just a moment, and you already pull something like this?

The object hanging around Dante’s neck was precisely the spatial power he had once left behind years ago when he went to God Valley for the old man.

He hadn’t expected that one of them would be passed down to his own grandson.

Two extreme Conqueror’s Haki forces collided. On top of that, Dante stacked his attack a hundred times over, and now with the catalyzing effect of spatial power—

The already unstable [Space Within Space] now truly seemed on the verge of collapse.

In the end, the box within the box exploded.

When the shockwave reached the main black box, it was annihilated into nothingness.

Amidst the thick smoke, the final result was revealed.

"Who won???"

"Was it Luffy-kun?!!!"

Everyone stared nervously.

Then an unconscious, shriveled old figure fell from within the smoke, and everyone’s hearts sank to the bottom.

Some samurai even despaired enough to commit seppuku.

Luffy...

Had ultimately lost.

Perhaps the gap was simply too large.

Or perhaps Orin had never intended for him to win.

At the same age, Nika Luffy had ultimately lost to the son of Orin and Linlin—a son so powerful it drove people into despair.

The withered Luffy fell from the sky. Sanji used Geppo to try to catch him.

But before he could reach him, Luffy vanished from midair.

A figure grabbed him, holding a test tube in his hand.

"Finally got it..."

A tube of blood was drawn. Already extremely weak, Luffy instantly entered a near-death state.

Fortunately, Orin eventually returned him to Sanji and the others.

Facing the Straw Hat crew’s furious but silent expressions, Orin smiled lightly and looked toward the direction of the explosion and smoke.

"Don’t make that face. In a moment, you’ll still need me to save you from disaster~"

Everyone froze.

Following Orin’s gaze, they saw a pink-haired figure with red eyes fall from the sky and land on the ground.

Dante, in a berserk state, almost instantly appeared in front of Nami and threw a punch.

But the punch was caught by another hand.

"My not-so-clear-headed son... perhaps needs his dad’s help~"