"Gum-Gum· Kong Gun!!"
With a low roar, a voice that echoed throughout the skull dome rang out.
As the words fell.
Luffy's entire demeanor had transformed.
The vanished Conqueror's Haki once again swirled around him.
Strange lights flickered incessantly across his arms, where cherry-red muscles were now veined with crimson-black energy.
All the surrounding Conqueror's Haki now concentrated onto his arms.
The Kong Gun, infused with Conqueror's Haki, carried terrifying destructive force, its oppressive aura overwhelming.
The next moment.
Luffy's legs kicked off the ground violently, producing a crisp spring-like sound.
His huge body shot forth like a red cannonball, streaking towards Bob with astonishing speed.
His velocity reached such extremes that white sonic booms trailed in his wake.
Throughout this motion, Luffy kept roaring continuously, his hammer-shaped arms compressing air relentlessly.
Propelled by these compressed air currents, Luffy accelerated further, arriving before Bob in the blink of an eye.
Yet Bob remained utterly calm despite sensing Luffy's approach.
In the next fraction of a second.
Bob merely tapped his toe lightly against the ground, yet it created a massive crater beneath him as his figure arched through the air like a rainbow.
Soaring towards the sky.
Then his foot stomped violently midair, shattering space itself.
The ultra-compressed air blasted downward, piercing through the ground to carve a deep fissure.
Sparks erupted outward continuously.
As if a rocket thruster had been installed behind Bob.
In an instant, he appeared before Luffy, one hand outstretched to grasp the Conqueror's Haki-coated fist.
Their collision followed immediately.
A deafening explosion rocked the air, like an artillery shell detonating.
Bob seized Luffy's arm and hurled him downward.
"BOOM!!"
Luffy tumbled through the air like a severed kite, crashing into the ground without resistance in a catastrophic impact.
Rocks and earth shattered violently under the tremendous force, debris and dust clouds engulfing the surroundings, blotting out the sky.
The entire skull dome trembled violently from the seismic collision.
"Luffyyy!" Zoro cried out upon seeing Luffy being struck down, his voice thick with concern.
Not just him—Kid, Law, and Killer shared the same reaction.
They understood Luffy's current condition perfectly, having fought alongside him.
Now they lay defeated, struggling even to stand, yet Luffy persisted in this battle.
Undoubtedly, he was trading his life force to keep fighting Bob.
Below the skull dome, the Straw Hat crew members battling Beast Pirates forces seemed to sense their captain's peril.
Tears streamed unconsciously down their faces.
Their anxious gazes turned upward towards Onigashima peak, their eyes filled with dread.
Amids the devastation of the skull dome's battlefield, post-combat winds mercilessly whipped across the scarred terrain, stirring up residual dust and sand.
The dust that had filled the air was swept away, restoring clear vision.
There, lying motionless on the shattered ground, was Luffy, his body sprawled atop fragmented rocks.
His eyes were devoid of light, his breathing so faint it was nearly imperceptible—as if life had already left him.
Only the cold wind howled across the battlefield!
'Has the Straw Hat... died?'
Law and Kid trembled violently, their eyes wide with disbelief as they stared at Luffy's lifeless form.
"LUFFYYY!" Zoro's gaze was fixed intently on Luffy's body.
He desperately wanted to rush over and lift his captain, but he was powerless to move.
Yet, he refused to believe his captain could be defeated so easily.
After all they had been through so many battles, he had witnessed too many miracles from Luffy.
To Zoro, his captain would always be a man worthy of unwavering trust.
Then, suddenly—
From the skull dome above, a sound emerged from within Luffy's barely breathing body.
"Don! Don! Don!"
The sound reverberated throughout Onigashima, echoing across the entire battlefield.
Like the beating of a heart—yet deeper, more resonant, like the steady pounding of a drum.
Strangely, though the sound was deafeningly loud, not everyone could hear it.
Among those who could was the giant elephant Zunesha.
The Minks and the Kozuki Clan had sworn an oath centuries ago—a bond of brotherhood—pledging to aid each other in times of peril.
"I hear it..."
Zunesha murmured in the distance, its voice tinged with nostalgia.
"How nostalgic..."
And among those present, Bob also heard the sound.
'So, it's finally awaken!' Bob listened to the deep drumming sound calmly, his face devoid of fear.
Instead, a faint smile played on his lips.
From the beginning, Bob had never intended to kill Luffy—after all, he was the son of his subordinate, Dragon.
Even when facing the other defeated rookies, Bob had held back during their battles.
His goal was to recruit them into his alliance.
Now, hearing the sound emanating from Luffy's body, Bob understood—Luffy was awakening the Gear 5 or to be exact the Hito-hito no mi model : Sun God Nika finally awaken!
At the same time—
Luffy's fingers twitched slightly, as if responding to the drumbeats.
Then, an eerie laughter suddenly erupted, shaking the entire island.
The nearby pirates paled, their heads snapping toward the source of the sound.
It was Luffy—laughing.
His battered body now radiated heat, gradually melting into a gelatinous state between liquid and solid.
Defying gravity, he began floating upward.
Amidst the rhythmic laughter, Luffy's consciousness—once lost in endless darkness—slowly stirred awake, guided by the mysterious drumming.
"It's back... everything is back!"
In the next moment, an overwhelming surge of joy—pure, uncontainable—burst forth from deep within Luffy's heart.
Like flickering black lightning, his entire body brimmed with power.
The overwhelming Conqueror's Haki surged forth once more, extending even beyond the boundaries of Onigashima.
An immense pressure instantly weighed down upon everyone present.
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I release a new whitebeard scientist fic : One Piece : Scientist of Whitebeard Pirates
Go read it!