Don Krieg hit the deck for a second time, the impact of a rubber foot hooked around his neck sending a shockwave of disbelief through his own crew. They stared, their minds unable to reconcile the image of their invincible, armor-clad commander being thrown around like a common brawler. For the Krieg Pirates, their captain had always been a symbol of absolute, untouchable power. To see him on the ground, twice, was like watching the sun fall from the sky.
"Captain Krieg… on the ground… again?!" one of them stammered.
A seed of terrifying doubt was planted in their hearts. A single, heretical whisper passed between two of the men. "Could it be… that this Straw Hat is actually… stronger?"
That whisper, though quiet, was louder than any cannon blast to Don Krieg. It was the sound of his authority cracking. Fueled by a lifetime of arrogant pride, he roared and pushed himself to his feet, his golden armor dented and scraped.
"STRONGER?!" he bellowed, his voice a tidal wave of pure fury. "SHUT YOUR FOOLISH MOUTHS! YOU ARE WITNESSING THE POWER OF THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE EAST BLUE!"
He raised his arms, and with a series of loud, grinding clanks, his massive shoulder plates detached. They rotated, shifted, and locked together in front of him with mechanical precision, forming a weapon of terrifying proportions: a colossal, explosive-tipped lance. The Great Battle Spear.
"Now you will see true power!" he roared. He leaped high into the air and brought the spear down like a meteor, aiming not at Luffy, but at the deck beside him.
KABOOM!
The impact created a massive explosion, shattering the floating platform, sending a geyser of seawater and splintered wood high into the air. Luffy was forced to leap back, shielding his face from the blast.
The Krieg Pirates' despair instantly turned into ecstatic, fanatical joy.
"THAT'S IT! THE GREAT BATTLE SPEAR!"
"NO ONE CAN SURVIVE THAT! IT'S OVER FOR HIM!"
Krieg discarded his tattered porcupine cape, his armor now sleeker, more menacing. "This is far stronger than those pathetic little stakes I fired earlier," he boasted, the one-ton spear resting easily in his grip.
Luffy, still wondering how a simple spear could cause such a massive explosion, had no time to think. Krieg swung it again, a wide, horizontal arc of pure destruction. The explosive force caught Luffy, sending him flying across the ocean surface like a skipped stone.
He saved himself by stretching an arm out and latching onto a small, floating piece of debris. He pulled himself onto the unstable platform, his body screaming in protest. The blood loss from the earlier stake wounds, combined with the sheer exhaustion of the battle, was finally catching up to him. He collapsed to his knees, panting heavily, the situation looking utterly hopeless.
From the wreckage, the Krieg pirates shouted explanations, their voices filled with renewed arrogance.
"You see that, Straw Hat?! That spear creates an explosion on impact! The stronger the blow, the bigger the blast!"
"And that lance weighs over a ton! Yet Captain Krieg swings it around with only one arm! That is the strength of a true conqueror!"
Krieg continued his relentless assault, swinging the massive spear again and again. Luffy, trapped on his tiny, unstable platform, was forced to dodge for his life, leaping and ducking as massive explosions rocked the sea around him.
He lost his balance. As Krieg swung the spear in a low, sweeping arc, Luffy was forced to jump high over the blow, leaving himself completely exposed and defenseless in mid-air.
"IT'S OVER!" the pirates cheered.
Krieg brought the spear back around for a killing strike. But just as it was about to connect, Luffy stretched his hands out and grabbed the shaft of the lance, his rubbery hands absorbing some of the shock but the force still jarring his entire body.
Enraged that his weapon was caught, Krieg slammed the spear's tip down onto the deck, the resulting explosion forcing Luffy to let go. He immediately followed up, ramming the spear forward like a battering ram. Luffy managed to catch the very tip, his hands burning from the friction.
Krieg just smirked. He whipped the massive spear around, using Luffy's own grip against him. The explosive tip swung in an arc and detonated right in Luffy's face, sending him flying once more.
As he was reeling, Krieg landed another head-on blow, slamming him into the deck of the Baratie. He stood over Luffy's beaten form, planting the tip of the Great Battle Spear next to his head.
"I," he declared, his voice booming with absolute victory, "am the strongest."
But Luffy answered. Not with words, but with an action.
He lifted his foot and slammed it down hard on the tip of the spear.
CRACK.
The sound was sharp, definitive, and utterly impossible. The explosive diamond-hard tip of the "unbreakable" Great Battle Spear shattered into pieces.
A horrified silence fell over the battlefield. Don Krieg stared at his broken weapon, his mind unable to process what had just happened.
Luffy slowly pushed himself up, a bloody, defiant grin on his face.
"Your grave," he said, answering his own earlier question.
He looked at the stunned Krieg. "I hit the tip of that thing five times while you were swinging it around like an idiot. While you were busy showing off your explosions, I was aiming for the same exact spot, over and over."
He stood up, his presence seeming to fill the entire battlefield.
"You were so focused on your flashy weapons, you didn't even notice. And now, with all this open space… and your best toy broken…"
He clenched his fists.
"You can't beat me."