A stunned silence fell over the floating battlefield. Don Krieg, the mighty admiral of the Krieg Pirate Armada, a man who defined himself by his arsenal of unbreakable weapons, stared in utter disbelief at the shattered, sparking remains of his Great Battle Spear. His ultimate weapon, a masterpiece of destruction forged to bring nations to their knees, had been broken by the bare-footed stomp of a rubber boy.
His crew, what was left of them, were in a state of catatonic shock. Their last bastion of hope, the symbol of their captain's overwhelming power, had been turned to dust. A cold, creeping despair began to snake its way through their ranks. "The… the Great Battle Spear… is broken!"
But Don Krieg was a man forged in the fires of a hundred brutal battles. His confidence was a fortress built not just of steel, but of pure, unadulterated ego. He let out a low, dangerous laugh that rumbled in his armored chest.
"So you broke one of my toys," he sneered, his eyes burning with a renewed, furious energy. The fear in his men disgusted him. "Did you really think that was all I had? Did you think my strength was contained in a single lance?" He slammed a gauntleted fist against his chest plate. "You fools! My body is an arsenal! My will is the strongest weapon in this world! I am still the strongest!"
He powered up, a palpable aura of menace radiating from his golden armor, a king refusing to acknowledge that his castle was crumbling. Across the wreckage, Luffy was panting heavily, his body a canvas of bleeding wounds. He was clearly running on nothing but sheer, stubborn grit.
On the deck of the Baratie, Sanji watched, his heart pounding with a grim concern he couldn't shake. "He's at his limit… Luffy is completely exhausted, but Krieg… damn it, he looks like he's just getting started."
Zeff, standing beside him, did not take his eye off the fight. His expression was as hard and unreadable as the sea rock where he had once been stranded. "You're wrong, kid," he said, his voice a low rumble.
"Luffy has one weapon that a man like Krieg, for all his armor and all his bombs, could never possess. It is the most powerful weapon of all on the sea."
"What's that?" Sanji asked, his eyes still locked on the struggling Luffy.
"The complete and utter lack of fear of death," Zeff stated simply. "In a true battle for your life, the moment you feel a flicker of fear… the moment you hesitate for even a split second because you're afraid to die… you've already lost. I've seen men a hundred times stronger than Krieg fall apart because they valued their own lives more than their goal. That boy," he nodded towards Luffy, a flicker of something almost like pride in his eye, "doesn't have a shred of it. That is his true strength."
Enraged by Luffy's defiance, Krieg charged, his remaining Cat Claws extended. "I will execute you for the crime of your bravery, Straw Hat!"
Luffy dodged the initial thrust and used his rubbery limbs to swing onto the stump of a broken mast, trying to gain a moment's respite. Krieg just laughed and sliced the mast clean in two with a casual swipe of his armored gauntlet.
As the massive piece of wood fell, Luffy grabbed it. With a furious roar, he spun and hurled it at Krieg like a giant spear.
"Futile!" Krieg yelled. A hidden nozzle in his armor hissed, and a stream of fire erupted, incinerating the massive mast in mid-air, turning it into a shower of harmless ash and embers.
Through the curtain of smoke and heat, Luffy shot forward. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"
A storm of rubbery fists, too fast for the naked eye to count, pummeled Krieg's chest plate. The sound was a deafening, continuous roar, like a thousand hammers striking a giant anvil. The force was incredible, pushing the massive, armored pirate back, his boots digging deep grooves into the wooden deck. But the Wootz steel armor held firm, not even denting under the relentless assault.
Luffy followed up without pausing, concentrating all his remaining energy into a single, focused punch. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
The blow connected with a mighty BOOM, sending Krieg sliding backwards across the deck, but the armor still did not shatter. It was a near-impenetrable defense.
Realizing a direct fight was a stalemate of attrition—a battle his wounded body could not win—Krieg changed his tactics. He leaped to the highest point of the wreckage, holding a sack of his most powerful bombs. "If I can't break you with my own two hands, I'll just blow this entire sea to kingdom come!"
Luffy knew he couldn't let that happen. He had to end this, now.
He pushed his wounded, exhausted body to its absolute limit, his feet pounding against the deck as he began one final, desperate charge. As he ran, he stretched both of his arms far, far back, gathering every last ounce of his energy, his will, his promise to Gin, his very spirit, into a single, decisive blow.
He leaped into the air, his body a human projectile, his twin palms aimed directly at the center of Don Krieg's chest.
"GOMU GOMU NO…"
Krieg saw the attack coming. He braced himself, his armor a golden, invincible shield. He laughed, a sound of pure, arrogant victory. "YOUR FISTS CANNOT BREAK ME, YOU INSIGNIFICANT INSECT!"
"BAZOOKA!!!"
The impact was absolute.
It was not the dull thud of rubber on steel. It was a sharp, high-pitched, shattering sound, like the world itself was cracking open.
CRACK-KABOOM!
A spiderweb of massive fractures spread across the front of Krieg's "unbreakable" chest plate. A moment later, the armor exploded outwards in a shower of golden shrapnel.
Don Krieg's eyes went wide with disbelief. His ultimate defense was shattered. He was now completely vulnerable to the full, unmitigated, furious force of Luffy's final blow. The impact sent him flying backwards, his body finally defeated.