The excruciating pain within his body quietly dissipated. His depleted stamina and overused Haki surged back at a visible, frenzied pace.
His limbs slowly stretched out. His previously limp, fallen body gently floated up, leaving the cold ground behind as it hovered in mid-air.
Tattered clothes fluttered lightly in the wind, surrounded by a faint, mist-like, hazy aura.
Luffy slowly opened his eyes. Those eyes had undergone a complete transformation.
His pupils had turned into clear, translucent red, no longer holding any trace of anxiety. The corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up into a smile.
It was a smile that broke free from all restraints, belonging solely to freedom.
Gear Fifth: Sun God Nika had arrived.
Thump-thump…
Thump-thump-thump…
The heartbeat originating from within Luffy grew louder and louder. As the drumbeats sounded, Luffy's transformation finally concluded.
But his aura did not stop growing stronger. Instead, it continued to rise rapidly, as if without end.
"Ahahahahaha…"
A clear, unrestrained laugh slowly escaped from Luffy's mouth.
He lowered his head slightly, curiously gazing at his own hands. His fingertips gently flexed and stretched, feeling the new power continuously surging within him. His clear eyes were filled with wonder.
He said incredulously:
"What happened? I… what's going on?"
Not long ago, he had been severely wounded by Akainu, his skin and flesh torn, excruciating pain piercing his heart. He had long been pushed to his limit, barely able to muster the strength to lift a hand.
But now, all the pain had completely vanished.
The gruesome scars on his skin had completely disappeared. His depleted stamina, overused Haki, and exhausted spirit were all rapidly recovering, nourished by this strange power.
"Even though I was beaten down, it doesn't hurt at all…"
Luffy gently moved his limbs. His body felt so light, as if weightless. Every inch of his muscles and bones felt incredibly relaxed, an unprecedented sense of ease sweeping through him.
"My body feels so light, so free!"
He slowly clenched his fist. The moment his five fingers closed, the surrounding air suddenly twisted and vibrated slightly.
He felt he could do many things—no, everything he wanted to do!
It was a state of doing as one pleased, without any restraints. Everything in the world could be controlled at will.
The smile on Luffy's lips grew even brighter. He shouted joyfully:
"I feel… I can do whatever I want!
The sound of the heartbeat is so interesting, thump-thump-thump. This is freedom!"
Luffy slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield.
The war-torn battlefield, the solemn-faced Marines, the astonished Whitebeard Pirates, the Three Admirals with complex expressions, and in the distance, the anxious Ace and the stunned Ivankov…
The appearances of everyone entered his eyes one by one.
Finally, his gaze slowly settled on the grim-faced Akainu not far away.
His eyes were relaxed and gentle, without a trace of hostility, because beneath that calm gaze lay absolute confidence.
"This is my peak…" the young man whispered softly, each word clear and solemn. "This is—Gear Fifth!"
As his words fell, an infectious, sky-shaking laugh suddenly erupted, unrestrained and bold, piercing through the flames of war and dispelling the oppressive atmosphere.
"Ahahahahaha!!"
The laughter faded, but the playful grin remained on Luffy's face as his gaze toward Akainu grew more serious.
"Hey, magma-head, you really beat me up good earlier.
But it's fine. Now, it's my turn. I'm going to save Ace.
And I'm going to knock all you annoying guys flying!"
The moment Luffy, wreathed in white flame clouds, fully revealed Gear Fifth, Akainu, not far away, froze as if struck by lightning, his body rigid.
On his typically cold and stern face, an expression of utter, unconcealable shock surfaced.
After years of battling across the seas, he had witnessed countless awakened forms of Devil Fruits, seen the world-rending power of Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, experienced the extreme cold of Aokiji's ice that could freeze oceans, and encountered the bizarre abilities of various great pirates.
Yet the power Luffy displayed before him was a strangeness that defied all his understanding.
Without even clashing, relying solely on the acute perception of his top-tier Observation Haki, Akainu could clearly sense the earth-shaking transformation of power within Luffy.
That aura far surpassed the peak of Gear Fourth—ethereal, bizarre, unrestrained, as if it had leapt beyond the established framework of Devil Fruits, shattering all limitations of an Ability User.
An intense sense of crisis gripped his mind, and an unprecedented wariness inexplicably rose from within.
After a brief moment of shock, Akainu forcibly suppressed the panic and dread in his heart, his gaze sharpening abruptly as the killing intent around him surged once more.
In his perception, pirates were synonymous with evil.
No matter what formidable power the other awakened, it could not shake his resolve to purge that evil.
"Just a brat of a pirate still wet behind the ears," Akainu growled through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse and cold, masking his inner unease. "Even if you've awakened some strange ability, don't think you can act arrogantly before me!"
Jet-black Armament Haki swiftly coated his arms as scalding magma boiled furiously between them, the dark red glow of the lava glaring and menacing, destructive power ready to erupt.
He locked his gaze fiercely on Luffy ahead, eyes vicious and brimming with killing intent, roaring sharply:
"Die, you damn brat! Hound of Red Lotus!"
The surging magma abruptly coalesced, taking the form of a ferocious molten hound.
Its fangs gleamed coldly, wreathed in flames, carrying blistering heat and impact force that could incinerate everything, it lunged fiercely toward Luffy, determined to devour the newly transformed youth.
Facing this molten killing move capable of melting steel in an instant, Luffy remained composed, his smile unwavering, showing not a trace of fear.
Just as the magma hound was about to pounce upon him, he casually raised a hand, effortlessly and calmly seizing the neck of the scorching molten beast.
The searing lava pressed against his palm, its terrifying heat utterly ineffective against Luffy, unable to harm him in the slightest.
The most bizarre scene then unfolded.
The magma hound, which should have been rampaging wildly, was firmly gripped by the neck by Luffy's single hand, forcibly immobilized in place.
The next moment, Luffy's playful spirit stirred. With a gentle twist of his wrist, he treated the terrifying molten beast like a jump rope, swinging it left and right, bouncing it up and down, playing with it leisurely and at ease.
A destructive killing technique reduced to a playful toy—the extreme contrast instantly plunged the entire scene into dead silence.
Not far away, Aokiji's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with utter astonishment.
"What kind of power is this?!"
He murmured in a low voice, his tone filled with shock.
"Magma being casually played with like a jump rope?!"
Aokiji, who had roamed the seas for many years, had never heard of or witnessed such an absurd, bizarre, and utterly illogical ability that defied all common sense, even with all his knowledge and experience.
Magma possessed the top-tier destructive power of a Logia-type, unmatched in its high temperature, yet in Luffy's hands, it completely lost its original lethality.
The more powerful one was, the more unbelievable this power that transcended all reason seemed.