Chapter 255: Blackbeard Stirs Up Trouble!

"Rubber Monkey King. Super Extreme Speed Hurricane Fist!"

The violently burning blue Potential flames vanished in an instant, all condensing within Luffy's body.

He merely swung his fist,

and boundless fist-flame shockwaves spread outward like ripples.

His Fourth Gear body acted like a blower, causing the fist flames to explode violently within him before roaring out.

Every punch was a destructive wound to his own body.

Under normal conditions,

unleashing the Hurricane Fist under such overload would be no different from seeking death.

But now, the Rubber Fruit had reached the brink of Awakened, and with Nika's will bearing the burden alongside him, Luffy unleashed his fighting spirit without restraint.

"This power... brat, just who are you?!"

Kaido had already unleashed his strongest Haki, yet he was still sent staggering backward blow after blow.

Moreover, he keenly perceived that

the brat before him possessed abilities that came not only from the Samsara Game, but also from an extremely peculiar Devil Fruit power.

"My name is Monkey D Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!"

Luffy laughed without stop,

his blower-like body trembling violently, his heart pounding ceaselessly, actually emitting a faint drum-wave sound.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Hearing the sound, Kaido's eyes suddenly widened.

Not only him,

far away in the New World's Zuowu Dao, the giant elephant that was itself a massive island suddenly awoke from its slumber.

Its four limbs, which had been moving by inertia, came to a halt,

and the entire Zuowu Dao began to quake.

"What's going on?"

"An earthquake? Or an outside attack? Could it be Kaido's subordinates?"

The Mink Tribe, still locked in chaotic fighting, all stopped in tacit unison, feeling the great quake of Zuowu Dao.

Nekomamushi, pipe in mouth, stiffened and frowned: "It's the giant elephant. Zuowu Dao hasn't shown any change in decades — could someone capable of disturbing the giant elephant have appeared?"

Likewise, Inuarashi, who governed the daylight, said with some uncertainty: "Could it be... the ancient legend of old?"

They were both retainers of the Kozuki, privy to countless secrets.

Whatever could trigger the giant elephant's trembling was surely tied to something from several hundred years ago.

"After eight hundred years, the sound of the Drum of Liberation is finally heard — have you returned, Joyboy?"

On the other side,

the Red Hair Adventure Guild, about to depart the East Blue — Shanks, who had already abandoned his belief in fate — suddenly heard an explosion ring in his ears.

"The Drum of Liberation — it's Luffy?!"

Shanks abruptly raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the barrier of the seas.

According to his former thinking,

even if Luffy truly were the chosen one, for his fruit to Awaken, he would need to sail at least as far as the New World.

How could it happen this fast?

Then, a helpless smile crossed his face.

Since the appearance of the Samsara Game had already shattered the original destiny, Luffy naturally would not act according to the original trajectory either.

"No matter what, let's go take a look!"

The flagship of the Red Hair Adventure Guild set course for the Oikot Kingdom, from which the sound of the Drum of Liberation had come.

Mariejois.

Im, who had remained in the Flower Room, suddenly raised his head and looked toward the East Blue.

He immediately summoned the Five Elders to come.

"The sound of the Drum of Liberation has appeared. A user of the Rubber Fruit has Awakened. Go take a look."

In the past,

when such a situation arose, Im would absolutely have shown violent emotional upheaval.

After all, this was the fruit eaten by Joyboy — the World Government's most feared enemy — a fruit imbued with terrifying power.

No one understood the terrifying power contained within this fruit better than Im and the Five Elders.

Moreover, it had not Awakened for several hundred years.

Its sudden Awakening now carried an even stronger sense of fate.

But now,

the appearance of the Samsara Game had already shattered this destiny, and the World Government was no longer what it once was — it had been reborn as the 【God Clan】.

Even if Joyboy returned, without becoming a player, he could not change the world.

The fate of this world now

rested in the hands of the Game Merchants.

Oikot Kingdom,

Sanji, along with the barely recovered Zoro and Nami, rode in a hot-air balloon, scattering the flyers they had prepared in advance.

Countless commoners, slaves, children, and elders within the city all bent down to pick up the pamphlets.

"What exactly is going on, Sanji?"

Nami stared at the slogan on the flyer with a strange look.

【When necessary, please raise both hands and hand the light over to the Pirate King!】

Zoro was also baffled.

Instead of helping Luffy, who was fighting a hard battle, he had come here to hand out these inexplicable flyers.

Sanji was also full of confusion and didn't know how to explain it. He only said, "Luffy told me he's locked onto a commodity that can give him the power to defeat Kaido. The prerequisite is that we hand out these flyers."

Rumble rumble—

Suddenly, the entire Oikot Kingdom began to tremble.

Kaido had already transformed into a massive azure dragon, flames of searing heat swirling around his entire body, spiraling in the sky and diving down toward the rubber giant Luffy.

Rising Dragon Flame Bagua!

This was Kaido's strongest technique—a dragon's head wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, crushing his opponent with the most ferocious impact.

"The dragon that will destroy the world!"

"A calamity monster!"

"The whole island will be sunk—who can come save us!?"

The commoners inside Oikot City raised their heads, their gazes fearful as they watched the sudden turn of events.

Ever since the Four Emperors Kaido had landed on the island, killed the royal family with the speed of lightning, and taken over the island, they had been plunged into panic.

Now,

when they truly had to face their fear head-on, they still couldn't help but fall to their knees and pray, hoping someone could save this nation.

But the Pirate World is just like this—

the tears of the weak are utterly useless, while the strong can casually destroy islands and tear open the sky.

"Rubber Pirate, get up, you can do it!"

Although he couldn't compare to the incomparably massive azure dragon,

the desperate commoners still saw that tiny figure fiercely entangled in combat with the azure dragon.

"Mr. Kaido, you still haven't been able to finish the fight after so long—why don't I help you?"

"Zehahahahahahahaha."

A figure suddenly appeared and joined the battlefield.

It was the very person who had first shouted for the duelists to attack Zoro back in the Colosseum.

Explosive black hair, a filthy face—he looked like he had no bearing of a strongman at all. An ill-fitting red jacket was loosely draped over his body, exposing a belly covered in thick fuzz.

"Who are you?"

Kaido in his azure dragon form turned his head, looking at the ugly fellow who had suddenly popped up.

"My name is Blackbeard. I'm the Black Messenger under the God Clan, here to capture the God Clan's enemy—the Pirate Monkey D. Luffy, who ate the Nika Fruit!"

Blackbeard stood atop the rubble, raised his head, and casually introduced himself to the azure dragon Kaido.

A flash of unwillingness crossed his eyes.

After lying low for twenty years, he had finally gotten his hands on the Dark-Dark Fruit.

He had originally thought he could dominate the world with the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, but he hadn't expected the sudden upheaval in the East Blue—the appearance of the Samsara Game—to completely shatter Blackbeard's scheming of decades.

A single Dark-Dark Fruit could no longer sway the landscape of the new era.

But it didn't matter.

If that's how it is, then he'll just keep lying low.

The Whitebeard Pirates could no longer take him in. Red-Hair's newly founded Adventurer's Guild wasn't bad, but Shanks had fought him before, and someone who knew his nature wouldn't accept his surrender either.

After much thought, the best place to roost was the World Government, which called itself the God Clan. They were in great need of so-called messengers to walk the world right now.

He could continue to hide in the shadows and grow stronger using the World Government's resources.

And the first order they issued was to capture Monkey D. Luffy.

(End of this chapter)