Chapter 327
Straw Hat Crew 1: The gap is too big!
Chapter 327 The Straw Hat Crew: The Gap is Too Big!
To be honest, Luffy started to space out when Reiju told him about Roy.
The reason was simple—because he felt like he had heard the name 'Loy Amos' somewhere before.
However, before he could think about it further, Jinbe's conversation with Roy attracted his attention even more.
Ace, his older brother who set sail a little earlier than him.
After the changes in the original storyline and Alabasta, this was the first time Luffy had heard any news about them.
Even more crucially, the message was that his ship had been sunk by that fishman uncle.
Indeed, Luffy is very confident in his brother's strength.
But he had just witnessed Jinbe's strength firsthand.
This fishman uncle's strength far exceeded his understanding.
Luffy has always been quite confident in his abilities—but after watching Smoker and Jinbe's battle just now, he figured that if he had been involved, he definitely wouldn't have lasted long.
Therefore, Luffy was genuinely worried about Ace's situation when facing Jinbe as an opponent.
Luffy really wants to ask Jinbe and Ace about their current whereabouts.
"Luffy!"
At that moment, Chopper, who was watching Luffy seemingly still 'in a daze', couldn't help but shout out.
"Okay, I understand. I'll be right there."
Luffy took a deep breath.
He glanced at Jinbe, and already had an idea in mind.
He understood—now was not the time to ask Jinbe about the situation.
Luffy hesitated for a moment, then took a step and ran towards Chopper.
They had only run a few steps.
"boom!"
Luffy felt the earth tremble—the enormous tremor made him stumble and almost fall on the spot.
This left Luffy looking puzzled: "Huh? What's wrong?"
He muttered to himself as he looked up.
But
"Lulu Luffy!"
The next moment, she heard Chopper's trembling voice.
When he looked up, he saw Reiju and Zoro's gloomy and horrified expressions.
Their eyes were fixed on Luffy's back—the fear and horror in their eyes were clearly visible.
Luffy instinctively turned his body around.
Then, he saw the figure behind him.
Amidst the sudden golden ripples, the high wall behind Luffy that had been helping them conceal their presence was reduced to dust.
The countless dust particles shimmered like stardust amidst the golden ripples.
The figure holding the cola stood not far behind Luffy, his expression as calm and composed as ever.
"Oh my god, I never expected there to be a group of kids hiding here."
"That's not good—what if we get accidentally injured?"
As Roy spoke, Smoker, standing beside him, widened his eyes in surprise.
His gaze fell on Luffy: "Hey, Roy—this guy is..."
But he was interrupted halfway through his sentence by Roy raising his hand.
"Smoker, didn't I tell you?"
Roy looked at Smoker with a serious expression: "Subordinates should address their superiors by their titles—not that I'm bragging about my rank, nor that I want to hear you call me 'sir,' it's just the rule."
"You know, I've always been someone who respects rules."
He muttered to himself, leaving Smoker utterly speechless.
Normally, he would definitely argue his case against such 'humiliation'—although he had joined the Starhunter unit and indeed became Roy's subordinate, he still couldn't accept his good brother calling him 'commander' so casually.
Clearly, he wasn't in the mood to say anything more at the moment.
“Commander Roy, this guy is ‘Straw Hat Boy’.”
His gaze was fixed on Luffy: "I never expected to see him in Sabaody Archipelago."
Even today, Smoker still remembers the scene he witnessed in Loguetown—on the execution platform, a young pirate who looked exactly like Roger, showing a genuine smile.
That was also the biggest reason why he firmly chose to join the Starhunter Force.
He believed that the pirate he had released from Loguetown would eventually shake the seas.
He believed that even compared to the 'Four Emperors' and the 'Twelve Constellations', the other party would eventually become a being of a higher level.
And now, he finally saw her again in Chambord.
"Oh? Monkey D. Luffy?"
Roy looked at Luffy thoughtfully, as if hearing the name for the first time: "Hmm, it does resemble Vice Admiral Garp."
"Huh? Grandpa!?"
Even when facing Smoker and Roy, who had already recognized him, Luffy remained as eccentric as ever.
He seemed oblivious to the danger he was in, and instead immediately gleaned his grandfather's name from Roy's words.
then
"!!!"
He had a look of sudden realization on his face.
He said he seemed to have heard the name 'Loy Amos' somewhere before, and now he finally remembered.
"You're the guy Grandpa was talking about, the navy guy he wanted me to become his apprentice to!"
He pointed at Roy, his eyes wide.
That's right.
That was the reason he chose to set sail ahead of schedule.
"Oh, Lieutenant General Garp also mentioned it to me; it is indeed true."
Upon hearing this, Luo Yi smiled and nodded.
"He originally told me to test your skills first before considering whether he would teach you, but after that I heard that you went to sea and became a pirate, which surprised me."
As he spoke, he raised his arm: "However, now let's test your skill level, it's the same thing."
As he spoke, the golden energy flowing in his hand stirred up a fierce wind around him.
"Are you ready?"
"Pirate - 'Straw Hat Boy' Luffy".
As soon as he finished speaking, his fist was already outstretched.
"Luffy!!!" *2
Upon seeing this, Chopper and Reiju's eyes widened in surprise.
They had all witnessed the power Roy had just displayed—although Roy was clearly not as serious as he had been when dealing with Jinbe, but
"boom!"
The earth shattering and the air vibrating with Roy's punch were enough to show that even a casual wave of the hand could make 'Black Xie's' attack something that ordinary pirates could not handle.
At this critical moment.
"Buzz!"
Roy saw Luffy clench his fist.
To his surprise, at this moment, a dark Armament Haki was clearly emanating from Luffy's fist.
This made Roy raise an eyebrow.
It's worth noting that Roy had previously pretended it was his first time meeting Luffy.
But in reality, he had not only met this straw hat boy through the twelve constellations, but had also been keeping an eye on his situation. Roy knew this too.
The butterfly effect he created caused a certain change in Luffy's sea voyage.
The events that greatly contributed to his growth in the original story—the 'Alabasta incident,' the 'Enies Lobby incident,' and the 'Thriller incident'—did not occur.
This directly resulted in Luffy's bounty remaining a paltry 30 million, not even exceeding 100 million, making him far from being a supernova.
Therefore, Roy originally thought that Luffy's strength was definitely much weaker than in the original work.
But in fact, the opposite is clearly true.
"Even without Rayleigh's guidance, he has already mastered the basics of Armament Haki?"
This made Roy sigh – no wonder he was the protagonist of the original timeline.
This is indeed the case.
"Rubber Rubber Black Jet Rocket Launcher!"
At that moment, Luffy controlled his Armament Haki while simultaneously unleashing a double punch at Roy's fist.
That's right.
Although he missed several battles in this timeline.
But in exchange—he witnessed the duel between Shenhou and Dongliboloqi in the small garden.
He watched the duel between the Serpent and Mihawk with Zoro.
Each of those battles brought Luffy a shock no less than that of a real life-or-death struggle.
Those powerful individuals, whose mere aftershocks could destroy an island, made even a carefree optimist like Luffy clearly realize that he was no match for them.
so.
"I'm the captain!"
"If I want to protect my friends, of course I have to become stronger!"
With this in mind, Luffy's training never stopped.
Coincidentally, also due to the influence of the twelve constellations, Shimotsuki Koushirou had already informed Zoro about the existence of Armament Haki and some simple training methods before Zoro set sail.
That's why Luffy is showing what he has now – he has a basic grasp of Armament Haki.
But
"boom!"
Luffy's all-out rocket attack was intercepted in the next instant.
"!!!"
Luffy couldn't help but widen his eyes.
At that moment, he felt as if his rubbery fists had struck a massive, indescribably huge mountain.
His all-out attack didn't even manage to shatter the mountain—he couldn't even make it budge an inch, it was as if a ship had crashed into the red earth.
But in fact, Luffy's eyes told him the truth.
What stopped him was neither a mountain peak nor the red earth continent.
It's just one finger!
"A decent strike."
Yes.
At the very end of the two punches Luffy threw.
Roy gently raised his left hand and extended one finger.
Golden energy swirled around the slightly raised finger—it was this energy that completely blocked Luffy's attack.
This scene caused Luffy to show an unprecedented level of shock.
But he didn't have time to react to it.
Roy's other fist, clenched, swung down with undiminished force, about to strike him.
"puff!"
Even the sheer force of that punch almost pierced through Luffy's Armament Haki, causing blood to instantly seep from the corner of his mouth.
But in the very next instant...
"Three-Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds!"
"Pink Poison - Queen's Wing Strike!"
Luffy then saw two figures blocking his way.
That was none other than Zoro, who was already wielding three swords and unleashing a slash, and Reiju, who was wearing the Germa 64 battle suit and had moth wings on her back.
At this moment, both of them unleashed their strongest attacks without hesitation—Zoro's three sword strikes were also imbued with Armament Haki, while Reiju's attack, enhanced by her Raid Suit, was coated with a purple poison that was enough to instantly corrode a building.
They went all out, unleashing their greatest power to meet Roy's Hadouken.
But
"Crack!"
It was just a fleeting moment.
Of Zoro's three swords, besides the great sword 'Wado Ichimonji' which he holds in his mouth...
Whether it was the Sandai Kitetsu or the Ryotachi 'Yubashiri', their tough blades shattered and disintegrated in an instant, leaving only the hilts still in Zoro's hand.
Reiju's situation is similar on the other side.
Even with the combat suit made by Germa Technology and the 'exoskeleton' enhancements as a cyborg, her body still bled profusely in an instant—even the moth wings formed by the deadly poison on her back disintegrated in a moment.
Their figures were instantly shattered and blasted away.
Even so, they still accomplished their goal—at least they bought Luffy a fraction of a second!
"Chopper!" *2
Amidst the low growls of the two, Chopper, who had already undergone 'leg strength enhancement', leaped up and carried Luffy, who was being blasted away along with the two of them, on his back.
With its four feet firmly planted on the ground, it instantly fled into the distance.
But
"call!"
It had only taken a few steps.
The pure white smoke had already surrounded it, trapping it inside.
"A good tactic—risking serious injury to two people to rescue someone from a powerful enemy is indeed the only theoretically feasible solution."
Smoker's head emerged from the smoke, looking at Chopper and the three badly injured Straw Hat crew members on his back.
"But unfortunately, you've run into Commander Roy."
"He is not an opponent that you can defeat with 'wisdom'."
"And I won't let you leave again."
He said in a deep voice, "And this time, there won't be any guys like 'Revolutionary' Dragon coming to save you."
That's right.
Compared to Roy, Smoker's obsession with the Straw Hat crew is clearly much stronger.
So when he saw Chopper leading Luffy and the others to escape, he immediately chose to give chase.
"Damn it!"
Chopper was clenching his teeth, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Zoro, Reiju, and Luffy, standing behind it, looked at their predicament and felt the intense pain emanating from their bodies; their expressions were equally grim.
Yes.
At this moment, this sudden encounter has silently illustrated one fact.
Even though they had already traveled halfway through the Grand Line, even though they had already arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago.
But just like what they experienced in the small garden.
Even when faced with the true top powerhouses of this ocean, they were still utterly helpless.
The 'Black Xie', that monster who still casually drinks cola, is an existence that they cannot defend against even with their best efforts, no matter how hard they try.
(End of this chapter)