Deep within the border regions of Upper Yard.

"Gomu Gomu no—"

Luffy, his body already covered in numerous bruises and cuts, gripped his right shoulder with his left hand and charged at Fallon. His right arm extended to an incredible length, fueled by the power of his Gum-Gum Fruit.

"Jet Pistol!"

With a resounding shout, the arm, now dozens of meters long, snapped back with explosive velocity. Combined with Luffy’s own raw strength, the strike whistled toward the enemy’s face.

"Your attacks are too direct. It’s easy to read you."

As a Zoan-type ability user, Fallon didn’t even need to enter his animal transformation. With a slight tilt of his head, he effortlessly evaded Luffy’s strike. He countered with a swift kick that sent the charging Luffy flying. After tumbling across the ground, Luffy crashed through several large trees before coming to a stop.

"Luffy!!!"

Chopper, who was with him, screamed in panic. Meanwhile, the Shandia warrior Wyper already lay on the ground nearby, his status unknown.

"Dammit!"

Chopper tossed a Rumble Ball into his mouth, his body surging to over three meters in height as he entered his Heavy Point. He prepared to rush Fallon to save his captain, but before he could take more than a few steps, a sharp wave of sword slash cut off his path.

Chopper narrowed his eyes and saw a silver-haired man with narrow eyes holding a blade, blocking his way.

It was the newcomer of the Black Thorn Pirates, Machina Winter.

"Please try to stay quiet, raccoon-dog. We don’t necessarily have to kill that kid," Winter said, raising his sword in front of Chopper.

"I’m a reindeer!"

Even in this dire situation, Chopper couldn’t help but snap back in anger at being called a raccoon-dog once again.

Fallon walked slowly toward the fallen Luffy, his expression one of utter disdain. "I get it now. You blowing up the base was nothing but pure luck."

"With this level of strength, you actually thought you could involve yourselves in our war with the Government? Look at you now..." Fallon couldn’t help but sneer. "You’re like a tiny ant that jumped into a hurricane."

A long, pitch-black spike sprouted from Fallon’s right palm. The power of his Hedgehog Fruit.

"Sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to die here. As a pirate, you should have that kind of resolve, right?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

As Fallon’s black spike prepared to pierce Luffy’s throat, Chopper made a desperate leap to intervene, but Machina’s strength was far superior to his own; he couldn’t advance a single inch.

"Hey, hold on a second, Black Thorn."

The roar of rushing gas echoed through the air, accompanied by a familiar female voice. Fallon and the rest of the Black Thorn Pirates turned their gaze upward toward the sound. Aranea was hovering in mid-air, carrying a woman tucked under her arm.

"Ro... bin?"

Luffy and Chopper stared with wide eyes as the two women descended to the ground. The person Aranea had brought with her was their crew’s archeologist, Nico Robin.

"What are you up to now, Aranea?"

Fallon was clearly dissatisfied with Aranea interrupting his kill. However, as she was the commander of this mission, he had no choice but to follow her lead.

"Explaining would take too long. Under the Captain’s orders, I’m taking this young lady to see him immediately."

Fallon and the others glanced at Robin. Aranea continued, "She was originally one of the Straw Hats, but she’s jumped ship now. Her condition was that we let the rest of these kids go."

With that, Aranea wrapped an arm around Robin’s waist again, activating her Steam-Steam Fruit powers and her flight armor. "This is the Captain’s wish. Don’t mess it up."

Luffy, seemingly drawing strength from nowhere, scrambled up from the ground despite his injuries. He looked up at Robin, who was already ascending with Aranea, and screamed, "Robin! What’s going on?! Aren’t you our comrade?!"

A flicker of hesitation crossed Robin’s eyes, but it quickly turned back to cold indifference. "I’m sorry, Luffy. I only joined you to find a temporary shelter after the Crocodile incident. Now I’ve found a better one. Saving your lives serves as payment for the kindness you showed me. Forget about me."

Aranea ignited her thrusters, and she vanished into the high altitude with Robin, quickly disappearing from Luffy’s sight.

"ROBIN!!!!"

Luffy screamed until his lungs felt ready to burst, but there was no response.

"Was that Luffy’s voice?"

Not far away, Zoro, who had been hopelessly lost, froze as he heard the roar. He moved quickly toward the source of the sound, arriving just in time to see the soul-crushing scene of Luffy kneeling on the ground, screaming in despair.

Fallon retracted the black spike in his hand and waved dismissively. "How annoying. But since it’s the Captain’s order..."

Fallon glanced at Luffy. "Your luck really is something else, Straw Hat Luffy."

As Fallon’s group turned to leave, Luffy suddenly stood up, his rubber arm swinging toward the back of their heads. "Give her back! Give Robin back to me!!!"

"Stop it, Luffy!" Chopper cried out in worry.

Clang!!

Luffy’s fist was suddenly blocked, but not by any member of the Black Thorn Pirates. It was the Straw Hat crew’s second-in-command, Zoro.

"Zoro?" Luffy stammered, stunned.

"I don’t know why you’re this angry, but I can feel the gap between us."

Zoro held his blades with both hands, parrying the force of Luffy’s punch. "Luffy, the most important thing right now is to regroup with the others, not to fight blindly."

"Oho?"

Fallon turned back with interest, eyeing Zoro. "I didn’t think the Straw Hats had someone like this among them."

"How about jumping ship to our side? Your talent and mindset aren’t half bad," Fallon offered Zoro an invitation.

Zoro glanced at Fallon and sheathed his twin blades, his voice unwavering. "I only have one Captain."

Fallon shrugged. "A pity. But your Captain only gets one free pass. Next time, either stay out of our way, or it’s a fight to the death. Tell him to watch his step."