To be more precise, Kizaru's light sword didn't cut Monkey D. Luffy's real body—it passed through nothing more than an afterimage, a residual trace left behind by his absurd speed.
"Terrifying… what speed…"
Before that thought could even fully form, Kizaru reacted instinctively. His body dissolved into particles of light, transforming into photons and dispersing into the air. At the exact same instant he elementalized, a fist shot forward toward his chest—far too fast for ordinary eyes to follow.
Luffy missed by a fraction of a second and clicked his tongue in mild frustration.
"Your escape ability is first-rate."
A golden flash flickered ahead, condensing once more into Kizaru's form. A faint trace of cold sweat slid down his forehead, and his heart was still racing.
"That was dangerous… I almost took a direct hit…"
His eyes locked onto Luffy, and the difference from before was impossible to ignore.
From Luffy's head, two white dragon horns had emerged—elegant, yet menacing. White scales partially covered his cheeks, radiating an aura that was both divine and monstrous.
"What kind of ability is this now?" Kizaru muttered, curling his lip slightly. "How many Devil Fruit powers do you even have? Or is this form… an evolution of the Gomu Gomu no Mi?"
"What changes if you know?" Luffy replied indifferently, as if the question held no importance.
Suddenly, his gaze shifted toward another part of the battlefield.
"You died?"
On the ground, a massive mammoth lay still, a grotesque wound piercing through its chest.
"Jack…"
Jack, one of the three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates.
"Jack the Drought… this fragile?"
The voice dripping with disdain came from Ryokugyu.
Gigantic vines pierced through the mammoth's body, mercilessly draining his life force. It was visible to the naked eye—the colossal body shrank as its strength was siphoned away.
"Pff…"
The vines suddenly retracted, and Jack's diminished body fell from the air, returning to human form.
A massive hole gaped through his chest.
He hit the ground heavily, motionless—on the brink of death.
"Master Jack!!"
The pirates screamed in despair.
Less than ten minutes since the battle began… and one of the three top commanders had already fallen.
"So weak…"
Luffy sighed, almost disappointed.
Raising his hand, he tore open the space before him as if it were fabric, pulling out a completely white fruit.
The moment the fruit appeared, something invisible occurred—Jack's ability was intercepted, condensed into that fruit, which quickly took on the form of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit.
Kizaru watched, stunned.
"So… that's how you steal abilities…"
Before he could react further, a massive vine shot up to the top of the skeletal castle. With a violent pull, Ryokugyu appeared before Luffy.
He calmly lit a cigarette, as if completely ignoring the chaos around him.
"So this is how you plunder others' powers… what a troublesome ability."
Luffy simply smiled faintly, storing the newly created fruit back into his peculiar space.
Then he pulled out another white fruit.
With that motion, the smoke and dust in the sky began to dissipate.
A blackened, charred figure fell from above, hitting the ground with a heavy impact.
"So… you figured it out… paper angels fear fire?"
He slowly stood up.
His burned skin peeled away layer by layer, as if shedding. Within seconds, his body was completely restored—untouched, as if nothing had happened.
Luffy spun the white fruit in his hand, analyzing it.
"Not afraid of slashing, not afraid of blunt force… not afraid of fire… and probably not afraid of water either."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Truly… a troublesome ability."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"But that makes sense. As Celestial Dragons, you have access to the best resources in the world."
Byrnndi smiled again, regaining his elegant arrogance.
"You're dead, Straw Hat."
He raised his head, looking at Luffy with contempt.
"No matter how strong you are… against two Admirals and me—three against one—you stand no chance."
"Dead… and still laughing. Ignorant of true power."
Luffy chuckled.
Without replying directly, he tossed the white fruit into the air.
In the same instant—
His body vanished.
"—Watch out!"
Kizaru tried to warn him, but it was already too late.
Puff!
A hand pierced through Ryokugyu's back.
When it emerged again, it held something pulsing.
A heart.
The Admiral's heart.
"Ugh—!"
Ryokugyu coughed up blood violently, his eyes wide with shock.
"Don't you get it?" Luffy said calmly. "Everyone thinks that no matter how strong someone is, they can't face two Admirals alone."
He tightened his grip on the heart.
"But I'm different."
CRACK!
The heart was crushed mercilessly.
Blood exploded in all directions.
"I've evolved… to a level above you."
Ryokugyu's body dropped to its knees.
His eyes lost focus.
"Damn…"
Without a heart, his consciousness faded rapidly.
He collapsed into a pool of blood.
Just like Jack before him.
Kizaru watched everything in complete silence.
For the first time—
He truly felt danger.
Luffy leapt lightly into the air and caught the white fruit still rising.
In the next instant, it absorbed Ryokugyu's ability.
"Such a good power… and you don't even know how to use it."
Without hesitation, Luffy opened his mouth and swallowed the newly formed Devil Fruit whole.
Gulp.
The moment it slid down his throat—
He gained a new ability.
Logia — Mori Mori no Mi.
Immediately, he accessed his "system" and purchased another awakening fruit, consuming it without pause.
Full awakening.
At the top of the castle, Kizaru and Byrnndi watched with heavy hearts.
"Another… Devil Fruit?"
"How many… can this monster eat…?"
Luffy completely ignored their reactions.
His gaze shifted toward the distant Marine fleet.
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Talking all the time about 'obliterating this' and 'destroying that'… isn't that a bit too arrogant?"
He brought his hands together.
"Let me show you… what real power is."
Beneath Onigashima, countless seeds began to sprout.
Branches burst through the ground.
Roots spread.
Then they grew—violently and absurdly.
It was as if the island itself had come alive.
Gigantic trees erupted from the earth, their massive trunks destroying everything around them. Roots several meters thick tore through the ground, advancing in all directions like colossal serpents.
A colossal vine surged beneath the skeletal castle, growing thousands of meters in seconds, piercing the sky like a living tower.
The entire battlefield fell silent.
Everyone watched the scene in pure terror.
The power that Ryokugyu could barely control across kilometers…
In Luffy's hands, it had become something far beyond that.
"This…"
A trembling voice echoed among the Marines.
"I've always wanted to do this…" Luffy murmured as he clenched his fists.
"Birth of the World of Trees."
(End of Chapter)