"?"
Almost the instant Ralph shouted those words, his body had already moved on instinct.
He left an afterimage in the air, and in the next second, he was blocking the path in front of the Going rry's main mast.
anwhile, Lufia's fully charged rubber fist had already shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
"Tekkai!"
With no ti for further preparation, Ralph could only hastily mobilize Armant Haki to cover his body while simultaneously tensing and hardening all his muscles in an instant.
Thud—!
A dull impact sound rang out.
Ralph grunted, thinking to himself:
As expected of a fist trained by —it really packs a punch!
Unfortunately, in order to move quickly just now, his footing was already unstable. Now, under the impact of this trendous force, he was involuntarily sent flying backward.
"Clang!"
His back collided solidly with the main mast.
A clear, crisp sound reached his ears—
"Crack!"
Ralph didn't even have ti to check his own injuries before he sharply turned his head to look at the mast.
There, on the wooden main mast that had accompanied them on their journey so far, a crack had clearly appeared.
Although it wasn't completely broken, it would still need proper repairs!
"My Going rry..."
Ralph's face twisted into a pained grimace.
But then he heard Lufia complain first:
"Ralph, why did you stop ?"
Lufia's voice ca from the other end of the deck, "I just had a great idea!"
Ralph slowly turned around and looked at this Lufia, who was completely unaware of the problem, feeling a surge of anger rush straight to his head.
He took a deep breath and said in as calm a voice as possible:
"What idea could you possibly have that I wouldn't know about? Were you planning to break the main mast and then jump onto Laboon's head to perform a 'Gomu Gomu no Ikebana'?"
Lufia's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and a brilliant smile instantly blood on her face:
"Ralph, how did you know? That's exactly what I was thinking!"
She trotted over to Ralph, looked up at him, her big eyes sparkling with delight,
"I didn't expect us to be so in sync. So? Isn't it a great idea?"
After saying that, she even giggled.
Looking at this smiling face so close to his, Ralph's full anger and heartache suddenly deflated by half.
With a pained expression, he raised his hand and rubbed his temple:
"...I don't want to be in sync with you under these circumstances."
"Huh? Why?"
Lufia tilted her head, looking completely puzzled.
"Because it's not a great idea."
Ralph sighed, trying to reason with her,
"If you want to make a new promise with Laboon by fighting him, so he'll stop hurting himself, then go fight him yourself! Why do you have to damage the Going rry?"
"But—"
Lufia imdiately retorted, waving her arms,
"I think this move is more powerful! Laboon is so big; without using the main mast, how can I deal enough damage to him?"
"That's a problem with your own strength!"
Ralph's voice unconsciously rose, "As the captain, you have to consider your crew! The Going rry is our own ship. If you destroy it, what are we going to sail around the world in?"
Lufia was stunned by his words, her mouth slightly agape, as if she were considering the issue from this angle for the first ti.
Ralph pressed his advantage, "Apologize!"
"Sorry..."
Lufia mumbled softly, fidgeting.
"Not to !"
Ralph corrected her, his finger still firmly pointing at the small sheep figurehead.
"Apologize to the Going rry!"
On the shore, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji were all stunned.
They watched the two on the deck from a distance, unable to hear the specific conversation clearly. They could only see Ralph pointing excitedly at the ship while Lufia looked as if she had done sothing wrong.
"That guy Ralph... is actually scolding the captain?" Usopp's mouth hung open.
Sanji looked pained:
"Even when being lectured, Miss Lufia is so adorable~ But that Ralph actually dares to scold Miss Lufia—utterly unforgivable!"
On the deck, under Ralph's gaze, Lufia actually walked up to the figurehead.
She stared at the vividly carved little sheep's head, remained silent for a few seconds, then solemnly bowed:
"I'm sorry, Going rry."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was sincere.
Only then did Ralph's expression soften.
He walked over to Lufia's side, looked at the crack on the mast, and said softly:
"We'll fix it. But rember, no matter what happens in the future, you must never easily harm our ship. It's our shared companion, understand?"
"Mm!"
Lufia nodded vigorously, then imdiately looked up at Ralph with sparkling eyes.
"Then how can I deal enough damage to Laboon to get his attention?"
The topic changed way too fast...
Ralph internally complained, but seeing the anticipation in Lufia's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Having co this far, he really had to think of a way for this girl.
Ralph stroked his chin, deep in thought.
In the original storyline, Luffy used a broken mast as a weapon, but he had blocked that path himself.
Lufia's Gomu Gomu no Mi ability... although developed quite well, against an opponent of Laboon's size, ordinary rubber punches would indeed feel like tickling.
...
Suddenly, Ralph thought of sothing, his eyes lighting up.
"Co with ."
He took Lufia's hand and turned to head off the ship.
Everyone on the shore watched as Ralph pulled Lufia off the Going rry. Hand in hand, they leaped a few tis and landed on Laboon's massive head.
"Damn it!"
Sanji gritted his teeth.
"That Ralph actually took Miss Lufia's hand! And so naturally too!"
Nami rolled her eyes at him:
"You're everywhere."
Zoro squinted curiously:
"Are those two treating the whale like a small mountain and having a climbing date?"
"Possibly!"
Usopp imdiately agreed, even pulling out a small telescope for a closer look.
"Confird! They're on a date, using the whale's head as a stage. How romantic! That Ralph is quite smooth when it cos to chasing girls!"
At first, the others also thought Usopp's speculation made sense.
Through the telescope, Usopp saw Lufia seemingly imitating Ralph's movents.
On the vast, scar-covered skin atop Laboon's head, the two spun around at tis, raised their arms at others, moving in perfect unison—it really did resemble so kind of paired dance.
But soon, the scene began to take a bizarre turn.
Because Lufia's arms were stretching longer and longer.
If one were closer, they could hear Ralph patiently instructing:
"Pay attention to my movents. All along, your techniques have relied on the elasticity of rubber...
"But the move I'm teaching you now uses continuous motion to borrow force and redirect it, constantly increasing the elastic potential energy of the rubber. Every swing is not aningless—it's accumulating power."
"Each movent isn't just about arm strength—you must engage your entire body: twisting your core, pushing off with your legs, driving with your shoulders. Like this...
"Next, during the motion, you can try applying Armant Haki. It increases your body's durability, making it harder so you won't get injured when executing the move, while also greatly boosting the potential energy you can accumulate!"
"Keep going, don't stop. Feel that power circulating and building up within your body..."
anwhile, those on the shore saw Lufia's arms begin to lengthen at a visible pace.
Not an instantaneous explosive stretch, but a continuous growth.
Her arms traced arcs through the air; with each rotation, the rubber extended further, and the swing of her arms grew wider.
On Laboon's head, Ralph's guidance continued:
"...When your movents form a certain rhythm and the potential energy reaches its limit, aim at your target and release all the power!"
"This dance-like thod of continuously building up force, I call it—"
"Chaotic Wind Dance."
User Comments
0 comments from readers