72. Saving A Damsel in Distress

A few minutes before.

Since the idol concert was about to take place on that day, many street vendors lined the roadside. Some are busy making food or drinks, some are offering merchandise such as accessories or the like.

Luffy bought food from one stall to another one by one. Passersby, including the stall owner, were astonished to see how he swallowed food after food as if the food had disappeared in his mouth like being dragged into a black hole.

Satisfied with the food, Luffy walked around the town aimlessly. He didn't even know where he was now. Where he was standing seemed too deserted like an abandoned area. In fact, considering how busy the streets were before, it was strange to suddenly be quiet.

He looked around, then jumped to the tallest building nearby.

At the top of the building, he noticed a slight disturbance from a certain direction. In his view, he saw 4 people fighting which caused disturbances all around them. But strangely, no one noticed other than him.

Three people in which three girls were in a defensive stance with a barrier protecting the three of them. Meanwhile, the one who attacked them was a man wearing a wine-striped suit, a hat with a red brim, and gold props.

The barrier didn't last long before it shattered into pieces. The girl with long black hair received a shockwave and fainted. With this opportunity, the man immediately grabbed the girl and carried her away. And then, the surrounding area became normal once again.

From that moment on, people started walking through the previously deserted area.

Luffy appeared in front of the two girls. The two girls felt uncomfortable with Luffy's arrival and the girl with short honey-blonde hair prepared to attack him.

"What happened? Who was that man earlier?"

Luffy approached them. But, suddenly, the honey-blonde-haired girl attacked him.

Luffy immediately dodged and shouted at her.

"What are you doing?" Luffy felt a little annoyed that he was suddenly attacked for no reason.

"Cielo stop!" Because she felt that Luffy was not a companion of that man earlier, a cute girl with pink twin-tail hair stopped the girl named Cielo.

She turned to Luffy.

"Sorry, she has Androphobia."

"Andoro— what was it again?" Luffy was confused since he didn't know.

"It's Androphobia, don't you know?" That girl asked in wonder. But, Luffy only shook his head.

"Nope."

"She freaked out whenever a man approached her. Nevertheless, I'm going to save my friend. Bye! Let's go, Cielo!"

When those girls were about to go. Luffy stopped them.

"Hey, is that man a bad guy?"

"You should be able to figure it out, right? Why are you still asking?" The twin-tailed girl twitched. She didn't know if Luffy was just acting stupid or if he was just a complete idiot.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You're just too dumb!" The twin-tailed girl replied inwardly. Then, the girl grabbed Cielo's hand to chase after her kidnapped friend.

Luffy tilted his head. Then, he hammered his left palm with the fist of the other while expressing "I've got it" on his face.

Luffy stretched out his arms, then grabbed the buildings on the left and right as a handhold.

"Hey, let me help you to catch that guy!"

Without waiting for those girls to answer, Luffy retracted both of his arms to propel himself at high speed.

At the same time, the two girls looked back. They saw Luffy flying toward them. Before those two girls had time to react, Luffy crashed into them and sent them flying together toward the man who kidnapped their friend.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh"

The shrill voices of two girls resounded.

From a distance, a man carrying a fainted girl heard the sound which made him turn his head back.

"Gomu Gomu no Stomp!"

*Bang*

Luffy's shocking stomp when the man's guard was down made that man slam to the ground and the girl he was carrying flung upwards due to the impact.

Luffy landed perfectly after releasing the stomp. Deftly, he released the two girls he was carrying and saved the black-haired unconscious girl.

That girl landed perfectly in Luffy's arms, and somehow he carried the girl with princess carry. Due to the shock, the girl's eyes twitched then her eyes started to open. She looked at Luffy blankly.

Judging from the girl's position, she realized that Luffy was carrying her. Especially the way he carried the girl embarrassed her and caused her face to redden.

The last thing the girl remembered was how the man in the suit attacked her and her friends before falling unconscious. The girl turned her head, she could see her two friends behind Luffy and the man in the striped suit lying on the ground.

"Ah, you're awake?"

Seeing that the girl had regained consciousness, Luffy immediately put her down.

It was the first time she had been so close to a boy. What's more, the boy carried her in a princess carry.

However, Luffy is still Luffy. He doesn't understand the relationship between a boy and a girl who are more than friends.

"T-thanks." The girl thanked him tenderly.

"Lia!!" The two girls behind Luffy shouted while running toward the black-haired girl named Lia.

The blonde girl with Androphobia kicked Luffy which caused him to roll forward due to the kick.

Then, those girls hugged Lia. They were relieved that their friend was fine.

"Thank God you're okay, Lia."

At that moment, they heard a roar.

"Motherfucker! Who was the brat who dared sneak attack me earlier!?"

Luffy who was also lying on the ground raised his hand.

"Oh, that's me."

The girls were taken aback by Luffy's blatant confession.

"Careful, he is Daniel. The power he showed earlier has revealed that he is a demon." Lia warned Luffy because of his position near the man in the striped suit.

That man named Daniel is a middle-aged man with light brown long hair, a mustache, and a goatee. He looked at Luffy with murderous eyes since Luffy foiled his plan.

Luffy stood looking at Daniel casually.

"How did you find me? I believe the pendant I'm wearing can release illusions around me!" As it turned out, the pendant that Daniel was wearing caused the area around him to be avoided because it could give off illusions.

Luffy shook his head.

"Illusion? I don't know. I just had a feeling that you went this way."

"Bullshit!"

"If you don't believe me, then why are you asking?" Luffy's question made Daniel even more furious.

Daniel dashed forward to throw a punch. However, Luffy nimbly dodged the blow by jumping backward. Then, he moved forward and stretched one arm far behind him while running toward Daniel.

"Gomu Gomu no Bullet."

He snapped it back to deliver a powerful short-distance blow to Daniel.

*Bang*

*Crash*

Daniel was thrown and crashed into the buildings behind him. At the same time, the pendant necklace Daniel was wearing broke and fell to the ground. As a result, the illusion of the pendant faded which made people nearby realize there was a fight.

Meanwhile.

"Did I just see something unbelievable?"

"His arm stretched."

"Looks like I'm not alone. I thought I was daydreaming."

Those three commented one after another. They wondered what the hell happened to Luffy's arm.

Since the illusion effect had disappeared and people heard a commotion, they headed to where the three girls were. Instantly, they cheered seeing the idols in front of them.

Lia was worried about people getting closer due to the appearance of a demon, so she used her magic to amplify her voice.

"Everyone, please get out of here real quick! There's a powerful demon nearby. Don't get any closer!!"

They were all stunned, then turned left and right to find out where the demon was.

As soon as they saw a giant bald red troll, with a huge mouth, fangs, and wearing armor emerging from the rubble, they immediately fled. It was clear that what appeared was a demon.

However, Luffy was surprised. He pointed at the troll with his index finger while asking Lia.

"What is that?"

"He was the previous man. He transformed into a demon form now. Be careful, he is very strong!"

Luffy's eyes started to shine while exclaiming.

"Transformed? He can transform? Amazing!! How did he do that? I also want to transform!"

The three girls were speechless by Luffy's reaction.

"How can he care about that at a time like this?" Those were the words that were in their minds.

"You're looking to die, brat!"

Daniel threw his palm forward.

"Bind!"

What Daniel used was a binding spell that made Luffy's body suddenly restrained.

"Gomu Gomu no Fuusen."

Luffy took a deep breath to inflate his body. As a result, the binding spell was destroyed.

Daniel gaped. He didn't know what happened to Luffy's body. He wasn't like a normal human after seeing his body inflate like a balloon.

Luffy who broke the spell dashed toward Daniel. He brought his fists forward repeatedly in a blurry and created an illusion of him having multiple arms.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!!"

Because he was dumbfounded, Daniel did not have time to respond.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Daniel was thrown backward after being hit in the stomach, ribs, and head.

Suddenly, a giant green troll with a bald head, red eyes, sharp teeth, and a giant mouth and tongue approached Daniel.

"Boss. We have to get out of here! We can come up with another plan next time. We're in a bad situation now that I heard someone who can tame a Griffon is in this town." The green troll whispered to Daniel and told him that their situation wasn't that good.

Daniel knew that this green troll was the real mastermind of all Daniel's plans. So, Daniel just nodded and prepared to flee.

But, when they are about to flee.

"Why are you in a hurry? Since you showed up and caused trouble! You'd better stay!"

There was a calm voice. As soon as the two trolls looked in the direction where the sound came from, they were astonished to see the boy floating in the air.