Chapter 82: Ready for Battle, Three-Way Breakthrough.

"Chomp, chomp, chomp!"

Plate after plate of food was poured into Luffy's throat, as if it were being poured into a sewer! — Forgive Roman for describing it this way, but that's exactly what it looked like in front of him.

"Roman, hasn't that crocodile bastard arrived yet?"

Facing Luffy, who was stuffing food into his mouth while asking questions, Roman first used his 'Observation Haki' to carefully scan Luffy's chest several times, and had to admit that 'people's physiques are really different.'

In comparison, the wound on his abdomen that would split open with intense movement was truly embarrassing! Thinking about it carefully, if he ended up being the one with the worst recovery, it would be a bit...

"Get ready, Luffy."

Roman shook his head, shaking off those messy thoughts.

"You should have a good understanding of Crocodile's strength by now, but what I want to say is—"

"When he fights us, he's just toying with us! If we want to win, there's no way we can take him down in a one-on-one fight..."

"I understand, Roman."

Tearing off a piece of meat, Luffy's expression became serious and focused.

"When a wolf pack faces a beast, they fight together."

"I'm well aware of the gap between me and Crocodile,—I won't naively ask for a one-on-one fight because:"

Luffy looked up, his face showing the maturity of a man.

"That would be playing with my friends' lives!"

Luffy, you didn't disappoint me.

"But,"

Wiping his mouth, Luffy looked seriously at Roman, "Let me be the leader, no objections, right?"

"Of course, the main position is yours."

It can only be yours!

---

Alright, since Luffy is ready, let's check on the other situations. First:

"Mole Highway!"

"Ahhhhh~~~~"

Chopper's legs were firmly grabbed by the Mole-Mole Fruit user Miss Merry Christmas, who used her ability to speed through the sand like it was water, making it look like Chopper was suddenly mastering 'sand flying'! But:

"Stop it!!"

"Who would listen to you, pig—"

"Four-ton Bat!"

In front of the speeding Chopper was Mr. 4, in a batting stance. A four-ton metal bat coming down... it wouldn't just break bones, it would turn them to powder!

Combo Technique - "Number Four Crossroad!"

Boom—

Miss Merry Christmas, holding Chopper, was hit hard by Mr. 4, who had been preparing for a while! The air was pushed out in white waves by the immense force! And Chopper turned into a meatball, flying high.

Wait! A meatball?

"Fur Boost!"

Chopper, transforming into a round defensive form, reverted to human form in mid-air, landing on one knee and spitting out blood.

"What terrifying strength, even my 'Fur Boost' specialized for defense absorbed most of the impact, but still broke a few bones..."

Slap,

"You can't escape from our grasp, pig, pig~"

Careless—

"One more time, Mr. 4!"

Facing being grabbed by Miss Merry Christmas and rushed towards the swinging Mr. 4 again, Chopper was shocked. If he took another hit, even in his defensive fur form...

Wait, transform?

Got it!

In an instant, facing the speeding Mr. 4 and the rapidly enlarging four-ton metal bat in his pupils! The wind from the bat blew Chopper's fur wildly, but his training with Roman kept him focused, and just as the bat was about to hit him...

 Transformation, release! 

In the blink of an eye, the tall and strong half-beastman deflated into a less than one-meter-tall human-beast form (normal state). This not only caused Mr. 4's powerful bat to miss but also left Miss Merry Christmas, who was grabbing his feet from the ground, empty-handed.

 Swish, 

Above was the bat whizzing past, below were Miss Merry Christmas's claws, and in the air, the small Chopper rolled and transformed back into his half-beastman state! With a smack , he landed behind Mr. 4, half-squatting on the ground, twisting his waist to punch! At the same time:

 "Arm Strength Enhancement!" 

 Boom— 

Chopper's arm muscles suddenly swelled like the Hulk! His veiny arms carried immense strength, smashing hard into Mr. 4's waist from behind.

 "Carving Hoof Cherry Blossom!" 

 Boom, 

Mr. 4's burly body was sent flying high into the air! The intense impact from his kidneys instantly robbed him of his consciousness, and he was already foaming at the mouth in mid-air! Compared to his proud strength, his defense was not as impressive.

 "Mr. 4!" 

Miss Merry Christmas, the mole fruit old lady, hadn't recovered from the shock of her partner being taken down in one move when Chopper suddenly rushed in front of her, raising one leg high.

 "Leg Strength Enhancement." 

 Boom— 

His leg muscles swelled suddenly, and as Chopper stomped down, the sandy ground within a radius of ten meters rippled like water! It trembled violently like a drum, and a short, fat figure simultaneously 'jumped out' from the ground.

 "Tremor Kick!" 

With one kick, Miss Merry Christmas was shaken out of the ground. Once off the ground, the so-called mole fruit ability user was left with nothing but:

 "You lie down too, Carving Hoof!" 

 Boom! 

A cherry blossom-shaped hoof print appeared on Miss Merry Christmas's forehead as she was sent flying backward, marking her defeat.

 "Phew," 

Chopper let out a long breath, returning to his small form and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"That was close..."

"Tactics are indeed necessary."

————————

Very good, well executed.

In battle, you should find the weak points and strike decisively. Chopper has the strength but lacks combat experience. As long as he targets the enemy's weaknesses, many battles can be won perfectly. Now, the next one:

?????

Usopp, what are you doing?

Speechless...

Although Roman could understand Usopp's behavior: if someone dared to mock Luffy in front of Roman, he would also immediately step forward with a knife to teach them a lesson. But!

Roman himself is a close-combat fighter—though recently showing signs of becoming a mage, his early skills were still focused on melee combat. And Usopp... all his skills are in running away...

 Smack, 

Using 'Thorn Therapy' to strengthen her arms, Miss Doublefinger finally got the chance to beat Usopp into a bloody mess! Seeing the situation was settled, she still wasn't satisfied and had to taunt a few more times.

"Haha, your captain is dead, and you're still here talking about him becoming the 'Pirate King'?"

"Such childish words are laughable! It's a good thing that straw hat guy died early, or he would have been humiliated by you—"

"Shut up!"

"Take... take back your words... or I won't forgive you..."

Facing the blood-covered Usopp, Miss Doublefinger, the thorn woman, sneered.

"What will you do to not forgive me?"

"Now that you're my prey, I won't give you a second chance to escape..."

???

Seeing Usopp pull out a bunch of explosives from his bag, Miss Doublefinger was completely stunned.

"Hey, hey... you don't mean to..."

"Don't you dare mock my friend's dreams!!"

Boom!!!

The explosion engulfed both of them, leaving Roman, who was watching from afar through a paper crane, completely shocked! But what surprised him even more was...

Step,

A figure with goggles and a long nose emerged from the flames of the explosion.

Uh,

This... this move...

This move is like a marksman trading blows up close to solo kill the jungler...

A tanky AD, truly terrifying!

————————

"Huff, huff, huff, huff,"

Running into a room and closing the door behind her, Nami was still panting. Several slashes appeared on the door, and then:

"Nyahaha, keep running, keep running."

With Mr. 10 and Miss Monday maliciously blocking the door, Nami took step after step back until her back hit the wooden wall. — This was clearly a room with no other exits!

"A thief trapped in a dead end, what should we..."

"Hehehe,"

Facing this desperate situation, Nami smiled slightly and opened the book "The Ultimate Art of Thievery."

"Give up, although this book that ate a 'Devil Fruit' is interesting, in front of us..." (The two thought this book was like Mr. 4's gun-dog.)

"A dead end?"

Nami raised the book and suddenly activated the 100,000-kilogram ability, smashing it down on the wooden floor!

With a loud crash, wood chips flew, and Nami disappeared into the hole in the floor, her mocking words echoing.

"This is my escape route~~"

???

"Chase!"

With Mr. 10's furious order, Miss Monday slashed the floor with her long sword, creating a neat circle around them, and they fell to the lower level.

Smack,

As the two landed on the lower level, before they could react, Nami, holding the book, extended a white finger and shook it, a confident smile on her face.

"The ones trapped in a dead end are you!"

?!

Mr. 10 and Miss Monday were standing in the corridor where they had previously chased Nami, surrounded by pieces of white paper. Realizing the book's 'ability', the two Baroque Works officers' faces changed drastically.

Damn—

"Explode!"

Boom boom boom boom—

As the scattered pieces of paper simultaneously exploded, Mr. 10 and Miss Monday were immediately engulfed in the blast!

Nami had already turned gracefully, flipping her orange short hair.

"As a thief, if you can't remember the layout of a building, you'd have been caught long ago."

"Trying to catch me? You're still too inexperienced."

 ----

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