Battle Against Marines Part 1

Upon reaching the shores, the Vice-Admiral, Rear-Admirals, Commodore, and Captains alongside dozens of marine soldiers jumped down from the ship. When all of them appeared on the ground, everyone stared at Straw Hat Crew.

There were only eight people in front of them. Among them, Usopp was absent. Unlike others, Usopp was more of a sniper so Liam asked him to take the ship away and then come to help them.

Of course, since he was a sniper, he didn't need to join from the front. He could help them from the back.

"Monkey D. Luffy, for your grandfather's sake, I won't kill you but I will definitely send your crew to the Impel Down." Yamakaji stared at Luffy and clenched his fist.

Although he had a sword in his waist, he didn't plan to use it.

"Luffy, there are too many people here. How about a greeting gift?" Liam turned around and smiled at Luffy, giving him the signal.

Luffy nodded his head and closed his eyes for a moment. For these two days, he had been learning to use his Conqueror Haki constantly. Although this led to his crew fainting many times, it also gave them enough training to standing whenever he uses it the next time.

Obviously, it's also because his Conqueror Haki at this moment wasn't that strong. More importantly, he was only learning to release it at Will, not to control it.

When Luffy closed his eyes, Yamakaji sensed something. He tried to say something but before he could, Luffy opened his eyes and a powerful aura burst out of him.

This aura swept out like a storm, hitting everyone around him including his crew. But his crew didn't fall down. Instead many of those marine sailors started to fall down.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

"You….. have Conqueror Haki?" Yamakaji's eyes widened. He was extremely shocked by Luffy's Conqueror Haki. Not only he had this, he also managed to release it.

He wouldn't be surprised if Luffy had Conqueror Haki. After all, this was a grandson of Garp and son of Dragon. But, to release it was extremely shocking.

Because Luffy had gone out into the sea for a few months. It hasn't even been more than two months. So, for him to awaken Conqueror Haki and release it at Will in just two months was extremely shocking.

"Tch! I underestimated you. It seems like this isn't going to be an easy battle as I thought." Yamakaji gritted his teeth and took out his sword. This time, he didn't dare to underestimate Luffy.

"Alright then, let's fight"

Luffy thrusts his fist forward, stretching it toward Yamakaji, and trying to hit him. But, Yamakaji was extremely fast. He quickly swung his blade and released a flying slash toward Luffy.

[Armament Haki- Release]

Although it wasn't hardened, Luffy knew that releasing Armament Haki would strengthen his physical defense. Merging the Armament Haki in his hand, he collided his fist against the flying slash.

Bang!

His fist tore the flying slash and blasted it into pieces. His fist lost its momentum and landed on the ground.

"Armament Haki?" Yamakaji's jaw almost dropped to the ground. Up until now, he believed that Luffy used Crocodile's weakness against him. But, he never expected Luffy to use Armament Haki.

Even though it wasn't Hardened, it was still Armament Haki. This alone boosts his physical defenses, making his slash's effect weak against him.

"It seems like I might not be able to fulfill my promise to Vice Admiral Garp." Yamakaji sighed with pity in his eyes and the next moment, he covered his sword with a black luster.

This time, he was being serious about this battle.

"What? Vice-Admiral is using Armament Haki against this kid?" Hina saw Yamakaji using Armament Haki and instantly shouted in shock. Her shock brought the attention of others to Luffy's battle.

"Miss Hina, don't you think this is not a time to talk?" Suddenly, a voice rang near her and she quickly used Shave to back away. But, in a flash, a figure appeared in front of her.

[Paragon Hammer Punch]

Liam carried an immense force into his fist as he thrust it forward. Hina quickly used her hands to create large blocks of iron cages around her.

Bang!

His fist collided against the iron cage but didn't manage to break it. Even so, the collision impact of his strike created a ripple in that cage that traveled into her hands.

"Ahh!"

Hina found her hand's muscles tearing apart. She couldn't help but scream in pain. This made her release her ability.

[White Tiger]

Suddenly, the smoke burst toward him. It changed its shape into a tiger and struck Liam. Although Smoke seemed light, when it was condensed into a tiger, it was extremely sturdy, throwing Liam on the ground.

Bang!

Liam fell to the ground but he used his forearms to block the impact of the White Tiger. He found his arms shaking a bit. As the smoke cleared, a voice rang behind Hina.

"Didn't I tell you before? Don't underestimate them, especially this guy."

Smoker slowly walked in front of Hina and stared at Liam.

"Let's continue our battle."

This time, he wasn't holding his checkmark weapon.

Liam stared at him with surprise in his eyes and smiled.

"It seems like our previous battle gave you a lot of inspiration. But, I am surprised that you came here. Last time, you almost died. Do you think you can fight me this time?"

"No way, Hina is just a Captain. your strength isn't something that she can compete with. And, since I learned that, I also wanted to test my new strength."

Smoke spoke with a trace of gratitude in his eyes.

The last time before Liam left, he gave him a lot of different ideas to develop his fruit. You know, he had this fruit for a long time but he never thought it could be utilized like that.

For example, White Tiger that he just used was simply the condensation of smoke. He released a massive amount of smoke enough to cover the entire island and compressed it into a shape of a tiger, and launches it.

This attack causes quite a damage. If it wasn't for Liam blocking this attack with his forearms, his chest or inner organs would've been damaged from the shock.

"Smoker, Hina said don't underestimate me. Hina can still fight." Hina stood up and scolded Smoker fiercely.

Smoker turned around and shouted.

"You idiot, this isn't a simple battle with him alone. Look around."

Only after she heard his words, she turned around and the scene in front shocked her.

Yamakaji wasn't able to win against Luffy in an instant. At the same time, Zoro was able to block and fight against T-bone. Sanji was easily handling more than one Commodore with his strength alone.

Then, there were Robin, Nami, Chopper, and Vivi fighting several captains. Although all of them were Captains, their strengths were much lower than Hina and Smoker.

"Since that's the case, let's fight." Liam also saw Smoker's intention and nodded his head. But, he quickly turned around and shouted.

"Nami, give those Captains to others and Usopp. Use your weapon to fight against Hina. Sanji is useless against her."

Hearing his words, Sanji who was in the middle of a battle wanted to rebuke especially when Liam called him useless. But, when he saw Hina, he swallowed his words and continued fighting those commodores.

But, his battle was quite interesting. He wasn't simply attacking them. He was trying to use their attacks to sharpen his Observation Haki. Among the entire Straw Hat Crew, his Observation Haki was the strongest.

And, this battle makes it even stronger. Now, he could easily use his Observation Haki. Of course, there is another reason why he wasn't attacking them right now and the reason was Liam's plan.

Nami was also surprised by his words. She quickly unlocked her weapon and released several hot and cold clouds at the tip of her weapon. When Hina rushed toward her, Nami quickly swung her weapon and released a bolt of lightning.

"Thunder Strike"

"Damn"

Hina quickly used Shave to dodge the bolt of lightning but it was a bolt of lightning. It was extremely fast, making her unable to dodge it completely. But she was after all a powerful marine.

She quickly released her Iron Cage to cover her body. Although the lightning bolt still reached her, it only reached as an electric shock rather than a bolt of lightning.

There was a huge difference. The iron cage that blocked the lightning almost melted due to the heat of the lightning bolt but she was only electrocuted for a second.

She kept her distance from Nami and finally realized the true threat of Straw Hat Pirates. She took a deep breath and extended her arms.

"It seems like we must take this crew seriously otherwise we will definitely suffer."

She dropped the cigarette on the ground and rushed toward Nami.