One Piece : Admiral Falcon is Pissed off again today!

Chapter 563 - 563

"Although I roughly understand what you're trying to do... can you explain it more clearly?" Luffy continued picking his nose.

"What exactly is Nika?"

"You... don't even know what Nika is?"

"Huh, should I know that?" Luffy was taken aback. "Neither the Marines nor the Angel Alliance taught me anything about it."

"To think that even the name of Nika has been lost by this era..." Joy Boy sighed in frustration, but eventually took a deep breath and began to explain.

"What is your Devil Fruit called?"

"Of course, it's the Gum-Gum Fruit, a Paramecia type!" Luffy crossed his arms. "Even though I always doze off in cultural classes, I still know what my own Devil Fruit is."

"But that's the biggest problem!" Joy Boy pointed at Luffy's face and exclaimed loudly. "Your Devil Fruit power should actually be the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type, Nika!"

"Huh? The Human-Human Fruit, Nika?" Luffy's jaw dropped, completely caught off guard. "Wait, so I just went from Paramecia to Zoan?"

"As strange as it sounds, that's the truth."

Seeing Luffy's stunned expression, Joy Boy suddenly wondered if this kid was truly capable of bearing the responsibility of Nika.

But among all the previous users of the Nika Fruit, only Luffy had managed to meet him...

What else could he do?

Wait for the next person capable of meeting him?

But what about Luffy? Could he just watch him die?

Joy Boy was never one to make such a choice.

So...

"Sigh, I just hope you won't let this power go to waste."

Joy Boy let out one final, heavy sigh, which echoed in Luffy's mind like the tolling of a great bell.

At the same time, the wounds on Luffy's body began to heal gradually.

And his heart, which had nearly stopped beating, suddenly gave a powerful thump.

Then, the "Drum of Liberation"—which had once resounded across the skies over eight hundred years ago, accompanied by the Holy Light of the Final Archangel, bringing liberation to the world—began to beat once more!

"Thump... thump..."

The deep yet unmistakable sound of a heartbeat echoed throughout Pangaea Castle.

Even Red-haired Shanks and Shamrock, locked in their life-and-death struggle, couldn't help but turn their attention toward it.

Especially Shamrock—to hear the "Drum of Liberation," recorded in the history of the Celestial Dragons, ringing before his very eyes... was nothing short of seeing a living ghost.

"Though I don't know why you're so afraid of this kid... judging by your expression, it seems my decision to steal that Devil Fruit from the World Government and give it to him was a wise one!" Red-haired Shanks smiled triumphantly as he watched Shamrock's reaction.

"Just seeing you upset makes me feel much better!"

"So it was you... who stole the Nika Fruit back then!?"

"Don't spread rumors now. What I stole was the Paramecia-type Gum-Gum Fruit..." Red-haired Shanks seized the opportunity to press forward, swinging Gryphon down with force.

Shamrock, caught off guard, could only barely defend himself, while Shanks continued without pause.

"But if you want to blame someone, blame Michael... after all, he was the one who told me to do it."

Feeling the immense pressure from the sword, Shamrock's expression darkened abruptly.

But the sound of the Drum of Liberation in his ears grew faster and louder, echoing through the heavens.

The next moment, the man who had been lying on the ground waiting to die after being ambushed suddenly sat up, gasping heavily for breath.

With each breath he took, his hair turned partially white.

After ten breaths, his hair and even his eyebrows had turned completely white, taking on the shape of flames.

And just like the black smoke clouds that appeared around the Cerberus Zoan Devil Fruit after its Awakening, the same phenomenon manifested around Luffy's body...

Except it was white.

"Hahahahaha! This is really interesting!"

"Shamrock, I remember every single slash you landed on me just now."

"So next..."

"Let's begin round two!"

...

Outside the Empty Throne palace.

"Thorn: Crimson Lotus Hell!"

Sommers manipulated the sharp thorns that materialized out of thin air, launching attacks from both the air and the ground toward Yamato and Kozuki Toki.

Meanwhile, Killingham, who had surrounded them from behind, seized the opportunity to activate his hypnotic ability, attempting to subdue Yamato and Kozuki Toki without shedding blood. But...

"Hmph, such petty tricks... Is this all you so-called Knights of God have? Nothing but bullying the weak with these pathetic moves!?"

Kozuki Toki sharply twisted her body, the pair of famed swords in her hands—Lion's Eye and Lion's Heart—frantically absorbing the Armament Haki from within her.

Then, she crossed the two swords, clashing them together, sending sparks flying...

"Spark Rune Blade: Judgment!"

Although Kozuki Toki lacked Michael's overwhelmingly powerful Holy Flame, the blazing flames engulfing her twin swords still possessed considerable destructive force.

And with this strike, she instantly slashed toward Chirlingom Saint.

The immense power of the slash sealed off all possibilities for Chirlingom to evade.

"Damn it!" The perpetually lazy Killingham could no longer afford to be careless.

Cursing angrily, he raised his trident, channeling his Armament Haki to its fullest, attempting to withstand the attack head-on.

At that moment, countless materialized arrowheads appeared in front of him, colliding with Kozuki Toki's slash in advance...

By the time they were torn apart by the sharpness and Armament Haki, they had already blocked a significant portion of the attack.

In the end, he managed to block the strike with his trident, sustaining only minor injuries.

The outcome was far less severe than he had imagined.

But...

"Woman, are you underestimating me too much?" Yamato's voice rang in Gunko's ear. "You actually have the leisure to protect others... It seems you Celestial Dragons at least have some positive feelings toward your own kind... But that only makes your disregard for others as human beings even more disgusting."

As soon as the words fell, the spiked club had already struck first, despite being launched later.

"Rumbling... Thunder Bagua!"

Conqueror's Haki coiled around Aken, and the swift, powerful strike, combined with the ice inherent to the Okuchi-no-Magami Form, landed squarely on Gunko's waist.

With a clear sound of shattering bones and an uncontrollable scream, Gunko was smashed into the ground.

The immortality granted by Lily was temporarily nullified under the influence of Conqueror's Haki.

Though she couldn't die, she also couldn't recover.

Yamato looked down from above, sneering at Gunko's eyes filled with defiance.

"Tsk, that look in your eyes makes it seem like I'm the villain here..."