The Disposition of a King

The fight resumes with formal introductions of the transformed sisters: "Second Daughter, Sandersonia. Snake Snake Fruit, Anaconda Model" and "Youngest Daughter, Marigold. Snake Snake Fruit, King Cobra Model." Their huge serpent bodies loom over Luffy while the Kuja crowd adores them. Spectators cry, "KYAAAAA~ THEY LOOK SO MAGNIFICENT!!" and explain, "This is what they received for defeating the Gorgon monster!" Another says, "It's proof that they're strong warriors!!" and, "Even though they're cursed, the younger sisters are still wonderful." Luffy, staring at the snake women, asks, "What are they talking about...?" and guesses, "Cursed?" then adds, "No matter how you look at it, they just ate some Devil Fruits." The page contrasts the island's Gorgon curse myth with Luffy's plain pirate-world understanding.

The coliseum crowd chants "DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!" as Sandersonia and Marigold coil around the platform with Luffy trapped between them. Marigold laughs "UFUFUFU" while Hancock presides from her seat and commands, "Do it!! Sandersonia!! Marigold!! Show him how we carry out our death penalty!!!" She declares, "That's the punishment for trespassing on the island of women!! And also for insulting us!!" Sandersonia toys with the condemned man, licking her lips and saying, "UFUFUFU... Shall I swallow him whole?" Marigold answers with equal cruelty, "Or perhaps I should strangle him?" The whole page frames the execution as a public spectacle, with the sisters enjoying their serpent forms and Hancock ordering the death sentence without hesitation.

The stone bodies of Marguerite, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra are shown intact, prompting shocked relief: "All right!" and "They're not cracked...!!" Luffy apologizes to them from the arena, shouting, "You guys just wait here! I'm sorry you got turned into stone because of me!!" He thinks of Aokiji's ice and says, "Just like when Robin and I were frozen by Aokiji, you might be able to go back to normal!! Though if Chopper were here, I'm sure he could do it." Hancock coolly tells him, "Rather than worrying about others, shouldn't you be thinking about yourself?" When he snaps, "Shut up, that's for me to decide!!" Sandersonia wonders, "...That man... does he intend to save Margaret and the others...!?" while another says, "It can't be... He's already been condemned to die...!!" Luffy tightens his arms and concludes, "Anyway... I just need to kick your asses!!"

The arena roars as the duel begins. The crowd shouts, "No way!!" "Ahahaha-haha!" and "Pufu!!" while Luffy looks up at the giant sisters with a confused question mark. Marigold teases him, "Yes... that's right, ufufu... Am I right?" Spectators laugh at Luffy's defiance: "What did he just say!?" "He really thinks he can beat them!!" "He's making us laugh even though he's going to die!" and "How funny! Men are really funny!!" Marigold gives him one last warning: "If you haven't given up on your life yet, then let me tell you. You should try not to fall into the gap between the stage and the bleachers." She points to the deadly spikes below and adds, "I don't care if you fall or not... but if you do, you'll be impaled by the spikes below."

With the whole arena still chanting for death, Marigold announces, "Now... begin...!!" and lunges into action. She swings her huge pole weapon and serpent body across the platform, sending Luffy scrambling backward. Luffy yells "WAH!!" as the blow tears across the stone stage with heavy impact sounds, and Marigold gleefully says, "Take that and that and that!!!" The high overhead panel emphasizes how small Luffy is between the two massive snake sisters and the ring of spike-filled pits below. The audience's chant, "DEATH! DEATH!" continues from the stands as the execution turns into a game for the sisters. Luffy's first reaction is pure evasion: he has no time to counter while Marigold's sweeping force drives him toward the dangerous edge.

Luffy rebounds from the platform and the crowd urges Marigold on: "Get him!! Lady Marigold!!!" Sandersonia suddenly spits at him with a sharp "PYU!!" and Luffy realizes too late, "Wha!?" The glob splashes against the wall and melts through stone with a sizzling "JYUKUUU!!" Luffy cries, "Poison!!? That's not good!!!" while scrambling away from the fumes. Marigold's serpent form and huge weapon keep him boxed in, and Sandersonia's venom turns the arena itself into another trap. The page makes clear that falling is not the only danger: even if Luffy dodges the physical attacks, one hit from the cobra's poison could end him. The Kuja spectators continue cheering for their rulers as though this is entertainment rather than an execution.

Sandersonia warns from above, "It's lethal!! Too bad for you!!!" while Luffy begins his counter: "Gomu Gomu..." He stretches his leg across the platform and kicks with "Stamp!!!" smashing into Marigold's face. Marigold grunts "Hmph!!" but the blow bounces harmlessly off her hardened body. Luffy is startled: "!!?" and Marigold immediately swings her pole back into him with a heavy "GEFU!!!" The impact sends him flying while he mutters, "Uwoh!! It bounced off!!" The page shows the first serious mismatch: Luffy's rubber attacks connect, but the sisters' defensive power and Haki-like hardness make them ineffective. Even a named strike only knocks against Marigold before rebounding, leaving Luffy open to a crushing counterattack.

Luffy is slammed around the arena with a violent crash and cries, "O... ow...!! Why did that hurt!? I'm made of rubber!!" The crowd laughs and points, shouting, "Look! I knew he was just bluffing!!" while another says, "But it's true that men can stretch! How interesting!" Luffy clings to Marigold's tail and asks in confusion, "Why!? Am I not made of rubber anymore? As if that could happen! But then why does it hurt when I get hit!?" Marigold presses the attack with a sweeping pole strike, and Luffy yells "WAH!!" as he dodges through the moving coils. The page captures his growing confusion: his Devil Fruit body still stretches, but the sisters' blows bypass the protection he normally takes for granted.

Luffy is caught and squeezed by Sandersonia's coils, shouting, "UGYA-GYAGYA-GYA!!!" as she lifts him up. Marigold lazily scolds her sister, "You're so mean, Mari... playing with him all by yourself...!!!" Luffy, upside down and battered, snaps, "Seriously, why am I getting hurt!? I'm made of rubber!!" Sandersonia smiles and says, "Ufufu... So you... have a Devil Fruit power, too..." but she adds the decisive point: "But you can't use Haki. Most outsiders are like that... and that's why they're weak." Luffy tries to strike again, calling, "EH!?" as Marigold asks for her turn. Sandersonia's explanation gives the reader a name for the mystery: the sisters' attacks hurt him because they are using Haki, a power Luffy does not yet understand.

Sandersonia reads Luffy's movements before he can land anything, and Luffy realizes, "She read my moves...!!!" She darts aside with "Ufufu" and sends him crashing down with "Snake Slam!!!" The margin note explains that "snake" is used as a pun sounding like "heavy," matching the force of the blow. Luffy hits the ground with a strained "FUGEH!!" and thinks, "This isn't gonna work like usual." Still, he rises and begins another attack: "Gomu Gomu..." The page shows that the sisters' advantage is not only durability. Sandersonia anticipates where Luffy will strike and punishes him before he can complete his normal rhythm, making his usual elastic brawling style unreliable in front of Haki users.

A spectator praises Sandersonia: "What amazing moves. There's no attack Lady Sonia can't dodge with the power of Haki!!" Luffy throws "Gomu Gomu... Gatling!!!" in a storm of fists, but Sandersonia sways through the barrage with "Snake Dance!!!" and the sound of repeated dodges, "SUKA SUKA SUKA SUKA SUKA!!" Luffy grits his teeth, asking, "What's going on!? All of my moves are being read!!" Sandersonia reminds him, "Don't forget, there are two of us!" and Marigold follows with "Snake Stick!!!" Her tail or weapon blasts Luffy aside with "DOFU!!!" while a note again marks the heavy pun. The two sisters fight as a coordinated execution team: one reads and evades his rapid blows, the other intercepts and crushes him when he overcommits.

Luffy is knocked hard into the arena structure with a thunderous crash, yelling "Oww..." and then "Ah! That was close!!!" as he narrowly avoids the spike-filled drop. He pants, "Haa... haa..." while looking back at the deadly gap and the shattered wall around him. The crowd continues roaring from above, and the sisters' huge bodies dominate the central stage, making the arena feel smaller with every exchange. Luffy has survived the first sequence only by instinct and speed, but the battle has already pushed him to the edge literally and physically. The page slows down after the barrage of attacks, letting him recognize how close he came to being impaled while the Kuja spectators remain fixed on the public execution.

Hancock watches Luffy struggle and says, "Looks like this man is all talk. How amusing..." The crowd, however, remains infatuated with her smallest gestures: "KYAA. Lady Hebihime tucked her hair behind her ear" and "There's nothing about her that isn't wonderful!!" Marigold, exhausted from the action, tells the crowd, "Shut up, you moron," while onlookers cry, "Haaa... no more. Lady Hebihime!!!" and "Lady Hebihime!! She's looking down too much again!!!" Hancock orders the sisters to finish him: "Sonia!! Mari!!! Choke the life out of that man as quickly as possible so that I never have to hear his dirty mouth again!!" More spectators shout, "Unforgivable!! Hurry up and put that man to death!!!" and "How dare you insult Lady Hebihime again!!!"

Sandersonia and Marigold move to end the match. Marigold says, "Well, the games stop here..." and Sandersonia adds, "Let's give him both despair and death..." One sister seizes the petrified Marguerite and holds her over the arena as bait. Luffy immediately shouts, "HEY!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! DON'T TOUCH HER!!!" and warns, "What'll happen if she breaks!? I owe my life to her!!!" Hancock answers without sympathy, "If she breaks? Well, I'll feel sorry for her... but this is your punishment, after all..." Luffy is furious: "This fight is between you two and me, isn't it?! Don't screw around!!" The sisters twist the execution from a fight into a threat against an innocent friend, exposing the gap between Luffy's loyalty and Hancock's public cruelty.

Sandersonia tells Luffy, "Be quiet and watch...!! This is nothing compared to the wounds on my sister's heart!!" while Marigold restrains him in her heavy coils. She insists, "You're the only one who thinks this is a fight...!! This is a public execution." The page also recalls what Luffy heard earlier: "Lady Hebihime is a woman that everyone in this country admires. She's strong and elegant, and her beauty is unparalleled." Sandersonia says, "Ufufu, everybody in the country does, so I think they'll be satisfied!!" when Luffy protests, "There's no way they will!! Are you an idiot!?" She starts counting down: "Oh my, what vulgar words... 3... 2..." Marguerite's friends scream "MARGARET!!" and Luffy's desperation rises as the stone woman is about to be smashed.

At the instant Sandersonia is about to crush Marguerite, Luffy explodes in rage and screams, "I TOLD YOU TO STOP!!!!" His face fills the page, teeth bared and eyes blazing. The force of his shout rolls through the arena with heavy impact marks, and several Kuja spectators suddenly collapse with sounds like "DOSA..." "BATA..." and "GAKUN..." Even the sisters recoil in shock, both staring with "!!?" as the pressure hits them. Luffy does not understand what he has released; he is simply enraged that they would hurt someone who saved him. The page is the turning point of the chapter, where his willpower bursts outward and interrupts the execution without a physical blow.

The arena falls into stunned confusion as some warriors faint, collapsing with "BATA," "DOSA," and "PATA" while others cry, "KYAAA!!" A Kuja asks, "...!!? Could it be...!!?" Sandersonia mocks weakly from the platform, "Hey, you guys listened to what I said! You aren't so unreasonable after all! Nahahaha..." but the mood has changed. Luffy stands between the sisters, still angry, while the crowd tries to name what happened. One shocked voice says, "...That was... Haou-type Haki...!!!" with a note explaining that "haou" can mean "kingly" or "royal." Another responds, "That can't be!!" and a third says, "The odds of having it are less than one in a million... It's the Haki of the chosen ones!!!" The Kuja realize Luffy has the rare kingly disposition.

Marigold is stunned: "My sister is the only person I've ever seen who could use that...!!!" Sandersonia adds, "...This man... he has the 'qualities of a king,' the disposition to stand above others...!!" Hancock realizes the implication with alarm: "He has the same... Haou-type as me...!!? How could that be?!! But he can't really control it... This man... he's not just some brat...!!" In the center of the arena, Luffy is still annoyed rather than enlightened, saying, "Sheesh, these people just won't shut up... What's with them? But I realize that you two are strong. Just who is this man...!?" He crouches into a fighting stance and declares, "...From here on, I'll go at full power!!" The chapter closes with Luffy ready to escalate after unknowingly revealing Conqueror's Haki.

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