HAPPINESS

In the ruined courtyard of Arlong Park, Luffy stands alone amidst the shattered stone and debris, facing the pool of water. Beneath the surface, Arlong swims rapidly, contemplating Luffy's actions. He thinks, "Or perhaps... he realized it'd be futile to try running away?" Arlong then chuckles to himself, "Shaha haha! He's got guts." Back on the surface, Luffy stands his ground, steam venting from his mouth as he glares at the water. He challenges the fishman, shouting, "Come at me, shark!"

Luffy prepares for Arlong's next attack by stretching his fingers out and intertwining them to form a wide, net-like barrier in front of him. He calls out, "Gomu Gomu... Shield!" Watching from the sidelines, Usopp screams in panic, "Do you not know what the word 'hide' means!? You only barely managed to dodge his attacks! If he lands a direct hit the next time, you'll die!" Sanji and Usopp observe Luffy's unusual defensive posture. Usopp asks, "Huh? What's that stance...?" while Sanji mutters, "Don't tell me he's seriously planning to stop Arlong with just that!" Meanwhile, underwater, Arlong shoots upward like a torpedo, yelling, "Shark on..." He accelerates towards the surface, thinking, "At this distance, I'll speed up two times faster than before! I'll skewer his heart!"

Arlong bursts from the water with incredible speed, completing his attack name, "...Darts!" He flies straight at Luffy like a missile. The impact is massive as Arlong's sharp, saw-like nose strikes Luffy directly in the chest area, right where Luffy had set up his intertwined fingers. Watching the brutal collision, Usopp and Sanji react with sheer horror. Usopp screams, "He's hit!" A close-up shows Arlong's nose piercing deeply into the gaps of Luffy's stretched fingers, seemingly a devastating blow. However, despite the terrifying attack, Luffy simply flashes a wide, confident grin.

Luffy's intertwined fingers act like a powerful rubber trampoline. With a loud "BOING!", the stretched fingers rebound, launching Arlong backward through the air. Arlong flies away from Luffy, hurtling towards the main building of Arlong Park. Sanji watches in disbelief, exclaiming, "He bounced himself away from Arlong!" Usopp, still recovering from his panic, asks, "What happened!? Was he hit!?" Arlong crashes violently into the multi-tiered roof of the Arlong Park building, shattering tiles and wood. As he impacts, Arlong thinks in frustration, "That move won't work on me anymore!" Down in the courtyard, Luffy laughs triumphantly, "Shishi shishi!"

Refusing to be deterred, Arlong uses the building as a springboard. He kicks off the shattered roof and shoots back down towards Luffy, roaring, "Shark on Darts!" Luffy's confident demeanor vanishes, replaced by panic as he yells, "Hmph! You just got lucky that time! Scared me good!" Luffy barely manages to dive out of the way as Arlong crashes into the stone ground right where Luffy had been standing, sending debris flying. Arlong immediately recovers and declares, "You can't escape from me." Luffy quickly gets back on his feet and prepares another attack, intertwining his fingers once more. "As if I'll let you! Gomu Gomu..." Arlong launches himself at Luffy again, determined to end the fight. "Time to finish this!"

As Arlong flies towards him, Luffy stretches his intertwined fingers out to an enormous size, creating a massive rubber net. He shouts, "...Net!" With a swift motion, Luffy throws the giant net over the incoming fishman. Arlong is caught mid-air, completely enveloped by the stretched rubber. Luffy grins widely and yells, "Time for fishing!" Arlong struggles against the tight rubber strands, looking confused and trapped. Luffy pulls the net taut, preparing his next move, and calls out, "Followed by!"

With Arlong trapped in the net, Luffy leaps into the air and thrusts both of his feet forward with immense force. He yells, "Spear!" His legs stretch out, driving his feet directly into Arlong's exposed stomach. The impact is devastating, creating a shockwave that kicks up dust and debris around them. Arlong takes the full brunt of the attack, his eyes bulging as he coughs up blood. He lets out a pained cry, "Guhaa!" as Luffy's feet sink deep into his midsection.

Seeing the successful attack, Usopp throws his arms up and cheers wildly, "It worked!!!" Sanji and the villagers watch the outcome closely. Nearby, Genzo watches with sweat pouring down his face, gasping, "Ahh!" Luffy lands back on the ground, looking towards the dust cloud where Arlong fell. He wonders aloud, "Is he dead...?" As the dust settles, Arlong is seen standing up, his back turned to Luffy. Luffy notices the movement and says, "Hm?" The scene cuts to a chilling close-up of Arlong's eyes. The pupils are narrowed into feral slits, radiating pure, unbridled rage.

Nami stares in absolute terror at Arlong's changed demeanor, trembling as she says, "...That's the first time I've seen those eyes!" Sanji realizes the danger, noting, "Luffy made him even angrier with his attack just now...!" Genzo and Nojiko also look on in fear. Genzo explains the terrifying transformation: "They're the same eyes that a sea king has when it goes berserk! Arlong's eyes changed!" Suddenly, Arlong moves with blinding speed, lunging at Luffy and striking him with a brutal, sweeping blow. Luffy cries out, "Aghh!" as he is hit. Arlong, his voice dripping with malice, snarls, "How dare an inferior human..." He follows up with another devastating strike, sending Luffy flying through the air. Luffy screams, "Aghhhh!" as Arlong finishes his thought, "...do this..."

Arlong grabs Luffy by the face with his massive hand and violently flings him away, roaring, "...to me, a fishman!?" Luffy is sent crashing hard into the stone ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. After a moment, Luffy sits up, rubbing the back of his head. Despite the brutal throw, he seems relatively unfazed by the impact itself, noting, "Didn't hurt but it looks like he's seriously pissed off... Ahh... that was scary." The page ends with another intense close-up of Arlong's face. His eyes are still feral, and his sharp teeth are bared in a terrifying, rage-filled grimace.

Driven by his berserk rage, Arlong smashes through the building after Luffy, sending him flying as Luffy yells, "Whoa!" Arlong then reaches into the wrecked room, his hand closing around the hilt of a hidden weapon. He mutters, "Grab!" With a powerful pull, Arlong extracts a massive, terrifying weapon from the rubble. It is a gigantic sword with a blade shaped like a jagged saw. Luffy watches this development with a look of surprise, realizing the fight is about to escalate.

Arlong immediately puts his new weapon to use, swinging the massive saw-sword with devastating force. The swing easily slices through the stone walls of the building, causing massive destruction. Luffy is forced to jump high into the air to dodge the sweeping blade. Watching from below, Nami recognizes the weapon and gasps in horror, "It's 'Kiribachi!'" Usopp and Sanji are equally shocked by the size of the weapon, their jaws dropping. Usopp yells, "That's one freakin' huge saw!" Luffy, still mid-air, asks, "What's that?" A close-up shows Arlong gripping the Kiribachi, its jagged, tooth-like edge gleaming menacingly. A translator note explains that Kiribachi means "cutting-teeth".

Arlong relentlessly attacks with the Kiribachi. He swings the massive saw-sword upward at Luffy, who barely manages to dodge by leaping onto the flat side of the blade itself. Luffy yelps, "Agh!" as he balances on the moving weapon. Arlong doesn't stop; he swings the sword again, tearing through the wooden walkways and stone structures of Arlong Park. Luffy is forced to keep dodging, leaping away from the destructive arcs of the blade, yelling, "Ahh! Whoa!" Arlong wields the heavy weapon with terrifying ease, his powerful swings leaving deep gouges in the ground and walls, completely destroying the surrounding area.

The battle moves upward as Arlong chases Luffy up the side of the towering Arlong Park building. Arlong's swings with the Kiribachi tear through the multiple levels of the structure, sending debris raining down. Sanji watches the ascent, noting, "He's chasing him all the way up!" A villager adds, "He's not stopping!" Luffy scrambles into a room at the very top of the building, panting heavily. "Ack!" he gasps as he catches his breath. Suddenly, the wall behind him explodes inward as Arlong crashes through, wielding the Kiribachi. Luffy cries out, "Ugh!" as he is thrown forward by the impact of Arlong's violent entry.

Down on the ground, Nami looks up at the top floor of the building, her eyes widening in shock and realization. "It's the cartography room!" she exclaims. Usopp points out, "The left window on the top floor..." while Sanji confirms, "He escaped inside!" Inside the room, Arlong glares menacingly at Luffy, his feral eyes still burning with rage. "You damn rubber brat... Don't get in my way anymore," he threatens. Luffy sits on the floor, recovering from the crash. He looks around the room, which is filled with bookshelves, stacks of paper, and a large map on the wall. "What... is this room?" Luffy asks, noticing the sheer volume of documents. "It's full of paper."

Arlong stands tall in the cartography room, the Kiribachi resting on his shoulder. He explains the significance of the room to Luffy: "For us fishmen, obtaining data about the sea is simple but using that data to draw maps is another matter. They're not just papers. These are all the maps that Nami spent 8 years drawing." Luffy sits on the floor, listening quietly. "Ohh..." he responds. Arlong grins wickedly, praising Nami's skill. "Even if you search the whole world, you won't find someone who can draw maps as accurate as these...! That girl is a genius." Luffy's attention is drawn to a pen lying on the floor. He picks it up, noticing something disturbing. "This pen, is encrusted with blood..." Arlong laughs cruelly, "There is nothing more tragic than to waste those god-given talents that she possesses!" Luffy's face is shadowed, his expression unreadable as he holds the bloody pen.

Arlong continues his grand speech, his ambition clear. "Once we fishmen learn everything there is to know about the seas from her maps, we shall be invincible! The world shall then become my empire!" He points the massive Kiribachi towards Luffy. "For Nami, there is no better happiness than to stay here and continue drawing maps! For the sake of my ambition, that is!" Arlong leans in, his sharp teeth bared in a mocking grin. "Do you think you can use her more effectively than I!?" Luffy remains silent, still holding the blood-encrusted pen, his face hidden in shadow. "Hmm..." he murmurs. Arlong concludes his declaration, "And this island, or East Blue in essence, shall be my stepping stone for that!"

Luffy's hand opens, and he drops the blood-encrusted pen onto the floor. "Drop..." Arlong suddenly realizes something is wrong. He strains to move his weapon, but it won't budge. "Move Kiribachi even a single inch...! What...? I can't..." he struggles. A wider shot reveals why: Luffy has caught the jagged blade of the Kiribachi with his bare hands, his fingers gripping the metal tightly, completely halting Arlong's swing. The final panel shows a close-up of Luffy's face. His eyes are wide with intense, focused anger as he begins to crush the thick metal blade of the Kiribachi with his grip alone. He glares at Arlong and asks a single, chilling question: "Use?"

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