Chapter Seventeen: Just One Punch?

Who is Rob Lucci?

In the original Pirate story, he was one of the former members of the original CP9, reputed to be the strongest and coldest killing machine in the history of CP9, the most formidable in 800 years.

Of course, Lucci had not yet grown to the level depicted in the original tale, but even so, he was already one of the twin stars among the new generation of Navy elites. Together with Smoker—the "Smoke Man" known from the original story—they stood like two towering mountains before the rest of the Navy's up-and-coming talents, one in the light, one in the shadow.

Especially four years ago, when a kingdom under the World Government was invaded by pirates and five hundred of its soldiers were captured to extort the king, the World Government sent Lucci to resolve the crisis. Lucci went alone—not only did he kill all five hundred of the kingdom's soldiers, but he also wiped out the entire pirate crew that had come upon hearing the commotion.

Such terrifying and remarkable feats spread within the Navy. For new elite marines like Johnny and Moore, Lucci was a figure both respected and feared. Even if Lucci treated them harshly, they dared only to seethe in silence.

But what was the outcome when Lucci led a host of marines, passing easily through the hundredfold gravity zone of Sea Bream Island thanks to Johnny’s Devil Fruit ability, and engaged their designated target?

The answer was... an utterly incomprehensible defeat!

Boom!

Just as Chu Yi had completed the second awakening of his fruit, his spirit lingering in the darkness, contemplating the six-armed Asura statue, a thunderous crash erupted. The target Lucci and his team sought suddenly appeared. In an instant, before anyone could react, the target snatched up Moore, one of the main combatants of the mission, with lightning speed.

Moore was captured alive in the blink of an eye. The Navy was shocked. None of them had even glimpsed the enemy’s shadow before someone as powerful as Moore—who ranked easily among the top five in their group—was taken.

What truly shattered the marines' morale, however, was Moore's agonized scream that followed.

Hearing that wretched cry, every marine present knew without needing to see: Moore, dragged into the dense forest, had surely been killed.

Only Lucci kept his composure. In his philosophy, weakness is a sin. If someone is weak enough to be captured and used as leverage, they have no value in survival.

But Moore was different.

Indeed, he had been captured at the very outset of the fight, and had it been any other enemy, Lucci would have abandoned him without hesitation. But for this mission, Hammock, Johnny, and Moore were all critical to its completion.

So when Lucci heard Moore’s scream, he knew things had taken a dire turn.

He had not anticipated that Moore’s death would have consequences far more severe than he imagined.

Moore would not be the last Navy sacrifice. For soon after Moore fell, the enemy—who could ignore the crushing gravity of the hundredfold zone—began to hunt the marines one by one, lurking like a predator in the darkness, dragging them into the forest and slaughtering them.

In just four minutes...

Lucci looked around, his pupils contracting. Of all those he'd brought, only Johnny remained at his side!

How terrifying must their enemy be?

Now, not even Lucci had seen the enemy’s face, and nearly all the marines he commanded were lost. This was not due to Lucci’s incompetence, but because the enemy’s power far exceeded even his imagination.

Just then, ever vigilant, Lucci heard a soft gulp—the sound of Johnny swallowing nervously. Cold sweat dripped down Johnny’s brow. Lucci, distracted, shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly sensed the gravity in the area beginning to return to normal, the oppressive weight once more bearing down upon him.

Hmph. Planning to run, are you?

The moment the gravity returned, Lucci guessed Johnny’s intentions. Of course, if someone else had been leading this squad, with the mission all but impossible, fleeing might have been understandable—even the leader might have tacitly permitted Johnny to retreat.

But among these men...

Lucci was not one of them!

That’s why, when Johnny’s nerve finally broke, and he forgot to use his Devil Fruit ability for Lucci in his panic—stepping back just half a pace—

Suddenly!

Bang!

Lucci, expressionless, raised a single finger and drove it deep into Johnny’s chest, piercing his heart.

At the edge of death, Johnny clearly wanted to say something.

But Lucci gave him no chance. With a cold glance, he drew his finger across Johnny’s throat, ending him.

“I’m sorry. There can be no deserters among my men. The best place for you is to die on the mission.”

“As for me...”

“There’s no way I’ll flee!”

Muttering to himself, the hundredfold gravity pressing down, streaks of black patterns slowly crept across Lucci’s body. It was his Devil Fruit power manifesting—

Cat-Cat Fruit: Leopard Form!

Rip—rip—

As his muscles swelled, splitting his uniform, in half a second Lucci transformed from a youth of average height into a towering, yellow-skinned, black-spotted leopard-man.

But even the physical boost from the Cat-Cat Fruit’s leopard form was nothing compared to Chu Yi’s mutated Human-Human Fruit, or the Asura Fruit.

So even empowered, the hundredfold gravity zone crushed Lucci, sapping at least eighty percent of his strength.

Especially when, in the next instant, the enemy attacked!

With his special perception, Lucci could just catch the enemy’s high-speed movements. But the crushing gravity made it impossible to move freely. In the split second the enemy charged, Lucci couldn’t dodge. He was struck hard and sent flying.

Bang!

After crashing through several trees, Lucci finally managed to steady himself. Blood at the corner of his mouth, he looked up and at last saw his adversary’s face.

It was a burly man, his body unnaturally black, his face cold as ice.

He stood just over two meters tall—shorter than Lucci’s transformed three-meter frame. Yet inside that compact body, Lucci sensed a bottomless, overwhelming strength. The pressure of his presence alone told Lucci the gulf between them.

But Lucci’s principles did not waver.

He would not tolerate a deserter—not even himself!

He forced his battered body upright, though it could barely withstand the gravity of Sea Bream Island. His eyes remained icy, fixed on the mission target before him. He did not, like others, recall his past or regret his fate in this final moment. His thoughts were simple: defeat the enemy before him.

He mulled over the intelligence given to him about the enemy’s weaknesses before the mission.

Exhaling slowly, Lucci crouched, poised like a leopard ready to strike. The moment his enemy moved, he would launch a desperate attack.

But as the enemy shifted slightly, and Lucci tensed to pounce—

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a figure dropped from the sky, landing right in front of the enemy!

There was no time to hesitate.

You’ve bought me a second by holding the enemy’s attention, Lucci thought. Then you can die together with my foe!

With this resolve, Lucci let out a fierce roar and charged toward the newcomer and his enemy. But just as he was about to reach them, another ripping sound stopped him. For the first time, his eyes were wide with shock, fixed on the man who had descended from the sky.

Why?

It was simple.

Lucci had intended to kill both the newcomer and the enemy in one blow, but before he could reach them, the newcomer turned and landed a single, crushing punch on the enemy.

And just like that, the terrifying foe who had nearly annihilated the entire Navy squad was slain by this man’s hand!

“One punch?”

“How... how is that possible?”