Chapter 389: Collision of Fists and Wills

“Hahahahahaha!”

“I am the Heavenly Emperor! Let all enemies in this world fall before me!” Ye Fan’s voice boomed across the sky. He stood like a war god on the earth below, his gaze unwavering and sharp, as if the whole world danced in the palm of his hand.

Right in front of him, a massive fist hurtled down from the sky, gaining speed like it would crush anything that dared block its path.

Yet Ye Fan showed not a hint of concern. He let the giant fist crash down as if it was nothing but a breeze brushing past his face—nowhere near strong enough to shake his unstoppable heart.

Behind him, fields of golden light burst forth—his power, his aura. Then he leaped into the air, golden fist swinging straight at Luffy’s attack. His movements thundered with the fury of a storm, impossible to stop.

“Boom!” The collision set off a roar that shook the heavens and the earth, sending tremors through the entire world.

The ground cracked, the island shook so violently it seemed on the verge of collapse.

It was like a meteorite had struck Little Garden itself. Sand and boulders spun through the air, trees were torn from the earth and tossed aside. In an instant, the island sank dozens of meters—one third of the land now swallowed up by the sea.

Still, Ye Fan didn’t so much as flinch. His eyes burned with unwavering resolve, his body fused to the strength of the earth beneath him as he clashed head-on with Luffy’s attack.

Their power clashed like two stars crashing together. Blinding light and sheer energy burst forth, lighting up the skies. The furious duel raged on for several minutes before either side broke away.

Ye Fan hopped back to the ship and carefully bandaged Usopp, wrapping him up until he looked like a mummy.

As for a healing elixir to speed up Usopp’s recovery—Ye Fan didn’t spare one. Usopp’s wounds weren’t severe enough to waste a precious pill; his body would heal on its own.

“Luffy!”

Zoro, seeing Luffy locked in a fierce standoff with the mysterious man, instinctively reached for his swords to charge in, but Ye Fan gently held him back.

“This is Luffy’s fight. I’m sure none of you would want anyone interfering if it was your own battle.” Karl’s doppelganger, Ye Fan, had no intention of letting anyone mess things up.

Right now, Luffy was facing the first obstacle Ye Fan had set for him. And there’d be plenty more—best they all get used to it.

“Who are these people anyway?”

“Feels like they’ve been waiting here for us all along.”

Sanji frowned, letting a smoky ring curl from his lips. Who wouldn’t be annoyed by getting dragged into a fight out of nowhere?

He had a point—no sooner had they landed than battle had erupted.

You couldn’t help but think this group had been quietly lying in wait for them on the island. What did they even have that made people go out of their way to target them? It was their first time on the Grand Line, and everything felt shrouded in this eerie uncertainty.

Such an explosive clash on Little Garden was bound to affect them all.

The sea churned into a frenzy, and the Going Merry bobbed up and down in the raging waters.

“Steer the ship, now!”

Nami, the master navigator, rushed to the helm. She spun the wheel to guide the ship along the raging current, shifting direction again and again. Only by following the turbulent flow could the Going Merry avoid being smashed to pieces by the wild sea.

With Nami and the others working together, the Going Merry survived without a scratch. As the island sank back, the movement revealed another ship on the far side.

Upon its deck, a skull’s eye sockets glowed faintly with golden light. The flag above it had golden fists painted on it.

“That’s them, all right.”

“So, it’s really them?”

Usopp, swaddled head-to-toe in bandages, hobbled out of the cabin. His eyes blazed with anger as he stared at the distant ship.

“How’s Luffy doing?”

But the enemy was far away, and Usopp’s wounds were too much. There was no way he could manage a sniper shot at that distance right now.

Their eyes drifted back to the center of the island, where Luffy and Ye Fan had launched into another round of battle.

Boom!

The fight instantly hit its boiling point. Even the dormant volcanoes on Little Garden came bursting to life, spewing molten lava high into the sky before raining it back down. Though a third of the island was already lost to the ocean, at this rate of volcanic upheaval, a brand new Little Garden could form in months or years.

“Ye Fan’s strength has grown by leaps and bounds. Looks like Luffy really is a worthy opponent.”

Pang Bo watched Ye Fan fight with ever-growing ferocity and nodded with approval.

Maybe Ye Fan had been holding back all along. Or maybe Luffy had truly brought out his fighting spirit, letting his strength soar at lightning speed. Their battle had grown so fierce, it felt like they might just shatter the island itself.

In the heat of battle, Ye Fan flashed right up to Luffy, grabbed his chin and, in a split second, drove him into the ground with a thunderous slam. Then, turning into a golden meteor, Ye Fan smashed down toward Luffy once more.

Ye Fan plummeted like a mighty mountain crashing from the sky, bisecting the heavens on his way down.

The whole region below erupted at once—rock and earth ground to dust, the pressure and killing intent obliterating everything in sight.

“Pfft!”

Luffy took the full brunt of the attack. His eyes bulged, blood gushed from his mouth, and deep red dripped from every opening on his face.

He felt the danger closing in—right now, Ye Fan was a powder keg about to go off.

“You made my friends cry. You made my crew angry! If I can’t take you down, then let it all fall on me. I won’t let anyone die!”

But something inside Luffy snapped. Power surged through him, and his hair began turning white.

Seeing Luffy’s sudden transformation, Ye Fan’s face changed faintly. If he remembered right, this was the start of Gear Fifth. But it wasn’t yet time for Luffy to burn away his lifespan.

“Let’s end the fight here.”

“You’re a worthy opponent. On your quest to become Pirate King, having a rival chasing your heels isn’t half bad.”

As he spoke, Ye Fan withdrew his killing aura and jumped off Luffy’s body.

That unexpected move made Luffy halt the transformation to Gear Fifth on the spot.

“I’m the man who’ll become Pirate King! I’ll knock you flying, just you watch!”

“Every enemy I defeat—I’ll give you time to catch up, but one day, you won’t even see my shadow!”

Luffy’s declaration sounded childlike to Ye Fan. He simply couldn’t grasp what being Pirate King truly meant, not yet.

“I’ll be waiting for you in the New World. If you’ve got the guts, come find me,” Ye Fan said coldly, turning his back to Luffy and heading off to his crew.

If everything went according to plan, Luffy and the others would never reach the New World. If they did, it meant something somewhere had gone wrong.