Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

Chapter 197 Your Future Has No Chance of Success!

He knew who the guy in front of him was.

Charlotte Katakuri, the leader of the Big Mom Pirates' Four Sweet Commanders.

Their strength is firmly second in the Big Mom Pirates, without a doubt.

Luffy approached Katakuri on his own initiative.

In his view, he had already defeated a general, so wouldn't it be normal to defeat another one?

Even though Katakuri was stronger than Cracker, whom he defeated, he hadn't used his full strength when he fought Cracker!

So even though Luffy knew Katakuri was stronger, he wasn't afraid at all and was confident that his strength was no less than Katakuri's, or if it was, it wouldn't be by much.

But when they actually clashed, he realized he was wrong, terribly wrong!

Katakuri's strength is not in the same league as Cracker's. He can easily handle Cracker and even gain the upper hand, but he is no match for Katakuri.

Whether in speed, strength, or the development of Devil Fruit abilities, he is no match for Katakuri.

That's not the most troublesome thing. The most troublesome thing is the difference in domineering presence.

This includes differences in Armament Haki and Observation Haki.

In both of these aspects of domineering presence, he was far inferior to his opponent.

The Luffy we know now is not the ignorant guy from the original story.

Therefore, he already knew the principle when he first failed to inflict effective damage on Katakuri using Armament Haki.

Unlike in the original work, where it took a long time to discover the problem.

The opponent's Observation Haki had reached the level of being able to foresee the future briefly, so all of his attacks were seen through by the opponent, making them completely ineffective.

This is a very troublesome matter for him, and he can't think of any way to break the deadlock at the moment.

Katakuri continued walking towards Luffy, his expression still indifferent. He stopped a few dozen meters in front of Luffy and looked at him calmly.

"You're well aware of the gap in strength between us; your future... is hopeless!!"

Katakuri emphasized the last few words, bent his legs, and pushed off the ground again, his figure instantly leaping out and arriving in front of Luffy in the blink of an eye.

"Horned rice cake!"

Katakuri's fist transformed into a long, thin rice cake, coated with Armament Haki, and he slammed it towards Luffy.

! !

Luffy's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately dodged to the side, but the fist seemed to have known he would dodge in that direction, and the fist came straight at him.

Bang! !

A dull thud followed as Katakuri's punch landed squarely on Luffy's face. Terrifying power erupted from his fist, sending Luffy flying instantly.

But before it could fly very far, it was entangled by a rapidly approaching rice cake whip.

"Bird rice cake!"

Then Katakuri narrowed his eyes and suddenly swung Luffy downwards, his body, bound by the mochi whip, crashing heavily to the ground, creating another deep crater in the candy-colored floor.

Pfft!

Another mouthful of blood spurted from Luffy's mouth, his head felt dizzy, and his body felt like it was about to fall apart.

With his eyes tightly closed, he lay in the candy pit, panting heavily.

The sound of metal scraping against metal could be heard as Katakuri continued walking towards Luffy.

Luffy is still conscious; he's going to finish off the remaining damage!

But just then, as if sensing something, he immediately dodged to the side.

The very next second after he dodged, a bolt of blue lightning struck the spot where he had been standing, creating a large crater in the candy-colored ground.

The lightning surged within the crater, then suddenly shot out, striking Katakuri. As it reached Katakuri, it coalesced into the form of Sabo.

"drink!"

With a low shout, Sabo drew a lightning spear and thrust it fiercely at Katakuri.

boom--

The Thunder Spear pierced directly into Katakuri's body, but Katakuri's expression remained unchanged, still indifferent.

No! That's not right!!

Katakuri's expression suddenly changed, and he immediately retreated, tumbling several times before regaining his balance.

He looked up, his gaze fixed on Sabo, who was smiling faintly.

"What, you've realized that even Observation Haki is useless, haven't you?"

"You can indeed predict my movements, but can you foresee the extent of my lightning strikes?"

Even if you could foresee it, could you react in time?

Sabo's words carried a hint of smugness.

Katakuri did indeed anticipate and successfully dodge his lightning spear using Observation Haki.

The problem is that even though Thunderbolt appears to be a single-point attack, it still has a range.

The nature of lightning is that it constantly surges, so although the lightning spear in the front did not hit Katakuri, the surging lightning could still damage Katakuri, just not as much.

But this doesn't have a big impact; as long as you can deal damage, that's already pretty good.

At least he can break through the defenses, unlike someone who has been fighting for so long without even scratching the opponent.

Thinking of this, Sabo couldn't help but glance at Luffy lying in the crater next to him, a disdainful smile appearing on his lips.

"Fourth brother, lie there and watch carefully, learn well!"

"See how your second brother defeated the enemy? From now on, when you see me, remember to bow and salute, and keep your head down!"

"Watch me avenge you, Second Brother!!"

Before he could finish speaking, a flash of lightning appeared, and Sabo's figure transformed into a bolt of lightning, darting away at an extremely fast speed.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of Katakuri.

then……

Bang! !

A muffled sound rang out. Sabo darted over quickly, but his return speed was equally impressive.

And it landed very precisely in the crater where Luffy was, hitting him directly.

"ah!!"

"You bastard Sabo, get out of my way!"

Luffy's voice came from under Sabo. Two seconds later, the two of them climbed out of the pit, and Luffy glanced at Sabo disdainfully.

"Is this what you mean by 'watching carefully and studying hard'?"

"I certainly can't emulate your arrogant attitude, which comes without any real ability. While I may be arrogant, there are limits. At least I have self-awareness, unlike some people—I really want to laugh!"

"Oh dear, bow down and salute, keep your head down and be a decent human being, your second brother will avenge you! Hehe~~"

Luffy stood by, making sarcastic remarks with exaggerated expressions, while Sabo looked grim, but he didn't know how to refute it, since he had indeed looked like that just now.

But the next second, their expressions suddenly changed, they stopped mocking each other, and abruptly turned their gazes forward.

What came into view was a dense array of mochi-like bullets, all coated with Armament Haki and emitting a dark luster.

"Peerless Rice Cake Blade Bullet!"

……