NABC Chapter 199 Nika and Luffy's First Meeting
Chapter 199 Nika and Luffy's First Meeting
Chapter 199 Nika and Luffy's First Meeting
The battle between Karna and Rama the Axe-Wielder has reached a terrible stalemate.
The shadow of the curse lingered, forcing Karna to divert some of his attention to fight against the corrupting influence of the law that "forgets martial arts at crucial moments," preventing him from fully unleashing his power.
Rama, wielding an axe, launched an attack like a relentless storm. Each swing of his giant axe carried the determination to cleanse the world, forcing Karna to constantly expend enormous energy and divine power to parry and dodge.
"Let's see how long you can hold out, Karna!" Rama, the axe-wielding man, said in a cold voice.
"Your armor is indeed powerful, but can your spirit withstand the continuous pressure and the threat of the curse?"
Karna remained silent, his golden spear swirling like a wheel, the sun's fire colliding with the spell-breaking axe, creating ripples of energy.
He couldn't win quickly, but his goal wasn't victory; it was procrastination.
His gaze occasionally swept towards the altar, where the faint fluctuations told him that the crucial moment was approaching.
The battle between Ace and Nani was even more intense and direct.
The flames clashed head-on with the scepter imbued with the power of the curse. Although Mo Di's martial arts were not as refined as Karna's or Rama's, he was powerful and cunning. The energy attached to the scepter kept trying to erode Ace's fiery body.
"Fist!" Ace roared, his massive fiery fist forcing Nandi back several steps, but Nandi's imperial robes shone brightly, negating most of the fire damage.
"It's useless. You are too young to be Karna's Master, you who wield fire!" Duryodhana sneered.
"In the divine realm blessed by Indra, your flames are not invincible! And, it seems my dear cousin is in trouble?"
He tried to distract Ace with words.
Ace frowned, sensing the unusual silence emanating from the altar, a silence that only made him more uneasy.
But he trusted Karna's brother, and also his own brother.
"Enough talk! Luffy is going to be the Pirate King! This kind of situation is no challenge for him!"
The Immortal Jiyu hovered in the air, not directly participating in the battle, but observing the overall situation like a calm chess player.
His gaze was mainly fixed on the altar, and he whispered in his ear.
"An ancient will resonates with a new vessel—Your Majesty Indra, are you allowing this situation to unfold to see if this unknown seed can sprout under your divine power? Or are you concerned with something deeper—"
When the Straw Hat crew, led by Roger and Shiki, broke through the Thundercloud Serpent's obstruction and stepped onto the ancient Serpent God's altar, the earth-shattering event they had imagined did not occur.
The opening in the center of the altar was deep and quiet, with only a gentle white light shining through it, as if inviting them to enter.
"This is it! The Heart of the Cloud Sea!" Weber exclaimed excitedly.
However, when Luffy was the first to approach the cave entrance and try to look down, something unexpected happened.
The scar on his chest left by Indra suddenly felt hot, not from pain, but from a strong pulling sensation.
The next second, he felt a dizzying sensation, as if his consciousness had been pulled out of his body and he had fallen into an endless sea of white light.
"Luffy!" Outside, everyone only saw Luffy's body stiffen, then his eyes lose focus, and he fell straight down. Fortunately, Sanji and Zoro caught him in time.
His body was fine and his breathing was steady, but his consciousness seemed to have sunk deep into his interior.
"What happened?!" Nami asked anxiously.
Roger reached out and sensed Luffy's condition, his expression grave.
"His consciousness was drawn in—by the power of the altar, and by the call of the power within him itself."
"This is a trial, and outsiders cannot interfere. All we can do is guard this place and trust in Him."
In Luffy's mental world, he stands on a sea of light, looking around blankly.
"Hey! Is that right? Zoro! Osamu! Where are you guys?"
"Hehehe—"
A clear and cheerful laugh suddenly rang out.
Luffy looked in the direction of the sound and saw a blurry and extremely unstable figure dancing in the sea of light.
Its movements are free and unrestrained, full of endless joy, as if there were no worries in the world.
"Who are you?" Luffy asked curiously, without sensing any hostility.
The dancing figure stopped. Although its face was not visible, one could sense that it was looking at Luffy.
"I am Nika—or rather, a wish residing within a fruit." The figure's voice echoed, as if from the distant past.
"It is a desire for liberation and laughter."
"Nika? Is that the monster from the Gum-Gum Fruit that Roger mentioned?" Luffy scratched his head.
"You can understand it that way too, hehehe," Nika's phantom laughed.
"Over the years, many people have been searching for me, wanting to obtain the power of the sun god. But they have all failed."
"Because their hearts are filled with other things, power, hatred, fear—or, like Thor outside, with the desire for order and domination."
Luffy looked confused: "Oh. Then why did you call me? I need to beat up that guy who's giving me electric shocks, and then we're having a party!"
"A banquet? Hehehe, yes! It's a banquet!" Nika's phantom seemed very happy.
"A banquet is a time of free laughter, a moment of liberation! Your heart is much like my desire."
"Simple, direct, I want my friends to drive, I want to adventure freely."
Phantom's tone became slightly more serious: "However, truly bearing this power is not easy."
"The Thor outside, his power represents restraint, fear and absolute order. He is the nemesis of liberation."
"Do you truly possess enough joy and freedom within yourself to combat that level of repression?"
As Nika spoke, the surrounding sea of light began to ripple, and some images appeared.
It is about the pain and setbacks Luffy has experienced: Shanks losing his arm, the destruction of Loguetown before his eyes, the tragic battles during the Holy Grail War, and the destruction of the Shandians.
These negative emotions were amplified, looming over us like dark clouds.
"Look at these memories, these pains. Will they become your shackles, or will they become the reason you cherish laughter even more and vow to protect your freedom?"
"Nika's phantom asked, its form flickering under the impact of negative emotions."
"If there is even a trace of confusion in your heart, or a slight wavering in your belief in liberation, then my power cannot truly be used for you, and we will all be completely silenced under that thunder."
As Luffy looked at those painful memories, the smile on his face vanished for a moment, but soon, an even brighter smile bloomed again.
"Those things, of course they were painful! Thinking about them still makes me feel terrible!" Luffy clenched his fist and said loudly.
"But it is precisely because of these experiences that I understand even more how important and precious my partners are!"
"I want to become stronger, strong enough to protect all my comrades and go wherever I want! Thor, restraints, I don't care!"
"I'm going to knock him out of the water, and then throw a super huge party with my friends! I'll make everyone in the world happy! I'm going to set everyone free!"
His words were simple, yet they were filled with unwavering determination and a pure, unadulterated conviction.
That yearning for freedom and laughter, like the sun, dispelled the gloom in my mental world.
Nika's phantom burst into unrestrained laughter: "Hehehe! Hahaha! That's right! That's it! That's the belief!"
The phantom began to glow, becoming clearer and clearer, gradually overlapping with Luffy's figure.
"Then, Joy Boy, who carries the wish of eight hundred years—no, that's not right. It's Monkey D. Luffy!"
"Let us become one! Let your will become my form! Let the drums of liberation resound throughout the world once more! Let me descend upon you in their way!"
Outside, on the altar.
Luffy's body suddenly burst forth with a dazzling yet not blinding white light!
His form began to change; his hair and clothes fluttered like white flames, his body turned pure white, and he was surrounded by steam and clouds.
At this moment, based on Luffy's pure will through the trials of his heart, he truly begins to awaken!
Thump, thump, thump, thump-thump.
Thump, thump, clack, thump thump.
An invisible drumbeat resounded in everyone's hearts, and Luffy, lying on the ground, let out a sigh of relief.
Pain, death, despair—all of this was filled with laughter at this moment.
"Hahahaha! Long time no see, world—"
Meanwhile, in the Temple of Indra, the god-king, seated high on his throne, slowly opened his eyes.
Even more directly, Im's pupils pierced through space and landed in the direction of the altar, a subtle, enigmatic smile curving his lips.
"Finally—has it begun?"