Chapter 159: Luffy's Face

"Help?"

Koala quickly and panic-strickenly refused, "No need! That bad guy is very strong!"

The enemy of the Outlook family was a "Celestial Dragon," while Sabo himself was a high-ranking staff officer in the Revolutionary Army at a young age, a supernova designated by the Supreme Commander as his successor.

With such a sensitive identity and background, Koala naturally did not dare to reveal everything to a newly made friend.

However, the enthusiastic Nami persisted, grabbing Koala's hand and urging:

"Don't be afraid!"

"Even if that bad guy is some heinous and ferocious great pirate, my friend will never back down!"

"He is much more terrifying than a pirate..."

Koala subconsciously murmured under her breath.

Caught in Nami's curious and eager gaze, Koala suddenly snapped back to her senses, waving her hands frantically in refusal:

"This is our business, we shouldn't trouble Miss Nami!"

"If there is revenge to be taken, it should be us friends helping him."

"Alright..."

Nami reluctantly accepted Koala's explanation, though a hint of sympathy still lingered in her brows.

Koala hurriedly shifted the topic:

"Speaking of which, that friend Miss Nami mentioned..."

"You must be very close with him, right?"

"Eh?"

Nami hadn't expected Koala to ask about this.

Then, Nami replied with an unchanged expression: "Yes."

"......"

Looking at Nami's casual reaction, Koala didn't even know how to respond.

At that moment, a chorus of exclamations came from the distant street.

Koala looked toward the source of the sound and saw the dense crowd naturally parting to form a wide path. A tall man in a white suit was slowly walking forward, carrying a box the size of a small mountain.

"That's my friend."

Nami pointed at Garen, who was not far away.

"He..."

Koala asked with some confusion: "Why is he carrying such a huge box?"

"Those are just some little things I bought, like clothes, shoes, and jewelry..."

Having degenerated into the aristocratic class, Nami nonchalantly displayed her family's financial power:

"I'm sitting here drinking tea just waiting for him to pay the bill for me."

"......"

Koala was once again speechless. Having struggled endlessly to make any headway with Sabo, she suddenly wanted to ask Miss Nami before her for some successful tips.

However, the man in the white suit was not nearly as gentlemanly as Koala had imagined. Even before he got close, he began to complain to Nami:

"Nami!"

"We came to Water 7 this time to build ships, not to go shopping for clothes..."

"Besides, with all those clothes already piled up at home, could you possibly wear them all in a lifetime?"

Nami's face darkened slightly, and she cast a distant glare at Garen.

Oblivious, Garen walked right up to Nami and put down the giant box.

Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly froze:

The white slip dress Nami was wearing, soaked through by water, had not yet dried. The translucent fabric clung tightly to her increasingly plump and athletic figure, revealing a breathtaking view at a single glance.

"This..."

Garen asked with a hint of shock:

"I told you not to go out bare-shouldered, and you dress like this?"

Nami silently stood up and walked over, familiarly delivering a natural Armament Haki-infused blow of love to Garen's head.

"Ow, ow..."

Without activating his gamified mode, Garen genuinely felt the pain, making Nami the only "strong person" in the world capable of truly hurting him.

Nami then dragged Garen over and introduced him to Koala with an unblushing face:

"Pardon the unsightly display, this is my friend."

"Haha..."

Koala had just chuckled at the amusing interaction between Nami and Garen, but when she looked up, she clearly saw Garen's already somewhat famous face.

Her complexion instantly turned pale: "Garen?!"

Garen = Celestial Dragon = Sabo's family-annihilating enemy.

The nightmares of the past leaped from the depths of her mind. Fear and hatred toward the World Nobles made her body tremble uncontrollably, and Sabo's forced, smiling face made Koala's heart break into pieces.

Combining old grudges and new hatred caused the negative emotions in Koala's heart to soar instantly to the extreme before erupting violently.

The current Koala was no longer the fragile young girl who could only kneel and scrub floors before the Celestial Dragons, but rather a well-trained and seasoned Revolutionary Army warrior.

Therefore, once she lost her reason and struck with full force, her momentum was terrifying:

"Fish-Man Karate: Two Thousand Brick Fist!"

The most despairing gap in the world was the gap between humans.

Hatchan's subordinate Kuroobi trained for many years, yet barely broke the threshold of "one thousand bricks."

Yet Koala, a mere human girl, could casually unleash a "two-thousand-brick" level Fish-Man Karate technique right after coming of age.

Half a year ago, Kuroobi could send Garen flying with a single punch, but now...

Facing the fierce gale of palms unleashed by Koala's wave, Garen merely stepped forward slightly to shield Nami behind him, then activated his gamified mode to summon a set of magnificent armor and a massive greatsword.

A tremendous amount of force condensed in Koala's petite palm. Her arm, striking like a battering ram, tore through the air, producing visible white shockwaves in midair.

Finally...

Garen didn't even shift his footing, using his bare body to take the palm strike head-on.

"What?"

Koala's palm was still pressed against Garen's chest, her face filled with utter shock:

Her full-power strike couldn't even scratch the armor on the opponent's chest.

While Koala was still dazed, Garen's thick hand clamped onto her wrist like an iron vise.

Feeling the immense force radiating from Garen's grip—a force that could crush her wrist at any moment—Koala didn't dare to move rashly again, standing frozen in place with a pale face, caught in a dilemma between advancing and retreating.

Before Garen could ask further, Nami stepped out from behind him with an excited expression:

"Koala!"

"I treat you as a friend, why did you attack my..."

Nami paused, her wording not as candid as when she was alone with Koala:

"Why did you attack Garen?!"

Koala's lips twitched as she instinctively felt somewhat guilty toward Nami, this newly acquainted friend.

"Koala?"

Garen frowned slightly, vaguely feeling that the name sounded familiar.

Taking a closer look at the distinctive attire of the young girl before him:

She wore a small hat with goggles, a shirt-style short dress, and below...

That pair of silk-stockinged long white legs looked pretty much standard, lacking much distinctiveness.

Garen roughly recognized the girl's identity.

Just as he wanted to say something, another loud shout rang in his ears: "Let her go!"

Following closely was a whistling gust of fist pressure:

"Dragon's Claw!"

Pitch-black Armament Haki wrapped around the claw-shaped fist, sweeping across the air like a soaring dragon.

Garen casually released the wrist he was holding, swung his greatsword, and used the broad flat of the blade to take the awe-inspiring punch head-on.

The loud clash of metal exploded like thunder. The shockwave from the impact whipped up a violent gale in the surrounding area, and Nami, standing closest to the battlefield, was blown so hard she nearly lost her footing.

Unlike the nonchalance with which he had received Koala's Fish-Man Karate earlier, Garen's rock-solid body noticeably took a step backward when absorbing this punch.

After exchanging a single heavy blow, the two crossed paths and separated.

Sabo landed in front of Koala, gazing vigilantly at Garen before him.

"That man is Garen!"

Koala hid pitifully behind Sabo, pointing a grief-stricken finger at Garen's face and accusing: "He is the one who killed your entire family!"

"I recognize him."

There was no trace of grief in Sabo's tone, only vigilance and caution.

At just over 18 years old, he was not yet the future Chief of Staff who would firmly sit as the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army, and his personal strength was still far from reaching that level.

Facing Garen, who held the terrifying reputation of "rivaling Pluton," Sabo couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

Moreover, he had used seventy percent of his strength in that Dragon's Claw strike just now, believing he could crush even a solid steel ingot into powder with a single grasp, yet hitting Garen hadn't even left a white mark.

A sense of worry welled up in Sabo's heart, and he even prepared himself with the resolute determination to sacrifice himself to cover Koala's escape.

"Hey, hey..."

Garen subconsciously refuted Koala's words:

"What do you mean I killed his entire family?"

"When have I ever done such a wicked thing as exterminating a family?"

With Sabo accompanying her by her side, Koala mustered a sudden surge of courage.

She indignantly questioned Garen:

"You still say you didn't?!"

"Wasn't the Outlook family killed by you?"

"The Outlook family..."

Garen looked in surprise at the blonde young man standing in front of Koala who looked somewhat familiar: "You're Sabo?"

"Yes."

Sabo replied in a deep voice.

Though he found it strange that this "Celestial Dragon" knew his name, the vigilance on his face didn't relax in the slightest.

"Haha..."

Garen lowered the greatsword in his hand and put on a friendly smile:

"What a flood in the Dragon King's temple! It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding..."

"Take a seat first, and let's talk this out calmly and peacefully."

"Talk calmly and peacefully?"

Koala was left dizzy by the enemy's sudden shift in attitude, and she questioned with renewed vigilance:

"How is that possible!"

"You're Sabo's family-annihilating enemy!"

"Uh..."

Garen said somewhat awkwardly:

"Looking at it that way, it seems I did kill Sabo's entire family."

"However—"

Garen cast another deep look at Sabo:

"I am Luffy's friend."

"I hope the two of you can give Luffy some face, sit down, and talk this out calmly."

"Luffy?"

Koala furrowed her brows tightly:

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

"No matter who this guy is, do you really think Sabo is going to forget his family just because you're this guy's friend..."

Before Koala could finish her sentence...

Sabo opened his clenched fists and eagerly sat down.