"Oi, Yuisheeze, show your face for a bit."
Tilting his head at Buena Festa's blunt summons, Yuisheeze had nevertheless dutifully gone to see him. The designated meeting place was one of the colossal arenas Festa always used for his spectacles.
Yuisheeze had just finished his report to Kanata and was thinking of heading to a tavern with the comrades he had fought alongside against Maraptonoka when the call came.
He wasn't particularly indebted to Festa, nor were they close, but position-wise, Festa and Yuisheeze were colleagues. It was difficult to definitively say whose rank was higher – Festa, who was entrusted with an entire island, or Yuisheeze, second-in-command of Kanata's direct Einherjar. Their command structures were separate, so neither could issue orders to the other.
Well, since he didn't have anything pressing to do, he had decided to show up.
"You called, Festa?"
"Ou, you're here, Yuisheeze."
Festa, a cigar clamped in his mouth as he puffed out smoke, was clearly in high spirits.
Beside him stood the Straw Hat crew, who had just been engaged in a Davy Back Fight.
The Foxy Pirates had lost the Davy Back Fight, had what was due taken from them, and had all been sent packing.
Yuisheeze glanced at Luffy and his crew before returning his gaze to Festa.
"And they are?"
"I had Straw Hat participate in the show on the condition that if he won, I'd teach him about the level of these seas that will stand in his way from now on. You get the rest, right?"
"...So, what is it? Are you telling me to fight them?"
"That's right."
"I refuse."
Yuisheeze delivered his refusal curtly.
Festa raised an eyebrow, questioning his reason.
"I have no intention of bullying the weak."
The ones who sputtered at these words were Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. This was because, even among the Straw Hat crew, they had a particularly strong obsession with strength. Their nature of hating to be looked down upon and their competitive spirit were likely major factors as well.
"You say you're stronger than us, but you don't look that different," Zoro remarked.
"That's right! I'm strong too!" Luffy declared.
"...It seems you have no intention of listening to anything I say. If you're going to push your troublesome affairs onto me, at least consult with me first, Festa."
"Hahha!! You think he'd nod willingly if I asked? He wouldn't, would he!?"
"Well, that's true," Yuisheeze conceded.
There was no benefit for Yuisheeze in any of this. If he had been called out just to bully the weak, his enthusiasm would naturally wane.
Whether Festa understood this or not, he took a drag from his cigar, filled his mouth with smoke, and slowly exhaled.
It would be easy to just tell him to deal with it. But since he was, for all intents and purposes, employed, Festa had to show Yuisheeze some consideration.
He missed the days of being a captain when he decided everything from one to ten, but even back then, he had to consider his sponsors' intentions to some extent when holding a festival. It was probably better now that the other party was unified.
"Straw Hat has a bounty of 100 million. On top of that, Nico Robin is on his crew."
"...The survivor of Ohara, huh. I've heard the rumors."
"I don't know how much you know, but... that Kanata of hers is worried about Nico Robin being captured by the World Government or the Four Emperors."
"That's likely. I've heard she might be able to revive those 'Ancient Weapons' or whatever they are."
But at the same time, seeing as Twilight hadn't mobilized its fleet in a grand fashion to capture her, Yuisheeze had thought that while Kanata was wary, Robin's priority was low for her.
During the Alabasta incident, they had put up a grand fight against the Beasts-Big Mom pirate alliance, but they hadn't moved to capture Robin herself. He didn't know the reasoning behind that decision, but it was clear even from an outsider's perspective that Kanata was reluctant regarding this matter.
As if seeing through Yuisheeze's thoughts, Festa grinned.
"Well, Kanata herself doesn't seem to be thinking of forcibly capturing her. But her true feeling is that it would be troublesome if Nico Robin were caught by the Four Emperors or the Government."
"I thought she wasn't the type to shy away from capturing a dangerous individual if it meant keeping them from running free..."
"She has her own circumstances, I suppose. Honestly, it's not like I can't guess."
Saul, the giant former Marine, wasn't someone who could be easily hidden, and Festa himself was a pirate who had lived through the old era. He had his own means of gathering information.
Octavia of the "Echo," who had attacked the Buster Call on Ohara. And Kanata, who had subsequently defeated Octavia.
Then there was the relationship between Octavia, a member of the Rocks Pirates who had rampaged before Roger's time, and Kanata—their figures were very similar from behind, and if they wore masks, it would be difficult to tell them apart by appearance alone.
At this point, it didn't matter whether it was Octavia or Kanata who had taken the scholars from Ohara. In the end, Octavia had been defeated by Kanata, so the high probability that the scholars ended up in Kanata's hands remained unchanged.
Since Festa had noticed, there was no way the Government hadn't.
If Robin and Kanata were connected somewhere, it was easy to imagine that any overt attempt to capture Robin would be met with interference. They would have to move covertly.
"I owe Kanata a fair bit, you know. I have my own expectations of her. I'll at least show some consideration."
Now that Roger was gone, some called this era Whitebeard's.
Kaido and Big Mom were not to be outdone, and though a generation younger, Red-Hair was no slouch either.
Among the many powerful figures vying for supremacy in these seas, who would create the "Stampede" of excitement that would shake the world—Festa believed, and had bet on, none other than Kanata to be the one to lead the next generation.
He was betting everything on a woman who was strong, beautiful, and probably, more than Festa imagined, utterly insane.
"As for Twilight as a whole, they shouldn't lose out in the end. If this doesn't get you motivated..."
"...What do you intend to do then?"
"Well, you know. I'd have no choice but to bow my head meekly, I suppose."
Yuisheeze felt let down by Festa, who shrugged and puffed out smoke.
He was a man who had lived long and had his pride. He wasn't the type to bow his head easily... but Yuisheeze had just been explained that there was something that made him do so.
In short, Festa wanted to boost the combat power of the Straw Hat crew, whom he was indebted to, so that Nico Robin wouldn't be captured, or so that she could be retrieved even if she was. That was likely it.
...Though, as usual, there was no personal merit for Yuisheeze.
But if there was a benefit to the organization, he had no objection to acting.
"Very well. I'll face them."
…
Luffy paid no mind to the wounds he'd sustained in the battle with Foxy, lightly moving his body to check his condition.
"If your wounds are hurting, we can do this tomorrow," Yuisheeze offered.
"No, it's fine. Let's do it."
Remaining in the arena were the three confident in their combat abilities, plus Pedro and Zepo.
The other members were spectators, partly because they weren't confident in fighting, and partly because it would be troublesome if Chopper, the doctor, were to be defeated.
There was no particular signal to start. Being pirates, neither side thought such a thing was necessary.
Luffy was the first to make a move.
"Gomu Gomu no──Bullet!!"
He threw a powerful punch, but Yuisheeze caught his fist with a cool expression.
His eyebrows twitched at the rubbery body that stretched and contracted, but it wasn't enough to make Yuisheeze feel any sense of crisis.
Luffy retracted his caught arm and used the momentum to close the distance, attacking with his other arm.
Yuisheeze calmly released the caught arm and raised his fists in front of his face. It was similar to a boxing stance, but slightly different—the stance of a martial art called Pankration.
"Luffy, don't get too close carelessly!"
Pedro, attacking from the side, had his sword strike easily dodged by Yuisheeze, who shifted his target from Luffy to Pedro.
Pedro imbued his sword with Electro and used it to block Yuisheeze's incoming fist.
However, Yuisheeze was completely unaffected by the electricity and, sword and all, struck Pedro in the chest, sending him flying.
"Kahak──!!"
"Pedro!"
"Do you have the luxury of worrying about others?"
Luffy, whose attention had been stolen by the flying Pedro, couldn't react in time to Yuisheeze, who had instantly closed the distance, and received a powerful blow to the face.
Normally, strikes didn't work on Luffy, the rubber man—but being an ability user, if Haki was imbued, that resistance could be pierced.
Perhaps because he rarely took damage from strikes, Luffy's vision flickered from the punch that smashed into his face.
As he was sent flying with a bloody nose, Zoro and Sanji launched a continuous assault in his place.
"Oni Giri!!"
"Collier Shoot!!"
The slash and the kick were stopped with one hand each, and the two men's eyes widened.
The impact was different from that of an ordinary human; it felt as if they had attacked solid steel.
"Are you even human!?" Sanji exclaimed.
"It'd be troublesome if you were surprised by something like this," Yuisheeze replied.
The sensation was similar to that of Maraptonoka's comrades, with whom Zoro had fought on Skypiea, but the difference here was that the arm that had blocked their attacks had turned black.
That was Haki, Zoro intuitively understood. If it hadn't been for Zepo and Pedro's teachings, he wouldn't even have noticed.
Yuisheeze countered Sanji with a similar kick and defended against Zoro's three swords by imbuing both his arms with Haki, all while delivering a barrage of strikes.
The power of each blow was on a different level.
The strikes, which resonated to the core of their bodies, drained a significant amount of stamina with each hit.
"This is how Haki users fight, watch closely!"
Zepo stepped forward as Zoro and Sanji fell back, confirming they hadn't lost consciousness.
Imbuing both hands with Haki and Electro, Zepo lowered his stance and lunged at Yuisheeze.
However, even Electro, which should have been effective on contact, didn't work on Yuisheeze. He engaged Zepo in a close-quarters battle as if it were perfectly normal.
"What's the deal with Electro not working, yugara!?"
"It'd be troublesome if you equated my Haki with that of common Haki users."
He wouldn't have been able to take the second seat of the Einherjar with that level of skill.
Yuisheeze's Haki not only had the effect of strengthening his physical body but he had also mastered its use to cloak the outside of his body like armor. Unless an attack could purely break through this, or use Haki that could destroy the armor from within, no damage would reach Yuisheeze's body.
"Zepo!"
Pedro, sliding across the ground to close in, and Zepo, who, despite taking hits, refused to fall, attacked from both sides. Yet Yuisheeze evaded even the attacks from his blind spots as if he could see them all.
The two, who could be called the strongest combatants in the Straw Hat crew at present, were swiftly broken and fell.
It all happened in a matter of seconds.
One reason was the overwhelming weight of each of Yuisheeze's blows.
Another was his ability to react to attacks from blind spots as if he could see them coming.
Simply put, Yuisheeze was a strong warrior.
"──Still want to go on?"
At Yuisheeze's provocative gaze, Luffy gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.
Zoro and Sanji, too, had no intention of admitting defeat after just one hit.
No reply was needed. Taking their fighting spirit as their answer, the three once again launched an attack towards Yuisheeze.
Again and again, their attacks, which should have landed, were dodged. Again and again, damage accumulated from fists that swung as if knowing exactly how they would try to evade.
Again and again──until every single one of them could no longer even stand, Yuisheeze continued to strike without any restraint or hesitation.
It was the complete defeat of "Straw Hat" Luffy and his crew.