Burgess appeared to Kikunojo as a simple-minded brute; his straightforward strength attacks were easy to evade, and within a few moves, Kikunojo could completely suppress him in combat. As for Doc Q, Kikunojo felt nothing; his sickly appearance made it seem like he could drop dead at any moment.
Moreover, he didn't seem inclined to fight, making him non-threatening, while Van Augur's sniper rifle was impressive, the craftsmanship far exceeding ordinary weapons.
However, the scope for a sniper is vast, or rather, strong individuals in this sea rarely gain fame solely with firearms.
Beckman could threaten Kizaru with a gun not because of the gun's strength, but due to his powerful Haki. Before Blackbeard emphasized Haki training for Van Augur, he couldn't threaten Kikunojo either.
Only Lafitte, the strange man, made Kikunojo feel something different. Unlike the fake smile on his face, this guy genuinely exuded danger.
"Residual Snow Scythe!"
Seeing his Kasaya Slash miss, Kikunojo reversed his blade again, repeatedly slashing toward Lafitte. Numerous round slashes, accompanied by the sound of cutting through air, aimed at Lafitte and the prone Burgess.
In the original timeline, Kikunojo's battle with Kanjuro was indecisive, even when Kanjuro revealed his status as a spy, Kikunojo was still hesitant to strike a fatal blow.
But that was because Kanjuro was a childhood friend. At this moment, Lafitte and Burgess did not share such a bond.
Drake's battle made him somewhat anxious; at this moment, Kikunojo just wanted to quickly resolve the enemies in front of him to assist Drake.
Lafitte flipped his cane, using the curved part to pull up the fallen Burgess, then extended a pair of wings from his back, flying into the air to evade Kikunojo's slashes.
At the same time, several bullets shot toward Kikunojo, blocking his retreat with continuous fire, but Kikunojo simply used his sword tip to deflect them, even hitting a few thrown apples with the deflected bullets.
As the apples were pierced, several explosions sounded, temporarily separating him from Blackbeard Pirates.
Van Augur's shots and Doc Q's apple bombs continued to assault, but were broken by his subsequent slashes.
Residual Snow Scythe was considered his trump card, also the origin of his nickname "Residual Snow".
Through a special sword-wielding technique, his sword moves could cause greater damage to wounds, making them harder to heal. Of course, he had a more intimidating explanation to the outside world.
"Firstly, I am a man. Secondly, the wounds inflicted by my sword will remain even in Hell, torturing your souls like snow that lingers into early spring. If you can dodge them all, feel free to try."
"Hmm? Sounds interesting. I'm starting to like you."
Hearing Kikunojo's words, Lafitte was not afraid; instead, he became more excited.
Kikunojo's intuition was not wrong; Lafitte was indeed special among these people, different in both power and a perverse character.
Originally a sheriff in the West Sea, Lafitte became notorious there for excessive use of violence, eventually earning the title of Devil's Sheriff. He was exiled due to his brutal methods, and after reaching the Grand Line, he met Blackbeard and was recruited.
Besides his ability to fly, Lafitte had courage and hypnosis skills, daring to enter Mary Geoise alone to seek a position in the Seven Warlords of the Sea for Blackbeard, showing no fear even in front of Sengoku.
Scars that could remain in Hell; this matched Lafitte's preferences perfectly.
Lafitte engaged Kikunojo, and unlike the previous one-sided dominance over Burgess, the battle between Lafitte and Kikunojo was evenly matched. Thanks to the ability to fly, Lafitte even held a slight advantage.
Doc Q was treating Burgess's wounds, always looking on the verge of dying but somehow not, with decent medical skills. Even if he couldn't heal, his role as a part-time Funeral Director allowed him to perform last rites.
"How can that guy's sword be so fast..."
"This is... the power of the New World..."
Van Augur walked over, having stopped sniping.
Since his mission to infiltrate per Blackbeard's orders, he believed every shot would hit. Yet, the results were either struck by lightning or nearly sliced in two by Flying Slashes. At this point, he, like Burgess, was questioning his own existence.
...
"I really underestimated you; it seems you're not just a sneak attacker..."
Drake didn't know exactly what happened on the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, but from her inference, Blackbeard should have ambushed Thatch, without giving him any chance to fight back.
If Thatch had managed to cry for help, Blackbeard couldn't have escaped the Moby Dick in front of Whitebeard.
At first, she thought it wasn't difficult to achieve this by using a sneak attack relying on trust among comrades, as long as the power gap with Thatch wasn't too large.
But as the battle continued, she found Blackbeard increasingly daunting. Beyond the ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit, his body techniques were also formidable.
Blackbeard had left scars on Red Hair; the exact time wasn't clear, but Ace had once asked Blackbeard why he didn't become a captain. From this, it was deduced that even without a fruit, Blackbeard's body techniques were sufficient to serve as a captain on Whitebeard's ship.
After all, to become a captain, experience alone wasn't enough; one needed a certain level of strength as well.
"Heh heh heh, actually I didn't intend to kill him at first, after all, we've been comrades for a long time. It was an accident, but you weren't wrong about one thing—I am indeed despicable. Dark Water!"
Immense gravity emanated from Blackbeard's palm; however, this time, his target was not Drake, but Kikunojo.
"You seem to care about that guy; what will you do now?!"
Blackbeard didn't mind being called despicable nor minded taking shortcuts to quickly end the battle. Whether to recruit or seize abilities, he needed to defeat Drake, even if it meant targeting Kikunojo.
In a straightforward fight, Blackbeard wasn't afraid of his opponent, but he worried about more of the Hundred Beasts' presence nearby, so he wanted to finish quickly.
During Kikunojo and Lafitte's battle, the two gradually moved into Blackbeard's power range.
The sudden gravity disrupted Kikunojo's balance, and Lafitte seized the chance, briefly jabbing his cane into Kikunojo's chest. Even without a tip, the force transferred through the cane immobilized Kikunojo.
"Damn you, bastard!"
Watching Lafitte plan to continue attacking Kikunojo, powerful currents surged across Drake's body surface, instantly linking her to Kikunojo.
Zeraora's born-in-Pirate-World developed method of altered Volt Switch sequence allowed her to attack then immediately support an ally, brought Drake next to Kikunojo.
Zeraora had perfected this skill over the years, sharing with Drake how to apply it when she sought instruction.
Using this Vols Switch, Drake's speed rivaled lightning, appearing almost instantaneously, but this left Blackbeard with an opportunity...