"Ah, it's that gang from the tavern earlier!" Nami cried out, covering her mouth in shock.
(They're the ones who did that to Luffy and Zoro...)
Sanji and the others' expressions shifted instantly. Their eyes filled with wariness as they glared at Bellamy's loathsome face.
"Hyahahaha! Straw Hat, we meet again!"
"I didn't think you'd actually hook up with this dream-chasing nutcase. Haha! I guess idiots really do stick together!"
Bellamy was excited—intensely so. He was excited to the point of near-madness.
(If I can just kill this Straw Hat coward, I'll become an executive in the Donquixote Family!)
At the thought of his long-held ambition finally coming to fruition, the bloodshot eyes of the snarling, blonde pirate grew even more bloodthirsty and crazed as he stared at Luffy.
"Oh, it's you," Luffy said, his expression remarkably calm, as if he had completely forgotten everything that happened at the tavern. Or perhaps, such a trivial matter had never been worth remembering in the first place. "What do you want? Speak up, we're in a hurry to catch a bird."
"I'm here for your 30-million-berry head, Straw Hat!"
Bellamy spoke with total nonchalance. In his mind, taking the head of a coward who wouldn't even fight back was as easy as reaching into a bag to grab a prize.
"Actually, I'm not interested in the life of a dream-chasing fool like you. But to board that man's ship, you have to die tonight! So, sorry about that... Hyahahaha!"
"You've got a hell of a mouth on you..."
Watching the boisterously laughing Bellamy, Sanji's face went cold as he crushed his half-burnt cigarette. Recalling the battered state Luffy and Zoro had been in earlier, the rage in his heart burned even hotter!
Though the curly-browed cook usually didn't get along with a certain moss-head, and the dim-witted captain who was always stealing food was a constant headache, Sanji had absolutely no reservations about using a dead man's face to measure the size of his leather shoes when it came to someone who dared lay a hand on his crewmates.
Zoro was even more direct. He silently moved his hand to the hilt of Wado Ichimonji, intending to use these loud-mouthed fools to test his newly learned flying slashes.
However, he was stopped by a wave of his captain's hand.
"Zoro, Sanji, you guys go catch the bird."
Handing his net to Zoro, Luffy pressed down on his straw hat and said flatly, "Since these guys came specifically for my head, I'll handle them myself."
"Hey, Straw Hat, this Bellamy is a Devil Fruit user. Do you want us to—"
Cricket began to suggest worriedly, but before he could finish, the dim-witted captain interrupted him. "No need, Chestnut Head. You guys just focus on reinforcing the Merry."
Luffy flashed a grin at Cricket and the Simian Brothers. Then, he turned to face Bellamy's arrogant, ugly face. Cracking his wrists, he said in a chilling tone:
"Remember when you asked me if I even knew how to throw a punch?"
[When you look at the sea, you show a hint of contempt; yet the sea has never once looked at you.]
It was a lesson a certain arrogant hyena would soon come to understand.
There were ways to make Devil Fruit powers temporarily disappear—Sea Prism Stone or full immersion in seawater could do it, as the sea is the natural enemy of all ability users.
But this time, Sherlock was certain that this tall, fierce-looking man with the black beard was using none of those methods.
(What is this black substance on his palm?)
The Sorcerer, regaining his composure instantly, stared at the massive hand gripping his arm. He then glanced at the approaching Burgess, his eyes behind his glasses flashing with suspicion and uncertainty.
(Without the powers of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, if I have to rely solely on physical combat, I have zero chance of survival!)
It was the Mirror-Mirror Fruit that made Sherlock the "Sorcerer" with a 97-million-berry bounty. Without those powers, he was less than a toothless tiger. In a direct physical confrontation, his combat prowess was only marginally better than someone like Usopp.
"Zehahaha! Have you noticed already? That's right—it was I who nullified your fruit ability."
A thick, pitch-black darkness radiated from Teach's hand as he gripped Sherlock's arm like an iron shackle. He let out a boisterous laugh.
"Whether they are Logia, Zoan, or Paramecia, all ability users are far too overconfident in their powers!"
Sensing that Sherlock's base physical strength was incomparable to his own, Blackbeard abandoned his plan to punch him away and continued talking to himself.
"Once an ability user loses the Devil Fruit power they rely on to survive, they become utterly pathetic! And that goes double for you, Sorcerer!"
"Did you catch me just to give me a lecture?"
Sherlock calmly adjusted his glasses and spoke with eerie composure. "Also, could you please let go? You're making things very difficult for me."
(As expected of "Silver Hair's" brother... this level of courage is truly extraordinary!)
Watching Sherlock's face—still perfectly calm even in a desperate situation—Blackbeard silently praised him. He greatly admired this powerful mental fortitude, which only strengthened his resolve to bring the Sorcerer under his banner.
"My name is Marshall D. Teach. I'm the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates."
"Blackbeard? You're that Blackbeard?" Sherlock's eyes narrowed slightly.
As far back as Little Garden, he had heard the name "Blackbeard" from Miss Goldenweek. Regarding this pirate who had been unknown until recently but was now frequently active, Sherlock had a premonition:
This man was definitely plotting a massive, world-shaking conspiracy.
What the Sorcerer hadn't expected was that he would run into Blackbeard in this small town, and that their meeting would be anything but friendly.
(And another thing... just like Luffy, he has a "D" in his name... The Will of D?)
Recalling Doflamingo's recent comment about "D being the natural enemy of God," Sherlock felt a growing sense of unease.
"Oh? Has my name already begun to spread across these seas? I suppose it makes sense—we did destroy a whole kingdom, after all! Zehahaha!"
The rough man laughed heartily, clearly proud of the feat. Then, he looked intensely at the "lamb" in his hand.
"I admire your strength, Sorcerer. And I'm very curious about that strange ability you used to defeat Burgess."
"So, what do you say? Do you want to become my nakama?" Blackbeard extended the invitation without the slightest hesitation.
"..."
Sherlock remained silent, thinking to himself when exactly he had become such a hot commodity. First, he was invited to become a Warlord of the Sea, and now he was being personally recruited by an ambitious man with a terrifying ability...
"If I say 'no,' what happens then?" Sherlock used the hand Blackbeard wasn't holding to gently push up his glasses.
"Zehahaha..."
As if understanding Sherlock's subtext, Blackbeard broke into that bizarre laugh again. Then, to the Sorcerer's surprise, he simply let go.
Sherlock scrambled backward immediately, his expression grim.
"Perhaps you haven't realized the reality of your situation yet, Sorcerer."
Whoosh! A plume of black smoke erupted from behind Teach, forming a dark pillar that pierced the sky. Even in the dead of night, that eerie smoke—darker than the night itself—was clearly visible. Enveloped in the black haze, the man looked more hideous and menacing than ever!
"But soon, I will use 'naked' reality to help you understand! Zehahahaha!"
By the looks of it, he intended to test the Sorcerer's strength personally! Or rather, he wanted a more direct look at an ability that wasn't even recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
Grinning to reveal a dark smile missing several teeth, Blackbeard's eyes filled with excitement. He stared at Sherlock's handsome, refined face and remarked almost instinctively:
"But honestly... you look just like your sister..."
It was a simple sentence, but to Sherlock's ears, it sounded like a thunderclap!
Blackbeard likely didn't realize that his casual comment was like a fuse being lit on a long-buried powder keg, sending massive waves of shock through the man in glasses!!
Thump-thump. His heart pounded so violently it felt as if it would leap from his chest.
Sherlock's eyes went wide, and his body trembled uncontrollably. After a moment of trying to steady his racing heart, he asked in a voice filled with shock and suspicion:
"You... what do you mean by that...?"
"You've seen my sister??!!"
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