Bai Hezi was already trading blows with Krieg.
Krieg swung his massive halberd down at her.
Bai Hezi casually raised her blade and caught it.
Crack! The planks under her feet exploded.
Krieg's mouth curled upward.
This halberd wasn't just heavy—it exploded.
BOOM—!
Caught off guard, Bai Hezi got a faceful of blast smoke and flame.
Krieg threw his head back and laughed. "Stupid woman! Sure, you've got some skill—you can even block my one-ton weapon!"
He grinned wider. "But my weapon isn't just heavy."
"Did we get her?!" the lackeys shouted, laughing wildly. "As expected of Captain Krieg!"
They'd been terrified by those three women.
Who could've guessed? Three delicate-looking beauties hopped onto the battleship and they thought it was free "benefits" delivered right to their doorstep.
Then the girls drew their swords and started massacring them—and they finally understood.
This wasn't a gift.
This was trouble.
They'd been slaughtered into panic. Palu charged in and got killed in one move. Even the combat overall captain—taken out by that "cute" girl with a single sword strike.
As the smoke cleared, everyone saw it—
Black wings wreathed in flames had wrapped around Bai Hezi's body like a shield.
"What is that?!" the pirates screamed.
"Devil Fruit ability?" Krieg's face stiffened.
The wings slowly opened.
Bai Hezi stepped out—unscathed.
Her face was exquisite, untouched by the blast. Her eyes glowed red. Two devil horns rose from her head. A tail flicked behind her as if she didn't even notice it.
And her gaze locked onto Krieg with a cold, dead intensity.
"That… that thing…"
"Is that really a Devil Fruit ability…?"
The lackeys swallowed hard and retreated a step without thinking.
Beautiful.
And terrifying.
Uta glanced over too, brows knitting.
Ever since that incident last time, Bai Hezi had become icy toward outsiders—never showing warmth to anyone except their own people.
It wasn't necessarily good or bad.
It was just… such a drastic change that Uta still hadn't gotten used to it.
Krieg's chest tightened under that stare.
What kind of eyes were those?
It felt… it felt like the way he looked at corpses.
"Don't joke with me!" Krieg roared, forcing his courage back up. "A Devil Fruit user is still a landlubber!"
He yanked his weapon back and smashed down again.
Bai Hezi simply cut.
Crack—!
"Huh?!" Krieg stared at the halberd's blade—now severed cleanly into two.
"It got cut!" the lackeys wailed.
"You still have time to watch other people?" Kuina's voice came from the side.
She transformed as well—an angelic girl appearing before them.
"That's another Devil Fruit user—!" the pirates panicked.
But it was too late.
Kuina raised her sword.
"Angel's Light."
She swung.
Shing—!
A pale-gold sword wave ripped into the crowd.
"AAAAH—!!"
Screams overlapped into chaos. Some pirates couldn't take it and jumped straight into the sea.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Bodies hit the water one after another.
"DIE!" Krieg abandoned the broken halberd. His left arm snapped up—gun barrels strapped along it began firing in a stream.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—!
Bai Hezi flicked her blade, knocking the bullets away.
Then—
Her figure vanished.
"Huh?! Where did she go?!"
Krieg's pupils shrank. He twisted, searching desperately—
And pain tore through his chest.
He looked down.
At some point his armor had already been sliced open. Two crossing wounds carved into his chest poured blood.
"When…?" Krieg's eyes rolled back.
THUD.
He collapsed onto the deck.
The moment Krieg fell, the remaining lackeys' wills shattered completely.
The ship wasn't safe anymore.
They started leaping into the sea in a frenzy.
—
Nami, with Ain following close behind, was already hopping from ship to ship, stripping them clean.
Once she finished looting one, she'd wave her little hand—
And the entire pirate ship would vanish.
Yes.
The bracelet on her wrist was the spatial bracelet White Ghost had given her.
There were three in total—one for White Ghost, one for Stella, and one for Nami.
Nami loved looting treasure, so White Ghost gave her one too.
But the bracelets had limitations.
Not everything could be stored.
Seastone, for example, wouldn't go in. Back in Wano, White Ghost had been forced to haul Seastone by hand like a pack mule.
Living creatures couldn't go in, either.
Only dead objects.
White Ghost had tested it himself. The space could be expanded—but living things were out of the question.
When Nami finally reached the Fearless Battleship, she arrived just in time to see Bai Hezi slash Krieg down.
Nami's eyes sparkled. "So amazing, Bai Hezi big sis!"
Bai Hezi canceled her ability. The icy look on her face softened, and she smiled at Nami. "You looted a lot this time, huh?"
"Hehehe—just a little!" Nami giggled, then darted into the cabin.
Ain sighed helplessly and followed after her, just in case some leftover pirate tried a sneak attack.
Uta returned to the ship carrying the unconscious Gin.
"White-bro, take a look—this him?"
Plop.
She tossed Gin onto the deck like baggage.
White Ghost glanced at him.
Heavy dark circles. Spiky hair. Around twenty.
Yeah. That was him.
"Good work, Uta." White Ghost nodded.
"Nothing." Uta shook her head and went off to wash up. No blood had splashed on her, but she was sweating.
One by one, everyone returned.
Franky wore a smug, spring-breeze expression—clearly satisfied with his new body.
White Ghost handed him a blueprint he'd drawn. "You're good with weapons, right? See if you can build this."
Franky took it and his eyes lit up. "Whoa—cool-looking handgun. No problem. But Captain… are we selling weapons now?"
White Ghost shook his head and handed him another drawing. "Build some. Kontena's gear needs an upgrade. As for selling—maybe later."
"Captain," Franky said, stroking his chin while studying the designs, "if we sell them, the secrets are going to get copied."
White Ghost didn't care. "Do they have our materials? Even if they copy the shape, without the materials it'll be junk."
"Fair." Franky grinned. "I'll take these to study."
"Mm." White Ghost nodded. "No rush. Take your time."
He added, "Forget Seastone bullets for now—we don't have much Seastone. Once Kontena learns Armament emission and can coat bullets with it, that'll be enough."
White Ghost turned to Kuro. "Where are we right now?"
Kuro checked the map. "Not far from the Baratie Sea Restaurant. About an hour."
White Ghost glanced at the sky—already afternoon. "Then let's eat there. I've heard the food's good. Never been."
"Got it." Kuro adjusted their heading, steering toward the Baratie.
"White Brother—!" Nami came running back the moment she finished, leaping straight into White Ghost's arms.
"What is it? Looks like you struck it big," White Ghost said, catching her and ruffling her hair.
"Not much, not much," Nami said, shaking her head—while her grin completely betrayed her.
White Ghost took the bracelet and closed his eyes to check the contents.
Not bad.
All the treasure combined… about two hundred million berries.
In the East Blue, that was about right.
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