Conflicts between pirates especially these arrogant Supernovas were completely normal.
Hawkins and Bege both clearly wanted to test each other's Devil Fruit abilities. As their verbal clash escalated, a fight was about to break out.
Meanwhile, not far from this street, in a tavern—
A red-haired man wearing goggles and an arrogant expression was heavily drinking.
"Where's Killer?"
"Captain Kid, Vice Captain Killer is still on his way." A subordinate reported.
The man was none other than Captain Eustass Kid.
If Luffy hadn't emerged as a dark horse, Kid would have been the Supernova with the highest bounty.
Although bounty didn't always represent strength, Kid was still annoyed that some so-called "Fifth Emperor" had appeared out of nowhere.
As he drank, he noticed a strangely dressed man not far away—a man with long braids and teeth like piano keys.
"Hey, who's that idiot-looking guy over there?" Kid asked his subordinate.
"Captain, that's 'Roar of the Sea' Scratchmen Apoo. Bounty 198 million." The subordinate answered.
Apoo seemed to feel Kid's gaze. He turned his head, grinned at Kid, and arrogantly flipped him the middle finger.
Kid was momentarily stunned, then an arrogant smile spread across his face.
CRACK. He crushed the wine glass in his hand.
KABOOM!
The next second, a large hole was blasted through the tavern's wall. Wood splinters flew everywhere.
"If you want to fight, take it to the other side of the cliff!"
Apoo jumped out and shouted, "Hey, don't you know how strong I am?"
"I can't stand it,"
Kid licked his lips, revealing a ferocious grin, and drew the two short magnetic blades strapped to his abdomen. "You look disgusting. Stop staring at me."
Apoo had flipped Kid the middle finger earlier—clearly a provocation.
"Who knew you were so sensitive,"
Apoo had a mischievous grin on his face, his body moving to some strange rhythm. "Guys like that don't make it to the end."
Almost at the same time that Kid and Apoo were facing off, another fight was taking place in an open area nearby.
The tall, sumo-wrestler-attired, small-winged "Mad Monk" Urouge was swinging a giant pencil-shaped pillar, locked in fierce combat with the masked, twin-scythe-wielding "Massacre Soldier" Killer.
Their exchanges were swift and brutal each blow aimed to kill.
The giant rhombus pencil post came crashing down. Killer quickly retreated, extremely fast.
"You're using a strange sword. The silent type." Urouge laughed.
Killer's blades spun. Responding to Urouge's shout, he charged again without a word.
Just as Urouge and Killer were about to clash weapons once more, a figure rapidly inserted between them!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Two sharp sounds—a longsword and a battle ax blocked Urouge's pillar and Killer's scythes respectively.
The one who had intervened was a tall man wearing a swordsman's hat and an eye patch. He spoke in a low voice: "If you want to fight, do it in the New World! This isn't the place to show off!"
"I see. It's the fallen Marine, Drake, isn't it?"
Urouge grinned and looked into the distance. "You got lucky, mask guy."
Killer said nothing. He had already sheathed his weapons.
Clearly, the two who had been interrupted no longer had any intention of continuing.
Having stopped Urouge and Killer, Drake planned to leave this place of potential trouble with his crew.
But as soon as he turned around, he nearly bumped into someone.
A green-haired swordsman who had wandered here, scratching his head with an impatient look on his face.
Zoro looked annoyed as he wandered through these intricate streets and root-formed areas.
Though he was extremely unwilling to admit it, the cruel reality told him—
He was lost again!
He absolutely could not let Sanji and the others find out about this. Otherwise, wouldn't his reputation as a direction idiot be confirmed?
Sanji: "???"
Please have some self-awareness!
Somehow, Zoro had also made his way to the center of this conflict zone.
And then he ran into Drake.
"Yo, Drake-san. You were in the middle of something, and you stopped a good show."
On a stack of wooden crates nearby, a man wearing a spotted wool hat looked up, a teasing smile on his lips. "But it looks like you've walked into another good show."
"'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law?"
Drake's gaze shifted away from Law and onto Zoro sharp-eyed, hand on his sword hilt. Drake sensed trouble.
Because the fighting spirit emanating from the other man had already locked onto him.
"Oh? An enemy?"
Zoro grinned—a beast-like grin—and with a shing, Wado Ichimonji was already out of its sheath.
Drake sighed. "I really don't want to fight you Straw Hats."
"But I really enjoy fighting swordsmen."
Zoro interrupted him, his gaze falling on the sword at Drake's waist, his fighting spirit growing stronger.
The reason he wanted to fight Drake wasn't just because the man had blocked his way. More importantly, he sensed that the other man was a powerful swordsman.
KABOOM!
A huge slash roared past, cutting down a nearby abandoned building. A figure flew along with the slash.
In the billowing dust, Drake's figure suddenly expanded, transforming into a huge Allosaurus.
Zoan, Ryu Ryu no Mi, Ancient Zoan, Model: Allosaurus
"A Zoan-type Devil Fruit user? A dinosaur?"
Zoro looked at the huge figure looming in the dust, his eyes growing even more excited. He asked with great interest, "Can you still use your sword in this form?"
"I was never a real swordsman to begin with." Drake ground his teeth.
Should he say he was unlucky? Or very unlucky?
"Whatever. You look like you can fight." Zoro smiled.
Drake let out a low growl, laced with resignation. "You Straw Hats are really terrifying."
Even from just a brief exchange of blades, he could feel that Zoro's strength and swordsmanship were extremely formidable.
For such a existence to be only the vice-captain of a pirate crew—
What kind of monster was that legendary Straw Hat Luffy?
He didn't have time to think further, because Zoro had already dashed forward, unleashing his three-sword style. A sharp slash came flying at him!
"Oni Giri!"
Drake quickly blocked with his huge claws and tail, then counterattacked. The two instantly became locked in combat.
The dull thuds of colliding forces and the sharp sounds of blade cutting filled the air.
"You're really strong!" Drake gritted his teeth, feeling the tremendous strength behind Zoro's cuts.
Zoro grinned, his attacks became more and more fierce. "You're not bad either!"
Watching from a distance, the ease on Law's face gradually disappeared, replaced by shock.
He had initially thought he was mistaken, but as Zoro and Drake clashed fiercely, the invisible force entangled on the blade—he saw it clearly.
"Haki? No way."
Law murmured to himself, his brow furrowed. "This is only the first half of the Grand Line. He's a bounty hunter from the East Blue. He's never been to the New World. How does he know Haki?"
Haki was as rare as Devil Fruits in the first half of the Grand Line, but in the New World, it was standard equipment.
Every strong person knew a bit of it. Otherwise, they'd be embarrassed to say they operated in the New World.
Seeing the pitch-black power spreading on Zoro's blade, Law couldn't ignore it.
"No wonder they're so bold. So this is their backing?"
Law's expression grew solemn. "If the vice-captain has Haki, what about Straw Hat himself?"
That crew's strength could not be ignored.
Just as Zoro and Drake were locked in a fierce battle, another explosion sounded nearby.
Kid and Apoo had officially started fighting too!
Magnetism and sound waves flew everywhere, destroying the surrounding buildings.
"They've all come!" Kid's wild, arrogant laugh rang out. "I'm getting excited!"
The sudden chaos made the weapons of both Drake and Zoro, who were fighting, tremble with a strange vibration, nearly flying out of their hands.
Drake took the opportunity to leap backward, out of the ring, and looked toward the source of the sound.
Kid, surrounded by countless metal blades adsorbed by magnetism, like a hedgehog, was walking forward with a ferocious grin.
Apoo, meanwhile, was jumping on the rooftops, slapping various parts of his body and releasing rhythmic sound waves.
The fight between Urouge and Killer also temporarily stopped due to the series of incidents.
The restaurant wall also burst open. Bege transformed into a small fortress, opening countless firing ports on his body. Hawkins kept pulling out straw substitute dolls. The two, fighting as they moved, emerged from inside.
In an instant, in this small area, multiple Supernovas had gathered. The scene was extremely chaotic!
Zoro, having forced Drake back a distance with a slash, also sheathed his sword temporarily. He looked at the approaching figure in the distance and grinned. "Yo, Luffy. So you guys were here."
That name seemed to have a kind of magic. The originally chaotic scene ground to a halt. Everyone followed his gaze and saw Luffy and his group standing on the street corner, watching the chaotic scene.
"Yeah. It looks pretty lively here." Luffy smiled.
As Zoro sheathed his sword and walked casually to stand beside Luffy, a subtle yet dignified atmosphere naturally spread.
The Supernovas—who had been fighting, facing off, or watching—all instinctively focused their attention, ultimately landing on the young captain wearing the straw hat.
Kid spoke first, breaking the brief silence. His scarlet pupils flashed with a mix of excitement and wariness.
"Four Supernovas on one ship, plus a princess with a special bounty of 500 million, and now 'Big Eater' Bonney is with you too? Straw Hat, are you planning to form a Supernova alliance before even entering the New World? Which Emperor are you aiming for?"
He loved excitement and challenges, but the potential power displayed by the Straw Hat crew in front of him made even him uneasy.
If Luffy also had thoughts of forming an alliance to challenge an Emperor, Kid wanted to discuss it in advance. He didn't want his prey stolen.
If Luffy's target was the same as his... then he would kill him!
"Alliance? Emperor? I'm not interested right now."
Luffy pressed down his straw hat. His smile remained, but his eyes turned serious. "I have other business. Just don't get in my way here."
As this domineering and domineering declaration fell, the
air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then, Eustass Kid's arrogant laughter erupted.
"Fuhahahaha!"
Kid's scarlet pupils locked onto Luffy. He ground his teeth and said, "Straw Hat! Just because the newspapers and some guy call you the 'Fifth Emperor,' you really think you can stand above us and give orders?! Don't get so carried away!"
The metal blades clung around his body trembled and hummed with his agitated emotions, producing a harsh friction sound.
"No one knows who will lead this era yet. I'm not taking orders from you!"
"Maa, maa, Straw Hat Luffy."
"Mad Monk" Urouge kept that strange smile on his face. His huge body leaned forward slightly, exuding the pressure. "This monk is very curious about that 'other business' you mentioned. Why not share it with everyone?"
Capone Bege bit his cigar. In the swirling smoke, his expression was gloomy.
He didn't directly refute like Kid, but his furrowed brow and solemn eyes said it all.
A bounty of 300 million might not impress him—bounty didn't always represent strength, after all; it was more about how threatening one was to the World Government.
But a bounty of 660 million was on another level.
Moreover, Straw Hat's track record defeating Crocodile, clashing with Admiral Aokiji, storming Enies Lobby each feat was terrifying in its own right.
He sensed an extremely dangerous aura from that straw-hatted young man.
Other Supernovas might still be considering their options.
A voice with a weird rhythm rang out. It was "Roar of the Sea" Scratchmen Apoo.
"Hey hey, Straw Hat~ If you hand over that princess worth 500 million Berry, I might consider your proposal, you know? Da da da~"
Before he finished speaking—
HUM!
A heart palpitations spread instantly.
Killer, standing beside Trafalgar Law, sharpened his gaze beneath his mask. He instinctively retreated half a step, crossing his twin scythes in front of him.
Law himself also narrowed his eyes, instinctively gripping the hilt of Kikoku.
Almost simultaneously—
THUD!
A dull impact exploded!
Before anyone could clearly see what happened, a blurry afterimage flashed past at a speed beyond their visual capture.
Then, Apoo who had been standing on the rooftop with a smug grin suddenly doubled over like a shrimp. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing through two already broken walls before being buried under a pile of rubble.
Alive or dead unknown!
***
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