As a few captains and their officers disembarked one by one, the remaining pirate grunts followed, dragging the shackled Blackbeard and Lucci onto the soil of the Sabaody Archipelago.
"What a bizarre place!" The grunts, most of whom had never seen such a sight, gasped in awe.
From the shadows, a swordsman with two short blades at his waist scrutinized Ryuuto's group. In his hand, he held a stack of wanted posters.
"Foxy the Silver Fox, 24 million Beri!"
"Porche, 7.8 million Beri!"
"Buggy the Clown, 15 million Beri!"
"Cabaji, 8.3 million Beri!"
"Mohji, 7 million Beri!"
"Alvida, 5 million Beri!"
"Richie the Lion, 200,000 Beri!"
The man muttered to himself as he shuffled through the posters. "So it's the Buggy Pirates and the Foxy Pirates. A fat prize delivered right to my doorstep." A boundless greed shone in his eyes.
"Wait, who's that leading them?" He frantically flipped through the remaining posters. "Found it! The Malignant Rookie, Ryuuto! Bounty: one hundred and fifty million!!"
With a sharp gasp, he dropped the entire stack. One poster fluttered to the top, showing a photograph of Ryuuto holding Yubashiri, his gaze cold and piercing.
Ryuuto's crew was still captivated by the novelty of the Sabaody Archipelago and failed to notice the scene unfolding in the shadows.
"You lot guard the Sexy Foxy. If anything happens, be sure to contact us!" Porche tossed a Den Den Mushi to the few grunts staying behind on the ship.
"Yes, Ms. Porche!"
The large group, nearly a hundred strong, set off majestically toward Grove 18. Their procession drew considerable attention, earning wary glances from the surrounding crowds.
This place truly lived up to its reputation as a lawless zone. Fights erupted openly on the streets, and destroyed buildings were a common sight.
"Buggy, Foxy, I'm leaving it to you." Ryuuto felt uneasy under the constant, predatory stares from all sides. He turned to the two captains. "Find us a base of operations. As fast as you can."
"Right away, Captain Ryuuto!" Foxy and Buggy, eager for a chance to prove their worth, replied in unison.
Foxy and Buggy then led their subordinates toward a large, abandoned building in the distance, charging ahead.
For a moment, Ryuuto was left with only Nami at his side.
No, that wasn't right. The Seastone-cuffed Blackbeard and Lucci were there, too.
"Captain, this place doesn't feel safe," Nami said, her own annoyance growing. She could feel the hostile glares fixed on them. It was as if their newly arrived group was a plump piece of meat that every predator wanted a bite of.
"This is the infamous lawless zone, after all," Ryuuto said softly, his eyes scanning the area.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
As Buggy, Foxy, and their men moved further away...
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the sound of something slicing through the air broke the quiet.
"Finally," Ryuuto murmured with a slight smile. Sending Buggy and Foxy away had been worth it. "I was just waiting for you to show yourself."
As the thought crossed his mind, his feet were already in motion. With a single step, he vanished.
Clang!!
The next instant, a loud crash of metal echoed out. Ryuuto had reappeared, his sword, Yubashiri, locked with the blades of a one-eyed man.
The one-eyed man was none other than the bounty hunter with the two short blades. His lingering killing intent, which had been fixed on them for some time, had not escaped Ryuuto's perception.
The man's face was chiseled and rough as sandpaper, his jaw covered in a messy, steel-blue stubble. A relatively new scar ran diagonally from his forehead across his left cheek, leaving his ferocious face with only a single eye. He was now straining, his twin short blades pressed against Ryuuto's sword.
"What? Rekton is making a move!"
"Rekton's a famous bounty hunter! His biggest catch was a pirate worth ninety million!"
"But look at him... he seems to be struggling!"
"Who is that other guy?"
"Is he some renowned master swordsman?"
A buzz of discussion rose from the onlookers. It seemed this bounty hunter named Rekton was quite well-known around Grove 18.
"I remember now! That's Ryuuto!"
"The Malignant Rookie who killed a Warlord!"
Suddenly, a cry of recognition rang out as someone finally placed Ryuuto's face.
"Malignant Rookie, Ryuuto. Bounty: one hundred and fifty million Beri!" someone else announced, having produced a brand-new wanted poster from somewhere.
Nami stood behind Ryuuto, watching the scene with great interest, not the least bit worried for him.
Ryuuto took in the surrounding chatter, his gaze returning to Rekton. "You came at the perfect time," he said slowly. "I was in need of someone to make an example of."
"What?!" Rekton's eyes widened, and sweat poured from his brow like rain.
He was a user of the Frenzy-Blood Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allowed him to enter a berserk state, granting him immense speed and strength. It also let him manipulate an opponent's blood to throw their body into disarray.
But against this man... both of his primary abilities had been effortlessly countered.
Rekton's expression was grim. It was the first time his previously infallible Devil Fruit powers had failed him. He couldn't even sense the blood within Ryuuto's body, let alone manipulate it.
"This should be enough," Ryuuto murmured to himself.
The surrounding pirates were all watching. Rekton was the perfect target to establish his dominance. Now, it was time to show them what he could really do.
Hiss... Hiss...
As he coated it in Armament Haki, the blade of Yubashiri instantly turned jet-black, emanating a sinister, dark aura.
With a sudden surge of strength, Ryuuto pressed down, forcing Yubashiri downward.
CLANG!!
In that instant, a shockwave erupted from the point of impact!
Rekton first felt an immense force crash down on him, nearly knocking the short blades from his hands. Then, the shockwave sent him flying.
BOOM!!
A cloud of dust billowed up as his body slammed into the ground, carving a long trench in the earth.
"Gah—!" Rekton dug his blades into the ground to halt his momentum, skidding for over a hundred meters before coming to a stop. The moment he did, a spray of blood erupted from his mouth.
"Is that all you've got?" Ryuuto asked softly from his original position, a faint smile playing on his lips as he watched Rekton.
"No way! Rekton was defeated in a single blow!"
"He's too strong!"
"What else would you expect from a pirate with a 150 million Beri bounty!"
Gasps of shock echoed through the crowd.
But then something strange happened. The blood Rekton had coughed up did not dissipate. Instead, as if it had a life of its own, it began to coalesce on the blades of his two short swords.
"Bastard! I'm the user of the Frenzy-Blood Fruit! I won't be beaten this easily!" Rekton roared, flipping back onto his feet.