Half an hour later, out at sea—
"Why are these guys taking so long?" Sanji said with a frown.
Hearing that, Franky glanced at the ashtray that was already overflowing with cigarette butts and shook his head.
"There's no use getting worked up. We wait."
Even though he also wanted to rush ashore right now and look for Luffy and the others, finding those idiots wouldn't solve anything.
Only a local snake like Duval stood a real chance of tracing Merry and Camie's whereabouts.
"Ah~"
"Black Leg Boss, we're here~!" Duval shouted loudly.
"They finally made it?!"
A look of relief appeared on Sanji's face as he rushed to the ship's rail.
"You bastards took way too long."
"Come on, don't say that. We came as fast as we could."
"Yeah, yeah!"
The other men nodded in eager agreement.
"Whatever. You're here now, that's what matters." Sanji said. "Bottom line, I need the help of your Flying Fish Riders."
"Honestly, Black Leg Boss, did you forget we changed our name~?" Duval said. "We're the Rosy Life Riders now!"
After saying that, he even threw Sanji a wink.
Crack.
"Idiot, what you call yourselves doesn't matter!" Sanji roared with a shark-like glare. "And stop winking at me!"
Had this guy seriously still not realized what he looked like when he did that?
Taking a deep breath, Sanji said, "Anyway, I need you to help me find two people."
As he spoke, his expression darkened, and his voice grew heavy.
"One of our mermaids and one of our kids got taken."
"I need you to find them."
"Hm?"
"So human traffickers showed up after all," Duval said, his face changing.
"What a brazen bunch of scum…"
The others behind him looked stunned as well. They clearly hadn't expected traffickers to target this crew.
Had those idiots not seen the Straw Hat Pirates' wanted posters?
This was a pirate crew with a combined bounty of over a billion berries.
"You used to be human traffickers too!"
"We weren't that kind of irredeemable scum," Duval said. "I only went after pirates."
After a pause, he added, "If it's a mermaid... that should be the girl named Camie from before. And the child... is it that little girl in the dress?"
As he spoke, he recalled Merry's appearance. She really was a likable little kid.
"That's right."
"You should know how this business works," Franky said. "So help us out here."
"Of course!" Duval said. "As long as we find them before they're sold off, that's enough, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then leave it to us!" Duval gave a thumbs-up. "Men! For the honor of the Rosy Life Riders, we will find those two ladies!"
"Yes, handsome man!!"
"They're unexpectedly reliable…" Franky muttered.
All he could say was that fate really worked in mysterious ways.
"Come on, get on!" the bearded rider called out.
"Got it!"
Franky jumped down and climbed onto the back seat of the man's flying fish bike.
"So what's the plan?" Sanji asked Duval as he stepped over. "Where do we even start looking?"
"Black Leg Boss, every trade has its own style. I already have a rough guess which group did it."
Then Duval glanced at Sanji.
"Your crewmates should still be on the island, right?"
"Yeah. They're split up all over the place…"
"Understood!" Duval shouted. "Men! Gather up the Straw Hat Pirates, and at the same time track down the kidnapping group that took those two ladies!"
"Move out!"
"Yes, handsome man!"
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the commercial district, Jin and Galette strolled through the streets together, each carrying a large bubble bag stuffed with things they had bought.
"This is so nice~" Galette said.
"Hm?"
"You don't go shopping much?" Jin asked.
"When would I have the time…" Galette said helplessly. "I may be Mother's daughter, but I'm busy every day."
As a member of a Yonko crew, she didn't exactly have endless time to enjoy life.
After all… she governed an island herself.
There was always too much to deal with.
Shaking her head, Galette looked at Jin and said, "Besides... this time I'm shopping with you, so of course it feels different."
As she said that, her face grew a little red. Clearly, she was treating this as a date.
"Is that so."
"Well, as long as you're having fun."
Galette rolled her eyes at him, but didn't pursue the matter.
Just then, a man stepped into their path and blocked them.
"You really made me search for you… Blood-Eyed Ninja Jin!" Kid sneered. "Since we're both Supernovas, I'd like to see why your bounty is higher than mine!"
The moment he learned the Straw Hat Pirates had landed on the island, he started searching for Jin and Luffy.
In the end, he didn't find Luffy—
but he did find Jin.
The moment Galette heard that, her face turned cold, and she looked at Kid with naked killing intent.
She had finally gotten a chance to walk around with Jin and get closer to him, and this bastard had interrupted it?
At that moment, the way she looked at Kid was the way one might look at a dead man.
"Hm?"
"You're… Kid!"
The moment he saw that arrogant face, Jin recognized him.
Wasn't this the same guy Shakky had mentioned before—the one who might come looking for trouble?
And now he really had.
This was excellent sandbag material.
The thought made Jin light up with excitement.
"So you know me too," Kid said with a grin. "Good. That saves me the trouble of introducing myself."
"Come on, then. Let me see what you can do!"
Once he killed this guy, his own bounty would shoot up even further.
So… right here and now, he'd kill this ninja.
"A fight, huh." Jin nodded. "Fine. I'm in."
"But not here. I don't want to destroy people's shops. Let's take it outside."
They were in the busiest part of the commercial district. If they fought here, it would cause massive damage to the local people.
More importantly… this wasn't some lawless wasteland. If they made too much noise here, the Marines would definitely come.
"You actually care about that?" Kid sounded surprised.
A pirate… caring about ordinary civilians?
Was this guy really a pirate?
Or was he just playing some make-believe game on the sea?
Thinking that, contempt appeared in Kid's eyes.
"What a soft-hearted fool."
"But fine, I'll agree to that. Consider it the cemetery you picked for yourself."
With that, Kid started walking forward, clearly intending to follow Jin outside.
At that moment, Kid noticed Galette's expression and paused, his face darkening.
"What's with that look?"
"Want me to gouge your eyes out?"
"Heh. I don't believe you. Why don't you try?" Galette sneered.
If this bastard dared touch even a hair on her head, her brother's spear would be in his face a second later.
"Hmph. So you're a lunatic too." Kid snorted, then looked at Jin. "Keep your woman in line. Otherwise, I don't mind killing her along with you."
With that, Kid turned and walked away without looking back.
The moment those words left his mouth, Galette froze.
'Jin's… woman?'
That brat really did have a good eye.
In that case, she could leave him an intact corpse later.
"As expected, a violent brute."
"Galette, don't mind what that idiot said. Just treat it like hot air."
Then Jin handed her the bubble bags.
"You should go find your brother. I'm going to go deal with this guy."
"What, are you chasing me away?"
"If things get serious, the commotion might draw the Marines." Jin explained. "As someone from a Yonko crew, getting into conflict with the Marines would be a pain for you, wouldn't it?"
If things escalated far enough, it might even draw the World Government's attention.
After all… the World Government was very interested in him.
"The Marines alone aren't enough to scare me," Galette said, shaking her head. "And besides… Jin, do you think I'm just some ornamental vase?"
"I'm a pirate from a Yonko crew."
As one of Big Mom's daughters, she wasn't some weakling who only knew how to cry. She was a genuine powerhouse who had mastered Haki.
Even if Kid were a Logia, she could still smash him.
Perhaps afraid Jin would still refuse, Galette added, "If you won't let me go with you, then I'll go on my own."
"And then I might just conveniently clean up some of the useless trash getting in the way."
"Especially… Kid's crew."
As she said that, a smile appeared on her face, but it felt completely different this time.
Like a little devil's grin.
Jin opened his mouth, then sighed.
"Fine. Then we go together."
Looks like this mature beauty from a Yonko crew had a temper too.
Then again, she was the daughter of a Yonko.
Seeing Jin agree, Galette immediately dropped that expression and returned to her warm smile.
"Then let's go!"
"Yeah."
This time Jin said nothing more. He simply headed toward the edge of the district with Galette, planning to fight Kid outside the city.
As she walked, Galette glanced back and immediately spotted the towering figure standing high above in the distance. That made her relax.
'Hmph, damn Kid… You dared provoke my man. You're dead.'
Very soon, the two of them followed Kid out into the outskirts. The area was empty and barren—perfect for a fight.
After signaling his subordinates to stay back, Kid said, "I gave you your chance, ninja."
As he spoke, he glanced at Galette, his meaning perfectly clear.
If she hadn't come out with them, he wouldn't have bothered chasing her.
But since she had chosen to follow—
he didn't mind killing her too.
"You want to kill me?" Galette gave a mocking laugh. "Beat Jin first."
With that, she walked over to a tree trunk and sat down beneath it, calmly watching the battlefield.
Since Kid hadn't ordered his crew to interfere, there was no reason for her to step into Jin's fight either.
After all… men were prideful creatures.
"Don't worry. I'll give the two of you the chance to die together." Kid grinned savagely. "Right here."
As a pirate who had destroyed countless villages, mercy did not exist in his dictionary.
Anyone he considered an enemy—
he killed without hesitation.
That… was Kid's way as a pirate.
"You talk too much." Jin said. "Are you fighting or not?"
The moment he said that, Kid's expression froze, then darkened.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"
"Boom!!"
The next moment, Kid activated his Devil Fruit ability.
Under the power of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, a huge amount of scrap metal and junk from nearby rose into the air and rushed toward Kid.
The sight made Jin blink in surprise.
"This is… what kind of style is this?"
"A giant magnet?"
What was he planning to do with a pile of scrap metal?
Just then, Jin felt movement at his waist—his Kusanagi Sword was reacting too. He immediately pressed a hand against it to keep it in place.
'So chakra-conductive metal is affected too…'
This really was one hell of a magnet.
"I ate the Magnet-Magnet Fruit! I'm a Magnet Human!" Kid grinned viciously. "Now take in this unrivaled destructive power!"
"Punk Arm!"
"Boom!!"
Very quickly, under Kid's control, the scrap metal assembled itself into a crude giant mechanical arm attached to his body, several meters long.
Once it was complete, Kid glared at Jin and said, "Come on, then!"
As soon as the words fell, he charged straight at Jin, intending to smash this reckless ninja flat with the giant metal arm.
"What an ugly technique." Jin said in disgust.
As he spoke, Armament Haki spread over his fist, and he too rushed forward.
"Punk Crash!"
"Armament: Super Strength Punch!"
"Bang!!"
"BOOM!!"
"Wha—?!"
Watching his mechanical arm get blown apart by a single punch, Kid's eyes filled with disbelief.
His metal arm had shattered like paper?!
Was that man's physical power really that monstrous?
'How is that possible?!' Kid thought in disbelief.
Since the day he took to sea, this was the first time he had ever met someone who could smash through his mechanical arm head-on.
So this was… the level of someone worth 400 million berries?
Still carrying that thought, Kid was blasted backward and sent flying toward the slope behind him.
"Boom!!"
He smashed a crater into the hillside.
"Kid?!"
His crewmates looked completely stunned as they watched him get blasted away.
"What, has that guy never been punched flying before?" Jin said flatly.
"Damn it…"
The others immediately glared at him in anger, but Killer stopped them.
Because… Kid hadn't lost consciousness yet.
They had no right to interfere.
"This is the difference between someone who knows Haki and someone who doesn't." Galette commented with a smile.
It was true that many Devil Fruits were powerful enough to make someone incredibly strong through their abilities alone.
But… against a true Haki user, that same power could suddenly seem very underwhelming.
That was exactly why Katakuri had demanded they all learn Haki once they came of age.
Without Haki, one weird enemy ability could mean the end.
"Haki?"
Killer glanced at Galette in confusion.
What was that?
"Boom!"
"Damn it!"
Kid hurled aside the rubble pinning him down and rose from the crater with fury written all over his face.
"Let's go again!"
As he spoke, he activated his fruit power once more and started gathering more scrap.
But this time, he created two metal arms.
"Let's see how you break this now!"
"What a crude use of a Devil Fruit…" Jin shook his head.
"What did you say?"
Veins bulged on Kid's forehead as he snarled, "You got a problem with how I use my power?"
Was this bastard looking down on his Devil Fruit mastery?
What the hell did this bastard know?!
He had used this ability to wipe out village after village!
"The Magnet-Magnet Fruit, and you're using it like a glorified magnet…" Jin sighed.
For a moment, he truly didn't know what to say.
If he was guessing right, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit ought to involve electromagnetism—one of the four fundamental forces.
And yet this idiot had reduced it to a giant scrap-metal magnet.
Even if he turned it into something closer to Magneto, that would be one thing.
But this?
The fruit was utterly wasted on him.
'Probably because he has no education,' Jin thought.
Thinking about it, most pirates really were muscle-brained idiots.
Luffy definitely was.
Kid was probably no different.
Thinking that, Jin looked at Kid with a trace of pity.
"Damn bastard, what kind of look is that?!" Kid roared.
That expression…
Was that pity?
Or did this guy actually think he was stupid?
"I just think you're uncultured." Jin said.
Kid: ???
Kid opened his mouth angrily, but for a moment couldn't even come up with a response.
Because… he really was uneducated.
He could read a little, sure, but anything deeper than that had never been part of his life.
"Pfft."
Galette couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.
Jin's angle of attack really was vicious. Even she hadn't expected it.
"What are you laughing at?!" Kid snapped. "As if you ever studied anything!"
"Of course I did."
Kid: …
These two bastards…
Were they deliberately trying to piss him off?
"Forget it. None of that matters anyway." Kid said. "You don't become the Pirate King through education."
As long as his fists were hard enough, nothing else mattered.
"True. Becoming the Pirate King does require real power." Jin said. "But… do you have it?"
"Heh. You'll know very soon."
Kid sneered and charged forward again, this time with both metal arms raised.
He refused to believe Jin could break both of them.
However, halfway through the charge, he realized that Jin had vanished from where he was standing.
"Hm?"
"Where'd he go?"
Kid quickly scanned the surroundings, trying to spot him, but there was no sign of Jin anywhere.
Then suddenly—
his vision blurred.
That man appeared right in front of him.
Kid's pupils shrank instantly.
"What—?!"
In that moment, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.
He had never imagined…
that this man could be that fast.
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