As Black's voice faded, a flare landed on the water not far from the sanctuary.
Before the girls could react to his words, a massive figure crashed onto the deck.
Gerald, fully transformed into a hyena, roared to the sky.
The sound… was better left unmentioned.
Mandy, having experienced actual combat, was the first to recover, drawing the rapier at her waist and standing guard.
Seeing her stance, Gerald's eyes instantly gleamed:
"I didn't expect a female knight on this ship; these damned nobles really eat well!"
Gerald charged at Mandy on all fours, claws raking the deck.
"Can your sword match my fangs?"
Mandy didn't speak, raising her sword to intercept his inevitable path.
But before it could strike, Gerald twisted at a strange angle, dodging with uncanny agility.
"Is it a beast's instinct?" Mandy thought.
She inhaled deeply, recalling Black's words during training, trying to make her swordsmanship less rigid.
The clang of metal rang through the thick fog as Mandy's rapier sparked against the beast's claws.
"Girl, your sword is slower than a Marine's!" Gerald roared, lunging again.
Mandy lowered her center of gravity, sweeping her long sword upwards.
"Screech!"
A wound split across Gerald's abdomen.
For an Animal-type Devil Fruit user, such a minor injury barely mattered if anything, it fueled his ferocity.
Black raised a hand to halt the CP agents who were about to intervene.
To the remaining three, he said:
"These are yours. Let me see your growth."
At that moment, the Hyena Pirates' main ship, the Fog Night Howler, pulled alongside. Poruk leaped onto the deck, Crawford close behind.
Koala immediately jumped, smashing a fist toward Poruk.
The deck cracked like a spiderweb, but Poruk had already vanished from the impact point.
"Little monster, join our ship! With Captain Hyena, you'll find the Great Treasure and become Pirate King!" he shouted.
Seeing Koala's immense strength, Poruk grew excited, even considering recruitment.
But he didn't stop attacking; the anchor chain in his hand swung directly at her.
Koala rolled on the deck, dodging, though half her hair was sliced in the process.
Recognizing the opening instantly, Koala decided:
Cut him in the middle.
Whips, chains, even Whitebeard's bisento all long weapons become useless if an opponent closes the distance.
As she closed in, Poruk pressed his attack decisively.
Bang!
After firmly blocking one swing with her body, Koala grabbed the anchor chain.
She yanked hard, throwing Poruk off balance, then leapt up, straddling his head, legs wrapped around his neck.
Elsewhere, a sniper bullet whistled past Robin's ear. She smiled, unfazed.
"Your trajectory calculations are precise," she said.
"But a 10% rise in fog humidity decreases a flintlock's firing rate by 0.3 seconds."
Crawford's eyes widened as he raised his gun, readying another shot.
Robin had already disappeared behind the mast, only her voice echoing:
"Current humidity: 78%. Wind speed: four meters per second!"
"Over here!"
Bang!
Crawford fired, but no one was there.
He scanned the deck, sneered, and aimed at Mandy instead:
"Since you won't come out, I'll take care of you first, then slowly play with the brat!"
He pulled the trigger.
Click!
The gun jammed.
In that instant, six arms sprouted behind Robin, snatching the rifle and breaking off the scope.
She tossed it to the ground. A row of arms passed the weapon back to her.
"Flintlocks need cleaning every three shots, Mr. Sniper," she said.
"This time it was just a jam. Next time, it might explode."
Smiling, she waved the rifle and vanished again, securing her victory.
Robin knew Black only wanted to observe their practical combat skills.
Confiscating the sniper rifle had effectively nullified 90% of Crawford's combat ability.
Mission complete; the rest could be handled by the Slaves.
Black smiled helplessly, waving for the Slaves to take Crawford away.
His attention shifted to Perona.
The little girl had sprinkled beads near the Pirate Captain and now held a bottle of chili powder.
Perona nimbly weaved through the chaos, reaching Poruk grappling with Koala.
"Perona Sneeze Powder!"
A red mist erupted. Poruk's eyes watered, his nose ran, and Koala pinned him to the deck.
"Damn brat… Achoo! I'll… Achoo! Kill… Achoo!"
Perona ran past, sticking out her tongue.
"Nyah nyah nyah…"
She also hooked a fishing line onto Poruk's belt, the other end wrapped around the anchor's windlass.
Meanwhile, Mandy and Gerald's fight neared its conclusion.
Mandy used her sword tip to hook a rope, ducking a swipe from Gerald, already entangled by the rope.
She pulled hard. Gerald stumbled, trying to regain balance, but stepped on one of Perona's marbles.
The marbles rolled across the deck. Mandy seized the moment, thrusting her sword into Gerald's lung.
Seeing the battle end, Black finally rose from his lounge chair.
"Not bad. Your training seems to have been effective."
He gestured at Robin.
"Especially Robin, very calm, analyzing the opponent's next moves and planning accordingly."
Perona grumbled, glancing at Robin.
"Annoying bookworm!"
Black smiled, patting Perona's head.
"Of course, Perona also did well, assisting Mandy and Koala in defeating their opponents."
Perona cheered, pulling out another bottle of chili powder and running toward Gerald, who could no longer resist, restrained by the Slaves.
It was obvious what she intended.
Black went to Koala, offering encouragement to the one who needed it most, picking her up.
"Koala was very brave today!"
Koala beamed.
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
For Mandy, outwardly cold but inwardly delicate, Black simply held Koala with one hand and patted Mandy's shoulder with the other.
No words were needed everything was understood.
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