Rayleigh remained present. If he were to act now, he would most likely confront this overly curious old man. To make his hunt more efficient, Hikaru decided it was better to wait until Kidd and Law were isolated.
The Navy sailors currently surrounding the auction house were just small fry, serving as "experience points" for the three captains, Luffy, Kidd, and Law, to showcase their respective Devil Fruit abilities.
Major General Story watched the unfolding battle with an expressionless face. Capturing these pirates was only a secondary objective; the safety of the World Nobles was paramount.
He didn't have to wait long before a sailor, eyes wide with fear, came running and whispered in his ear: "Major General Story! Saint Rosward and Saint Charlos... both died unfortunately! As for Saint Shalria... we haven't found any trace of her yet, and the Marines are still searching the auction house."
"What!?" Story was horrified. If what the Marine said was true, wouldn't he, as the primary person responsible, be held accountable?
Ruined...
"These damn pirates! Do they know what they've done?!" Story roared internally, then shouted an order: "Everyone, stay alert! Don't let any of these pirates escape! Reinforcements will be here soon!"
"The shooting team, get in formation! Move the mortars to the front and prepare to fire! Shoot all the pirates!"
The Navy obeyed, taking action.
Luffy, Kidd, and Law grinned, saying in unison: "Then, let's meet in the New World!"
"Room!"
"Gum-Gum..."
"Magnetic Giant Arm!"
The field was immediately plunged into a chaotic melee, with the Navy becoming a passive punching bag. There was nothing they could do; after all, this world wasn't the "King of the Navy."
"Hey, Luffy! Zoro! Over here!"
On a vine on the outskirts, Duval, who had just received a miraculous facelift from Sanji, arrived with his brothers, specifically to pick up Luffy and his crew.
"There's no other way. Although I don't want to accept their help, the situation is urgent now," Sanji said, spreading his hands helplessly.
"Let's go! Let's catch up with Duval and the others!" Luffy urged everyone to follow, activating Gear Third first. He swung a massive fist at the Navy, carving a path.
"Three Sword Style: One Hundred Eight Pound Phoenix!" Zoro swung his swords repeatedly, sending Marines on both sides flying into the sky.
Everyone quickly fled to Duval's location, and under his arrangement, they escaped the scene on a Flying Fish Rider.
After rescuing Duval from slavery, Law leveraged this favor and easily recruited him as a subordinate.
This made Bepo very happy, and he excitedly said to Duval: "By seniority, you're my junior now!"
"That kind of thing doesn't matter, as long as I'm not a slave anymore!" Duval curled his lips and easily slapped away a Navy soldier attempting a sneak attack on Law.
Kidd acted the fastest and had already successfully escaped from a weak point on the Navy's right flank. After crossing a bridge, he destroyed it, temporarily curbing the Navy's pursuit.
Law did not follow Kidd as originally planned. Instead, he led the Heart Pirates to break out from the back of the auction house.
A hint of surprise flickered in Hikaru's eyes. It seemed his presence had affected something after all, which would require him to make another trip.
The Op-Op Fruit and the Magnet-Magnet Fruit – one has the possibility of granting immortality, the other can combine with his lightning power to cause greater damage. Was there any need to choose?
Of course, the Op-Op Fruit was more important. Hikaru didn't hesitate and closely followed Law's path from the sky.
After crossing an inland river and a long bridge, the Heart Pirates thought they had finally shaken off the Navy and were about to breathe a sigh of relief when they suddenly felt the area ahead become blindingly bright.
The next moment, a brilliant laser beam shot towards them. Law's face changed. The situation was critical. Without even thinking, he activated his Op-Op Fruit ability, teleporting everyone in the Heart Pirates to a safe location.
Bang!
Law looked at the distant attacker with lingering fear. As soon as he saw its appearance, a huge question mark popped into his head: Why is this guy here?
"Trafalgar Law! Bounty of 200,000,000 Berries, confirmed as target, eliminate!" The Pacifista, resembling a giant bear, spoke words of ruthless judgment like a machine.
"Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea! Why are you here?!"
The Pacifista didn't answer Law's question but continued to open its mouth wide, accumulating energy to fire lasers at Law.
"Damn it!" Law dodged again, gritting his teeth and urging everyone to attack together, though he didn't believe they could defeat Kuma, who was a Warlord of the Sea just like his enemy Doflamingo.
"This place is so close to Marine Headquarters, it's normal for anyone to show up here!" Duval calmly reminded everyone, then rushed forward to exchange blows with the Pacifista.
"That's... my father! Hikaru! You really let me see him!"
Bonnie shouted excitedly, even forgetting to call Hikaru "Onii-chan." She couldn't believe that the father she had thought about day and night had appeared before her like this.
Hikaru listened to the voice coming from his body and sighed helplessly. "I understand your desire to see your father, but I regret to tell you that he is not your father. He's an artificial weapon made based on your father's bloodline—a Pacifista!"
"Their interior is made of cloned flesh and blood and machinery. Pacifistas... they're just toys that only know how to obey orders but have no consciousness."
"Ah!?" Bonnie also noticed that the big bear below didn't have the Bible in his hand that he never put down.
"Artificial weapons... Is my father okay?"
"Don't worry, your father is still alive now, but you can't be sure about what will happen in the future."
"Ah..." Hikaru's words were so disheartening that Bonnie felt a pang of pain. She put on a cute expression and begged, "Onii-chan, please save my father, okay?"
Hikaru was silent for a moment, then replied calmly:
"I can't give you a definite answer. Saving people... Hehe, I can only say that I will capture his real body so that you can easily see him later. But if you want to truly 'save' him in his entirety, you still need to 'work' harder in the future."
Bonnie was stunned. Although she didn't understand what Hikaru meant by "complete," being able to see her father easily was a promise to her, right?
She knew in her heart that Hikaru, a stranger she had just met, had done his best by saying this much.
"Thank you, Onii-chan."
While the two were talking, the members of the Heart Pirates were struggling against the Pacifista. Even Law was sweating and gasping for breath.