Compared to the various battlefields that were either evenly matched or falling into hard fights, Yamato's side seemed pretty relaxed.
"Namuji Hyoga!"
Yamato casually swung her kanabo again, the bone-chilling freezing air instantly turning a pirate charging at her into a solid ice sculpture. She lightly shattered it into fragments scattered on the ground.
"Hmm, this is getting kinda boring."
Yamato shouldered her kanabo listlessly, her azure eyes scanning the chaotic battlefield with obvious disinterest.
"Isn't there any decent opponent around here?"
Those enemies who looked somewhat capable seemed to have already been claimed by Jack, Who's-Who, and the others. No turn for her.
Thunk!
Feeling bored, Yamato almost unconsciously swung her kanabo at the back of a fat man's head. He had his back to her and seemed focused on eating something.
But this time, the ice layer that'd just begun spreading along the kanabo was shattered by the man.
Hm?
Who's hitting me with a sneak attack?! No honor in combat!
Lucky Roux, wearing a green bandana, turned around with an annoyed expression. He even forgot to chew the large bone meat in his mouth.
He looked up at Yamato, whose expression was equally surprised. "You're Oni Princess Yamato?"
"Yeah, who are you, fatty?"
Yamato tilted her head, sizing up this fat man who could easily shatter her freezing air.
Then her face showed the excited smile of discovering a new toy. "Doesn't matter! Anyone who can take one of my hits without dying must be a decent opponent! Let's fight!"
"You don't recognize me?!"
Lucky Roux pointed at his fat face in surprise, his voice rising eight octaves.
What's with young people these days! He was the Red Hair Pirates' esteemed third-in-command!
If not for seeing Yamato's completely genuine expression, he would've suspected she was deliberately mocking him.
Since that's the case...
"Then go to hell and ask about my name!" Lucky Roux's tone suddenly turned ice cold.
His leg muscles instantly tensed. His spherically fat body erupted with terrifying speed, completely out of proportion to his size, like a giant meatball thrown with full force, charging violently at Yamato!
"Meatball Impact!"
"What?! So fast!"
Yamato exclaimed in surprise. "Despite being so fat, you can still be this fast?!"
She aimed at the charging Lucky Roux and swung her kanabo fiercely.
"Thunder Bagua!"
The next instant, the pitch-black iron rod wrapped in lightning and the meatball collided thunderously!
Bang!
In the collision of pure force, Yamato was shocked to discover she'd fallen into a disadvantage!
Overwhelming power she couldn't resist transmitted through the kanabo, numbing both her arms as she was violently bounced away like a ragdoll!
Crash!
The ice armor condensed on her body shattered under this impact, revealing the extremely excited face beneath.
"You're so strong! I'm actually not your match in raw strength."
Yamato couldn't help but admire him.
This was the first time besides her father and Kai that she'd suffered such a major loss in a pure power confrontation!
Just as she was marveling, she suddenly felt darkness above her head. Sunlight was completely blocked by a massive spherical shadow.
"Do you still have the leisure to marvel?"
Lucky Roux's cold voice rang out from above her like death's whisper.
Since they were on the battlefield, this was a life-or-death fight. For Shanks, for all his comrades, he would never show mercy to any enemy!
His fist covered in pitch-black Armament Haki suddenly cut through the air. Its speed was so fast it even left sound far behind, carrying terrifying power to crush everything as it smashed down at Yamato.
Yamato's pupils contracted.
Terrible, no time to block or dodge—
Bang!
Lucky Roux's unreserved punch, concentrating all his body's strength, struck solidly on Yamato's head, hammering her into the hard ground like a nail!
A crater over ten meters in diameter instantly appeared on the spot, with spiderweb cracks spreading outward.
"Waaah!"
Yamato's eyes rolled back as blood uncontrollably gushed from her mouth.
"Die!"
Lucky Roux showed no pause. His right arm muscles horrifyingly bulged again as he pulled back to the extreme, his waist twisting like a taut bowstring. His entire body seemed to transform into a fully drawn, ready-to-fire giant bow.
"It's over!"
That fist, seemingly capable of destroying heaven and earth, like a falling meteorite, smashed downward violently.
Just then.
A pair of unusually broad hands with pink pads resembling bear paws appeared timely between Lucky Roux's fist and Yamato, steadily blocking there.
"Please don't harm my comrade."
A gentle yet extremely firm male voice spoke calmly.
That terrifying fist struck solidly on those peculiar padded palms without hesitation!
Lucky Roux's brow furrowed deeply. The sensation was wrong!
Thump!
The massive impact force made the ground beneath Kuma unable to bear it, deepening the crater considerably. Kuma's expression tightened slightly.
Then he somewhat laboriously guided the force to the side with both hands. Lucky Roux's fist was forcefully diverted by this gentle yet irresistible power.
BOOM!
An incredibly condensed punch wind was diverted from its original trajectory, shooting past Kuma's side and piercing through the distant chaotic battlefield, leaving a terrifyingly deep furrow.
"Who the hell are you?"
Lucky Roux never expected that after coming over briefly, he'd have to ask the same question Yamato had asked him.
He rapidly searched through all known Beast Pirates wanted posters in his mind but couldn't find any information matching this silent, tall man before him.
Not an All-Star, not Tobiroppo, not even a named Headliner.
How could a fighter of this strength level have no bounty?!
Could he be Kaido's hidden secret weapon?
"Bartholomew Kuma, that's my name."
Kuma answered solemnly while quickly turning around. His massive hand gently but swiftly grasped Yamato's shoulder and lifted her from the deep pit.
At this moment, Yamato's consciousness had barely recovered. "Kuma, you saved me..."
Kuma had no time for lengthy explanations. The soft pad on his right palm glowed slightly as he gently patted Yamato's body.
Soon, a translucent red bear paw-shaped bubble slowly emerged from Yamato's body.
"Mm!"
Yamato's eyes suddenly snapped open. The severe pain and weakness that'd nearly made her unconscious instantly vanished without a trace. Her spirits immediately became vibrant.
She moved her body in surprise. "I don't hurt anymore!"
Kuma didn't explain much. He pressed his right hand against the red bear paw-shaped bubble and forcefully patted it.
The bubble shot out rapidly, instantly entering the body of a Red Hair pirate who was fighting Beast Pirates, completely unaware.
"Ahhh!"
That pirate's body suddenly stiffened, his movements instantly stopping. His eyes bulged as if suffering unimaginable torture.
Severe pain far exceeding his tolerance limit exploded from within his body.
He lasted less than a few seconds before being unable to even scream completely. His eyes rolled back as he fainted directly.
Before collapsing, he unconsciously murmured, "Wha... what's happening..."
"Great opportunity!"
The Beast Pirate fighting him wouldn't miss this heaven-sent chance. His blade flashed, directly sending this unconscious Red Hair pirate to the afterlife.
"What?!"
Lucky Roux's eyeballs nearly popped out of his small sunglasses.
That man could instantly transfer injuries and pain from one person to another? This ability was way too cheap!
Thinking about how he'd finally beaten an enemy half to death, only for Kuma to slap the injuries and pain away with one palm, bringing them back to full health...
Lucky Roux felt his teeth aching and head throbbing.
If this was really the case, how could they fight this battle? Might as well surrender early!
"I apologize; Yamato's pain should have been borne by me. But since we're on a battlefield, I can't be that soft-hearted."
Under Lucky Roux's suspicious gaze, Kuma actually bowed sincerely toward the dead Red Hair pirate's direction.
He quickly and quietly recited a brief prayer, wishing for his soul to rest in peace and ascend to heaven soon.
Lucky Roux could see the other's apology and prayer were heartfelt.
"The Beast Pirates could actually recruit a man like you."
Lucky Roux looked completely incredulous.
So gentle—completely inconsistent with the Beast Pirates' brutal and cruel overall style!
However...
Lucky Roux's expression suddenly turned cold, killing intent condensing again. "I can't let you continue walking on this battlefield!"
Even though he was just a cook, he could clearly foresee what catastrophic consequences allowing Kuma to freely heal Beast Pirates would bring to the battle situation.
They were already at a numerical disadvantage. If they couldn't effectively cause enemy casualties, this battle was impossible to fight!
With this thought, Lucky Roux hesitated no more.
His fist was again covered with pitch-black Armament as he charged at Kuma like a cannonball!
Clang!
The fist didn't hit Kuma but was blocked by an iron rod.
Yamato, transformed into werewolf form in her battle suit, grinned with burning fighting spirit in her eyes. "Your enemy is me!"
"This time, you might not be so lucky to have someone save you."
Lucky Roux sneered. "You'll die."
"That kind of thing..." Yamato's arm muscles bulged as she growled. "Who cares!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Lucky Roux felt tremendous force from the kanabo, actually pushing his fist and his fat body backward!
"Transforming into beast-human form increased your strength? And those clothes seem unusual too."
Lucky Roux's small eyes beneath his sunglasses narrowed, abandoning his last trace of contempt.
Though he hadn't used full strength earlier, the opponent's power increase was real.
Under the mutual force interaction, Yamato also stepped back several times before stabilizing, but her face showed no frustration. Instead, she was full of intense excitement.
Indeed, in this form, she had a chance to fight back.
"Kuma, go help others! Leave this to me!"
Yamato shouted and charged at Lucky Roux again.
On another crucial battlefield.
Kai and Beckman seemed trapped in a bizarre stalemate.
One stood in place, desperately sensing and dodging every deadly bullet; the other used powerful Observation Haki prediction to seize every fleeting opportunity, continuously shooting bullets at vital points.
Kai's body had now nearly become a bloody mess, covered with dozens of bullet holes of varying depths.
His usually powerful healing ability couldn't even keep up with the injury rate, only forcibly closing wounds to prevent further blood loss.
Fortunately, Beckman's Seastone bullets seemed limited too. He often mixed just one real killing shot among several ordinary bullets.
Otherwise, Kai would've collapsed long ago.
Even so, Kai's smile grew brighter, his eyes carrying a fanatic gleam.
In the constant process of observing, predicting, and desperately dodging Beckman's bullets, he could clearly feel himself beginning to touch the path ahead.
"Almost there, almost there!"
Kai shouted frantically in his mind while forcibly suppressing his excited emotions to maintain absolute calm.
Overly excited emotions would only interfere with Observation Haki's ultimate perception.
On the other side, Beckman's frown deepened. His cigarette was long forgotten, ash threatening to fall.
Something was very wrong!
Kai's prediction of his shooting trajectory and timing was visibly becoming more accurate.
From barely dodging at first to now moving with ease, even making small preemptive evasive movements...
They couldn't drag this out any longer!
Beckman suddenly spat out his cigarette butt, completely abandoning all distractions. His powerful Observation Haki locked onto Kai with unprecedented intensity. All his spirit, will, and life force were highly concentrated and poured into his beloved gun that'd accompanied him for years.
At this moment, he even abandoned breathing.
In seemingly frozen time, Beckman pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three carefully calculated pitch-black bullets shot out in a triangular formation, perfectly sealing off all of Kai's conventional evasion space.
Kai took a deep breath. His body moved like a boneless fish through various incredible minute evasions, ultimately having only one bullet graze his cheek, drawing a trail of blood.
Now, this is the chance!
Beckman had been waiting for this absolute gap when Kai's old strength was spent and new strength not yet generated.
He gently pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A gunshot so faint it was nearly completely masked by battlefield noise rang out.
Beckman's final killing blow shot toward Kai's heart.
Hit it! My last Seastone bullet!
"Hah..."
At this critical moment, Kai suddenly looked up, red light flashing in his eyes.
Without any thought, his body naturally and smoothly shifted slightly to the right, as if rehearsed millions of times.
The bullet grazed his chest and disappeared into the smoke and dust behind.
"I finally... saw it..." Kai's face bloomed with an incredibly brilliant smile. "That future!"
Though only a brief frame, that was undoubtedly a scene from the future!
Future Sight, mastered!