OPTC Chapter 298: 1, 2, Zango!
The distance between the two ships was getting shorter. Kuro wasn't panicking at first. He simply ordered his crew to keep firing. The closer they got, the easier it would be to aim, right?
Although the flag on the other ship looked somewhat familiar, Kuro didn't pay it much attention. It was probably some well-known merchant group. Once they plundered them, he'd find out soon enough.
But before long, he sensed something wasn't right. The cannonballs were indeed becoming more accurate, but not a single one hit its mark.
Some of the cannonballs that should've connected were suddenly veering off course as if blown away by the wind, and some were inexplicably sliced clean in half. Kuro began to wonder if his nearsightedness had gotten worse—or if he was seeing things.
Then he saw her: a woman with her hair tied back in a ponytail, wielding a massive black sword, cleaving a cannonball in midair. Only then did Kuro force himself to accept the truth—this time, he was up against someone far beyond ordinary.
The pirates who witnessed this were dumbfounded. Who could split a cannonball with a sword? And even if you could—why did it explode in two perfect halves?
Zango stammered nervously, "C-Captain! What do we do?!"
Kuro pushed up his glasses. "What do we do? I'd like to know that too," he muttered grimly. Nowhere in his plans was there a contingency for "enemy completely immune to cannon fire."
If it were him facing incoming cannonballs, he'd dodge, obviously. Kuro was confident in his speed and reaction time, but hacking cannonballs in half had never been on his list of options. Clearly, this woman's strength exceeded his own—and she wasn't alone. Someone else seemed capable of manipulating the wind to deflect their shots.
Watching the shells get sliced or blown away, Kuro quickly reassessed the situation and gave a new order. "Turn the rudder. Retreat! Take that route!"
The route he referred to led through a reef-filled sea. Anyone unaware of its layout could easily run aground. Kuro had discovered it by chance and used it as an escape route to lose persistent pursuers.
"Yes, Captain!"
The pirates obeyed immediately, as they always did. Whether or not they understood his reasoning, they had learned to follow Kuro's orders without question. That approach had always seen them through any trouble.
In Kuro's mind, strength alone didn't rule the seas. Intelligence did.
But ten minutes later, Kuro realized something was very wrong. "Why is their ship so fast?" he muttered. They were closing in rapidly. At this rate, they'd be overtaken before even reaching the reef field!
"Open fire! Fire everything we have! Prepare for boarding!" Kuro barked, gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white.
He had faced danger before, but this—this was beyond anything he'd expected. His carefully calculated plans were falling apart, one after another.
Kuro stared at the familiar-looking flag again. A spark of recognition flashed through his mind. "It's them!"
He was one of the few pirates who valued intelligence. The newspaper was one of his key sources. Under pressure, he finally remembered where he'd seen that ship before—it belonged to a traveling group that had helped the Marines defeat the great pirate Golden Lion.
Sweat trickled down his forehead. He didn't fully grasp just how powerful Golden Lion was, but one thing was certain—he had crossed paths with someone he couldn't afford to provoke. Worse still, escape seemed impossible.
"Captain?" Zango noticed Kuro's face had gone pale—he had never seen his captain look frightened before.
"Listen, Zango. Once the boarding begins, hypnotize everyone immediately!" Kuro barked, heading below deck to retrieve his weapons.
Zango gulped. "It's that serious already?"
…
On the other ship, Artoria gripped the wheel tightly, her expression grave. Her riding skill was in full effect, and the Amber was rapidly closing in on the Bezan Black.
Cannonballs whistled through the air as Zhang Da Ye, Rui Meng Meng, and Wendy sliced or blew away any that came close to striking their vessel.
Beneath the waves, Shark Chili was monitoring the situation. "Artoria, it's just a small pirate crew. No need to be so serious, right?"
Artoria's tone was firm. "Anyone who ruins our hot pot dinner is unforgivable."
She had specifically asked Ye Yan and Brook to guard the dining room to keep the hot pot from spilling while she personally took the helm to chase the culprits down. Even so, her heart ached for the ingredients they'd just put in—food that had barely had time to cook.
If Shark Chili hadn't mentioned that the crew's bounty totaled nearly twenty million, Kuro and his lot would've already been dealt with by Curry Stick.
"Once we catch them, let me handle it," Zhang Da Ye offered. "You can all go back and eat. I want to stretch my muscles anyway." He had heard Kuro used a skill called Silent Step, supposedly on par with Soru. He wanted to test himself against it.
Artoria considered this for a moment. As much as she liked catching pirates herself, returning to finish her hot pot was far more tempting. She scanned ahead. "There are sixty-four of them. Are you sure you'll be fine?"
"No problem. I could use the workout," Zhang Da Ye replied confidently. "At worst, I'll bring Tom along just in case."
Meow, I wanted to eat hot pot too! Tom protested internally as Zhang Da Ye grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.
"Then it's settled." Artoria locked onto the target ahead as the Amber surged forward.
When the distance was right, Zhang Da Ye lifted Tom in his arms, stepped onto the ship's cat-shaped figurehead, and leapt toward the Bezan Black with immense force.
"What? He's jumping from that far? Damn it, too late!" Zango grabbed his hat with one hand and swung out his hypnotic ring with the other, dangling it from a fine string as it swayed.
"Everyone! Look closely at this ring! Listen up—when I say '1, 2, Zango!' you'll become stronger! You won't feel fear or pain!"
The pirates, trusting in Zango's skill, stared intently at the swinging ring.
"One, two… Zango!" Zango pulled his hat brim low, shielding his eyes to avoid hypnotizing himself.
Just as he spoke, Zhang Da Ye landed on the deck.
The pirates lowered their heads slightly, then suddenly looked up with wild, white-eyed rage. Their muscles bulged, veins popped, and they let out feral roars.
"ROAAAR!"
Like a horde of berserkers, they charged at Zhang Da Ye with their weapons raised high.
"What the—?" Zhang Da Ye blinked. "They go berserk the moment I land?"
Before he could react, the weight in his hands vanished—Tom had jumped out. His eyes rolled white, muscles swelling, body growing larger like a tiny green giant.
"…" Zhang Da Ye stared blankly. "You too? I'm seriously starting to think you're related to Luffy."
Tom was beyond hearing now, flexing like a bodybuilder as he advanced on the pirates, each step shaking the ship.
Zango's jaw dropped. "What's with that cat?!"
But he quickly brushed it off. So what if a cat was affected by his hypnosis? "Even if it gets stronger, it's still just a cat!"
Boom. Boom. Boom. Tom's heavy footsteps echoed as he collided with the pirates.
The hypnotized crew had no sense of reason left. Whether human or cat, they attacked on instinct—kill or be killed!
One pirate swung a huge sword down—Tom caught it effortlessly with one hand. Another swung from the side—Tom caught that too. With a grunt, he wrenched both swords away, smashed them together, then kneed them, snapping both blades cleanly in half.
The two pirates snapped out of their hypnosis just in time to get punched squarely in the face, sent flying with a scream. Behind them, the wooden planks bore visible fist-shaped craters.
The rest of the pirates froze for a second—then, in perfect unison, decided to ignore Zhang Da Ye and charge Tom instead.
What followed could only be described as "like Stephen Chow charging into the Axe Gang."
Dozens of pirates were sent flying one by one by Tom's punches. Some got stuck in the mast, others embedded into the deck or walls. One even soared past Zhang Da Ye's head and crash-landed back on the Amber.
Zango was speechless. "What breed of cat is that? Sell me one!"
But there was no time for jokes. His entire crew had been beaten down, even the strongest cat-man brothers, Buj and Sam. Panic set in. "I have to hypnotize him now or we're doomed!"
Zango swung the ring again. "One, two, Zango!"
Tom froze, shrank back to normal size, and collapsed on the floor, snoring softly with a snot bubble.
"Phew…" Zango wiped his forehead, glancing at Zhang Da Ye nervously. If the pet was that strong, the owner must be terrifying. "Captain Kuro, please hurry back. I can't handle this alone…"
To his surprise, Zhang Da Ye looked just as relieved. "Thanks, man!"
If Zango hadn't hypnotized Tom, Zhang Da Ye had no clue how he'd calm the cat down without getting punched through the hull himself.
"What's going on here, Zango?" Kuro demanded coldly as he emerged from below deck, weapon in hand. The ship was in ruins. "I was gone for one minute!"
"Captain Kuro! It's… it's him! The enemy's too strong! Even hypnotized, the men were no match!" Zango stammered, pointing first at Tom snoring on the floor, then hastily redirecting his finger toward Zhang Da Ye.
Because really—who would believe a cat took out fifty pirates? If Kuro thought he was lying, he'd be dead for sure.
"So it's you?" Kuro said grimly. "To meet such a strong opponent—my luck truly is rotten. But coming here alone? That's arrogance." He adjusted his glasses, now wearing his Ten-Blade Cat Claws—gloves with two-foot blades extending from each finger. His habit of pushing up his glasses came from avoiding cutting his own face with those blades.
"You shouldn't have interrupted our hot pot," Zhang Da Ye said flatly. "And for the record, those guys weren't me—it was my cat."
Kuro frowned. "Do I look like an idiot? Who chases pirates over a meal, and what kind of stupid-looking cat could beat fifty men?"
Zango wiped cold sweat from his brow. He's telling the truth, Captain!
As Kuro assumed Zango was just backing off to avoid being hit by his own attacks, he ignored him.
Zhang Da Ye sighed. "Forget it. You wouldn't believe me anyway." Then he raised a fist.
Kuro shifted his stance. Zhang Da Ye noticed the pirate wore a suit—but instead of shoes, he had thick striped socks.
In an instant, Kuro vanished and reappeared behind him, claws slashing toward his neck.
Zhang Da Ye raised his arm, activating Iron Body. The claws ripped through his sleeve but failed to pierce his skin. "Nice speed, but I can see through it. Strength's average, though."
"What?" Zango gasped. "He saw through Silent Step?"
"Stop boasting," Kuro snapped, reappearing in front of him. "You may have blocked one hit, but your arm should be—wait… what?"
Zhang Da Ye tore off his shredded sleeve, revealing uninjured skin. He grinned. "Soru."
Bang! Before Kuro could react, Zhang Da Ye appeared before him and punched him square in the chest, sending him crashing into the mast.
"H-how do you also know the Captain's Silent Step?" Zango stammered. Then frowned. "No… there was sound. A similar technique?"
Zhang Da Ye didn't answer. He flashed beside Zango and knocked him out with a single blow.
"This ring looks fun," he said, taking the hypnotic ring from Zango's hand. "I'll borrow it for study. This hypnosis is almost as strong as a buff fruit."
"Looks like I'll have to use that move…" Kuro muttered, standing weakly against the mast. "If you've taken out everyone… fine."
His head lowered, hands hanging loosely at his sides, the claws gleaming faintly.
"Spoon," Kuro whispered.
He vanished.
Scrrrtch! Deep claw marks ripped through the deck—then the mast—then the sail. He was slashing wildly, losing control, tearing apart his own ship.
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