The moment they claimed the advantage was theirs, they had already lost it.
The pirates at the dock sneered as they closed in on Don, completely ignoring the nearly breathless Mad Dog Torf lying on the ground.
From the crowd, a burly figure suddenly lunged forward. His hands were shaped into clawed weapons, his entire bearing like a predatory feline. With a single leap, he was upon Don, slashing for his face with claws that gleamed coldly.
Boom!
Even without activating Observation Haki, Don still saw his movements as painfully slow.
Raising his leg, his foot wrapped in Armament Haki, Don lashed out in a straight kick. The pirate was blasted away like a fired cannonball, plowing a trench through the mob as he crashed through them.
The line of pirates caught in the path of his body were sent flying as well, none of them able to get back on their feet.
The surrounding pirates froze, their sneers turning stiff with shock.
A thunderous crash followed a heartbeat later. The pirate Don had kicked had smashed through the island town behind the docks, collapsing a string of buildings before falling silent.
Gulp.
The silence was so absolute that even the sound of someone swallowing echoed clearly.
"That guy's just one man—we've got numbers on our side!"
A furious roar broke the tension. A towering figure, massive axe in both hands, charged like a raging bull. He raised the weapon high overhead and brought it down toward Don.
Don lifted his blade, Flame, cloaked in Haki, and met the strike calmly. His body didn't even waver. The ship beneath him, however, groaned under the pressure, bow rising as the stern pressed deep into the water.
Another figure shot forward, his slender sword stabbing silently toward Don's flank.
With his left hand, Don caught the blade mid-thrust between his fingers.
"Ah!"
The pirates, emboldened by the sight of others attacking first, roared and surged forward with weapons drawn.
Bang! Bang!
Several fired their flintlocks at Don.
Ding! Ding!
Bullets shattered into fragments as they struck his body, their crisp metallic pings ringing in the air.
Lone Wolf Arashi, realizing his sword was trapped, immediately released the hilt and retreated several steps in quick succession. One clash was all it took for him to realize the truth—this man was on an entirely different level.
"You're running?"
Don flicked his wrist, hurling the sword he'd caught.
It streaked through the air like a shooting star, piercing Arashi's right chest and pinning him to the dock's stone floor.
At the same time, Don caught the blade of Big Axe Onwa's massive weapon in his left hand.
The four-meter-tall pirate refused to release his weapon. But Don's strength wrenched him into the air like a ragdoll, swinging him around as though he were nothing more than a colossal flail. Pirates were smashed aside in all directions, blood spraying in arcs.
When Onwa could no longer hold on, Don hurled both him and his giant axe away. The man crashed to the ground, still dazed from the impact, only for his own weapon to follow and slam down on top of him.
Crack.
The sound of breaking bones echoed through the dock.
By now, a wide circle had opened around Don. Pirates stumbled backward in panic, colliding with the masses behind them, plunging the mob into chaos.
The ground was littered with broken bodies. Some lay still, breathless. Others groaned in agony.
Leaping down from the ship, Don strode calmly across the carnage, heading straight for the encircling pirates.
The mob shrank away.
Seeing this, Don gripped the hilt of Flame and slowly drew the blade.
His eyes swept across the hundred-odd pirates that still remained.
Should I kill them all?
The thought flickered across his mind.
Killing no longer weighed on him. On his way back, every worthless pirate he'd encountered had already been sent to the bottom of the sea.
"You—what are you?"
Just as Don was deciding whether to finish the job, a figure leapt from the ruined town and landed before him. A man in a suit—except he was no man, but a black panther standing upright.
A Zoan user? An Animal-type Devil Fruit ability?
Don's eyes lit with interest. He held back his strike, focusing instead on the newcomer.
"Ah!"
One pirate shrieked and bolted. But after only two steps, a flying slash cut him down, his scream silenced instantly.
Don never looked away from the panther.
"A swordsman?"
The Zoan user's expression darkened at the sight of Don's slash, his gaze growing grave.
"You don't know whose territory this is?" he said coldly, trying to lean on the name of the power behind him.
After all, dueling a swordsman was no small matter. They might lack the raw durability of Zoan users, but their cutting power was unmatched. Picking a fight with one needlessly was suicide.
"Territory? Go on—tell me."
Don tilted his chin slightly, eyes glinting.
The pirates held their breath, too afraid to move.
In that brief exchange, they already understood—this handsome young man, no, this deadly swordsman—was not someone they could even hope to face.
"Seems you truly don't know. Leave now, and I can pretend none of this ever happened. Otherwise, if my lord learns of this, even as a swordsman, you won't survive his wrath."
The panther sneered, attempting both warning and threat.
"I told you—speak."
Don's brows drew together, his tone sharp.
"That name is not one you deserve to"
The Zoan user snapped back reflexively, too accustomed to throwing his weight around here.
Don's irritation sharpened into cold resolve.
Boom!
The stone beneath his feet shattered as he vanished forward. His Armament-coated hand clamped around the panther's skull.
Boom!
He slammed him into the ground with bone-crushing force. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact, spreading across the dock.
The dock fell into a deathly silence.
Every pirate stared, frozen, lungs burning as they held their breath. Some, less brave, were already on the verge of tears.
"I said—speak."
Don pressed the panther's head harder into the ground, his voice cold and commanding.
End of chapter...
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