There was strength in numbers.
And also being ready at any moment to use someone else as bait and then escape.
That was also a passive talent of pirates.
However, this fragile tacit understanding did not last long.
Law, walking at the front, was the first to stop. He looked sharply at the corner of the street ahead.
"Hey, hey, hey. Why is this guy here?"
Law's incredulous voice came out. Sweat ran down his face.
Kid followed his gaze and saw an unusually tall, burly figure—wearing a black jacket and white shirt, a bear-eared hat, expressionless—standing like an iron tower, blocking their path.
"Bartholomew Kuma!"
"A Warlord of the Sea! Why is 'Tyrant' here?"
"What's there to be afraid of!"
Though Kid's heart also tightened, his reckless character immediately ignited his fighting spirit. "Isn't he just a Warlord? We'll just fight our way through!"
Even as he said this, the hearts of all the Supernovas present sank.
If they had encountered a Marine Vice Admiral, they wouldn't have cared at all. They would have just charged through.
But facing a well-established Warlord of the Sea—these were existences that could maintain the balance of the world's pattern. They were not something that Supernovas like them could compare to.
Why were the Seven Warlords of the Sea the Seven Warlords of the Sea?
They themselves were great pirates that had given the World Government headaches!
Not far away—
Vivi, Robin, and Chopper were also evacuating in this direction.
Following the direction of the others' wary gazes, Robin's eyes narrowed slightly when she saw that tall figure.
"Kuma? Something feels off."
Robin said in a low voice.
She had seen this Warlord in the Florian Triangle. Though he hadn't clashed with Luffy at the time, the powerful pressure he gave off was even stronger than Moria's.
It was not like now.
As if it was just an empty shell.
The outfit, the build, the expressionless face—all identical. But there was a sense of dissonance.
"Luckily, his target doesn't seem to be us."
Chopper patted his chest in relief.
But no sooner had Chopper spoken than, at another fork in the road to their side-front, another identical tall figure appeared, as silently as a ghost.
"WAAAH! Why are there two Kumas?!"
Chopper jumped in fright.
Not just two Kumas.
At the same time, on another path leading to the port—
Nami, Bonney, Merry, and Zoro, who was covering the rear, also encountered an interceptor.
"Is that Kuma?"
Nami looked at the tall figure blocking the middle of the road, her expression changing.
"Father!"
The moment Bonney saw that familiar face, her emotions were completely out of control. She screamed and tried to rush forward desperately.
Too many questions, too much resentment, too much longing... all explode at this moment.
She just wanted to get to that man and ask him why he had disappeared without a trace, why he had become like this!
"Bonney, calm down!"
Nami's eyes and hands were fast. She hugged Bonney's waist tightly from behind. "Look carefully—there's something wrong with this man!"
"Let me go! He's my father!" Bonney struggled desperately, tears swirling in her eyes.
"Calm down. Nami's right."
Zoro had already bitten Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, gripping Sandai Kitetsu and the Black Blade Shusui in his hands. His expression was as he stood in front of the group. "This guy doesn't have the same feeling as the Kuma before. Though the appearance is the same, the aura is completely different."
Just then, a low voice came from nearby.
"The Pirate Hunter is right."
Everyone turned to look. A large, stocky man built like a wrestler walked over slowly.
His face and hairstyle resembled a girl's. There was a seam on his left face from his eye to his mouth.
He wore a red bellyband with a three-tomoe pattern and a strange design in the middle, a large rope knot around his waist, shorts, bandages on his right hand and left foot, and carried a huge ax in his hand.
"Sentomaru?"
Seeing this man, Bonney was visibly surprised. Her struggling lessened.
She and Sentomaru knew each other.
Many years ago, when she was seriously ill and traveling from place to place seeking treatment, she had lived with Kizaru, Sentomaru, and a genius scientist named Vegapunk for about six months.
That brief period was one of the few warm memories of her dark childhood.
They were friends, weren't they?
"What happened to my father?!" Bonney, as if grasping a lifeline, demanded of Sentomaru, her voice choked with tears.
"Bonney, you know this old man."
Sentomaru planted his huge ax on the ground, put his hands on his hips, and struck a proud pose. "This old man is the world's tightest-lipped man!"
Zoro clicked his tongue impatiently.
"Looks like he's an enemy too. I'll cut him down as well."
He moved as if to step forward.
"Wait!"
Bonney shouted urgently. She knew Sentomaru's personality. "Just wait a little longer!"
Sure enough, after delivering his manifesto about being tight-lipped, Sentomaru's began to squirm involuntarily, as if he had something he couldn't hold back. He seemed to struggle against some instinct, but finally couldn't help himself and mouth
let it out like a machine gun:
"They are not your father, Bartholomew Kuma. They are mass-produced human weapons—Pacifistas—created using your father's physical genes as a blueprint, combined with cutting-edge technological transformation!
This is their first deployment! Since so many pirates have gathered here, it's a perfect opportunity to test their combat effectiveness!"
He paused, as if trying to shut his mouth, but it opened again uncontrollably:
"Each of these things costs as much as a large warship. They possess amazing combat power surpassing that of ordinary pirate crews. They are absolute weapons that the World Government will use to sweep the seas and deal with pirates like you!"
"Weapons?"
Bonney was as if struck by lightning. She stood frozen, even forgetting to struggle.
"You turned my father into a weapon?!"
"This old man doesn't know the specific process,"
A flicker of complex passed over Sentomaru's face. He tried hard to keep his mouth shut, but ultimately deflated. "But the one thing I do know is that your father volunteered for the transformation."
Volunteered?
Bonney fell completely silent. All the color drained from her face.
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Why would her father willingly become an emotionless fighting machine?
Why?
She had written so many letters. Why had none of them been answered?
Countless questions and immense sadness instantly overwhelmed her.
"There may be many hidden circumstances here, but right now, you can't block our path!"
Zoro's gaze refocused on the Pacifista, his killing intent sharp.
Nami also gripped her Clima-Tact.
The most important thing now was to get back to the ship.
If so-called Pacifistas were blocking the way while the trade was still supposedly in progress, that could only mean...
Had the trade broken down?
"Merry, can you contact Sanji and the others now?"
"Yes, they're all..."
As a ship spirit, Merry could naturally contact her crewmates on the Thousand Sunny through the Going Merry. But the next moment, her expression changed dramatically.
"Oh no! Pacifistas have appeared near the Thousand Sunny too!"
Nami's heart sank. "It seems the deal is indeed not going smoothly. Is the Navy planning to wipe us all out in one go?"
Not just the Straw Hat crew.
The Navy clearly wanted to harvest even more.
The Pacifistas had blocked the Supernovas' escape routes.
"It looks like we can't leave without defeating him."
Urouge hugged his large diamond-shaped pencil, maintaining that strange smile. "Then this little monk will go first!"
"I'll join in too."
Law stepped forward, standing on the other side of Urouge. His right hand made a grasping motion. The invisible ROOM space quietly unfolded.
"I also want to try out the so-called strength of a Warlord of the Sea."
Hawkins was a man of few words but decisive action. He attacked directly.
He drew the sword from his waist. The blade was quickly wrapped with strange straw, extending and lengthening into a flexible, sharp straw whip.
Wara Wara no Mi: Tekubi Gatana!
The straw whip, like a slithering snake, struck the Pacifista's chest with great swiftness and a sharp sound of breaking through the air!
CLANG!
A sharp sound. The tip of the straw whip seemed to hit indestructible steel. It only left a faint white mark on the special material of the Pacifista's chest, producing a wisp of smoke. It couldn't even pierce the surface.
The Pacifista's huge body was only pushed back slightly by the force.
"Strong defense."
Hawkins said in a grave voice, his tone gaining a new seriousness.
Under attack, the scanner-like lenses on the Pacifista's face flashed with red light, as if locked on its target.
It spoke slowly, without emotion:
"'Surgeon of Death,' Trafalgar Law. Bounty: 200 million Berry."
"'Magician,' Basil Hawkins. Bounty: 249 million Berry."
"'Mad Monk,' Urouge. Bounty: 108 million Berry."
Having confirmed the target, the Pacifista slowly removed the glove from its right hand.
Not far away, Vivi, Robin, and the others were also in the same situation.
"Robin-neesan, look at his hand!"
Vivi had sharp eyes. She immediately noticed the difference.
The real Kuma had paw pads like a cat or dog in his palms—soft and cute, pink. But this Kuma had what looked like a gun barrel in the center of his palm.
And that gun barrel was rapidly charging, gathering golden light.
SWISH!
A laser fired from the Pacifista's palm without warning, its speed far beyond the reaction limit of ordinary people, targeting Hawkins, who had just launched an attack.
BOOM!
"A laser?" Hawkins exclaimed.
The laser hit Hawkins's position accurately, exploding into a dense cloud of dust.
But the moment the laser fired, Law and Urouge had already separated and launched their attacks!
Urouge charged from the left, holding his giant diamond-shaped pencil, swinging it with great force, tracing a sharp trajectory in the air, and with the final stroke carrying the force of a thousand pounds, he slapped it into the side of the Pacifista's head.
At the same time, Law on the right let out a low shout:
"ROOM: Tact!"
The power of a fruit worth 5 billion berries was naturally extraordinary.
The Ope Ope no Mi could cut anything.
But the invisible cutting power of the Ope Ope no Mi, when applied to the Pacifista, failed to cut it smoothly!
***
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