Luffy's attack, in particular, even made her feel threatened; she saw that even with Armament Haki attached to the giant fist, it couldn't shake Hera's steps.
Capone Bege said, "Everyone get out of the way. I'm going to pry open this area. Whether you can escape depends on your own ability. 'Castle: Full Size - Big Father'!"
Capone Bege's body turned into a giant castle and appeared in this area; the 80-meter castle pressed against Hera's City of Devouring Time.
Hera also felt it was about time to let them out. She loosened the City of Devouring Time's suppression of the castle, creating the illusion of it being burst open.
"To actually think of using sheer size to break the deadlock—what a good idea. But if they run away, what about you?"
Hera watched the crowd scatter and flee after the City of Devouring Time was released. She didn't pursue them, but instead looked up at the castle Capone Bege had transformed into and asked.
Capone Bege's muffled voice rang out from inside the castle: "If I didn't turn big, we would all die. Besides, who says I can't escape?"
Hera looked at Capone Bege's castle and saw two elongated arms. They were Luffy's arms; Luffy was using all his strength, trying to pull 'Big Father'.
Hera watched with interest. Then, Capone Bege released a round of cannonballs. After Hera raised her gun and shattered the cannonballs, she found that no sound of explosion followed; instead, continuous smoke billowed out.
Capone Bege took this opportunity to cancel his 'Big Father' state and flew out, following Luffy's pulling force.
Hera laughed: "This really is... everyone has their own way."
Although Hera's Observation Haki detected their escape routes, she didn't pursue them because one person remained.
Hera looked toward Hawkins, whose body was composed entirely of straw, and said, "What's wrong? Aren't you running? You might have been able to save your little life."
The scarecrow Hawkins had transformed into shook its head: "I saw no sign of death on their faces. On the contrary, my survival rate is 0%. I cannot escape."
Hera laughed upon hearing this: "What a smart man. Since you're so sensible, I'll give you a painless way to die."
Hawkins asked: "Before I die, I want to know, why me? In terms of threat to the Marine, it shouldn't be my turn, right?"
Hera said, "I am the gentlest Marine. Since this is your dying wish, I'll let you die knowing the truth."
"It's because your Devil Fruit is very interesting. I'll be taking the Paramecia Straw-Straw Fruit."
Hawkins felt somewhat helpless. Even as a pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million, he could not control his own fate in front of Hera.
"Alright, you can leave in peace. Someone will come to accompany you soon."
Light gathered at the muzzle of 'Forging Sky', and 'Lions Bullet' erupted from the barrel, piercing through Hawkins's 'Goma no So' scarecrow body.
Under Hera's control, the 'Lions Bullet' pierced back and forth through Hawkins's body. On Hawkins's arm, Redirection Dolls kept falling off.
Just then, a burst of music rang out. Dressed in a pink Chinese outfit with the character for "Sound" embroidered on his chest, wearing headphones and black glasses,
Scratchmen Apoo, who had teeth like piano keys, stood on a building and began to play his arms, which had turned into musical instruments.
Standing on the roof, Apoo looked at Hera and thought to himself, "As expected of the Marine. Does such a young Vice Admiral really possess this kind of strength?"
As the notes danced and the music played, Hera nodded: "That's quite a nice tune."
The dark shadows of the City of Devouring Time bound Hawkins. He couldn't break free from the shadows enhanced by the Shadow-Shadow Fruit and could only helplessly watch as his straw dolls dwindled.
'Scratch: Bo'—a loud bang erupted from Apoo's chin, which had turned into a cymbal. The sound note triggered an explosion, blowing a gap in the shadows binding Hawkins.
After his strike landed, Apoo didn't even check on Hera's condition. He quickly leaped across the rooftops, wanting to leave this place immediately.
As the smoke from the explosion cleared, Hera looked at the fleeing Hawkins and Apoo. She swung 'saikū', creating two rifts in the air, and the City of Devouring Time surged toward them.
"Wouldn't it have been better to just stay still and wait for your life to run out?"
Hera's voice reached their ears through the rifts. The weakened Hawkins was snatched back by the shadows and gradually sank into the City of Devouring Time.
Hera's figure flickered to the other side. By the time the leaping Apoo noticed the spatial rift in front of him, it was already too late.
White light shimmered on the 'saikū' in Hera's hand. Apoo's perception abilities screamed in alarm as he tried to dodge the blow.
But suspended in mid-air, he had nowhere to push off from and could only crash headlong into Hera's 'saikū'.
'Cancer Sword' slashed toward Apoo. Having not yet mastered Armament Haki, how could he resist the sharpness of space? His body split in two along the line of the slash.
Blood gushed from the wound as if a rain of blood were falling.
The City of Devouring Time swallowed Apoo's severed body. The Paramecia Sound-Sound Fruit and the Paramecia Straw-Straw Fruit emerged within the City of Devouring Time following the deaths of their previous owners.
Hera took out Apoo's Sound-Sound Fruit and weighed it curiously, wondering if this fruit could be combined with Uta's Sing-Sing Fruit.
Looking at the fruit, Hera felt a bit sentimental. After Shanks returned that time, Uta was no longer on the Red Hair Pirates' ship. Every time she asked Shanks, he wouldn't say where Uta had gone.
Her teeth itching with anger, Hera said fiercely, "Shanks, the next time I see you, I'm going to beat you up for Uta's sake. Losing Uta when she was so small—what kind of parent does that?"
For now, Hera could only wait for Uta's singing to spread. Only then could she follow the sound to find where that legendary Island of Music actually was.
Hera shook her head; now was not the time to think about this. Her Observation Haki spread out into the distance, locating the Straw Hat crew and Bonney.
The crew of the argo descended from the sky. Ain asked Hera curiously, "Why did you have us fly into the sky instead of letting us join you?"
Hera said, "They haven't grown up yet. With so many of us here, how could we let them leave?"
Then Hera took out a map and marked the location of the Straw Hat crew: "Go here. If my detection is correct, the Straw Hat crew has stopped at this spot."
"Zoro, Nojiko, and Sanji should all be here."
Hearing Hera's words, Kuina, Nami, and Reiju's eyes lit up, and they began rubbing their hands in anticipation.
The three of them smiled at each other: "Is that so? Then these wretched pirates are ours."
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