CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—!
Kuro's attacks accelerated.
Spidey was forced back step by step, fresh cuts opening across his body.
So all that earlier fighting… was he playing with me?!
Kuro hooked the spear shaft and yanked hard.
Spidey's grip—already unstable—broke.
The snake-spear flew free.
"Rankyaku!"
Kuro's kick detonated—
Spidey took it square in the face.
"AAGH—!"
He crashed backward.
"Mantis Quick-Slash!"
Kuro whipped both arms.
A storm of tiny blade-waves shredded forward.
SHK-SHK-SHK—!
Blood burst everywhere.
Spidey's upper body was torn to ribbons.
Not one clean patch remained.
Am I… going to die?
Spidey's mind went blank—
then snapped onto something bitter and stupid:
The boss still hasn't paid me…
I'm dying before I even get my money?
His eyes reddened further.
He pulled out a pill.
Kuro stopped.
Because Spidey's aura changed.
It felt—
too similar to the crocodile earlier.
Kuro's grin widened.
"Finally."
"Let me see Zoan Awakening up close."
"Maybe you'll be useful experience."
"I'm trying to Awaken too, you know."
Not far away—
After a full day of fighting, the masked woman's stamina was gone.
Ain knocked her blade aside and spoke calmly.
"Any other tricks?"
"Ha… ha…"
The masked woman panted, glaring at Ain.
"You idiots don't even understand what you've provoked."
"If the adults had gone all out… you'd have been dead ages ago."
Ain narrowed her eyes.
"I knew something was off from the start."
"If Pi'ekkro really had power like this, why isn't he competing with the Emperors?"
She tilted her head.
"So you're the rats who came sniffing around Bai Hezi before."
"Shut up!" the masked woman barked.
"Rats?!"
Ain smirked.
"You act in shadows and you're offended someone calls you what you are?"
The masked woman's eyes sharpened.
"Hmph. If that girl had been willing to cooperate with us…"
"You'd all be dead and wouldn't even know how."
Ain clicked her tongue.
"Big talk."
"I'll admit you have experts."
"But the captain told me something."
"You can't see the light. The moment you're exposed, you die."
"That's why you hid under Pi'ekkro's flag."
"Trying to wipe us out in one strike."
She smiled—cold and confident.
"Too bad."
"You miscalculated."
"The captain isn't who he used to be."
"And neither are we."
The masked woman clenched her teeth.
"…We did underestimate you."
"Even when you fought Vice Admiral Garp, you still didn't go all out."
Ain's smile deepened.
"Or maybe…"
"Garp was just too strong."
"So strong we couldn't go all out."
The masked woman's gaze steadied.
"Enough talk."
She lifted her sword.
"For the organization… my life is nothing."
Ain raised both blades and crossed them.
"Two-Sword Style: Demon Slash."
SHING—!
They passed each other in a single crossing flash.
Ain lowered her blades calmly.
She had no real wounds—only a few holes torn in her clothes.
Clink.
The masked woman's sword fell from her hand.
Her lips moved faintly.
"Life unending… lantern flame eternal…"
Ain walked over and picked up the sword.
A fine blade—good enough to keep.
She looked toward the shore.
Enel's group had already punched through the rabble.
The enemy was boarding ships and fleeing.
In the moonlight, Ain also saw a boat farther out pulling away.
Retreating.
Abandoning any thought of joining the fight.
Ain's instincts were right.
They were leaving.
News traveled fast—Morgans' information network covered the seas.
If they stayed longer, the risk of exposure rose sharply.
As for Shura…
If he died, he died.
Dying for the organization was his "honor."
They still believed Shura would kill White Ghost first.
White Ghost's strength was beyond expectation…
but so what?
On the battlefield, Franky watched the distant boat retreat, frustrated.
"There's a big fish on that ship…"
"Big fish?"
A-Er, sprawled on the ground, cracked one eye open.
"Where?! If there's fish, roast it— I'm starving."
"Idiot," A-Da smacked him.
"That's not food."
"Fish you can eat live in the sea."
No one bothered with the two morons.
Señor Pink lit a cigarette, staring ahead.
"We shouldn't chase."
"We don't know who those people are, or how strong."
Django nodded.
"Yeah. We've been fighting all day."
He glanced around.
Enel, Urouge, A-Da, A-Er…
all were collapsed flat.
If not for the faint rise and fall of their breathing, you'd think they were dead.
Franky forced his hands together.
Yellow energy gathered weakly between his palms.
"Then I'll at least fire one shot!"
"Franky—Radical Beam!"
SHOOOOM—!
A beam lanced out.
The moment it fired, Franky collapsed too.
He lifted his head with effort to watch.
The beam was about to hit—
when a sword wave flashed down from above.
BOOOOM—!
The slash split the beam.
Smoke billowed.
When it cleared, the boat was gone.
"What a waste…"
Franky said that—and immediately started snoring.
Django clicked his tongue.
"So there were still experts hiding."
"No wonder the boss says to stay humble."
"You never know how many monsters are out there."
WHOOSH!
Kontena reappeared with Neiqin and Olga.
The two women rushed straight to A-Er—he'd been charging like a lunatic and was badly injured.
Kontena blinked again.
Then returned with Ashie.
Ashie checked Franky's condition.
One by one, Kontena shuttled everyone back.
After the "Uta trio" finished their opponents, they flew over with Elenna's group.
The mountaintop was no longer safe.
White Ghost and Shura had both gone feral—no holding back.
Mountains were splitting. The earth was collapsing.
Pedro glanced at Django, lips curling.
He'd killed an Emperor Crocodile.
Django had been stuck cleaning mobs.
Bai Hezi looked at the corpses and swung her blade.
Black flames spread, burning over the bodies.
Then—
A monstrous roar shook the battlefield.
Everyone looked up.
A hundred-meter serpent erupted into view—
And in the sky, a three-meter mantis flailed its arms wildly, carving through the air.
"Yikes," Django muttered, pulling at his mouth.
"Another Awakening failure?"
"Zoan Awakening is that hard?"
Django—an Ancient Zoan himself—suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Kuro flashed again and again, shredding the massive serpent.
The Titan Python tried to coil around him—
but Kuro was too fast.
Slash—retreat.
Slash—retreat.
The heavy beast could only rage helplessly.
Kuro finally settled on a conclusion.
"It's over."
"Even awakened like this, you're nothing special."
"Not real resolve."
"Just a beast."
He appeared beneath the python's lower jaw.
Both arms crossed.
"Mantises are predators."
CRACK—!
The python let out a massive scream and collapsed.
Its body twitched blindly, reflexes only.
Kuro licked the blood off his hand.
"Ancient Zoan tastes… pretty good."
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