Chapter 112: A Failed Flex
"Captain… this doesn't look good!" Jinbin's voice trembled slightly.
Whoosh! No sooner had he spoken than the surrounding mantises charged in unison.
Clang clang! Vitas tensed, slashing both blades in an arc, sending two crescent-shaped waves forward. Bang bang! The frontmost black mantises were struck back, briefly opening a path.
"Follow me! Jinbin, cover the rear!" Vitas barked and rushed ahead.
The others followed, fending off the mantises while fleeing. Their attacks were fast and sharp — those bladed limbs weren't for show. Regular pirates would've been shredded by now.
Fortunately, the Twin Blades Pirate Crew was well-trained. Despite a few minor injuries, none were critical. They steadily pushed forward — and, coincidentally, headed straight toward Luo Han and his group.
Thus began a jungle parkour chase between mAnne and beast. The clashing of blades echoed through the forest as the pirates leapt over branch after branch, dodging and slashing.
Clang! While sprinting, Jinbin punched a mantis's blade aside, saving a crew member — the ship's navigator, a bald youth wielding a steel staff named Kun.
"Keep your eyes open! Stay with the captain!"
"Whew, thanks, Jinbin! I'll be more careful next time! Hehe!" Kun laughed, patting his chest and swatting a mantis aside with his staff.
Jinbin frowned silently. Kun had lingered too long in a fight earlier, and a mantis nearly slashed the back of his neck. Had Jinbin not intervened in time, things could've turned fatal.
Whoosh whoosh! Just as Vitas and his crew reached within 300 meters of Luo Han's ships, the mantises suddenly stopped and turned back — retreating as if their targets had vanished.
"Huff… huff…"
"Captain… what just happened?" Jinbin leaned on a tree, catching his breath and looking puzzled.
Thud, thud… The pirates collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Their clothes were torn and bloodied, hanging off them in tatters. They looked miserable.
Vitas, sitting on the ground, stared toward Luo Han's ships, which were partially visible through the trees — one large and one small vessel resting on the grassland.
"Doesn't matter what happened. We've reached our target. Get ready to fight. They probably know we're here."
"What? Now?" The crew groaned in unison at Vitas' words.
"Wait… what's that smell?"
"Smells like… roasted meat!"
The moment the aroma hit, all complaints vanished. The crew perked up, energized by the scent.
"Let's go, Captain Vitas! Let's crush those bastards! Roasting meat while we were being chased by mantises? So disrespectful!"
"Yeah!"
Vitas rolled his eyes but didn't object. He stood and began walking forward.
"Let's go. Jinbin and I are enough for this."
The rest followed. Soon, they emerged from the forest and stepped onto the grassland.
There, two large pirate ships rested peacefully near the cliff. In front of them, a group of men were happily roasting meat — Beastman Cole among them — along with two gorgeous women and a girl in a kimono. Luo Han, however, was not in sight.
"What do we do, Captain? They don't seem to have noticed us. Should we say hello first… or just attack?" Kun asked, gripping his steel staff.
Everyone turned to Kun with a dumbfounded expression.
"We're a hundred meters away. Of course they've noticed us!" they snapped.
In truth, the moment Vitas' crew arrived on the island, Cole, Tucker, Aishi , and Sora had sensed them with Observation Haki. But under a certain someone's orders, they pretended not to notice.
Just as Vitas was about to ask where Luo Han was, he suddenly appeared in front of them.
Boom boom! Startled, the crew instinctively jumped back — some even fell over.
Shing shing! Vitas drew both swords, eyes locked on Luo Han. Thud! Jinbin landed beside him, fist ready.
"That was a Devil Fruit trick, huh? Startling, but nothing more," Vitas sneered, trying to provoke Luo Han. But Luo Han said nothing, just stared ahead.
"He's standing so casually, but I can't find a single opening. Not even one. This guy really might be one of the New World's top dogs," Vitas thought, beginning to feel pressure.
Meanwhile, inside Luo Han's mind, a fierce internal debate was raging.
"Hm… what should I say next?"
'So you've finally come?' — No, no, too cliché.
'You shouldn't have come?'
'You're the ones who challenged me, Blue Demon?'
Maybe I let them show off their power one by one, then break through mid-fight and finish them in a single move? Or maybe I fake being pushed back, then unleash my full power?
"Yeah, that could work. Haha! That's a good script."
Just as Luo Han smirked, preparing to deliver his dramatic line…
Vitas's eyes narrowed. A weakness! he thought, and lunged forward. Both blades slashed at Luo Han's head. Jinbin followed up with a punch.
Uh-oh. The smirk vanished. Luo Han's face darkened.
BOOM! A torrent of Conqueror's Haki exploded from Luo Han like a Category 12 typhoon, sweeping across a ten-kilometer radius.
Thud! Thud! Vitas and Jinbin were hurled backward, crashing into their comrades. The rest of the crew collapsed instantly, eyes rolled back and unconscious. Vitas and Jinbin, reeling, barely managed to look up at Luo Han before blacking out in shock.
"Damn it! These guys don't play by the script! I didn't even get to say a single line — just smiled and they attacked!"
Sigh… Luo Han shook his head. "Maybe I'm just not meant for dramatic entrances."
Looking down at the unconscious Twin Blades crew, he frowned, then used telekinesis to toss them back onto their ship.
"They didn't really hurt anyone, so I'll let them go," Luo Han muttered, launching both the crew and their ship far off into the distance. Whoosh! In moments, they were gone.
"Hope you all live well… and don't come back."
He turned back toward the ship — only to be met with synchronized eye-rolls from the three women, especially Aishi and Toki. Their eyes nearly rolled all the way around.
"Hehe… my bad." Luo Han chuckled awkwardly, picked up a chunk of meat, and sat beside Cole and Tucker by the fire to grill it himself.
He had no choice. That blast of Conqueror's Haki had knocked out everything within ten kilometers — friend and foe alike. Only six people remained conscious on the ship… and Spoon-jie, who was racing back.
(END CHAPTER)
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