"Cough, ugh!"
Just as he circulated his Internal Energy to prepare to block Katakuri's attack, a mouthful of blood surged up his throat.
After coughing out a trace, Taro grit his teeth and swallowed the blood back down.
The Internal Energy returned to his Meridians and began to nourish his injured body.
However, Katakuri's attack didn't come; he just stared at Taro in silence.
Taro also looked at Katakuri, seizing the time to repair his wounds.
Taking a breath, his body recovered slightly, and the trembling in his hands and feet improved significantly. He straightened up once more.
Seeing that Taro seemed to have caught his breath, Katakuri's gaze darkened. With a flick of his wrist, the trident "tsuchiryū" appeared again.
Immediately after, his mochi-fied arm extended, and tsuchiryū thrust straight toward Taro.
Taro didn't move; he sensed that Katakuri's strike wasn't aimed at him.
"Boom!"
tsuchiryū pierced directly into the boulder behind Taro, then twisted.
"Crack!"
The boulder shattered into pieces.
Katakuri's gaze went past Taro, looking behind him.
Taro felt something and turned his head to look as well.
In the distance, at the edge of the coast and the forest, three men in all-white uniforms appeared.
One of the tall men seemed somewhat fearful, shrinking his neck back.
Among the three, the man leading the way—with a white pigeon perched on his shoulder—glanced sideways at the tall man without saying a word.
The tall man shuddered, silenced with fear, and quickly straightened his posture.
CP0! Rob Lucci!
Taro's gaze turned cold, and killing intent permeated the air.
Sensing the change in Taro's Aura, Katakuri furrowed his brows.
"It seems you know them!"
Taro stared fixedly at Lucci and the others, ignoring Katakuri's words.
"Heh, so these people are also involved in this?"
Katakuri laughed out of sheer anger, a light scoff escaping him. This was the first time in a long while he had shown such emotion.
He kicked off with his boots adorned with metal spurs, making a sharp "clink" sound.
He leaped instantly, appearing before Lucci and the others in the next moment.
"So, do you know Stussy as well?"
When Katakuri mentioned the name "Stussy," a cold light flashed in his eyes, and his tone became even more ruthless.
Lucci had his hands in his pockets, his thoughts unreadable.
Yet, facing Katakuri, he seemed quite confident as he said coldly:
"I do!"
Katakuri lowered his head slightly, staring at the responding Lucci.
"What is her identity?"
Lucci's eyes flickered, casting a quick glance at Taro in the distance before looking up to meet Katakuri's gaze directly.
"You don't need to know!"
Taro was quite surprised to hear Lucci say this.
He wondered where the Leopard-man, who had been defeated by Luffy, got the nerve to speak to Katakuri like that.
With Katakuri's strength, wouldn't it be easy to kill him?
Hearing Lucci's words, Katakuri's anger surged, his killing intent almost condensing into substance.
To the point where the air around him turned a purplish-black hue, and the "tsuchiryū" in his hand began to spin rapidly.
"Katakuri, we are here on the orders of the World Government and the Celestial Dragons to apprehend a major criminal."
Lucci also sensed Katakuri's killing intent, but his tone remained cold and arrogant.
"Are you going to attack us? On behalf of the Big Mom Pirates?"
Only then did Taro understand what Lucci was relying on.
In the pirate world, the vast majority of pirates are unwilling to directly confront the World Government.
Many pirates' first reaction upon seeing the Marines is to run.
Seeing a World Government ship, they flee without a second thought.
Lucci was certain that Katakuri wouldn't rashly attack someone representing the World Government and the Celestial Dragons without Big Mom's knowledge, which was why he dared to be so emboldened.
Taro couldn't help but marvel at the loyalty of Lucci, a man who believed in "Dark Justice," toward the Celestial Dragons.
If Katakuri couldn't suppress his rage, Lucci's life would end right here!
But obviously, the always calm and collected Katakuri would not act rashly.
Hearing Lucci's words, he frowned.
"I heard there's a group of Celestial Dragon lapdogs called CP0 active throughout the New World lately. I assume that's you?"
Lucci's expression turned cold at the word "lapdogs," but he quickly brushed it off.
Facing Katakuri's questioning, he neither admitted nor denied it.
The over-five-meter-tall Katakuri stared down at Lucci, then turned his head to look at the distant sea.
"In that case, Stussy—the woman who just ran away—is one of you too?"
This time, Lucci's expression finally changed more noticeably, and he also glanced toward the open sea.
Behind him, Kaku lowered his eyes, hiding his surprise.
The remaining tall man lowered his head in fear and trembled slightly.
Lucci's face was as grim as water, highly dissatisfied with his two teammates' reactions.
As for Stussy, he felt a lingering hatred.
She had already arrived but fled without a word—absolutely detestable!
His breathing grew heavy as he tried to suppress the rage in his chest, calmly saying to Kaku:
"We're not here for fun. Everyone, stay sharp."
"Let's go!"
After saying that, he took the lead and left, heading inland.
Katakuri gripped "tsuchiryū" tightly, watching the departing Lucci and the others.
After a long while, he loosened his grip slightly, turned around, and walked toward Taro.
"I see."
"That woman was bent on your death, yet you still covered for her like that. So that's how it is. You really are 'loyal'!"
Katakuri spoke with sarcasm.
Taro was speechless.
How could he have known that the Big Mom Pirates, with such a massive influence in the New World, wouldn't know Stussy was a member of CP0!
He just assumed that since Kaido did business with CP0, Big Mom must also know that Stussy was backed by the Celestial Dragons and the World Government!
"This wound of mine, I take it Stussy caused it?" Taro said softly, leaning on his sword.
"Yes."
Katakuri walked up to Taro, his over-five-meter frame like a tower, casting Taro into shadow.
"Understood. I'll settle the score with her!"
Having recovered somewhat, Taro lifted thunderstorm and looked up to meet Katakuri's gaze.
This upward-looking perspective is really annoying!
Taro complained inwardly.
"I said before, our battle isn't over yet!"
Katakuri looked down at Taro, his tone icy.
"And I said before: again!"
Taro's tone was indifferent.
"Boom!"
A bolt of red lightning and a bolt of cyan-red lightning erupted suddenly, two powerful forces intertwining.
"Sizzle!"
The electric currents twisted and sizzled, while a violent wind howled, kicking up dust and sand everywhere.
"Rumble!"
Rolling thunder sounded as clouds surged, carving a distinct rift across the sky.
From within the clouds, a thunderbolt poured down.
The purple lightning exploded in the air like a thunder dragon.
Immediately following that, a roar actually echoed from the distance.
"Thunder Bagua!"
Taro was instantly stunned.
Kaido?! He's on this island too?!
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