At this moment, Somu was absolutely boiling with rage.
The last time, Trens had pointed a gun at him, and Crocodile's intimidation forced him into retreat. He had been scared out of his wits, yet didn't dare take revenge. Great Pirate Crocodile, anyone in the first half of the Grand Line with some experience would have heard of how terrifying he was. Naturally, Somu couldn't afford to provoke him.
But who would've thought, today, they'd chase him all the way to his own home?
"Do they really think the Kornans Family is easy to mess with?!" Somu stood still, not making a move. He was just an ordinary person and understood well that he wouldn't be of much use in this situation.
But inside the courtyard, the guards stationed all around had already heard the screams from the gate and quickly rushed in to support.
A minute later, Somu saw a middle-aged man stride out from the main hall, dressed in a black wool trench coat.
"Father is here." Somu's expression relaxed a little. Compared to him, his father was a far more formidable figure. In Alabasta, few people didn't know his father's name.
He straddled both black and white (underground and legitimate) worlds. Especially in his early years, Somu was well aware of the dirty dealings his father had engaged in.
"Who are you people?"
At that moment, Kornans stepped out, followed by a group of richly dressed, imposing men. They surrounded him like stars orbiting the moon, making Kornans seem even more extraordinary.
He already was extraordinary. In his early days, he'd done countless shady deals, shed plenty of blood, and only five or six years ago had gone "clean," moving into legitimate trade.
"So this guy's family was shady to begin with." Crocodile sneered.
"No wonder he can do this kind of thing without blinking an eye." A sinister grin appeared on Crocodile's face.
Jason took a bold step forward and shouted:
"Shed some wealth, avoid a disaster. Buying your life with money, pretty good deal, right?"
Kornans was stunned for a moment, then chuckled mockingly:
"So you've come to rob me now?"
He didn't move, just reached into his robe and pulled out a fine, slim cigarette, lighting it leisurely.
As the cigarette lit, a wave of large men in black suddenly surged out from all directions in the courtyard. Their faces were vicious, weapons in hand, eyes fixed hatefully on the three intruders.
Kornans' expression turned cold as he said faintly:
"Looks like keeping my hands clean for too long has made others think I'm easy to bully."
"Chop them to pieces and feed them to the fish!"
He flicked the ash from his cigarette and gave the order. With that command, the black-clad enforcers in the courtyard sprang into action. These were hardened men, personally raised by Kornans. In the past, they had seen real battle and blood, true killers, no less dangerous than pirates from the sea.
However, what Kornans didn't realize was that these three who had come to his home were no ordinary opponents.
Whoosh!
Crocodile exhaled a puff of smoke, his eyes devoid of emotion.
"Who's up first?"
"Hah! Of course, me!" Jason laughed and leapt forward. His massive body cracked the ground beneath him as he landed with a boom in the middle of the enforcers. Then he swung his arm.
His tremendous strength sent more than a dozen men flying. Without slowing down, he pressed forward with loud laughter. Every step he took, another batch of men was sent flying. By the time they landed with a thud, they had all lost their ability to fight.
This scene left the people behind Kornans visibly shocked.
"This big guy is strong!"
"Who the hell are these people?!"
Kornans' eyes narrowed, a flicker of seriousness appearing in his gaze. He asked:
"Find out who they are!"
Immediately, someone rushed forward and whispered quickly in his ear:
"The one still standing by the gate… that's Crocodile, the great pirate with a 45 million bounty."
"Crocodile..." Kornans was momentarily stunned. His gaze involuntarily turned toward the figure still puffing away on his cigar.
Crocodile noticed Kornans staring at him. The corner of his mouth curled into a sinister grin, sending a visible shiver down Kornans' spine.
He understood perfectly, a pirate's bounty is directly proportional to their strength, and it reflected how much of a threat they were to the World Government. While Kornans had fought many battles in his early years, whether he could take on this man in front of him… that was highly questionable.
What's more, Kornans glanced once more at Jason, and his pupils narrowed sharply.
In less than a minute, over sixty of his personally trained enforcers had already been knocked down.
"That brute… is also a terrifying powerhouse!"
Taking a hard drag from his cigarette, Kornans forced himself to stay calm.
"Use your guns, shoot him dead!"
In the courtyard, the enforcers, frightened by Jason rampaging like a demon among them, finally panicked. Someone shouted, and several pulled rifles from their backs or handguns from their belts, aiming directly at Jason.
But just as they raised their arms, fingers tightening on the triggers, a sudden barrage of dull gunshots rang out,
"Pēng pēng pēng pēng!"
In the next instant, those drawing weapons let out cries of pain, blood exploded from their right shoulders, and they dropped to the ground.
"That kid!"
Kornans, who saw everything clearly, locked his gaze on Trens, eyes filled with grim intensity.
Just one rifle. A series of shots. And in less than two seconds, he'd simultaneously incapacitated multiple men.
"He only fired two bullets, yet rendered over a dozen people incapable of fighting... and every single shot landed cleanly on their shoulders!"
Someone behind Kornans gasped in disbelief.
It was almost unimaginable, unless the bullets could curve midair!
Holstering his weapon, Trens wore a calm expression. He stepped forward and stood beside Crocodile.
"Huuuh…"
Crocodile exhaled a puff of smoke, eyes glancing toward Jason's ongoing fight. He frowned slightly.
"Too slow. We need to wrap this up quickly. If we attract the attention of nearby guards, things might get... annoying."
Of course, only annoying, nothing more.
"Then let's do it."
Trens nodded, raised his rifle, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The muffled shot rang out. A nearby thug gave a low grunt and collapsed.
Crocodile's black cloak billowed as he strode forward. Raising his right hand, he clenched at the air in front of him.
As he moved, the crocodile emblem on his shoulder disintegrated into a cloud of sand, which roared forward in a swirl of windborne grit.
In the blink of an eye, the swirling sand twisted into long rope-like tendrils, shooting straight toward the enforcers.
"Sandbind!"
Crocodile's deep voice echoed, and he clenched his fist.
Ka-cha!
Ahhhhhhh!
The sound of bones breaking and screams rang out simultaneously. The sandy tendrils split into dozens of ropes, binding a large number of enforcers and hoisting them roughly three meters into the air.
"Huuuh…"
Exhaling slowly, Crocodile spoke again:
"Dry and Split."
A strange force traveled through the sand ropes and in the next moment invaded the bodies of the restrained men. Then, it spread.
Ka ka ka!
In an instant, the water inside their bodies began to rapidly evaporate. Their flesh withered. Their expressions froze mid-scream. And one after another, they turned into mummified corpses, hanging in midair.
Seeing this, Kornans and the people behind him completely lost their composure, their faces turning pale with utter terror.
(End Of This Chapter)
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