"The young master ordered the two of us to keep an eye on them..."
Buffalo, hovering in mid-air, stared at the crowd below and said, "So, do we just do nothing now?"
"Of course not."
Baby 5 replied, "At the very least, we need to confirm Caesar's whereabouts first!"
Although she believed Doflamingo deserved to die, a mission was a mission!
So, she needed to check on Caesar's situation first.
"Then we'll have to take a look from a distance." Buffalo glanced in the direction where Merry and the others had just left and said, "We just don't know if those people are also looking for Caesar."
If they were also searching for Caesar, then they needed to act quickly.
With that thought, Buffalo prepared to take Baby 5 to investigate.
But before he could make a move, he heard Baby 5's voice from behind: "No need to go there. I've already found Caesar."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Buffalo's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Where?"
If they could find Caesar ahead of time, that would be perfect!
It would save them a lot of trouble.
"He's with the Straw Hat Crew." Baby 5, using her weapon's scope to observe the situation below, narrowed her eyes and said, "It looks like he's been caught with Sea-stone Handcuffs."
As she spoke, Baby 5 carefully examined the Sea-stone Handcuffs on Caesar's hands and nodded, confirming her own thoughts.
That thing was indeed Sea-stone Handcuffs.
"No wonder Caesar couldn't escape." Buffalo said, "So he was caught with Sea Stone."
That made sense.
Then, Buffalo asked, "What should we do? Do we make a move?"
Now that they had confirmed Caesar was captured, they couldn't just stand by.
This time, Baby 5 didn't answer immediately. Instead, she glanced at the disconnected Den Den Mushi.
"The young master is already on his way here, so we just need to make sure these guys don't escape." Baby 5 pondered.
This would also ensure Caesar wouldn't be harmed as much as possible.
"Alright, we..."
Before Buffalo could finish his sentence, he noticed something flying up from below, causing his words to catch in his throat.
"Huh?"
"What's that?"
"What's wrong?" Baby 5 asked, puzzled.
"Something's flying up!" Buffalo's pupils contracted as he said, "It's fast!"
Hearing this, Baby 5's expression immediately changed.
Had they been discovered?
With that thought, Baby 5 quickly looked down, trying to see what was rushing up.
"Is that... a person?"
"Hara hara hara~"
Perona, now in the air, looked at the two people hovering in mid-air with a cheerful smile and said, "Hello there~"
"Tch..."
Baby 5 immediately clicked her tongue. It seemed hiding in the air wasn't going to be possible.
"Baby 5, what do we do?"
"They're already charging up, what else can we do." Baby 5 raised her weapon, aiming it at Perona and said:
"Of course, kill her!"
Since they had already been discovered, there was nothing more to say—first, take out this reckless woman!
As for those people below?
Just attack from the air using the Weapon-Weapon Fruit!
"Then let's kill her!" Buffalo shouted.
As he spoke, his eyes turned fierce, clearly not intending to let Perona leave this place alive.
"Kill me?"
Perona said, "You can try."
While speaking, Perona glanced at the weapon in Baby 5's hands, remaining secretly vigilant.
Since she wasn't sure if it was a Sea Stone weapon, she had to prepare in advance.
"Then die!" Baby 5 shouted.
As her words fell, she pulled the trigger of her weapon without hesitation.
"Bang~"
In the next moment, a deadly shell flew out of the barrel, heading straight for Perona in mid-air!
"Whoosh~"
"Wh... what?!"
Watching the shell pass through Perona's body without any obstruction, Baby 5 was completely stunned.
Why did the shell pass through her body without exploding?
Could it be that she has no physical form?
Logia type?
Buffalo, on the other hand, showed a shocked expression and said, "What's going on?!"
Why did Baby 5's weapon fail?
"Hara hara hara~"
"Now you know how powerful I am~" Perona said with a smirk.
Good, now it was confirmed that the other side wasn't using Sea Stone weapons.
Then... it was her turn!
Hara hara hara~
As if thinking of something, excitement gradually appeared in Perona's eyes.
"Are you a Logia type?!" Baby 5 quickly asked.
As soon as these words were spoken, Buffalo's expression instantly turned grim.
If the other side was a Logia type, then the two of them would have no way to deal with her.
After all... neither of them knew Haki.
"Hara hara hara~"
"I'm not some Logia-type Ability User," Perona said proudly, raising her head. "I am the Ghost Princess who ate the Soul-Soul Fruit!"
Hearing this, Baby 5 first breathed a sigh of relief—it was good that she wasn't a Logia type.
Then, a trace of confusion appeared in her eyes.
Soul-Soul Fruit?
What kind of ability was that?
Why could it ignore shells?
Meanwhile, Buffalo asked, "If you're not a Logia type, why can you ignore shells?"
"Because I'm a Ghost!" Perona said with a smirk. "I can ignore any physical attack!"
"Impossible!"
Baby 5 said without hesitation, "If you're not a Logia type, how can you possibly be immune to all physical attacks?"
That's a trait only Logia-type Ability Users have.
This time, Perona offered no explanation, simply giving the two a smile.
Her expression seemed to say: Believe it or not, I have no interest in explaining further.
Seeing this, Baby 5 gave up on asking more questions and decisively threw the weapon in her hand aside—after all, without shells, it was just scrap metal.
Then, her body transformed into a giant scythe.
"Weapon Transformation: Scythe Woman!"
"Buffalo!"
"Got it!"
Understanding what she intended to do, Buffalo immediately flew backward, putting some distance between himself and Perona.
Then, he turned to face Perona while simultaneously flinging out chains to grab Baby 5's hands.
After doing this, his body began to spin rapidly with Baby 5, imparting tremendous kinetic energy to her!
"Try tasting this move!" Buffalo shouted. "Spinning Scythe Woman!"
"Whoosh~"
The next moment, Buffalo, spinning at maximum speed, flung Baby 5 out, sending her straight toward Perona in mid-air.
Yet, faced with such an attack, Perona didn't even flinch. She simply watched the two launch their assault with an unchanged expression.
Seeing this, Baby 5 felt extremely displeased.
What an arrogant bastard...
In that case, she'd make this jerk pay for his arrogance!
As Perona drew closer, a startling killing intent flashed in Baby 5's eyes.
Then, the scythe Baby 5 had transformed into swung fiercely toward Perona's body!
"Whoosh~"
"Wha...?!"
Seeing Perona pass through the attack once again without any hindrance, Baby 5's eyes filled with shock.
Why was this attack also ineffective?
Forcing herself to grab the chains and stabilize her body, Baby 5 turned to Perona and yelled, "You bastard, why are you still unharmed?!"
Could she really be immune to all physical attacks?
That was just too unfair!!
Buffalo's expression wasn't any better, as this meant all their attacks would be useless.
"Didn't I just tell you?" Perona said with a smirk. "All physical attacks are ineffective against me!"
She had kindly explained her ability to them, after all.
Hearing Perona's words, Baby 5's face darkened even more.
She had thought the other was just bluffing, but was it really as she said?
How were they supposed to fight this?
"Baby 5, what do we do?" Buffalo said with a grim expression.
From the looks of it, her ability made her immune to both their attacks.
What now?
Baby 5 didn't answer but instead furrowed her brow, thinking of a plan.
After a moment, she said, "We can't inflict any effective damage on this person, so..."
"Buffalo, let's go find the Young Master!"
Staying here was pointless since they couldn't harm this woman, so they had to retreat for now.
"Huh? Just leave?" Buffalo was stunned.
The Young Master had ordered them to stay and keep an eye on these people. If they left, wouldn't that allow the others to escape?
That would mean complete failure!
And he knew all too well what the consequences of failure were...
"Stop wasting time, let's go," Baby 5 said.
This woman had only shown an "invincible" defensive ability so far, but her offensive methods were still unknown, so they had to leave.
"Alright..."
Though he didn't understand why Baby 5 insisted, Buffalo chose to trust his companion and turned to fly away.
"Did I say you could leave?" Perona snorted.
Although she didn't know who this "young master" they mentioned was... to avoid anyone causing trouble for their Straw Hat Pirates, it was better to keep these two here!
Thinking this, Perona released numerous Explosion Ghosts without hesitation.
"Try this move!"
Exploding Swarm!
The next moment, those Explosion Ghosts flew toward Baby 5 and Buffalo at incredible speed!
"Huh?"
"What the hell is this?"
Baby 5, who had returned to Buffalo's back, stared warily at the approaching ghosts.
These things looked dangerous no matter how you looked at them.
With that thought, Baby 5 immediately transformed her hands into two large machetes and fiercely slashed at the incoming Explosion Ghosts.
"Die!"
"Whoosh~"
"Hum~"
"Wha...?!"
Watching the ghosts pass right through her weapons, Baby 5 was stunned once more.
Why could these things also evade her attacks?
"Hey, what's this thing clinging to me?" Buffalo glanced at the Explosion Ghost attached to him and said, "Baby 5, get it off me!"
Though he didn't know what it was, his instincts screamed that it was dangerous.
So... better to remove it quickly.
"I'm trying, but I can't touch them!" Baby 5 said with a grim expression.
While Buffalo was speaking, she had already tried kicking them with her long legs, but she couldn't make contact with those translucent creatures at all!
"Again..." Buffalo gritted his teeth, then turned to Perona and shouted, "What the hell did you do, you bastard?"
"Just giving you a little present~"
After saying this, Perona slowly raised a finger and said, "Everyone, today's fireworks have arrived~"
"Explode!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
The next moment, the Negative Spirits clinging to Baby 5 and Buffalo immediately exploded, sending smoke billowing from the two.
"Ugh..."
Feeling the intense pain coursing through her body, Baby 5's expression instantly darkened.
Those translucent things... could actually explode?
This ability was too disgusting!
Buffalo, who had borne the brunt of the attack, was left covered in blood, his body uncontrollably plummeting toward the ground below.
"Hara hara hara~"
"Now you know my power, right~" Perona said, hands on her hips.
Against her, the Ghost Princess, enemies had no chance of escaping!
Hara hara hara~
"Perona's quite capable, huh~" Usopp laughed.
To take down the enemies so quickly—truly worthy of the Ghost Princess~
But remembering how he had once defeated this Ghost Princess, Usopp laughed even more happily.
Heh~
The stronger she was, the stronger it proved he was, right?
"Are they dealt with?" Nico Robin said.
"Not yet."
Meiser, who had been watching the battlefield the entire time, said, "Although Perona's move left those two covered in blood, it didn't knock them unconscious."
Upon hearing these words, a look of surprise instantly appeared in Nico Robin's eyes.
They actually hadn't lost consciousness after being hit by Perona's attack?
It seemed those two were among the more formidable types among the enemies.
"Damn it... I never expected to be beaten this badly by that guy..." Baby 5, rapidly descending alongside Buffalo, said with a grim expression, "What a miscalculation."
"Buffalo!"
"Are you still alive?"
"I... I'm still alive..." Buffalo replied.
Although his body was covered in blood from the explosion, at least his consciousness was clear.
"Then find a way to escape," Baby 5 said. "I'll cover for you."
This time, Baby 5 had already given up on the idea of attacking Perona with heavy weapons, since the opponent was immune to all physical attacks!
So... this time, she would use a smoke bomb!
As long as she could buy enough time for Buffalo, they could successfully escape to the sea!
That way... they could wait for the Young Master to rendezvous with them!
By then, it would be these guys' end!
Thinking this, Baby 5's gaze grew resolute.
"Buffalo, get ready to move!"
"I... I understand!!"