"Kid!" Seeing his captain launched through the restaurant door, Killer rushed outside immediately.
Only now could Killer properly see the appearance of Jerry and his crew, since his previous seat had been facing away from their table. Before this confrontation, he had simply been trying to restrain the hot-tempered Kid out of habit.
Seeing that Kid was lying on the ground clutching his chest but slowly getting back to his feet, Killer felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Running to Kid's side, Killer quickly began explaining the identity of the group that had just humiliated his captain, hoping Kid would weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to continue this fight.
"I don't care who he is—I won't back down from anyone!" Kid declared, standing up and clenching his fists with renewed determination. "Otherwise, how can I ever hope to find the One Piece?!"
"I knew you'd say that..." Killer sighed, then immediately showed his support. "Fine. Whatever you want to do, I'll stand with you."
Their bond needed no further explanation.
"Bring it on!" Kid activated his Magnet-Magnet Fruit powers, suddenly drawing all the exposed metal objects within his sight toward his hand. The collected materials formed into an enormous metallic arm extending from his body.
"Eat this, you bastards!" Kid roared, swinging his giant metal fist toward the restaurant with a whistling sound that cut through the air.
Just as his improvised weapon was about to impact the building, Kid suddenly felt tremendous resistance acting against his metallic construct, preventing him from advancing even a centimeter further.
"Hey there! What exactly do you plan to accomplish with that oversized paperweight?" Jerry's voice rang out casually as he appeared outside the restaurant, using only his right hand to completely stop Kid's massive fist.
An irresistible force rapidly traveled up Kid's metal arm, and within seconds, countless metal objects were flying through the air with endless clanging and clattering sounds. Kid himself was launched backward through this metallic debris shower, crashing to the ground once again.
"Target confirmed," whispered a short, furry creature who resembled a cat mink, positioned on a rooftop some distance from the main street. "It's definitely a powerful pirate who's returned from the New World. However, his presence here at this particular time might not bode well for our operations."
The observer had various pieces of heavy equipment strapped to his back and was watching the conflict between Jerry and Kid through a telescopic device.
"No wonder CP organization activity has increased so dramatically recently," the figure continued. "I thought someone from our Revolutionary Army had been exposed..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man whose body was as round as an egg appeared beside the fur tribe member and added, "Then we'd better issue orders to postpone the operation originally scheduled for the next two days."
The furry observer was none other than Lindbergh, South Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army, while his friend was deputy commander Ahiru.
"I'm afraid it's already too late for that," Lindbergh replied with a helpless smile.
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion echoed from an old residential district in the distance, followed immediately by the distinctive rattle of sustained gunfire.
"It seems one of our operatives has been discovered by CP agents and the royal army," Lindbergh observed grimly. "We'd better investigate the situation."
With those words, Lindbergh vanished from his position in a blur of movement.
At the restaurant entrance, on the street that had cleared of pedestrians after the initial confrontation, a figure wielding twin scythes retreated in obvious distress.
Another figure holding an elegant sword slowly lowered his leg from a kicking position, gracefully raising a rose to his nose to inhale its fragrance with theatrical flair.
"Don't assume you're the only ones here," Cavendish said softly, pointing his sword tip toward his opponent with practiced elegance. "Did you really think we'd let you attack our captain without consequence?"
When Killer had seen Kid being defeated by Jerry, he had grabbed his signature weapons without hesitation and charged forward to assist. However, Jerry had simply stood there with an amused expression, paying no attention to the incoming threat.
Just before Killer's blades could reach Jerry, a flash of movement had appeared in the assassin's peripheral vision, followed by Cavendish's powerful flying kick that sent him staggering backward.
Back at the restaurant entrance, the Black Star Pirates observed their two crewmates still posturing dramatically and couldn't help but shake their heads in exasperation.
They were about to offer commentary on the ongoing fight when a sudden explosion echoed from the distance.
"Was that cannon fire or a bomb?" Carrot asked, her ears twitching with concern.
Everyone turned toward the source of the blast. Although the location was far away and obscured by numerous buildings, they could clearly see clouds of dust and smoke rising into the distant sky.
"Don't tell me the Revolutionary Army is actually making their move right now," Deuce said, slapping his forehead in disbelief as continued gunfire reached their ears.
"Boss Deuce, this action might not have been initiated by the Revolutionary Army," Skull observed, pointing to a squad of uniformed soldiers marching hurriedly down the street with weapons at the ready. "It could just as easily be the kingdom's forces."
"Well, regardless of who started it, this country is clearly descending into chaos," Deuce concluded. "We should leave immediately."
No one objected to this assessment, but everyone's attention turned back to the ongoing street fight.
Jerry and Cavendish were each clearly dominating their respective opponents, though both seemed to be in a playful mood rather than fighting with genuine intent to kill. Even so, Kid and Killer already bore numerous cuts and bruises from fishing rod strikes and sword slashes.
After noticing several unknown figures positioning themselves around the area with obvious hostile intent, and observing that warfare and civil unrest were spreading throughout the district, Deuce made the practical decision to begin their withdrawal.
While walking toward the port, Deuce and the others called out to the combatants in the street.
"Jerry! Cavendish! Time to retreat!"
"Understood! You go ahead—we'll catch up shortly!" Jerry responded without taking his eyes off his opponent.
Hearing Jerry's acknowledgment, Deuce and the crew didn't linger any longer. They needed to return to their ship before the surrounding conflict could threaten their ship at the harbor.
Jerry suddenly stomped his feet and moved toward Kid with lightning speed, transforming into what appeared to be a fighting machine. His hands, feet, shoulders, elbows, and fishing rod created an unrelenting offensive combination that overwhelmed his opponent completely.
Under Jerry's fierce assault, Kid found himself outmatched within moments. Even when he controlled airborne metal weapons to attack like metallic rain, formed protective armor around his body, or used metal fists and feet to parry while seeking counterattack opportunities, he couldn't pose any meaningful threat to Jerry's superior combat abilities.
Jerry's mouth curved into a slight smile as he identified Kid's weakness and launched a devastating kick amid the shower of flying scrap metal. In the next instant, he appeared like a phantom before the staggering Kid and swung his fishing rod with tremendous force, the weapon gleaming with sharp light and menacing aura.
"Heaven-Splitting Rod Strike!" Jerry roared, his voice shaking the surrounding area.
Kid's mouth filled with blood as the vicious blow sent his entire body crashing heavily into a stone monument standing on the street. With a thunderous impact, the monument shattered completely.
Jerry chuckled and casually reeled in his fishing rod. Of course, he had made up that technique name on the spot—if he actually knew proper martial arts terminology, his ego would have inflated beyond all reasonable proportions.
"Beautiful Sword: Thunder Slash!"
Simultaneously, Cavendish called out his own attack name as his lower body transformed into pure lightning. He shot forward with his sword leading countless tiny electrical bolts in a devastating slash toward Killer.
Killer's vision filled with crackling energy, and he could only instinctively raise his scythes to intercept the incoming assault. However, the next second brought complete body paralysis followed by waves of stabbing pain and countless electric shocks coursing through his nervous system.
Killer screamed, clutching his burned abdomen with smoking hands before collapsing helplessly to the ground.
"Perfect opportunity! Kill those pirates!" multiple voices shouted from the surrounding streets, followed immediately by several gunshots.
"Clang!" Cavendish quickly swung his sword to deflect bullets aimed at both himself and the fallen Killer.
On the other side, Jerry waved his hands and condensed two rotating circular water shields to protect both himself and Kid from the incoming projectiles.
When it came to his own battles—especially ones he had already won—Jerry refused to allow unknown parties to interfere and claim credit for his victory. Besides, he and Kid weren't fighting to the death over something as trivial as a bowl of noodles.
Jerry frowned, his eyes scanning the crowds approaching from all directions as his expression grew increasingly grim.
"Hey! Are you from this country's military?" he called out, then observed more carefully and muttered, "Actually, it looks like there's more than just soldiers in this group..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGarudaYou'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~