"Black and white mask, sword in hand—he's the infamous bounty hunter making waves lately... the Quincy!"
"Damn it! How did no one notice a bounty hunter landed on the island? Didn't the Dia Mafia promise no marines or bounty hunters would be allowed in?"
"Shit! Run! Bounty hunters are here!"
"Someone go tell the Dia men—a bounty hunter has landed!"
Everyone present had a bounty on their heads, so the mere mention of a bounty hunter was enough to cause widespread panic.
What's more, this wasn't just any bounty hunter—it was one who had recently risen to fame for single-handedly annihilating a pirate crew with a total bounty of over ten million!
The scene instantly descended into chaos. With a loud bang, the crowd scattered.
Yuno stood there, speechless.
"...Aren't you overreacting a little?"
"Why are you all panicking? I'm not even here to arrest you."
His target was Akuma—no one else.
But Yuno was the only one thinking that way. Everyone else had already bolted in fear.
Soon, the once-crowded venue was emptied out.
'Well, whatever. Now that I know the Evil Ghost is here, it'll be easy to deal with him.'
Yuno's sole purpose in coming to the island was to hunt the Evil Ghost. Now that he was sure the man was here, he could go straight to his door.
This guy was slippery—he had even escaped to this island after his ship had been attacked.
Fortunately, there was only one port on the island, and it wasn't far from here. That pirate ship with the Evil Ghost emblem was still docked there. If they planned to flee, there was no way Yuno would miss it.
After tossing a thick stack of berries onto the bar counter, Yuno turned and walked out.
Out on the street, he noticed it was almost deserted.
Everyone had run off the moment they heard a bounty hunter had landed.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Not far away, a group stood watching with interest. They didn't seem afraid of Yuno at all.
Yuno didn't recognize them—and didn't care to. He simply walked forward, unfazed.
"Is that the bounty hunter everyone's been talking about lately? He doesn't look like much."
"Haha, this'll be good! This is Dia's island. And a bounty hunter dares to set foot here? He's got guts!"
"I remember the last time a bounty hunter came here not knowing the rules. Dia's men beat him half to death and hung him up at the harbor until he starved!"
They laughed among themselves as they watched Yuno.
Yuno suddenly came to a stop.
A group of men had appeared in front of him, rushing toward him with obvious hostility.
Each one wore a nasty grin.
"Where's the bounty hunter? Come out, you bastard! Who's got the balls to show up here?"
"Haha, get out of my way! I'll handle this! After last time, someone actually still dares to land on this island? Unreal!"
"Boss, looks like your word doesn't carry much weight anymore," sneered one man—shirtless, muscular, with an eyepatch and several missing teeth. "There are still bounty hunters who dare set foot on Dia's turf!"
Soon, they arrived and spotted Yuno standing calmly in the open street.
"Black and white mask? Must be Quincy."
One of the goons smirked wickedly.
"A bounty hunter, huh? Just kill him!"
"That EVIL Ghost guy must be a real loser—to get chased all the way here by a little brat like him. Pirates these days really are trash!"
"And those Whitebeards and Red-Hairs from the New World—those so-called 'great pirates'—what a joke. Probably just newspaper hype."
Dia, the leader, looked Yuno up and down and sneered.
He couldn't believe pirates would need to flee to him for help just because of this skinny little guy.
He was starting to think all those "great pirate" titles in the headlines were just exaggerated nonsense.
He'd seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of pirates in his life—and none had impressed him in the slightest.
And besides, the so-called title of "great pirate" was nothing compared to the power backing him.
Behind Dia stood the king of the underworld.
A king and a great pirate—those were two different classes entirely.
Dia stepped forward, flashing a menacing grin at Yuno.
"Hey, kid. Don't you know where you are?"
"Hehe..." Yuno couldn't help but laugh at Dia's words. It was ridiculous—how could he say something like that?
How ignorant.
"Sorry, I'm not interested, and I don't care to know where this is. Could you please step aside?" Yuno chuckled faintly, as if completely unaware of the danger.
Hearing Yuno's sneer, Dia's expression darkened. With a spit of thick phlegm, he aimed straight at Yuno.
Yuno's expression went cold, and he instantly dodged.
"You dare dodge? Break his limbs! I'm going to beat him till he begs!" Dia's face twisted in anger.
This bastard dared to disobey him? He was begging to die!
One of his lackeys laughed and rushed at Yuno, dagger in hand. "Hey, the boss has spoken. You're done for! I'll take your arm first!"
"I didn't want to waste time on you," Yuno suddenly grinned, pointing a finger at the thug, "but you're asking for death!"
With a crackle, white lightning shot from Yuno's fingertip, piercing the lackey's heart.
The thug let out a strangled "ho... ho..." before collapsing, lifeless.
"Move! Move!" someone in the crowd shouted gleefully. "Haha! He picked a fight with Dia's crew! Maybe I can make it out alive in the chaos!"
A man known as Devil, hiding nearby, watched the scene unfold with shock and glee.
This damn bounty hunter had just killed one of Dia's men. There was no way he'd walk away from this!
"You still dare fight back? How bold of you! Just because you've got a Devil Fruit doesn't mean you can act all high and mighty in front of me!"
Dia's eyes flashed cold as he watched Yuno strike. With a snarl, he lunged at him.
Unlike those clueless idiots who didn't understand Devil Fruits, Dia had seen such power before. He knew exactly what it meant.
"You've got some knowledge," Yuno smirked, "but you're still going to die."
He spread his fingers—lightning sparked in his palm.
"Thunder Roar Cannon!"
BOOM! Thunder cracked across the clear sky.
A beam of lightning shot forward, striking Dia squarely and charring him black in an instant.
The blast then surged into the crowd, unleashing an explosive wave of destruction.
In a single instant, half of Dia's crew was dead.
The rest were either injured or thrown back by the blast's aftermath.
They stared at Yuno, their voices shaking:
"Y-You..."
"You really killed Boss Dia?! He was the representative of someone important on this island!"
"You're finished! Dead! There are cadres of that important person here—once they find out you killed Dia...!"
"You'll be hunted. You'll never have peace again. From now on, you'll run for the rest of your life—until you die in despair!"