Bartolomeo's rise gave Yami a new understanding of the "protagonist halo." No wonder Nika would choose him.
Such luck could only be ignored by an outsider like Yami.
"Alright, you can eat later. I have to go out for a bit."
Witnessing Bartolomeo become the Barrier-Barrier Fruit user, Yami lowered his hands, which were using X-Ray Vision. He patted the heads of Carina and the other two girls, who were squatting in front of him "eating," then stood up to tidy his clothes and vanished with a teleport.
Leaving behind Carina and the other two, who had just been enjoying themselves, looking at each other in dismay.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... From now on, yours truly is also an ability user! Once I make a name for myself in the East Blue, I'll definitely enter the Grand Line and follow Senior Luffy!"
At this moment, Bartolomeo was cheering about becoming an ability user, dancing and striking various exaggerated poses.
Crossing his middle and index fingers, transparent barriers of various shapes appeared around him, causing his subordinates to exclaim in wonder.
BOOM—
But in the next second, both Bartolomeo and his subordinates suddenly felt their bodies become heavy, and they were forced to kneel on the ground.
Around them, the invisible air twisted and sank, like an invisible giant hand pressing them into the earth.
"What... what is happening?!"
"It's... it's so hard... I... I can't breathe!"
"..."
Bartolomeo and his subordinates, caught in the gravity field, all had flushed faces and difficulty breathing.
Bartolomeo, kneeling on the ground, couldn't even lift his head.
"Thanks for your hard work."
At that moment, a voice reached Bartolomeo's ears.
Then, his line of sight finally rose from the ground.
He saw a young man with long black hair wearing a white robe. The man held him by the shoulder with one hand, lifting his body up, and smiled gently: "I've been looking for this ability for five years. Thank you for obtaining it for me."
"Bartolomeo, I will remember your name. So... farewell!"
After speaking, Bartolomeo found that the hand gripping his shoulder had moved to pinch his neck. Then, a terrifying force instantly crushed his throat, causing his vision to be gradually occupied by darkness, his consciousness becoming heavy.
In just a moment, this super lucky guy, who had just changed his destiny against the odds and should have soared into the sky, becoming invincible in the East Blue and the first half of the Grand Line, left this world just like that.
After killing Bartolomeo, Yami began to seize the Devil Fruit he had waited five years for.
Quickly, Yami's Lineage Factor recombined once again.
"...Just one last one left!"
Yami crossed his fingers, looking at the transparent barrier appearing out of thin air in front of him, the corner of his mouth rising slightly as he muttered to himself.
Immediately, Yami glanced at the thugs lying on the ground, nearly suffocated to death by the gravity field. He didn't increase the gravity to crush them into paste but mercifully used Flying Finger Guns to end their lives.
After doing this, Yami opened an Air Door, dumped Bartolomeo's corpse into the different dimension, and teleported back to the Pegasus.
"Master, where did you run off to?"
"Running away in the middle of doing that kind of thing... did you find a treasure or something?"
As soon as Yami returned, he was flanked by Carina and Nami, who began questioning him.
"Mm, I just found the Paramecia-type Barrier-Barrier Fruit I was looking for back then."
Yami nodded, still hiding nothing from the three women.
"So that's it."
Carina and Nami instantly understood.
Carina and Nami had long known about Yami coming to the East Blue back then to search for the Paramecia-type Barrier-Barrier Fruit and the Logia-type Flare-Flare Fruit.
They had rejoiced more than once that the East Blue had the Devil Fruits Yami wanted. Otherwise, they would never have met Yami in this lifetime, and their destinies would have been completely different.
Perhaps they would have died at the hands of Mad Treasure long ago.
Therefore, Carina and Nami had a very deep impression of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit and the Flare-Flare Fruit.
So much so that in the past few years, they had paid close attention to the 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, that lucky guy who ate the Devil Fruit Master didn't find back then.
"Uhihi... So, are we going back now?"
Carina seemed to realize something and asked with a smile.
"Mm, we've been out for a long time. It's time to go back."
Yami suddenly revealed a meaningful smile, looking at the three women: "Get ready. A massive war that changes the era, involving all major powers, is about to erupt."
After speaking, Yami immediately used the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi ability to levitate the Pegasus, then used the Momo Momo no Mi ability to amplify the flight speed, returning towards the New World.
In less than a day, the Pegasus returned from the East Blue to Amazon Lily.
"Master, welcome back."
"Ara ara... your complexion is so good. It seems you've lived quite well these past few months."
As soon as the Pegasus landed on the back mountain of the palace, Hancock, who had been missing Yami constantly, threw herself into his arms immediately.
Robin sized up Carina and the other two, teasing them with a playful smile.
"You've worked hard during this time, Hancock, Robin."
Yami held Hancock's snake-like waist and beckoned to Robin with his other hand.
When Robin walked over, Yami kissed them both, holding one in each arm, and smiled.
After a moment of tenderness, Yami suddenly looked serious and said to Robin: "Robin, go in my name and notify the guests of Gran Tesoro to leave as quickly as possible."
"For the coming period, Gran Tesoro will suspend operations."
"I understand, Master."
Hearing this, Robin nodded immediately with a solemn expression.
She didn't ask what Yami was going to do. She turned and went to notify Sandersonia and Marguerite, beginning to issue the orders of the Male Master of Amazon Lily and the head of Gran Tesoro.
Hancock, however, looked excited: "Master, are we going to war with the other Pirate Emperors?"
"Mm. I'm going to seize the last Devil Fruit and force them to unite against me."
Yami grinned, revealing a rare, arrogant smile, filled with wild ambition: "Right now, no one in this world can pressure me. Only by uniting can they trigger my body and mind to awaken my Devil Fruits."
"I will make the super-powerhouses of this era all become the stepping stones for my ultimate evolution!"
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