"Hey, don't slander Sister Robin like that."
A lazy girl's voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting him:
"And what's the deal? Are you just going to assume we were defeated? How disrespectful, isn't that underestimating us a bit?"
This voice is...
Bruno frowned slightly and turned around.
The blue-haired girl, at some unknown point, had already stood at the alley entrance, leaning against the wall and stretching lazily.
Seeing Bruno look over, she didn't bother to meet his gaze but rather raised her right arm toward Robin, gesturing with a cheerful wave:
"Sorry, Sister Robin, we were a bit far away. It took us a little longer to get here, making you wait."
It's only been a few minutes, Robin slightly shook her head and chuckled.
Only then did Nojiko turn her head to look at Bruno. She grinned, clenched her fist, and produced a crackling like firecrackers:
"Anyway, as long as the opponent hasn't run away, it's fine. Leave this to me. Don't worry, I'll take care of this guy soon enough."
She walked towards him with casual steps, one step at a time.
Take me down?
Bruno sneered; although he didn't know what means this girl used to escape Kaku and Kalifa's pursuit, but...
It's already a stroke of luck if you managed to run away, yet you dare come back to die?
Heh...
Foolish as it is, there's a sense of loyalty.
You really are letting your partners down, Nico Robin!
Watching the rapidly enlarging fist shadow in his vision, his eyes flashed with indifference. Just a teenage girl, what power could she have?
Thus, he stood expressionless, motionless, only tensing the muscles in his chest and abdomen.
Tekkai!
The next second, Nojiko's fist had already struck!
"Ripple Fist Technique: Avalanche!"
Bang——!!!
The moment the fist connected with his chest, Bruno's pupils contracted suddenly—something's wrong!
Something's amiss!
That seemingly slender and weak fist, at this moment, unleashed a terrifying power as if mountains were collapsing.
His proud Tekkai defense, before this immense force, was as fragile as paper, and his chest bones immediately emitted the sound of unbearable cracking, his entire body flew backward like a cannonball!
"Wah!"
Bruno spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing powerlessly inside the web-like crater.
In the midst of swirling dust, he trembled as he lowered his head to look at his sunken chest, his face full of disbelief.
The Tekkai he had diligently practiced for years, his specialty...
actually got pierced with a single punch?!!
Who is this girl?
"Is that all you've got?"
A disappointed voice sounded.
Bruno lifted his head with difficulty, only to see that blue-haired girl approaching with disinterest, shaking her head:
"That long-nosed young guy took three of my punches before going down, and I thought you were an even tougher leader being older, yet you couldn't even withstand one punch."
What?
Even Kaku...
No, impossible.
It must be a lie; Kaku is way stronger than me... Bruno's anxious gaze searched around the alley entrance, trying to find Kaku and Kalifa's figures, but then—
"Hey, old man, where are you looking? Are you looking for those two guys?"
A clear girl's voice suddenly sounded from above his head.
Bang! Bang!
Two dark shadows fell heavily to the ground in front of him, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Bruno looked closely.
It was Kaku and Kalifa!
Both had their masks removed, and they were unconscious.
Kaku was bruised and battered, with a deeply sunken abdomen and his body covered in frostbite, while Kalifa was even worse, completely burned to a crisp, barely recognizable.
"..." Bruno's eyes were full of shock, his mouth agape.
Kaku, Kalifa...
How could this happen?!
He knelt there dumbfounded, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes.
But the miserable state of his companions, along with the burnt smell at his nostrils, all told him how real this scene was...
"Pathetically weak, what is this CP9, anyway? Just a bunch of small fry who don't even know Haki, and with such limited skills, you dare to ambush a Logia-type Ability User?"
Bruno stiffly looked up.
The youngest orange-haired girl sat on the wall, her legs swinging leisurely, looking down at him with a grin:
"This spectacled woman really went all out, but trying so hard and still not harming me was just hilarious... don't you think so, small fry, small fry~"