The owners of those two life auras finally left the castle, went down the mountain, and stood at the town pier as if waiting.
Watching from afar, Karl asked Carina beside him, "Do they have bounties?"
"Don’t know, but I can say for sure they weren’t on the East Blue bounty lists for the past five years."
Carina shook her head, her face serious. "Could they be from that great sea?"
"Maybe. But their strength doesn’t worry me," Karl said carelessly.
Carina’s brows knit. "Are you sure you want to act here? If we steal from the black market, succeed or not, they’ll put a price on us."
"Doesn’t matter. They’re just a bunch of weak lapdogs," Karl sneered.
"I knew it was useless to ask."
Carina gave a helpless smile, then her expression sharpened. "There—it should be that sloop."
Following her gaze, Karl saw a black speck on the sea, slowly growing as it sailed their way.
Seeing this, a smile crept onto Karl’s face; he looked eager to move.
Just then, as if sensing something, Karl glanced at a certain building at nine o’clock.
Noticing his change, Carina asked.
Karl’s mouth quirked. "Looks like someone else had the same idea as me."
"So that’s how it is..."
Carina caught on at once and smiled wryly. "Makes sense. A sea treasure worth over a hundred million—most people can’t afford it, and nobody can resist the temptation of power skyrocketing overnight."
"The black market is being flashy with this Devil Fruit auction—one month of hype and an early venue reveal. An ambush is inevitable."
Looking at the two figures on the pier, Carina said, "I wonder if those two can withstand the ’offensive’ coming their way."
"Those people will die miserably," Karl said flatly.
"They’re that strong?"
At that, Carina looked surprised and sized the pair up again.
The two were one tall and one short, though even the shorter was taller than Karl.
The tall one was nearly three meters, burly, looking like a martial artist; the shorter a little over two meters, lean, with two katanas at his waist—a dual-blade swordsman.
"The dual-blade one is average and no threat to me."
Karl murmured, "The other one is a user—judging by that feral aura, a hand-to-hand Zoan type."
"How does his fighting compare to yours?" Carina asked.
"Right, pointless question."
Carina covered her face. She’d never seen anyone as inhuman as Karl.
As they spoke, the sloop reached the harbor and moored at a pier.
As the anchor dropped, a shout rolled toward Karl and Carina from far to near.
"Kill them! The legendary sea treasure will be mine!"
Over a hundred men formed three squads, charging the two at the pier with blades and guns.
"Hmph. A bunch of fools overestimating themselves."
Others with the same idea sneered, hoping for mutual destruction.
"As expected of the weakest sea—idiots beyond counting."
"Bury them, so the goods stay safe."
Watching the charge, the martial artist spoke with disdain.
Beside him, the dual-blade swordsman slowly drew his katanas.
A gunshot cracked; the bullet pierced only the afterimages the two left behind.
Shlkk, shlkk, shlkk...
The sound of fabric tearing rose from within the crowd.
The two were suddenly among the attackers. The swordsman’s twin blades scythed like a harvester as he weaved through the mob, carving gashes large and small and spraying blood.
The martial artist’s methods were even crueler.
His hands had become an animal’s talons, the power behind them giving them a cutting force no less than blades. Content orıginally comes from 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲·𝗻𝗲𝘁
Those raked by the claws had flesh bursting open; some lost limbs torn away.
Like a beast on the hunt, the killing-intent-boiling martial artist’s body began to change.
His already massive frame swelled, bursting his tailored suit. His face and skin took on an animal’s traits, and a tail had sprouted behind him.
Carina was slightly startled at the fighter who looked like a cat yet far larger.
Karl recognized the beast form at a glance. "If I’m right, that’s the Zoan Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Lynx."
"A single fruit with different models? Truly a legendary sea treasure—unbelievable," Carina breathed.
"While they’re clearing out the small fry, I’ll go take the goods."
Karl spoke as he eyed the black market men on the deck, watching and waiting for the fight to end.
Carina nodded, pulled up her hood, and ran back toward the inn.
Karl’s figure became an arrow ripping the air as he lashed toward the sloop.
Those who caught sight of him gasped in shock.
"Another impatient fool. Die!"
As Karl neared the pier, the martial artist carving through the mob bounded free of the melee in a few leaps and blocked his path.
Blood-drunk and seething with killing intent, he snatched at Karl.
But the talons that could rip an arm from a man couldn’t even scuff Karl’s clothes; Karl’s smaller hand clamped his wrist.
Watching the fighter’s expression turn from bloodthirsty to blank, Karl grinned. "Sorry. My suit is expensive. I can’t let you ruin it."
As he spoke, a bone-splitting sound came from the man’s wrist.
With a light squeeze, Karl crushed the Zoan user’s wrist and twisted.
Amid the chorus of snapping bones, Karl wrung the entire arm into a twist.
The man who’d looked so mighty a moment ago howled in agony.
Karl casually hurled the at-least-two-hundred-kilo fighter aside and charged the sloop again.
This full-speed burst even carried a whistling boom.
In a few blinks he was beneath the ship, then sprang tens of meters up. Landing on the deck, the shockwave shattered the planks and made the suited man holding an iron case collapse in terror.