A small hole had opened in the eaves above. The moment a drop of water fell through and hit the floor, Lucci moved—his body flickering like a phantom.
His first target was the weakest of the three: Hachi.
Hachi had been wounded in his earlier clash with Kamadori, leaving him sluggish and slow to react.
Alvida could only just barely keep up with Lucci's movements using her Observation Haki.
But Lucci's Soru was worlds apart from Kalifa's. By the time Alvida saw where he truly was, it was already too late.
"Hachi, look out!"
"Shigan: Spots!"
In his leopard-man form, Lucci's hands blurred, unleashing a flurry of Shigan thrusts.
All Hachi could see were black afterimages, like the spots on Lucci's fur.
Each Shigan hammered into his chest and abdomen, driving him back again and again like a battered sandbag. In the brief moment he regained his senses, Hachi braced six swords and lunged.
But Lucci was already behind him with Soru.
"Rankyaku — Spiral!"
A spiraling slash cut into Hachi's back, hurling his massive body through a wall and crashing him into another room.
"One." Lucci counted coldly.
Then—tat-tat-tat! Gunfire rang out.
Lucci flipped backward several times, narrowly dodging the hail of bullets from Buggy's round-shield gun. He combined Soru and Geppo, stepping through the air in razor-sharp arcs, and in an instant was right before Buggy.
"Wha—?!"
Buggy spun his shield and hissed, releasing a blast of poison gas.
Lucci narrowly slipped past it. Another Rankyaku cleaved out, the flying slash shaped like a soaring bird—splitting the round shield clean in two.
Buggy instantly split his body apart with the Bara Bara no Mi, avoiding the fatal strike. His head, limbs, and torso scattered across the air, floating far away from Lucci.
But that wasn't enough to fool a trained killer. Lucci's senses were too sharp.
His foot pinned down two legs still crawling on the floor—the only pieces that hadn't fled skyward. The reason was obvious.
Shigan!
The thrust pierced through both legs. Blood sprayed.
Buggy screamed in pain as his severed parts convulsed.
And before he could recover, Lucci was already in front of him again. His long leopard tail coiled around Buggy's blue braid, hauling his head up like a trophy.
Lucci shifted back into his broader, muscular form. From a short distance away, his arms aimed squarely at Buggy's forehead.
"W-wait, hold on—!"
Buggy frantically tried to pull all his scattered limbs back to him.
"Rokushiki Ogi: Rokuōgan."
The shockwave erupted point-blank.
Buggy panicked, piling every detached limb and chunk of torso in front of his face like a barricade.
But the Rokuōgan was merciless. Even through layer upon layer of flesh and bone, the impact still blasted Buggy's head like a cannonball—smashing through wall after wall until it disappeared into some distant chamber.
The rest of his body parts crashed uselessly to the floor.
"Two."
Lucci landed lightly, turning his head toward the last opponent.
Alvida froze in shock. In the blink of an eye, the leopard-man had crushed both Hachi and Buggy.
And now, she would have to face him alone.
Lucci allowed no pause, no chance to breathe. He blurred forward with Soru, Shigan aimed at her skull.
Alvida's Observation Haki warned her, but her body couldn't keep up. The strike landed—
—but slid harmlessly off her.
So it was true.
Lucci wasn't surprised. He had her intel: ordinary physical attacks barely affected her. His Shigan had never been meant to land—just to force an opening.
His leopard tail snared her waist. He retracted his hand, then thrust both fists forward, pressing them against her stomach. Killing intent radiated from him.
"Rokuōgan: Maximum Wheel."
This variation was even deadlier than Rokuōgan itself, a shockwave designed to shatter her insides straight through her impenetrable skin.
Alvida realized his aim. She swung her iron mace desperately toward his head.
But even that was within his calculations. His body tensed—Tekkai, iron-hard and unyielding.
It was flawless.
Yet still, something went wrong.
Before he could release the shockwave, Lucci's eyes widened in shock. Both his arms—and even his leopard tail—had been neatly severed, falling to the ground.
What—?!
At the same instant, Alvida's desperate strike, empowered by the strength she had drawn from her contract, smashed into his skull with far greater force than he had anticipated.
Wham!
Even his perfected Tekkai crumpled under the blow. His body whipped away like a broken kite, plowing through the floorboards in a shower of splinters.
Alvida stood stunned, hardly believing how easily she had struck him down.
But then her gaze fell to the severed limbs and tail—and her eyes darted around the shadows.
There.
Law stepped out from the corner, Kikoku in hand, breathing hard.
"Finish him quickly… I've used 'Surgery' too many times today… my stamina's gone… I can't help anymore…"
Alvida gave a sharp nod and charged at the fallen Lucci.
But Lucci, even wounded, recovered swiftly. With a surge of strength, he kipped up, blood streaming down his forehead—looking even more like a savage beast.
Though armless, his legs remained deadly. With Rankyaku alone, he clashed against Alvida's mace in a furious exchange.
Yet gradually, he realized something was wrong. His legs grew numb, his stance faltered.
Meanwhile, Alvida's attacks only grew faster, stronger—her strikes relentless, as though exhaustion did not exist for her.
Even Law, watching from the sidelines, was taken aback.
Lucci narrowed his eyes, kicking her back with Rankyaku, searching for a way forward. But before he could move again—
"Ahhh!"
A roar from behind.
He turned to see Hachi again, staggering forward, drenched in blood. Two of his six swords were broken, but the remaining four gleamed as he charged.
A fish-man's endurance…
Lucci's eyes narrowed. He pushed off the floor, leaping high. Hachi's blades slashed only air.
But Lucci struck the ceiling too hard, his back slamming against it.
Both Hachi and Alvida reacted instantly, chasing upward for the kill.
But instead of falling, Lucci clung to the wall like a gecko, unmoving.
"What—?"
They looked up—and saw his expression twist in shock.
He lowered his gaze slowly to his chest.
A golden hook protruded through it, dripping with blood.
The hook withdrew. Lucci's body shriveled like a dying flower, collapsing lifelessly before it even struck the ground.
Everyone froze in horror.
Then a familiar laugh rang out above them.
"Ho ho ho…"
Alvida, Hachi, and Law all recognized it instantly.
Crocodile?!
Sure enough, grains of sand spilled from the wound, gathering and coalescing until they formed a man's shape.
He stood there, fur coat draped over his shoulders, cigar clamped between his teeth. His left hand ended in a bloodied hook, his right held open casually.
"Seems you've run into a bit of trouble," Crocodile said. His scarred face wore a smug grin. "Allow me to lend a pirate's hand. Surely you won't mind?"
His superior tone grated on them, but none could deny the relief—or the unease—his presence brought.
Then Hachi suddenly collapsed, his strength exhausted. The thud startled both Alvida and Law.
"I'll take care of him," Law said, though he himself was on the verge of collapse. As the only doctor present, he sat heavily beside Hachi, working emergency treatment. "Alvida, bring Buggy over here too."
"Alright, wait a moment." She turned toward where Buggy's head had landed.
Crocodile, ignored, simply chuckled and shook his head.
But as Alvida walked, she felt a strange twitch in her pinky. Glancing down, she was startled to see it briefly transform into a tiny tentacle—only to snap back to normal an instant later.
Still dazed, she gathered Buggy's bloodied head and carried it back, uncertain whether she had just imagined it all.
Piece by piece, she reassembled his scattered body beside Law.
Crocodile, meanwhile, had already vanished.
"Where did he go?"
"He didn't say." Law didn't look up as he continued his faltering "surgery." "Forget him. Go grab my medical kit—it's in my quarters."
Focused on his patients, Law failed to notice the unease still shadowing Alvida's expression.
She said nothing, turned, and left.
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