"You can't possibly catch me!" Apille leaped from rooftop to rooftop across Loguetown's main street. Each jump carried him over two or three buildings as he fled rapidly forward. When he landed on another roof, he basically crushed the rooftop with a single step.
However, Apille's back had been struck earlier by the liquid droplet Tom threw. That tiny droplet of liquor had actually pierced straight through his emaciated back and exited through his chest, which quite surprised Tom.
Despite having several bloody holes in his body, Apille's speed hadn't diminished much. He seemed completely unconcerned about his injuries.
"Get out of my way!" BAM! Tom punched Burgess, who had rushed in to block him, sending him flying. He continued his pursuit of Apille through the crowded main street.
Burgess was sent flying by Tom's punch, crashing through a wall into a building. He laughed loudly as he walked out, then used his thick arms to rip up the neighboring large house from its foundation and throw it forward.
"Who are they? Fighting like this in the middle of the street!"
"Are they pirates?"
"Damn it! Wait until Captain Smoker gets here. They'll all be locked up!"
"Look! That masked man lifted an entire house!"
"Oh no! We'll be crushed! Run!"
The wide main street descended into utter chaos, filled with residents' screams and panicked cries for help.
That guy really is tough to deal with! Tom thought, seeing Burgess completely unharmed after taking a hit and now throwing houses. Seeing the house Burgess threw would likely crush many people to death if it landed, Tom planned to deploy his gauntlet's fishing rod to intercept it.
But before Tom could take action, Koala, who was ahead of him, turned around and threw a long-range punch through the air at the falling house. "1,000 Brick Fist!"
BOOM! The house Burgess threw was smashed to pieces by Koala's air-transmitted punch. A huge pile of broken rubble fell from the sky, still hitting quite a few people, but at least they were alive.
Damn. Her Fish-Man Karate is really something. A casual punch has that much power... Must be several times stronger than that Kuroobi from the Arlong Pirates.
Tom, behind Koala, clearly felt the powerful force of the punch when she threw it; it even affected the airflow, and the resulting wind blew his hair upward.
But the moment Koala turned to destroy the house, Apille—who had been constantly fleeing forward—looked back. Seeing Koala's petite back, he laughed darkly.
Tom saw Apille turn back toward Koala. Just as he was about to attack Apille, Burgess caught up from behind and attacked.
"Fighting you is fun! Let's have a proper match! Forget about them! I haven't been serious until now. It's really not satisfying enough!" Burgess's right fist shot toward Tom's front with a fierce and rapid punch. Tom barely avoided it, retreating several steps.
"You annoying bastard! Are you even a pirate? Since you want a beating so badly, I'll properly satisfy you!" Tom was completely tied up by Burgess. He couldn't properly do his own thing without dealing with this guy first. He had to focus on Burgess. After all, Apille was being chased by Koala; it should be fine for now.
"Do I look like a pirate? Why aren't you using your fists? I think your punching power is good. Getting hit by you actually excites me," Burgess said excitedly, seeing Tom's attitude finally turn serious. His eyes flickered with bloodthirsty battle intent.
"Sorry. I've been preferring to use this thing to beat people up lately." Tom took the two fishing rods from his gauntlet, combining them into nunchaku. From quite a distance, he swung upward diagonally toward Burgess's face.
"Get a good look at where I am first! Your weapon can't possibly reach—" Before Burgess could finish, the section of the nunchaku in Tom's hand instantly extended. The other section accurately and heavily smashed into his face, sending his entire body flying into the air. The impact even dislocated his jaw, twisting his mouth at an unnatural angle.
Just as Tom wanted to press the advantage and pursue the airborne Burgess, Koala came flying toward him from ahead, which surprised him somewhat.
Tom had thought that even if Apille turned back to ambush Koala while she was turned around, given her strength, it shouldn't be a problem.
But the reality was that Koala had been successfully ambushed and sent flying. This instantly raised his alertness toward Apille to the maximum.
Koala had indeed fallen for Apille's trick. She hadn't expected his leg could suddenly extend. Using the momentum of the rapid extension, the force of Apille's incoming kick greatly increased. Forced to defend in haste, she was sent flying after blocking several kicks.
Tom sidestepped the flying Koala, noticing her poor complexion and a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth—she was clearly injured quite badly.
Seeing Koala was about to crash into a house and looking at her orange short hair, Tom frowned. Ultimately, he used his right wrist launcher to shoot a line and pull her back.
"Thank you," Koala said, wiping the bloodstain from her mouth, panting lightly. Her originally fair face was now deathly pale.
"Don't thank me. It's just that you... resemble someone a little. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered with whether you lived or died," Tom said to Koala. Seeing Burgess, whom he'd sent flying, lying there after landing and not getting back up, he turned to look ahead. Then he was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the ground. "Is that guy running up ahead that so-called 'Leg King'? What long legs!"
That's right. After saving Koala, Tom realized Apille's legs were that long—at least three meters. These were not the legs of a normal person.
Initially, seeing Tom's keep-your-distance manner when he spoke to her, Koala thought he was a cold person. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, this guy would be so shocked by Apille's long legs that his jaw dropped, completely destroying his previous image.
With his legs fully extended, Apille was taller than a small house, looking like a small giant as he ran through Loguetown's streets—an extremely bizarre sight. As he ran quickly forward, the ground beneath him showed slight tremors.
"His body has been modified. Ninety percent of the muscle from his upper body was transplanted to his legs. Therefore, his leg strength is at least ten times greater than a normal person's. I was too careless," Koala explained to Tom beside her as she chased Apille.
"So that's why his upper body is emaciated beyond recognition. But you still haven't explained why his legs can stretch that long," Tom said, running slightly faster than Koala. While speaking, he looked back and saw Burgess had stood up, cracked his crooked jaw back into place, and was now laughing loudly as he chased after them again.
Glancing at Koala beside him, he saw her pale complexion was gradually regaining color. The effects of her earlier injuries seemed increasingly diminished, and her movements were becoming more agile.
Damn it all. These guys are all freaks, one after another. Better to get the belt quickly and get out of here. This commotion is huge. If the Marines arrive, it'll be even worse.
Having decided this, Tom accelerated toward Apille.
"You didn't know? He's from the Long-Leg Tribe. He had been squatting the whole time before, so we couldn't tell," Koala said, speeding up to follow Tom.
"Long-Leg Tribe? There's really a race like that in this world..." Tom felt relieved. No wonder Apille's body proportions were distorted earlier. The guy had been wearing baggy pants and squatting to fight them. He really was ingenious in his sneakiness.
"Do you know who I am? Daring to obstruct me... My master will not let you off!" Apille, seeing Tom and Koala relentlessly pursuing and closing the distance, had already revealed his trump card. He could only try to threaten them.
Unfortunately, Tom and Koala didn't even spare him a glance and instead launched a joint attack.
Tom merged his two fishing rods into one and extended it, swinging hard at Apille's upper body. Apille's weak point was far too obvious. If Tom's strike landed on his thick legs, the effect might be minimal. But hitting his barely-muscled upper body instantly shattered the bone in his right shoulder.
Simultaneously, Koala jumped high into the air—she was petite, but jumped quite high—and threw a long-range Brick Fist.
Under the combined assault from Tom and Koala, Apille's fragile body was severely injured and fell forward. The box containing the belt fell from his hand.
Koala, still mid-air, was unable to act freely. Tom leapt forward, using his left wrist launcher to shoot a line sticking to a house, swung forward, smoothly dodging a punch from the pursuing Burgess behind him. The line from his right wrist launcher accurately latched onto the falling box, grabbing it.
Then Tom continued holding the line, swinging forward to land, and ran off in a flash, not wanting to stay and deal with Burgess's relentless pursuit.
As for Koala, seeing Tom run off at lightning speed, she glanced toward a nearby alley, her eyes spinning, and slipped into the alley while no one was paying attention.
Tom and Koala had barely left when Smoker arrived. Seeing the main street in complete disarray, many injured civilians on the ground, and numerous damaged buildings on both sides, his expression darkened as he looked at the severely injured Apille lying on the ground.
Burgess, seeing Smoker arrive, was smart enough to flee, leaving the unlucky Apille to be brutally beaten by Smoker.
Tom had just ducked into a secluded alley. Before he could even open the box to see if the belt was suitable, he heard Koala's voice. "That item isn't for you to keep. Hand it over."
"Sorry, I don't have the habit of casually handing over my things to others. If you want it, come and take it by force."
"You helped me earlier. I could teach you some key points of Fish-Man Karate. But you have to give me the belt. It's important to me."
Seeing Koala had caught up so quickly, Tom lost the mood to check the belt. But seeing how much she cared about it made him even less inclined to give it to her.
Remembering how Tom had used his strange lines to pull her to safety earlier, Koala thought it best to avoid a fight if possible. Seeing Tom remain silent, she assumed he had agreed and began telling him many things related to Fish-Man Karate.
Listening to Koala's explanations on Fish-Man Karate indeed benefited Tom greatly. He had long been puzzled by why he always felt power leakage when throwing water shots. Now he finally understood the reason. He also gained a deeper understanding of the Fish-Man Karate Brick Fist. He now couldn't wait to find a place to test it.
"That's about it. You should give that thing to me now," Koala said, extending her small hand toward Tom. But what happened next made her stare in disbelief.
"Are you an idiot? I said I wouldn't just give it away. But I should thank you for telling me so much about Fish-Man Karate. So that's that. I still need to find my crewmates. You're injured, so don't go running around," Tom said, picking his nose. After finishing, he patted his butt and prepared to leave.
Seeing Tom leave so decisively, Koala was completely dumbfounded. "You dare to trick me?"
"Nonsense. When did I ever trick you?" Tom replied confused.
Koala carefully thought it over. Indeed, Tom had never personally agreed to her condition. Yet she had told him many Fish-Man Karate techniques. Her face darkened. "You take advantage and still want to leave?"
"Are you crazy, woman? I never touched you. When did I take advantage of you?" Tom felt righteously indignant. Since setting sail, aside from occasionally taking advantage of Nami, he really hadn't taken advantage of any other woman.
"You... you're shameless! I'll teach you a lesson!" Koala, seeing Tom deny everything cleanly with a few words, couldn't swallow this anger. Her handsome little face flushed red with rage. Just as she was about to attack Tom, her emotions fluctuated too violently—a major taboo in martial arts is agitation of the mind. The movement aggravated her earlier injuries, and she couldn't muster an attack.
"Forget it. Looking at you, fighting me now would just get you beaten up," Tom said, seeing Koala coughing rapidly, her face flushed red. He looked up at the dark clouds in the sky and honestly said to Koala, "Seriously, I don't have a hobby of hitting women. It looks like it's going to rain soon. You should hurry home and bring in your laundry."
"I won't let you off! I'll have Sabo teach you a lesson!" Koala had experienced many hardships since childhood but was kind-hearted. Now, coming to Loguetown on a mission, not only might the mission fail, but she was also angered by Tom's words. She rarely threw out harsh threats like this.
"Sabo? Who's that? Never heard of him. You can have him come find me. I'm not afraid of him." After leaving these words with Koala, Tom left happily with the belt. At this moment, he didn't know how much "trouble" these words would bring him in the future.
Shortly after Tom walked out of the alley, he ran straight into a man with short silver hair, two cigars clenched in his mouth—Smoker.
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T/N :
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