Chapter 40: The Real Battle Begins
"Is Satoru always this brutal?" Herac whispered to Chris, his face pale with shock.
"I don't know," Chris whispered back, his own heart pounding. "Why don't you go ask him?"
He felt like Satoru was a different person right now—not the guy who joked around with them during training.
"I don't dare!" Herac said quickly, shaking his head and taking half a step back. "I'm afraid he'll twist my head off, too."
"Don't be scared," Satoru said without turning around, his voice carrying easily. "I'm only this cruel to enemies. I'm still very nice to my allies."
He finally glanced back at Chris and Herac, flashing them a big, toothy smile.
It was the same smile he always gave them. Before, it made him look sunny and friendly. Now, after what they just saw, the smile sent a chill down their spines. For a second, they had the crazy thought that they might be his next target.
"Uh, Satoru," Chris said, forcing his voice to stay steady. "You should probably keep looking at the pirates, right? You looking at us is... kind of scary for us guys."
Once he got his nerves under control, he spoke up. If Satoru kept staring at them, they wouldn't be scared of the enemy—they'd be scared of their own teammate.
"Hahaha! I was just joking with you," Satoru laughed.
But even as he said it, he turned his head back to face the pirates. This graduation test was meant to train them, after all. Satoru didn't want to take care of everything himself, even though he probably could. He'd acted so harshly to show them how cruel a real fight could be. In a normal battle, there might not be such a brutal beheading... though he'd never admit he did it because the guy had mocked him.
The pirates still hadn't recovered. They saw what happened, but they didn't understand how. The men standing near the dead pirate were splattered with his blood.
They hadn't expected to lose a man before the fight even started. And they had no idea how it happened. It was like it came out of nowhere.
"Don't panic!" Captain Chermo's voice boomed, cutting through the fear. "He's just a Devil Fruit user, like me!"
Seeing his crew's will wavering before the battle, he had to steady them.
With Satoru's move, the mood on the field completely flipped. The students who had lost their nerve got their confidence back. The pirates who had looked down on them now started to panic, each one afraid they'd be the next to lose their head for no reason.
Chermo's words did help. The pirates didn't look as terrified as before, but their eyes when they looked at Satoru were still full of fear.
"I thought the noble kid over there was the leader," Chermo said, his eyes locked on Satoru. "But it looks like you're the real one."
He was on guard now. He didn't know what Satoru's power was, but an attack like that had to have some trigger. It couldn't be used freely. At least, that's what Chermo thought to himself. If he knew Satoru could use that power anytime, anywhere, with no conditions, he'd probably be thinking about running right now.
"There's no leader," Satoru said casually. "But I am the strongest one here."
Everyone—Marines and pirates alike—accepted that statement as simple fact.
"So you're my opponent in this fight?" Chermo asked. His eyes never left Satoru's body. He didn't dare look away. If Satoru made any move, Chermo would attack immediately.
To Chermo, everyone except Satoru was just a nuisance. If he could take out this white-haired kid, dealing with the rest of the Marines would be easy. No trouble at all.
"If nothing goes wrong, then yeah. It should be me," Satoru replied.
While Chermo was wary of Satoru, Satoru was also wary of Chermo. He still didn't know the conditions for the blood-control power. So he couldn't afford to be careless.
"Then I'll just take care of you first," Chermo snarled.
He stretched out his hands. From his palms, two long, blood-red swords flowed out. They were made completely of liquid blood. But in Chermo's grip, the flowing liquid somehow became solid, holding the shape of sharp blades.
Satoru saw it all clearly with his Six Eyes.
"Funny. I was thinking the same thing," Satoru said. "Chris! I'll leave the rest of the pirates to you. No problem, right?"
"Don't worry," Chris said, his voice gaining strength. "Besides Chermo, the rest are just lackeys."
He felt a thrill of excitement. It was finally time to test the results of all their training.
"Good. I'm relieved to hear that," Satoru said. Then his tone turned serious. "But before we left, I promised Instructor Zephyr I'd bring everyone back alive. Chris, don't let me down."
"Of course," Chris said firmly.
The pirates heard the name 'Zephyr,' and their expressions changed. The former Admiral had only retired a few years ago. His name still carried a lot of weight.
"So you're students of Admiral Zephyr?" Chermo said, a greedy light appearing in his eyes. "I didn't expect that. It seems we've hit the jackpot this time."
The thought of wiping out a team trained by a former Admiral—that would make them famous! Their fear was pushed down by sudden greed.
"No," Satoru corrected him, his smile cold. "To be exact, you're the trash we lucked out on. I should be the one who hit the jackpot."
"Let's see if you can still talk like that in a minute!" Chermo yelled.
He flicked the blood swords in his hands. The distance between him and Satoru was far greater than the length of the blades. But Chermo did it anyway.
Swoosh!
The two blood swords stretched out in an instant, shooting toward Satoru like sharp, red spears.
Satoru didn't move. The blades stopped just inches from his face, unable to move forward, as if hitting an invisible wall.
"I see," Satoru said, observing calmly. "These swords are made from your own blood. So as long as you have enough blood in your body, you can make your attack reach almost any distance."
(End of Chapter)
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