At this moment on the Hunting Teeth Pirates's ship, the somewhat round Captain Pogo was looking at the approaching warship with a face full of disdain: "Seeing my Hunting Teeth Pirates's flag and not fleeing, but instead drawing closer? I'm really being looked down upon."
The tall and thin swordsman Butch on the side said: "It seems that after we went to the New World, no one remembers our prestige. A single Marine warship dares to come hunting us. Bring the ship closer; I want them to feel despair in close combat."
Another executive, Black, said: "I didn't expect that before we could conquer a small kingdom and retire, we'd have a chance to clash with the Marines. This is fine too; once we snatch the Marines' equipment, our chances of conquering the kingdom will increase significantly."
The final sniper, Kruger, didn't speak, but simply began to take aim.
The first to act was Kruger. He fired a bullet just as the Marine warship was about to approach, but before it could hit anyone, it was intercepted by Binz, who had been watching him. Binz used the Ripe-Ripe Fruit to accelerate the growth of a patch of vines, blocking the bullet's attack.
Captain Pogo became serious after seeing a Devil Fruit power. He re-evaluated the strength of these Marines and wondered if he should flee. At that moment, the danger sense brought by his Zoan Fruit saved his life. He hurriedly lunged forward, dodging a sword strike flashing with white light.
"My, my, quite a quick reaction." Hera wasn't too surprised to see her sneak attack from the shadows avoided. After all, they were pirates who had been to the New World; they had some skill.
"And now?" Following Hera's words, darkness descended upon the Hunting Teeth Pirates. The City of Devouring Time enveloped the entire Pirate Crew. The deck instantly turned into blood-red ground, and the writhing shadows visible everywhere made those pirates, already terrified by the New World, believe they had arrived in hell.
The well-traveled Pogo roared: "Don't panic! This is the West Blue, not the New World. This is just an illusion from the other side. As long as we hit this little girl, it will be broken."
Black and Butch also rushed toward Hera, wanting to take her out first, but they were blocked by Ain and Kuina. "Leave that swordsman to me; you go stop Black," Kuina said. Ain nodded and intercepted Black.
As the pirate lackeys saw their companions swallowed by the darkness beneath their feet, their panic reached its peak. Some even raised their hands to surrender, wanting to survive. But for Hera, surrendering was useless. Zephyr, who adhered to the principle of not killing, sighed upon seeing this but said nothing.
Pogo, watching his life's work being destroyed by Hera, roared: "If you have the guts, fight me!" Fully activating his Devil Fruit ability, he transformed into a somewhat fierce-looking guinea pig and dug a hole in the deck to attack Hera.
Hera looked at Pogo and laughed. A large guinea pig couldn't be that fierce, especially since this one had half its teeth knocked out. She mocked: "So the Hunting Teeth Pirates is actually the Cracked Tooth Pirate Crew. Don't worry, I'll deal with you, you guinea pig, right now."
"Rankyaku: Great Cut." With a Rankyaku, Hera forced Pogo out from under the deck. Immediately following was the Second Bullet she had already prepared. After it hit, Pogo was instantly stunned in place, moving in slow motion.
Seeing this, Hera complained: "This is more like it. After playing so many high-level matches, I started to think the Second Bullet was useless."
Then she closed in on Pogo, her finger emitting a Black light. "Shigan: Great Desolate Imprisoning Sky Finger" pierced through Pogo's heart. Haki and the power of time immediately shredded Pogo's heart, causing him to die on the spot.
The corpse gradually sank into the City of Devouring Time. As Pogo completely died and was consumed, the fruit storage area in the City of Devouring Time suddenly changed. An apple suddenly turned into a mini guinea pig.
Hera noticed this and took out the special apple, inwardly surprised: "This must be the Guinea Pig Fruit. Could it be that the City of Devouring Time forces the Devil Fruits of those who die inside to only respawn within it?"
Thinking of this, Hera became happy. Previously, she was worried about what to do if Eneru had already eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit when she went to Sky Island. Now the problem was solved: "It seems this Rumble-Rumble Fruit is destined to be mine."
By then, Kuina had also finished off Butch. In the Marines, Kuina would spar with Sister Gion whenever she was free. Now she had traveled some distance on the path of a Master Swordsman; the only thing lacking was Haki.
Before Kuina even reached her, she saw the foolishly happy Hera and said: "Did you awaken a new ability? You're so happy."
Hera said: "Not exactly, I feel I'm still a bit short. It's something else."
She then asked Kuina: "If you were to choose a Devil Fruit, what type would you want? Logia, Zoan, or the most special Paramecia?"
Kuina thought for a moment: "I don't plan on eating a Devil Fruit. Since the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye, doesn't have a fruit, then neither will I. I want to fight relying only on my sword." After saying that, she touched her wado ichimonji.
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