Chapter 140: I Can't Take It Anymore! I'm Going to Hack This Show-off to Death!
Faced with the monetary offensive, it was the big curly-haired Mr. 8 who remained the most clear-headed.
He sneered coldly:
"Do you take us for idiots? If we kill you, all the treasure on your ship will be ours. Why would we need to bargain with you?"
At that moment, over a hundred people looked surprised and said in unison:
"So that's how it works!"
Ralph sighed. It seemed there was no room for negotiation.
Oh well. Even if he was interested in Baroque Works, it wasn't something that could be achieved overnight. It would require a gradual approach.
Since that was the case...
Ralph took a step forward, moonlight shining on his face.
"You people are just too impatient."
His eyes flickered with a certain... unsettling light:
"Couldn't you wait until we've toyed with a few Navy soldiers, kidnapped some nobles, killed a few World Nobles, defeated some of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and our bounties have exceeded several hundred million before capturing us for the reward?"
After saying this, he paused briefly and added:
"That would be so much more cost-effective."
Silence.
A dead silence lasting three full seconds.
Then—
"A rookie Pirate crew that just entered the Grand Line dares to boast about killing Navy soldiers! There should be a limit to bragging!"
"Killing nobles is one thing, but daring to talk about killing World Nobles! They're either lunatics or fools!"
"And they want to defeat the Seven Warlords of the Sea! Those are the strongest forces on the sea, on par with Navy Admirals and the Four Emperors!"
"So when it comes to bragging, the long-nosed guy on their ship can only rank second!"
"I can't take it anymore! I'm going to cut down this show-off!"
"Charge! Get him!"
Their fury was completely ignited.
Over a hundred Bounty Hunters, without needing orders from their officers, roared and charged forward.
Gunfire rang out first.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Bullets tore through the night sky, pouring toward Ralph.
Some even shouldered rocket launchers.
"Boom—!"
A shell trailing flames shot directly at Ralph's position.
The massive explosion was deafening.
Flames shot into the sky, dust and smoke billowed, and Ralph's figure was instantly swallowed.
"Got one!"
Someone shouted excitedly.
"Next is that green-haired guy!!"
The gun muzzles turned toward Zoro.
Zoro instantly vanished from his spot, rolling several times to take cover behind a stone wall.
Bullets struck the stone wall, sending sparks flying.
He felt not a shred of worry for Ralph, only regret that he himself hadn't yet mastered Armament Haki.
"Ralph still managed to show off!"
Zoro thought to himself, "That guy's Armament Haki can even withstand Lufia's punches. Bullets and rockets probably can't hurt him anymore, right?"
The answer was yes.
As the smoke cleared.
The ground where Ralph had been standing was now a shallow crater.
But he himself—was completely unharmed.
Under the moonlight, his right palm was covered in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki, with wisps of smoke still rising from it.
That was the mark of having caught the rocket shell bare-handed just moments before.
His clothes had several holes, revealing similarly blackened skin beneath.
Bullets had struck it without leaving even a white mark.
"M-Monster...!"
Someone cried out in disbelief.
But this was only the beginning.
"And do you think there's only one monster?"
Zoro's voice came from behind the stone wall.
Immediately after, a green figure shot out like a leopard.
Three swords were drawn simultaneously, slicing three cold gleams through the moonlight.
"Ah—!"
The three nearest Bounty Hunters fell to the ground.
Almost simultaneously, Ralph moved as well.
He didn't use his sword.
Just simple punches, kicks, and hand chops.
Yet every strike was precise and efficient.
Thud!
A bounty hunter was kicked flying, knocking down three others behind him.
Crack!
A hand chop struck another man's neck, and he crumpled to the ground.
Zoro had cut down ten.
Ralph had taken down twelve.
A fighting spirit ignited in Zoro's eyes.
He glanced at Ralph, his three swords swinging even faster:
"Want to make it a contest?"
"Just what I was thinking."
Ralph smiled.
The two of them descended upon the crowd like tigers among sheep.
Zoro's blade light wove a net, and wherever his Three Sword Style passed, no one could stand against it.
Ralph's approach was simpler and more brutal.
Based on the Six Powers, he transformed into a black lightning bolt, weaving through the crowd. With every pause, another person fell.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
The bounty hunters began to crumble. They realized that no matter how many of them swarmed forward, they were effortlessly crushed.
These two… they were simply beyond their ability to handle!
"That's about enough."
Ralph suddenly said.
He hooked a foot under a fallen sword on the ground and picked it up.
An ordinary longsword, its edge slightly chipped.
But in his hand, it seemed to become something different.
Under the moonlight, Ralph raised the sword.
Then
He swung it down.
There was no earth-shattering momentum.
Not even the sound of slicing air.
But the instant the blade light flashed, the remaining dozens of bounty hunters froze in their movements.
Their eyes turned hollow, vacant, as if they had seen something unimaginable.
"Nameless Sword Style: Killing Blade."
Ralph said softly.
The next second, he moved.
The speed of Six Powers—Soru was pushed to its limit, leaving a trail of afterimages under the moonlight.
He charged into the crowd of frozen figures, blade light flashing continuously.
The remaining bounty hunters fell like harvested wheat.
From Ralph's swing to the last man hitting the ground, the entire process took no more than three seconds.
In the plaza, the only ones still standing were the four Baroque Works agents and a few stragglers hiding in the back.
Ralph casually tossed aside the now-chipped sword and sighed:
"It's a bit embarrassing to say. Even though it's called 'Killing Blade,' I haven't used this move to kill many people. I've truly tarnished the name of this sword technique."
Zoro snorted coldly:
"With such formidable talent in swordsmanship, yet you don't train properly with the sword. You haven't just tarnished your technique—you've disgraced your very talent!"
Seeing Ralph take down nearly half the enemies in one go, the winner of their contest was obvious.
Damn it, can I still not beat him?!
"Alright."
Ralph clapped his hands and looked at the remaining four across from him:
"Now, can we have a proper talk?"
Igaram's face was livid.
He abruptly raised the saxophone in his hand—it was no musical instrument.
The bell of the saxophone was actually the dark, hollow barrel of a gun.
"Saxophone Shotgun!"
Bang!
A dense spray of steel pellets shot out like a torrential rain, covering the area where Ralph and Zoro stood.
Zoro sidestepped, the pellets grazing the hem of his clothes and leaving a dense pattern of dents on the wall behind him.
But Ralph didn't dodge.
He stood in place, letting the pellets strike his body.
Clink, clink, clink…
The sound of metal impacts was like rain beating on banana leaves.
Ralph's shirt was completely shredded, fragments of cloth flying everywhere.
He reached out, tearing off the last few strips still clinging to him.
Moonlight shone on his bare upper body. The muscles, tempered by Lufia and refined to near perfection by the system's enhancements, gleamed with an obsidian-like luster under the coverage of Armament Haki.
"Warm-up's over."
Ralph said.
"You refuse to accept a face-saving offer, so don't blame me for being impolite!"
His gaze changed.
All traces of his previous casualness, laziness, and even a hint of cynicism vanished completely.
Replacing them was a razor-sharp... fighting spirit.
Seeing this look in his eyes, Zoro finally curled his lips into a genuine smile.
"That's more like it."
The two stood side by side.
On one side was a swordsman wielding three blades, his fighting spirit boiling over.
On the other was a martial artist bare from the waist up, enveloped in an aura of Haki.
And facing them were four pale-faced agents, along with a handful of trembling underlings.
The advantage in numbers seemed utterly laughable at this moment.
Among them, the blue-haired beauty Miss Wednesday, unnoticed by the others, exchanged a glance with Mr. 8.
"Igaram..."
"They claim to be capable of defeating one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea...
"Could it be true?"