After leaving the Outsider Tavern, Hiroto first checked his panel.
When killing Mr. 1, he had activated [Gluttony]. Therefore, he didn't pursue Robin, but used his pressure to force her to return on her own.
As for the gains, Hiroto looked at the information that appeared.
[Entry: Blade Human]
[Quality: Purple]
[Type: Special]
[Effect: Sharpness of held swords and blades increases by 30%, power of physical blade slashes increases by 10%.]
[Cost: None]
[Note: Attuned to the blade.]
Without a doubt, it was the same as when he killed Moria and took a part of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit's ability.
[Gluttony] couldn't devour a Devil Fruit. This had a lot to do with Hiroto's willpower, but it didn't mean it couldn't scrape off some scraps.
Mr. 1 was a Full-Body Bladed Human who had eaten the Paramecia-type Dice-Dice Fruit, essentially the embodiment of human desires and wishes regarding 'slashing' and such.
The scraps scraped off naturally corresponded to enhancing the direction of 'blades'.
The increase wasn't huge, but it didn't mention any upper limit.
It seemed that Devil Fruits had a very strong advantage in this aspect. The things scraped off have almost no restrictions on their upper limit.
Hiroto couldn't help but smile.
This was also part of the reason he chose to devour Mr. 1.
As for why he didn't devour Mr. 3...
That really wasn't necessary.
Mr. 3's Devil Fruit Ability is the Wax-Wax Fruit, likely formed from people's desires for candles in a certain period.
Its upper limit isn't high, and any scraps scraped off would be difficult to form into a useful entry.
For Hiroto, it held no attraction.
Closing the panel, he looked ahead. After leaving the tavern, he could see chaos outside.
The battle between Zoro, Baby 5, and Buffalo had destroyed over a dozen houses, and the battlefield had extended all the way outside the village.
Now, they were no longer visible, only the increasingly distant explosions and flashes of light could be heard and seen.
Hiroto had no intention of intervening. Opponents of this level were nothing to him anymore. Might as well let Zoro get some practice and boost his growth rate.
As for the direct benefit of killing them?
The current enemy was still Crocodile.
Regarding dealing with that pink-haired bird, Hiroto planned to arrange that for later.
And...
"Don't move!"
"Raise your hands!"
Outside the tavern, the dazed soldiers finally reacted, raising their guns in unison to aim at the few people who had walked out of the tavern.
They had all seen Chess bring people over. Among the pirates who had just fought, one was with this group, and some of the village houses were destroyed by that green-haired swordsman.
Moreover, these people had left the Outsider Tavern.
From any perspective, the soldiers felt they were enemies.
"Hmph."
Hiroto looked at the hundreds of soldiers, placed one hand on the hilt of Shusui, and drew the blade partway out of its sheath.
Instantly, terrifying pressure swept across the field, as imposing as mountains and as bone-chillingly cold.
The soldiers all trembled, their bodies stiffening and tensing up as if being stared at by some horrifying monster. In an instant, they lost all ability to resist, becoming like puppets at the mercy of others.
"Mo... Monster!"
"What kind of monster is this!"
"Why can't I move! Why... I feel like I'm going to die!?"
Fear spread among the soldiers, and the guns in their hands fell to the ground one after another. From a distance, it looked as if they couldn't even hold their weapons due to fear.
Behind them, Robin, who had followed closely, slowed her steps, once again observing this bizarre scene.
After all, just moments ago, she had personally experienced how terrifying the oppressive force of that dreadful pressure was.
Is it Conqueror's Haki?
This time, Robin finally had a chance to identify it, since she wasn't the one being pressured.
After a moment's thought, the first thing that came to her mind was the legendary Conqueror's Haki.
However, she quickly dismissed it. Legend has it that when Conqueror's Haki is unleashed, it knocks everyone unconscious.
It seemed more like the intimidation of killing intent?
But whatever it was, the terror level of the man before her was something neither Robin herself nor this kingdom could withstand.
To the side, Chess, sweating profusely, hid behind the tavern door, looking at the man who had walked out with a shocked expression.
The other party had merely drawn his blade partway, and it rendered hundreds of soldiers unable to move.
This kind of strength and that face he just saw...
Chess suddenly remembered, he had seen this face before.
Just recently, in the newspaper...
A pirate with a bounty of 400 million berries, the Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto.
That's a full 400 million berry bounty!
At that moment, a cloud of snow dust suddenly rose outside the village. A huge, hippo-like white mount appeared, accompanied by the soldiers from the port.
Dalton, the captain of the kingdom's guard, stood next to Wapol's mount, Robson, warily watching the surrounded pirates.
He had said these pirates were all unstable factors.
On Robson's back, Wapol yawned and said discontentedly, "It's been so noisy here since just now, I could even see it from the mountain. What on earth is going on here?"
"Your Majesty Wapol!"
The hiding Chess instantly darted out, scrambling over on all fours, his urgent posture comparable to a dog catching a whiff of something.
He quickly ran to where Wapol was, then urgently reported the situation.
Then...