Amidst the flames of the explosion, a pale blue slash soared into the sky.
Swoosh!
The whistling slash tore through, striking Baby 5, who had barely managed to transform into a revolver, with lightning speed.
The air surged, and amidst the roar, Baby 5 was sent flying a hundred meters away, caught by a frantic Buffalo before she could hit the ground.
After catching her, he didn't dare stop for a moment, immediately swerving as a highly concentrated pale blue slash grazed past them.
It sliced through the low snowy peak behind them.
"It's no good, we can't beat him, nnnniin."
Buffalo's scalp tingled as he continuously dodged the crazed onslaught of slashes.
"If we run away here, the mission will be a failure."
On his broad back, Baby 5 coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling no strength in her upper body.
So strong!
Why is there such a strong swordsman in the first half of the Grand Line!?
Wait!
Baby 5 suddenly recalled the situation at the beginning. That green-haired swordsman clearly wasn't the Captain. The person who had walked in first was the one in charge.
Wait, such a strong swordsman isn't even the Captain?
They had moved too quickly before, so Baby 5 hadn't paid much attention to the details, but now, after being beaten so miserably, she remembered them.
But she couldn't remember the man's face because it was covered by a hood.
At that moment, Buffalo suddenly said, "Let's retreat. Doflamingo-sama will forgive us because we've encountered the Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto."
"?!"
Baby 5 was stunned because she knew of this person.
In the recent newspapers, the Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto had killed Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea who was on the same level as Doflamingo.
"You mean the person down there is the Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto?!"
"No, nnnniin! That should be his crew member."
Buffalo began to ascend, avoiding the continuous stream of slashes from below. "The Pirate Hunter Zoro with a bounty of 60 million berries."
Baby 5's expression changed, and while she was hesitating, she heard Buffalo say, "Let's retreat for now. We'll find Violet and then look for another opportunity."
"Fine."
Below, Zoro, who was frowning more and more as he gave chase, stopped, watching his opponents suddenly flee after their long battle.
What's the meaning of this?
They're not fighting anymore?
"You fight when you want and leave when you want? There's no such thing."
Zoro took his Three Sword Style stance, no longer sparing his stamina.
Three Sword Style: 108 Caliber Phoenix!
The three pale blue slashes converged, turning into a single violent shockwave that shot out at an incredible speed.
Under the distant sky, Buffalo couldn't dodge in time and was hit along with Baby 5, blood splattering in mid-air. But he still wobbled as he fled, with no intention of turning back.
"Cowards."
Zoro was somewhat dissatisfied, but since his two legs couldn't catch up with a flying enemy, he could only turn back.
However, when he returned, he found the tavern empty, with only corpses strewn everywhere.
"Strange, did they get lost?"
Zoro didn't understand, and after thinking about it, he decided to just walk around.
After he left, a small head poked out from the tavern. Miss Goldenweek looked at the departing enemy and breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected, with her child-like appearance, there was a great chance of surviving by playing dead.
As for whether she felt ashamed for playing dead without even fighting...
Please, she was only chosen as a partner because she could color Mr. 3's Candle Champion. She didn't have much strength herself.
Besides, even Mr. 3 was cut down by that terrifying man, and even Mr. 1 couldn't last a second.
Miss Goldenweek didn't think she was even worthy of the word "combat."
If there was anything she could do, it would probably be reporting the situation here back.
She took out a den den mushi, but then fell silent in the next second.
Wait, the only person she could report to was Miss Sunday, right?
But she had already been taken away.
Who was she supposed to report to?
A trace of confusion flashed in Miss Goldenweek's eyes, and then she decided to notify the base at Whiskey Peak and let the people there report it up the chain.
...
Inside Drum Castle, Carina looked at the box in front of her, then at the fawning, smiling Chess beside her. "Open it."
Chess immediately opened the box, revealing three Devil Fruits of different colors and shapes inside.
He didn't have any ill intentions. After witnessing that terrifying man's attack that could even tear the sky, his only thought was to get rid of these plagues as quickly as possible.
The Drum Kingdom was too small, it simply didn't have the strength to mess around with such a monster.
Carina identified them for a moment but couldn't make heads or tails of it. She put the box away, knocked Chess out with a punch, and dragged him back. She would leave it to Hiroto to see if they were real.
Meanwhile, on the snow, Viola stood frozen because a figure had appeared before her.
It was none other than the Sea-Cleaving Swordsman Hiroto, whom she had been so wary of.
Why was he able to find her so precisely?
And why would he spend the effort to find someone like her who hadn't even made a move?
Could it be... he's interested in me?
A very likely guess surfaced in Violet's mind. After all, her appearance was excellent.
Elegant, sexy, mature, and at the same time extremely "wealthy"—these were all Violet's strong points.
But now it seemed to have become...