Thud thud!
Nojiko seemed to have inherited someone's style—once she made her move, she didn't hold back at all.
With punches and kicks combined, she was like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep. In the blink of an eye, five or six dozen pirates dropped to the ground, as if they had been mowed down.
The remaining pirates were stunned with fear. Only now did they realize—the blue-haired beauty blocking the rural path was no ordinary person. She was a beast in human form!
At the rear of the crowd…
Gin's gaze sharpened slightly.
He suddenly crouched a little, eyes locked coldly onto Nojiko in the distance. The iron-ball cane in his hand spun slowly, scraping against the ground, sending sparks flying.
This woman was strong. Even he didn't have the confidence to finish her quickly. To avoid wasting time, he would have to strike a fatal blow—aim straight for her skull and kill her on the spot...
Just as he was about to hurl his weapon—
A burst of arrogant laughter suddenly echoed from the coastline:
"Hahaha! The great Paru has arrived!"
Thud!
A tall, burly man, his body covered in steel shields, leapt off the ship and landed directly in front of Nojiko.
"Oooh! It's Captain Paru!"
"He's finally taking action!"
The pirates looked excited, raising their arms and cheering wildly. "You're done for, woman! This is Captain Paru, the so-called 'Iron Wall Man' of our fleet!"
"That's right! That's me, the great Paru!"
Paru grinned, baring his teeth, and smashed his shield-covered arms together with a loud clang.
Hmm?
Nojiko sized up his strange getup from top to bottom, then shook her head in speechless disgust.
"'Iron Wall Man'? What a joke. You're just a coward who likes to hide in a turtle shell."
The moment the words left her lips, she shot into the air using Geppo, appearing above Paru's head. Then, with a powerful downward punch, she aimed straight for his skull.
Boom!
A deep metallic clang rang out—Paru had crossed his arms in front of his face. The shield on his elbows formed a tight defense, successfully blocking the strike.
Ouch!
His arms were shaking with the intense impact, and a numbing sensation spread through them. Paru was internally shocked.
Damn this woman—what monstrous strength!
But when he lowered his arms, a smug grin returned to his face.
"Useless! That was useless! A punch like that is soft and weak—it'll never break through my defense!"
"Let me tell you—during battles, I've never shed a single drop of blood. Not one!"
He held up a finger to Nojiko.
"Being completely unharmed is the best proof of how powerful I—"
Shing!
A flash of silver light erupted. A blade cut through the air with fierce momentum, sweeping across Paru's body.
Time seemed to freeze.
Paru stood frozen, unmoving. A fine line of blood appeared on his raised finger, extending vertically—spreading in an instant from his head down to his toes.
In horror, he realized that his vision was... splitting.
With his left eye, he saw the shield on his chest sliced cleanly in two. With his right eye, he caught a glimpse of the right half of his body slowly tipping over.
Clang! Clang!
The two shield-covered halves of his body dropped to the ground one after another. The cross-sections still quivered faintly with organs twitching and blood and entrails spilled across the dirt.
"Captain Paru!!!"
The surrounding pirates were wide-eyed in disbelief.
Through all their battles, they had never seen anyone break through the captain's defense—yet now, he had been sliced clean in half with a single stroke?
Tap.
A tall girl landed lightly on the ground. Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail behind her head, adding to her bold and dashing presence.
She tilted her head slightly, glancing at the blade in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, the blood vanished cleanly from the pure white sword.
One of the 21 Great Grade Swords—Wado Ichimonji.
"Any other volunteers for death?"
Kuina's eyes were icy as she spun the Wado Ichimonji into a lazy flourish, pointing it at the terrified pirates in front of her.
"Go ahead—take two steps forward. Try your luck."
Gulp.
The pirates around them all swallowed hard. Despite gripping their blades tightly, they all instinctively took several steps back.
This village… just what the hell is going on?
It's supposed to be some backwater rural place… so why are these women blocking the road one after another—each more terrifying than the last?!
"You're done with your meal too?"
Nojiko retracted her fist with a sigh, her tone a bit bored. She glanced sideways at Kuina.
"You're a guest. If you rushed over here before you were full, that would be awfully rude of us as the hosts, you know."
"Mm. I just finished eating."
Kuina nodded gently. "Shano-nii said he wanted to do the dishes himself and wouldn't let me help. I had nothing to do, so I figured I'd come over and take a look."
"That's my brother! You already got invited onto the ship—just call him Captain!" Nojiko gritted her teeth.
"He is two years older than me, you know."
Kuina nonchalantly pushed up her glasses.
—
Upon hearing this exchange—
Whether it was Krieg, the Fleet Admiral who had just stepped off the ship, or Gin who had silently approached his side—they both looked gloomier than ever.
Just finished eating?
Came here out of boredom?
What arrogance! From the sound of it, it was like they just sent two random people out for a post-meal stroll—and even that was enough to wipe the floor with them!
But the most infuriating part…
Was the very person they were looking for—Shano!
Thirty ships! A full-scale invasion! Over a thousand pirates landed on the island!
And that guy… was actually still doing dishes?!?
"Oi, oi, oi… they're really looking down on us here."
Krieg's face darkened, veins bulging at his temples. Suddenly, he let out a bone-chilling laugh through gritted teeth.
"This really pisses me off. Gin, you're not allowed to go. This time, I'll do it myself!"
"Understood, Boss."
Gin looked at him with some surprise, hesitated for a moment, then reminded softly,
"That black-haired girl who showed up later—her swordsmanship is very strong. Don't underestimate her..."
"Blah blah blah—you think I need you to tell me that?!"
Krieg growled as he drew his Golden Battle Spear. His heavy armor glinted under the sun. With a loud boom, he used the recoil force to launch himself high into the air, spear raised to strike down at Kuina.
"You're just a little punk who took out a dumbass like Paru! I'm the Overlord of the East Blue! The Fleet Admiral Krieg, with a bounty of seventeen million berries!!!"
"Let's see if your sword techniques can slice through my golden battle armor! And let's see if you can even take one hit from this battle spear—it weighs over a ton!!!"
Golden battle armor?
Kuina calmly looked up at the enormous figure bearing down on her. She quietly spoke:
"Ichitoryu—Santenshikai: Swallow Return."
Whoosh!
In an instant, her figure vanished. She slipped past the golden battle spear and drew her blade in a flash, slashing diagonally.
Slash slash slash!!!
Three arcs of silver sword light exploded out, instantly enveloping Krieg's entire body.
Before he could react, the circular shields on both of his shoulders shattered with a boom. The upper half of his armor fragmented into golden shards.
And the final sword strike—precisely knocked his golden battle spear flying, embedding it deep into a nearby coconut tree.
"..."
Krieg's massive 2.43-meter frame froze on the spot. He didn't dare move a muscle.
Because right now, the icy tip of a sword was pressing just a centimeter below his throat.
"Frog in a well."
Kuina gave a faint smile as she met Krieg's terrified gaze.
"Do you want me to spell it out for you? Two months ago, I already mastered the Breath of All Things and stepped into the realm of the swordmaster. From that point on—gold, silver, copper, iron… nothing is uncuttable."