“Ability user?”
Kane jumped back to create distance, commanding the ghosts to swarm forward — all targeting the bald man.
“Yeah!” The bald man curled his lips into a cruel smile.
He swung his large cleaver with force, carving through the air with a shrieking sound, slicing five approaching ghosts in half at the waist.
Fast.
Powerful.
Sharp slashes.
But something was off.
An attack of this level shouldn’t have defeated his ghosts so easily.
Kane couldn’t immediately analyze the bald man’s ability.
He could only stay alert and ready.
Fortunately, the enemy was cooperative and launched into the obligatory villain ability explanation.
“My name is Goluseus.
I’m an Evil Eye Human who ate the Paramecia-type Evil Eye Fruit.”
“Within my Evil Eye Domain, your defenses will gradually peel away, and your resistance to abnormal statuses will be continuously weakened.”
Goluseus raised his cleaver, the tip pointing straight at Kane.
“While my people only get stronger!”
The familiar slave foremen laughed arrogantly and led their men into the ghost encirclement.
They seemed like different people — ferociously overwhelming, taking down ghost after ghost.
Damn!
An aura-type ability!
And an unfair one at that — weakening enemies while buffing allies.
How shameless!
The tide of battle instantly reversed.
The slave traders became the attackers.
“In that case — I’ll just have to take you down first!” Ghostly aura surged.
The Second Ghost God, Phantom Shadow Kaija, materialized silently behind him.
Kane moved like an arrow loosed from a bow, cutting through the crowded hall and leaving a trail of bodies behind.
In an instant, he was in front of Goluseus, bringing his blade down in an overhead chop.
CLANG!
The cleaver met it head-on.
The two blades clashed, sparks flying.
Kane’s eyes narrowed.
He quickly changed his approach — upward slash, chop, thrust, sweep — each strike swift, each blow lethal.
?!
Such fierce attacks, yet not a single one landed.
Either blocked or dodged.
Could it be…
Observation Haki!
“Useless, useless, useless!
I can see it all!”
“Every move you make — none of it escapes my eyes.”
So it was his ability.
Nothing escapes his eyes.
Eyes…
Evil Eye!
A formidable localized mutation ability.
Goluseus stepped forward, matching Kane’s position.
The slave traders intensified their attacks, pushing the battle line forward, leaving the two of them enough space for their duel.
“You arrogant brat!
Dying at the hands of Lord Evil Eye is an honor!”
Goluseus suddenly roared, swinging his massive cleaver in a heavy chop.
Before the words had even left his mouth, the blade was already in front of Kane.
Predicting attacks?
I can do that too.
Observation Haki — activate!
Kane sidestepped, and in Goluseus’s shocked eyes, he drew his blade from an undetectable angle and swung.
SLASH!
Blood sprayed.
So what if the Evil Eye was powerful?
His body couldn’t keep up.
His reactions were lacking.
That was his biggest weakness.
Take another strike!
Kane’s movements were erratic, his attacks swift, each slash like a bolt of lightning.
He forced Goluseus into a steady retreat, the man barely dodging thanks to his Evil Eye’s predictions — yet even so, several fresh wounds appeared on his body.
CLANG!
CRACK—
The long sword was blocked, the clash of metal ringing out.
Almost simultaneously, a crisp sound followed, making Kane’s heart sink.
At the point where the blades met, the cleaver had chipped the long sword.
Goluseus noticed it too.
Gritting his teeth, he endured the risk of the blade striking his body and launched a frenzied assault.
Kane dodged and countered, drawing splatters of blood with each strike.
But these fresh wounds did not push the enemy back.
Instead, they only fueled Goluseus’s rage, his attacks coming faster and faster.
The sharp, crisp sounds of chipping rang out one after another.
From certain angles, Kane couldn’t dodge perfectly and had to raise his blade to block.
The cleaver carved notch after notch into his sword, the dense, jagged edge sending a shiver down his spine.
The Evil Eye Domain was too troublesome.
The ability to reduce defenses could even affect weapons.
Kane hadn’t taken it seriously at first.
Lowering defenses was only a problem if you got hit — as long as he was faster and stronger, he’d be fine.
But having his blade turn brittle was a completely different story.
Damn it.
If only he had Armament Haki.
No — he couldn’t keep going like this!
Otherwise, he’d end up cosplaying as Hashibira Inosuke or Kenpachi Zaraki soon.
“You’re excited, aren’t you?” Kane’s lips curled into a dangerous grin.
“Then let’s get even more excited — let’s set this place ablaze!”
He slammed his long sword heavily into the cleaver, a deafening boom echoing through the hall.
No more dodging.
No more blocking.
Attack!
Attack!
And attack again!
Let’s make this a gamble!
Let’s see whether my blade shatters first, or whether you fall before me.
As they say — offense is the best defense.
All attack, no defense — unbeatable!
“Aren’t you afraid of your sword breaking?
No, no, stop!”
Goluseus was drenched in blood, his wounds multiplying, and Kane showed no sign of stopping.
His will to fight was crumbling, his nerves fraying.
Until the blade nearly sliced across his neck, almost severing his collarbone.
He couldn’t take it anymore.
As Kane blurred toward him in a streak, Goluseus swung his cleaver with all his might and screamed: “STAY BACK!”
BOOM!
The cleaver flew into the air, spinning before landing in the distance.
Goluseus collapsed to the ground, too weak to lift a finger.
He coughed violently, blood spraying from his mouth.
Kane walked over, blocking the ceiling lights above him.
The cold tip of his blade stopped before Goluseus’s eyes.
“W-wait…
how about I buy you dinner…?”
Backstage, Law cut down a guard with one slash and turned: “Still not found yet?”
“Almost.
Hold on.” Bepo searched the fallen overseer’s body.
“Got them.”
“Good work, Bepo.” Law opened his palm.
A spinning ring of cyclone formed.
“Follow me.
ROOM!”
The cyclone expanded rapidly into a hemispherical space that enveloped the guards in front of the slaves.
Law’s katana danced wildly.
He sliced all the guards apart from a distance — yet not a single drop of blood spilled.
As the guards screamed in terror, their severed bodies seemed to lose the constraints of gravity, floating and spinning freely within the hemispherical space.
“Shambles!”
Law flicked his fingers.
The severed body parts within the ROOM were instantly pulled by an invisible force, randomly reassembling.
Some had a thick leg attached to their neck, the toes twitching unconsciously.
Some had an arm fixed to their waist, the hand dangling down, knuckles scraping the floor.
Two guards’ torsos were swapped and stitched together upside down — heads pointing down, legs pointing up.
“AAAAHHH!!”
“What is this?!”
“My hand!
No!”
The reassembled guards collapsed, unable to control their grotesque bodies.
The scene was utterly bizarre, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
The guards who had surrounded Law and the others scrambled backward.
The encirclement broke on its own.
Most of the slaves huddled together — frightened and confused.
Only the group of former pirates among the slaves grew more alert, their eyes gleaming with a fierce light.
Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin took the chance to free the slaves, using the keys to unlock their chains one by one.
“You’re free!”
The slaves gave no response.
Though their physical shackles were gone, the mental chains remained.
Penguin and the others exchanged helpless glances.
What could they do?
Then someone stood up — a woman with long red hair, a bloodstained pirate flag beside her foot.
“Boss lady, what do we do?” A one-eyed man with an eyepatch leaned in.
The red-haired woman said nothing.
She opened her hand, and a rapier appeared out of thin air.
She stepped forward, passing Penguin and the others, walking toward the slave traders.
“Understood.” The one-eyed man waved his hand.
“Brothers — follow me!”
“KILL!”
“GET THEM!”
Bepo and the others watched in stunned silence as the freed pirates charged at the guards — cutting down over a dozen in the first exchange.
“I’ll leave this to you.
I need to find Kane.” Law couldn’t shake his worry.
He left with those words.
“Don’t worry!
Leave it to us!
HIYAAH~!” Bepo assured him while leaping up to kick a guard away.
The red-haired woman led the way, clearing a path.
Law quickly burst onto the auction stage and re-entered the main hall.
BOOM!!
A dark figure flashed past his eyes and slammed into the wall, leaving a deep crater.
Law’s eyes widened.
The figure in the crater was Kane!
“Hahaha!
You’ve made your choice!
The Donquixote Family is here now — keep acting tough, why don’t you?!”
Law’s body trembled.
He turned his head stiffly.
Goluseus was sitting on the ground, clutching his chest and cursing.
Beside him, a tall man in a lightning-patterned bodysuit and a blue rabbit-eared hat casually tossed aside his coat.
“Lao G!”