“Attack!”
Falcone’s roar and Sammy’s command rang out almost at the exact same moment.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Gunfire erupted throughout the tavern.
A storm of lead tore through the air, dozens of bullets pouring toward Sammy and his two officers.
But just before flames burst from the gun barrels, Isaac moved.
His massive body, comparable to a giant bear, exploded with terrifying strength as he drove one heavy kick into the thick wooden booth beside them.
BOOM!
Wood splintered.
The enormous booth was blasted sideways by the force of his kick, sliding directly in front of the three pirates like a makeshift wooden shield.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Bullets buried themselves deep into the solid wood one after another.
The relentless impacts were enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.
“Aldo!” Sammy barked.
“Leave it to me!
Hahahaha!”
Aldo burst out from behind the booth like a raging bull.
His spiked club ripped through the air with a vicious howl.
Then he swung.
BOOM!
A heavy oak table exploded beneath the blow.
Wooden spikes and shattered fragments sprayed outward like buckshot, blasting straight into the gangsters positioned along the flank.
“AAAAH!
MY EYES!”
“DAMN IT!”
Screams immediately filled the tavern.
The tightly organized wall of gunfire broke apart as several shooters staggered backward, shielding their faces from the flying debris.
“Quick!
Take down the bastard with the club first!”
One of the quicker-thinking gang leaders screamed at the top of his lungs.
The remaining gunmen immediately swung their weapons toward Aldo, trying to concentrate their fire on the officer now standing in the open.
But that was exactly what Sammy had been waiting for.
The instant most of their attention shifted toward Aldo—
Isaac and Sammy moved.
Isaac charged forward like a runaway tank and smashed straight into the crowd.
He didn’t need a weapon.
His fists were more than enough.
WHOOSH!
One enormous fist tore through the air.
BAM!
A gangster was sent flying.
Another tried to raise his gun-
CRACK!
Isaac’s next punch smashed into him with enough force to break bone.
Every blow was brutally straightforward.
No tricks.
No hesitation.
Just overwhelming strength.
Anyone unfortunate enough to take one of Isaac’s punches was hurled away like a broken sack, leaving the inside of the tavern in complete chaos.
But compared to the direct, heavy-handed fighting styles of Aldo and Isaac…
Sammy fought completely differently.
The moment the two officers drew most of the gunfire and attention toward themselves—
Sammy disappeared.
His figure seemed to melt into the tavern’s dim yellow light and the cloud of flying sawdust.
For an instant, he became nothing more than a faint blur that the naked eye could barely follow.
He slipped effortlessly into the gaps between the gangsters.
Sammy didn’t throw a punch.
He didn’t kick anyone.
He didn’t even appear to attack.
Instead, he flowed through the crowd like a slippery fish weaving through a reef.
The gangsters barely realized he was there.
Some caught the faintest shadow moving at the edge of their vision.
Others felt something lightly brush against their skin.
Cold.
Soft.
Almost like strands of seaweed drifting against them underwater.
“Huh?”
“What the-”
Before anyone could understand what had just happened, Sammy had already emerged from the other side of the crowd.
He stood with his back toward dozens of confused gangsters still clutching their guns.
Then he spread the fingers of his left hand and covered half his face.
Tilting his head slightly upward, Sammy revealed a mischievous grin through the gaps between his fingers.
“Feel the pain.”
His smile widened.
“The feast begins!”
Poison Fist-
THOUSAND-NEEDLE FEAST!
The instant the words left his mouth, it was as though some invisible spell had suddenly been released.
“AAAAAAH!
MY ARM!”
“GAAAH!
MY HAND!
IT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING PIERCED STRAIGHT THROUGH IT!”
I CAN’T MOVE MY LEG!
IT HURTS!”
“MY STOMACH!
SOMETHING’S CRAWLING INSIDE!
HELP ME!”
Screams erupted throughout the tavern.
The gangsters who had felt nothing more than a faint brush against their skin moments earlier began collapsing one after another like falling dominoes.
Some clutched their arms.
Others grabbed their palms, thighs, or sides.
Everywhere Sammy had touched them, unbearable pain erupted beneath their skin.
It felt as though countless invisible poisonous needles were repeatedly stabbing into their flesh from the inside.
The agony completely destroyed their ability to fight.
Men rolled across the ruined floor, screaming and groaning.
Within seconds, the fierce gunfight had transformed into a living hell filled with cries of pain.
“Hehehe…”
Sammy slowly lowered the hand covering his face.
He turned around and admired his handiwork with a smug little laugh.
More than thirty gangsters had originally filled the tavern.
Isaac and Aldo had already beaten down several of them.
Now, most of those who remained had been completely incapacitated by Sammy’s Thousand-Needle Feast.
Only a handful were still standing.
And among them was Falcone.
The bald gangster clutched the wound on his head and stared in horror as most of his men were cut down like wheat in only a few minutes.
At last, reality struck him.
A man with a sixty-nine-million-Berry bounty was completely beyond his league.
“M-Monster!”
Falcone screamed in terror.
“RETREAT!
RUN!”
He spun around and bolted toward the tavern’s rear exit.
Unfortunately for him, he had barely reached the doorway when a hand gently settled on his shoulder.
Falcone froze.
“Yo, Mr.
Falcone.”
Sammy’s voice came from directly behind him.
Falcone’s face went pale.
He hadn’t even noticed Sammy approaching.
Sammy leaned slightly closer, wearing a perfectly harmless smile.
“I’m not finished having fun yet.”
His fingers tightened slightly around Falcone’s shoulder.
“So where exactly are you going?”
Falcone’s legs immediately gave out.
He collapsed to the floor.
Whatever courage he had left vanished completely.
“S-Sammy!
Boss Sammy!”
With trembling hands, Falcone immediately shoved the suitcase he had been carrying toward him.
“Please!
Don’t kill me!
I was wrong!”
Tears and mucus covered his face.
“I have money!
I’ll give you everything!
Just spare my life!”
Sammy accepted the suitcase.
CLICK.
He opened it.
Bundles of Berries filled the inside.
Sammy gave the contents a quick glance and immediately estimated the amount.
“Thirty million.”
He looked down at Falcone.
“Thirty million Berries in exchange for your life and the lives of all these men.”
Sammy smiled.
“Sounds pretty fair, doesn’t it?”
“Yes!
Yes!”
Falcone nodded so violently that his entire body shook.
“Fair!
Completely fair!”
He almost sobbed with relief.
“Thank you, Captain Sammy!
Thank you for sparing my life!”
“Mm.”
Sammy closed the suitcase.
“I’ve always considered myself a very fair person.”
Falcone’s eyes lit up with hope.
Then Sammy crouched in front of him.
“So…”
He casually reached out and patted Falcone’s tear-streaked cheek.
“I’ll take the money.”
Falcone swallowed.
“And your life…”
Sammy’s smile became colder.
“…I’ll take that as a free bonus.”
He tilted his head.
“See?”
His eyes narrowed.
“I told you I’m fair.”
“NO-!”
A pale purple color spread rapidly beneath the skin where Sammy had touched his cheek.
Falcone’s eyes bulged.
His body convulsed violently.
Within only a few seconds, his struggles stopped.
The tavern fell strangely quiet around him.
Sammy flicked his hand in disgust, as though he were shaking off a speck of dirt.
Then his cold gaze shifted toward the few surviving gangsters.
They had already thrown away their weapons.
Now they were kneeling on the floor, repeatedly slamming their foreheads against the ground in desperate surrender.
“Get lost.”
Sammy jerked his chin toward the bodies and wounded men scattered across the tavern.
“And take this garbage with you.”
The survivors didn’t need to be told twice.
They scrambled to their feet, dragged away their dead and groaning companions, and fled the tavern as quickly as their legs could carry them.
Sammy no longer bothered looking at the wreckage.
With the suitcase in one hand and his officers following behind him, he strode through the tavern’s shattered entrance.
Bright sunlight immediately hit his face.
The salty sea breeze felt refreshingly clean after the smoke, blood, alcohol, and dust inside.
Aldo took a huge breath and grinned.
“Boss, going out with you is always fun!”
His eyes dropped toward the suitcase.
“And just like that, our travel funds are full again!”
The corner of Sammy’s mouth lifted.
The coldness and killing intent from only moments earlier seemed to disappear as though they had never existed.
Then he suddenly stopped.
A thought had occurred to him.
Without saying anything, Sammy turned around and walked straight back into the destroyed tavern.
Behind the counter, the tavern owner had been hiding the entire time.
The poor man was still trembling.
When he saw Sammy—the terrifying pirate who had just slaughtered Falcone and demolished half his tavern coming back toward him, his face went white.
He nearly fainted on the spot.
Sammy ignored the terrified look.
He opened Falcone’s suitcase and casually pulled out several thick bundles of Berries.
Judging by the amount, it was roughly one million.
Then…
SLAP!
Sammy dropped the money onto the dusty counter, which was covered in splinters and debris.
“Here you go, Boss.”
The tavern owner stared at the money.
Then at Sammy.
Then back at the money.
His mind appeared to have completely stopped working.
Sammy hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the tavern, which now looked as though a hurricane had torn through it.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Buy yourself some new tables and chairs.”
He glanced around.
“And maybe renovate the place while you’re at it.”
With that, Sammy turned around again and walked toward the sunlight outside.
Aldo and Isaac exchanged glances.
Both men could see the amusement in each other’s eyes before they hurried after him.
Once they were back on the road toward the harbor, Aldo moved closer to Sammy.
“Boss…”
He lowered his voice.
“Wasn’t that a little too generous?
You actually paid him?”
Sammy shoved both hands into his pockets and continued walking lazily.
“We’re pirates.”
Aldo blinked.
“We’re not lunatics who go around destroying things for no reason.”
Sammy paused.
“Besides…”
He glanced back at the Old Violin Tavern.
Its battered sign now hung slightly crooked above the ruined entrance.
Something unreadable flickered in Sammy’s eyes.
“Who knows?”
His voice softened slightly.
“Maybe one day we’ll come back here and have another drink.”
Aldo scratched the back of his head.
“…Oh.”
He clearly didn’t completely understand, but he nodded anyway.
“Enough talking.”
Sammy picked up his pace.
“Let’s go meet up with Hans and the others.”
A grin slowly spread across his face.
“It’s finally time…”
He looked toward the harbor.
“…to leave this boring sea behind.”
The wind tugged at his clothes as he strode forward.
“Next stop…”
Sammy’s grin widened.
“THE GRAND LINE!”
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