"Mm."
Kuma nodded hard, eyes heavy and focused, as if he were waiting for the right opening.
At that moment, Saint Garling proposed coldly, "Linlin. Since you've agreed, how about this, then? Your subordinate and I will throw the Devil Fruits to each other at the same time. Fair?"
"Fine," Linlin said.
With Linlin's consent, Streusen also readied himself.
Suddenly
Kuma, coiled like a spring, seized the instant.
He lunged like a tiger, spreading his thick arms wide as if going for a bear hug, aiming to lock Streusen down.
There was no technique, no finesse.
Just savage, direct force.
After all…
As a Buccaneer hybrid, Kuma was born with monstrous strength.
Sensing the ambush, Streusen's face turned icy.
"Looking for death!!"
"Kid, I was already showing mercy by letting you live. And now you still dare set your sights on this Devil Fruit?"
"I'll cut your hands off!"
Shing!
A cold flash of steel.
With swordsmanship at the level of a true master, dealing with a kid like Kuma should have been effortless.
"Kuma!"
"Kuma!!!"
Ivankov and Ginny's faces drained white. Cold sweat burst out as panic hit them like a wave.
At the very brink
HISS!!
A razor-sharp flying slash ripped through the air and crashed into Streusen's sword.
The impact was so violent it sent Streusen flying backward.
The sudden strike caught him completely off guard
And the Paw-Paw Fruit slipped from his hand, tumbling to the ground.
Whoosh!
Saint Garling's eyes lit up.
Without a shred of hesitation, he kicked off the ground and vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside the Paw-Paw Fruit
Only to find a towering figure already standing before it.
A hulking silhouette, devilish and imposing, had perfectly read Garling's approach.
"Crimson Armament: Great Ape King Fist!!"
A red fist-shadow like the massive, agile punch of an ape king smashed straight toward Garling's face.
Garling's pores exploded as danger screamed through every nerve.
He raised his sword to block
BOOM!
"What!?" Garling's expression warped.
An unstoppable, horrifying brute force surged through that punch.
It was even more violent and domineering than Linlin's strength.
He was blasted backward, and only then did he see the attacker clearly.
Garling's pupils shrank to pinpoints as he cried out in shock.
"Blood Hand…"
"Ares!?"
"Ares!?" Streusen, who had just scrambled back to his feet, went pale. "How is that monster already at God Valley!?"
Then his face darkened.
"Damn it! The Paw-Paw Fruit!"
But the fruit was already in Kaido's hand.
Kaido threw his head back and laughed.
"Wororororo!"
"The Paw-Paw Fruit Paramecia! I don't know exactly what it does…"
"But it has to be a powerful one!"
The moment Linlin saw Kaido pick it up, her rage detonated.
Her eyes burned like fire.
She gripped Napoleon and charged, bloodshot eyes shining with a chilling red glow. Her voice was sharp as a wailing demon.
"Put it down!"
"That fruit belongs to me Charlotte Linlin!"
Ares froze for a fraction of a second, then his tiger eyes widened.
With overwhelming dominance, he declared, "From this moment on…"
"This Devil Fruit is mine."
"Who disagrees?!"
A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him.
Black-and-red lightning surged forward like countless weapons in the hands of an army spears, blades, halberds rushing straight at Linlin.
Linlin's furious charge halted.
Her body stiffened in place.
But her stare, wild and murderous, looked like it could swallow Ares alive.
She snarled like an enraged beast, "Ares!! Are you stealing my Devil Fruit again!?"
"You stole the Azure Dragon Fruit now you're stealing the Paw-Paw Fruit too!?"
Off in the distance, Garling flexed his hand.
His palm was still numb from the shock.
He glared at the towering figure Ares, all brutal muscle and devilish menace eyes filled with wariness.
"Yours?" Ares sneered.
"Linlin, isn't this fruit something you stole from someone else in the first place?"
"You "
Linlin choked on the words, teeth grinding as she glared at him.
Ares took the Paw-Paw Fruit from Kaido.
The bear-paw shape was unmistakable.
This was the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi the Paw-Paw Fruit.
And among everyone present…
Aside from Garling, only Ares truly understood how terrifying this Devil Fruit was.
Honestly
Garling might not even know as much as he did.
The Paw-Paw Fruit could repel anything.
"Anything" included not only physical objects, but even negative states within the human body, and even the soul itself.
A power bordering on the miraculous.
Priceless.
It was in no way inferior to the Gura Gura no Mi or the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.
Without question
The Paw-Paw Fruit was one of the top-tier abilities among Paramecia.
Back to the point.
Ares looked toward Kuma. Kuma had already retreated far away with Ivankov and Ginny.
Kuma stood like a small giant dark skin gleaming, terrifying muscles like a demon carved from stone.
Ivankov and Ginny couldn't stop the goosebumps from rising across their bodies.
Ivankov whispered urgently, "Kuma, Ginny… that guy is terrifying. Too dangerous."
"Even that giant woman and that Celestial Dragon are on edge. We should leave."
He had chosen to give up the Paw-Paw Fruit entirely.
Compared to Streusen
Ares, Kaido, and the sea monster Sladra were a whole different level.
Each of them looked more vicious than the last.
That trio together…
Made people instinctively keep their distance.
Especially Sladra.
Even wounded, his face was already frightening as a sea monster and with blue scales stained in blood, flesh torn open in multiple places…
He looked like a demon crawling straight out of a sea of hellfire.
Ginny trembled, nodding rapidly like a pecking chick.
"Yes! It's too dangerous here. Let's go now!"
She didn't want to stay even a second longer.
A brutal Celestial Dragon.
A savage giant woman.
And now a devil trio that had just appeared out of nowhere.
Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might leap out of her throat.
Kuma nodded too.
Just as they were about to leave
Ares walked right up to them.
Ivankov and Ginny yelped internally and clung to Kuma at once.
Both of them were pale, sweat pouring, bodies curling together as tightly as they could.
Ares paused, slightly stunned.
He hadn't expected to run into the future "Queen of the Okama," Ivankov
Though right now, Ivankov still looked a bit more normal.
At least not fully… that yet.
Ares wasn't interested in Ivankov, though.
He looked straight at Kuma instead.
"Hey. What's your name?"
"K-Kuma… my name is Kuma," Kuma answered tensely, sweat beading on his forehead.
Ares tossed the Paw-Paw Fruit at him.
"This Devil Fruit is yours."
"I'm giving it back."
"!!!"
"???"
Kuma, Ivankov, and Ginny all stood there, eyes wide, completely stunned.
Seeing that
Garling was dumbfounded.
"Is he even a pirate!?"
"He's returning a priceless Devil Fruit to a lowly slave!?"
Or…
Was Ares such a thick-headed brute that he didn't even understand its value?!
Even a Mythical Zoan couldn't compare to a "god-tier" fruit like this.
Otherwise…
Garling wouldn't have tried to trade the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami just to get the Paw-Paw Fruit.
And now
Ares was handing it back to a slave?
Garling couldn't comprehend it.
What kind of logic was this!?
Even Linlin was completely baffled.
She couldn't understand what Ares gained from this.
Unable to hold back, she barked, "Hey Ares! Are you seriously giving that priceless fruit to this brat?!"
"Yes," Ares said firmly.
Then he looked at Kuma still frozen, still not quite processing what was happening and smiled.
"Hey, Kuma."
"Want to be my companion?"
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