"Our captain is terrifying~! My soul was almost sucked out watching him fight Big Mom!"
The long-braided monkey-like Apoo hopped left and right, dodging attacks from Charlotte Family members while chatting casually with Capone "Gang" Bege, who was not far away.
From how relaxed he looked, it was clear he still hadn't met a true threat.
In fact, several Charlotte Family members had already died under his soundwave attacks.
Bege, too, was drenched in the blood of Charlotte pirates. But for a former mafia don, exterminating entire families was practically routine.
He puffed on his cigar, too lazy to answer Apoo. Instead he lifted his coat, revealing the cannons hidden in his torso fortress, and gunned down several approaching enemies.
He wasn't intentionally cooperating with Apoo—they simply happened to be operating in the same area, and enemies surrounded them both.
Apoo stared at him, then suddenly let out a perverted chuckle.
A vein bulged on Bege's forehead. He finally turned.
"What now?!"
Apoo raised his hands dramatically, pretending to surrender—he always had a way of irritating Bege.
"Hey hey, don't point your weapons at me. Gun barrels don't have eyes."
"Talk."
"Hehehe… I just suddenly realized—you kinda look like a weird pervert who goes around pulling open your clothes to show young people your 'big gun'…"
Tch.
Bege immediately fired. Bullets poured out in a blazing stream.
Apoo flipped sideways in the air, dodging with ease.
But the bullets still hit something—specifically the Charlotte Family members trying to ambush Apoo from behind, turning their bodies into bloody honeycombs.
They collapsed with wet thuds, dead on the spot.
This, among other reasons, was why Apoo never bothered retaliating against Bege.
He pointed behind Bege and laughed, "More enemies incoming… hehe, and these ones look a bit tougher."
Bege turned—and saw two women approaching.
Leading was a pink-haired woman wearing a fluffy purple cape: Charlotte Galette, the "Butter Minister."
Behind her was her sister Poire, whose mouth split wide like a slit-mouthed woman.
Galette saw the corpses littering the ground—and many were her own relatives. Rage surged in her eyes.
"I'll kill you officers of the Davy Jones Pirates! I'll avenge them!"
"Oh?" Apoo waved his long arm with a grin.
"If you really want revenge that badly, why not go fight our captain? If that scares you, Crocodile, Law, Alvida, or Crocodile are fine options too."
To Galette, his words were blatant provocation.
She pretended to charge at Apoo—then suddenly generated butter in her palm and hurled it at Bege.
The butter splattered across Bege's chest, slid downward, and latched onto his right arm.
Bege raised a brow and shook his arm, but the butter clung stubbornly.
Seeing her feint succeed, Galette smiled and commanded:
"Those bound by my butter obey my orders—Capone Bege, you will not move."
Bege tried to flex his fingers—and found he had lost control.
Working perfectly with her sister, Poire rushed forward, drawing her long sword.
From not far away, Apoo burst out laughing:
"Bege, want help? If you get beaten by this cross-dressing Doflamingo, it'll be hard to report back to the captain!"
Ridiculous as it was, Bege almost laughed at "cross-dressing Doflamingo."
But he remained calm.
Poire's blade was already inches from his chest.
Bege just smiled.
"So you really underestimated me."
His coat lifted. His belly fortress opened.
From within, several pirates poured out—men who had been waiting inside his "Castle-Castle" body.
None of them were bound by butter, and all were armed. They raised their pistols at Poire.
"Fire," Bege ordered coolly.
Poire's eyes widened. She tried to dodge—but it was too late.
BANG BANG BANG BANG—!
The storm of bullets ripped through her torso.
She crumpled like thin paper, collapsing in a spreading pool of blood.
"Poire!"
Galette's "sure-kill combo" had instead cost her sister her life. She ground her teeth in fury.
But the butter bind remained—she still had a chance to retaliate.
She moved—and immediately heard a piercing buzz at her ear. She dodged, but half of her ear was sliced off.
Clutching the bloody stump, she looked toward Apoo in shock.
With a cheerful smile, Apoo smacked his chest again—producing "drumbeats" that carried not music, but deadly soundwave slashes.
At the same time, the pirates emerging from Bege's body aimed at her and opened fire.
Soundwaves and bullets swept across her path.
Galette endured the pain and tried to flee—but her red high heels slowed her down.
A bullet tore through her chest.
A soundwave slash severed her arm.
Her heels screeched across the ground.
She fell, becoming yet another victim of this temporary duo—Apoo and Bege.
"One… two… three… four…"
"Magician" Hawkins coldly counted the four corpses lying at his feet, then pointed at the last one still standing.
"Five."
He was counting the five-tuplets of the "Cream Minister," Charlotte Opera.
Four—Conte, Cadence, Cabalette, and Gala—already lay dead.
"Charlotte Linlin truly breeds excessively. Twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets… even decuplets. A normal woman couldn't possibly survive such a rhythm."
Hawkins murmured, though his expression remained unchanged.
Opera glared at him with hatred—but didn't dare attack. His corrosive, burning cream dripped to the ground.
His four brothers had died precisely because they'd attacked recklessly.
For two reasons:
First—Hawkins' companion, the monstrous, death-defying "Red Flag" X-Drake.
No matter how many times they knocked Drake down—even breaking his bones—he always stood back up silently and continued attacking the quintuplets.
He was a walking humanoid weapon.
Second—Hawkins' Straw-Straw Fruit.
Every injury the quintuplets inflicted on Hawkins was transferred entirely onto Drake.
Drake became an indestructible shield—shattered again and again, only to revive, making Hawkins effectively untouchable.
And in this state, Hawkins unleashed another of his fruit abilities.
He drew a straw sword and pointed it skyward.
After a warped transformation, a giant straw avatar emerged from the blade.
A tarot card floated before him. He reached out and drew one.
"My fortune is excellent today."
He had good reason to say so—upright and reversed tarot draws carried different effects, some positive, some negative.
Today, every card he had drawn had been favorable.
All bonuses were poured into Drake, amplifying the ferocity of this "living corpse."
Soon, four of the five Opera brothers lay dead beneath Drake's claws.
Opera's entire body was coated in cream, his features lost under the sticky mass—making it impossible for others to guess what he was feeling.
But Hawkins noticed immediately.
He flipped over the final tarot card.
"According to divination, your chance of survival today is zero. I don't think running would help you."
Opera did want to run.
He was in despair. He had no idea how to counter the combination of Hawkins and Drake.
Drake spared him the trouble of thinking.
"If you don't attack Drake, then I'll have Drake attack you."
"What?!"
In his Allosaurus hybrid form—boosted by Hawkins' tarot—Drake's speed doubled.
He lunged like thunder, plunging straight into Opera's burning, skin-melting cream.
And ripped out Opera's heart.
Opera didn't even react in time. A moment later, he collapsed with a thud.
His heart throbbed weakly in Drake's claws—then stilled.
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