"An ability user…?"
Hack stared at Bellamy in mild surprise.
He hadn't expected the small-time boss of a human-trafficking ring to actually be a Devil Fruit user.
In the Grand Line, ability users were common—
But this was East Blue, one of the weakest seas.
The number of Devil Fruit users here was still extremely low.
But after watching Bellamy activate his power, Hack simply shook his head.
Not Logia.
Not even an impressive Paramecia.
A bottom-tier fruit at best.
Zero threat.
Devil Fruit or not, he'd seen countless stronger ones.
And this? A mere spring-spring clown?
Worthless.
"Spring…?
So it's the Spring-Spring Fruit? That explains why it's so unheard of," Hack thought.
"Hack-san, is this what an ability user looks like?"
Sabo asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Yes." Hack nodded calmly.
He didn't bother warning Ryukawa.
Even if Bellamy was an ability user—what of it?
Could he defeat Ryukawa?
Absolutely not.
With Ryukawa's swordsmanship, plus Armament Haki?
Even most Logias would get bullied, let alone this low-grade Paramecia.
"Ryukawa, remember—don't kill him yet," Hack reminded. "We still need to interrogate him. Leave him alive if you can. The rest don't matter."
"Got it."
Ryukawa lifted his wooden blade and looked at the furious Bellamy.
"You all… deserve to DIE!"
Bellamy's legs sprang like coils, his body bouncing explosively across the tavern.
Around them, the hundred pirates erupted in excitement.
"Bellamy-boss is taking this seriously!"
"They're dead! All dead!"
"An ability user! Boss Bellamy is an ability user!"
"To think a Devil Fruit monster stands before us—!"
Bellamy's followers practically worshiped him.
To them, Ryukawa was a doomed child.
A dead man walking.
After all—
Bellamy was a 30 million Berry pirate AND a Devil Fruit user!
"Brat! I'm an ability user!"
Bellamy shouted proudly.
He bounced wildly around the tavern, his speed blurring until even Sabo's eyes couldn't track him.
BOOM! BOOM!
Only faint afterimages remained.
"So fast!"
"The boss is incredible!"
"This is the power of a Devil Fruit monster!"
Sabo swallowed hard.
"Too fast… I can't see anything at all…"
But Hack only chuckled.
"Flashy nonsense."
He knew Ryukawa's strength better than anyone.
Bellamy and Ryukawa were not even in the same dimension.
"You must be terrified by my speed!"
Bellamy shouted from midair.
Ryukawa stood motionless.
Bellamy misunderstood completely, confidence soaring.
"DIE!"
He launched forward, legs compressing against the wall before springing off like a loaded cannon.
WHOOSH—
Bellamy shot straight at Ryukawa like a missile, fist raised to crush his skull.
Then—
Ryukawa lifted his head slightly.
A faint, amused smile appeared.
"That's it?"
Bellamy froze mid-air.
Not because he chose to—
but because his entire body suddenly locked up, a chill running from his spine to his skull.
His instincts screamed—
Danger.
If this lands… I will die.
"He—he saw through it?!"
"How?!"
"Retreat! I have to retreat—!"
But before Bellamy could move—
A hand appeared before him.
A hand that grew larger and larger in his pupils—
Ryukawa's left hand grabbed him by the skull.
Then—
BOOM!!!
Ryukawa smashed Bellamy headfirst into the tavern floor.
The entire building shook.
Cracks ripped across the ground like spiderwebs.
Debris exploded outward.
When the dust settled—
Bellamy's body was half-embedded into a crater in the floor.
He looked like a corpse tossed into a grave.
The tavern fell silent.
One hundred pirates stared, mouths hanging open, horror filling their faces.
This wasn't a fight.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a public execution.
Ryukawa looked down at Bellamy—practically a dead dog in a hole.
"For all that dramatic buildup," Ryukawa sighed,
"sorry— I accidentally one-shotted you."
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