"I packed up the unfinished food. I'm saving you money, Kyo-chan!"
Kagura looked puzzled as she spoke these words.
She reached into the pot above her head, grabbed a piece of meat, and bit into it.
"I think you're just being greedy." Kyoma's mouth twitched.
He grabbed her cheek and pulled it, causing the girl to let out a cute cry of protest.
"Ehhh!"
"Young man, you haven't told me why you chose to leave without saying goodbye. Don't you want to join the Marines?" Kizaru released his grip on both their shoulders.
'Didn't you already give me the reason?' Kyoma complained internally.
As someone who had died from overwork in his previous life, he was fortunate to have gotten a second chance in this colorful world.
Even if he didn't become a pirate, the mainstream profession in this world, he would never join the Marines to work for others again.
In his previous life, he'd had more than enough of being driven and controlled by others.
In this life, no one could expect him to work for someone else.
The more he thought about it, the more determined Kyoma's expression became.
He clenched his hands tightly and raised his head.
The fear, vigilance, and wariness of the Admiral in his eyes were all swept away completely.
At the same time, Kyoma didn't realize that the second after he made up his mind, a mighty power that was superior to all others suddenly burst forth from his pupils.
It swept across the entire battlefield in an instant.
This momentum appeared for only a moment, but it caused a chill in everyone's hearts.
A few pirate minions staggered and lost their balance.
"This presence is..."
Only Kizaru knew what had just happened.
His expression suddenly froze, and his eyes staring at Kyoma from behind his sunglasses were filled with shock.
'This young man actually has the qualifications of a king that only one in a million people possess.'
Kyoma didn't know what had just happened at the scene.
His eyes were only on Kizaru.
Now, he had only one idea in his mind: to say no to the Marine Admiral.
"I won't join..."
As he spoke, Kyoma's expression suddenly changed, and his aura instantly disappeared, as if he had witnessed something outrageous.
And in fact, it was indeed outrageous.
Kizaru split apart.
In the physical sense, he split apart.
The body seemed to be cut in half by a blade, and his upper body fell to the ground with a snap.
Everyone present was completely stunned until a gong sounded in their ears.
Hawkins and Urouge's faces twisted, as if they had guessed the identity of the person who had secretly attacked.
"Wanted target three: 'Roar of the Sea' Apoo. Bounty: 198 million Berry."
The Pacifista raised its head, which had been on standby, and mechanically scanned 180 degrees before finally locking its eyes on a tall building.
That was where the gong sound had come from, and it was also where Apoo had been hiding.
Beep beep beep!
After locking the target, the Pacifista suddenly opened its palms, and three laser beams shot out.
Looking at the direction of their advance, they corresponded to the three wanted pirates in the field: Hawkins, Urouge, and Apoo.
The battle was about to start.
"Karma Exposure!"
Urouge was the first to react.
His muscles surged, his monk's robes were torn, and his body expanded more than twice in an instant.
After dodging the incoming laser beams, he rushed in front of the Pacifista to fight with it.
Hawkins, at the cost of a scarecrow, once again took the damage. Just as he pulled out the blade at his waist and prepared to cooperate with Urouge to attack the Pacifista, a voice suddenly came to his ears.
"Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
Hawkins' pupils contracted sharply. In his pupils reflected by the light, there was a long leg made of light particles.
Bang!
Only an inexplicable scream was heard before he was no longer there.
He smashed through the walls along the way like a cannonball and flew backward for nearly a hundred meters.
At the same time, laser beams that were much stronger and faster than those released by the Pacifista burst out, rushing toward the direction where Hawkins had finally fallen at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Boom!
The explosion sounded like thunder. The earth trembled violently, and entire buildings collapsed.
Hawkins himself was also buried under the ruins, his state unknown.
Apoo's back was pressed against a high wall, his chest heaving, and cold sweat kept dripping from his forehead.
He panicked.
He had found a good opportunity to attack the Marine Admiral and wanted to run away after finishing the job, but was stopped by an attack from that damned Shichibukai.
Having missed the best opportunity to escape, he dared not move anymore, because once he appeared in Kizaru's field of vision, he definitely wouldn't be able to escape the pursuit of light.
"So you're here."
Suddenly, a playful voice sounded behind him.
Apoo's body froze completely.
Before he could turn around, he was kicked to the ground by a light-speed kick.
****
After the battle began, the two who were neither Marines nor pirates became outsiders.
This situation was obviously what Kyoma was happy to see.
He didn't have to continue being diplomatic with Kizaru, nor was he forced to join the Marines.
All this was thanks to the guy who took the initiative to attack.
'Apoo, don't worry, after you die, I'll certainly remember you for this.'
After two silent tributes for him in his heart, without any hesitation, Kyoma grabbed Kagura, who was still eating from the pot, and fled the scene without looking back.
On the way, they passed by a tough guy with a long sword and an iron axe.
Kyoma recognized his identity: X Drake, one of the Supernovas.
Because Kizaru and the Warlord were present at the same time, other pirates were running out and away, but he was the only one approaching the battlefield.
He seemed to have a clear goal.
Kyoma's eyes flickered as he looked at him, but he had no intention of communicating.
He grabbed Kagura's hand, passed Drake, and continued to run.
****
Tens of minutes later.
"Kyo-chan, we seem to..."
While running, Kagura looked at the increasingly familiar environment along the way, tilted her head, and realized that something was wrong.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry again? The meal we just had was quite costly."
"No, I mean, we seem to be running the wrong way."
"What?"
Kyoma braked suddenly.
His heel left a long mark on the ground, and he stopped right under a Yarukiman mangrove.
Looking up, the sign hanging on the branches of the mangroves was engraved with the words "No. 13."
'No. 13? How could it be No. 13? Wasn't I running toward the islands with higher numbers? Why did I run to a more dangerous place instead?'
He and Kagura had run out of the Human Auction House on Island No. 1 that day.
In order to avoid being involved in the trouble caused by Luffy, they had run to Island No. 27 in one breath.
After just leaving Kizaru, he wanted to go to an island to take a boat and leave the Sabaody Archipelago.
But things did not go as planned.
Because he had been too anxious, he hadn't paid attention to the direction and ran the wrong way.
Kyoma stared blankly at the sign above his head, petrified on the spot, and didn't speak for a long time.
He never expected that he, who liked to laugh at Zoro for getting lost when watching anime, would also go the wrong way one day.
Seeing that Kyoma had been silent, Kagura thought he had suffered a huge blow.
"Hey, it's okay, Kyo-chan. Even if you're directionally challenged, I won't dislike you." She sighed and patted Kyoma's shoulder gently.
"Hey, don't just assume I'm directionally challenged so quickly." Kyoma felt insulted.
"Hmph, there's no market for people who can't admit their faults anymore." Kagura turned her head.
"Wait, aren't you supposed to be gluttonous and stupid? When did you become sharp-tongued?"
Just as the two were bickering, a surprised voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Kyoma? Kagura?"