Terrifying Ability

"Get them. Keep your movements light, and whatever you do, don't hurt my little darling. Otherwise, the captain will skin me alive." Mediterranean spoke casually, not taking a little girl like Xia seriously at all.

"Chief of Staff, don't worry. They're just two little girls—it won't take much effort."

Even against a delicate-looking young girl, the pirates rushed her all at once, clearly unwilling to give Xia any chance.

"Xun, take care of yourself." Xia drew a deep breath, her gaze incomparably grave.

"Ha!" Xia cried out as she swiftly leaped up, kicking the chin of the man charging at the front. Using him as a foothold, she flipped backward and sprang away.

The man she kicked let out a miserable scream before crashing to the ground. Those nearby could even hear the distinct sound of bones cracking, sending a chill down their spines.

The pirates behind him had clearly not expected Xia to leap in their direction. In their moment of stunned hesitation, Xia drove her elbow into one man's eye. He immediately collapsed to his knees, screaming so horribly it made their hearts tremble.

In the blink of an eye, two pirates had already fallen, leaving the rest dumbfounded. None of them had expected such tremendous strength to erupt from the body of this seemingly frail little girl.

However, pirates capable of establishing themselves in the Well of Stars were naturally no pushovers. Xia had merely caught them off guard at first. Once they regained their composure, a Spiked Club soon came crashing down onto Xia's back.

"Puh!"

In an instant, blood stained the front of Xia's clothes red. Half-kneeling on the ground, she seemed to struggle even to stand.

"No! Don't! Please let my sister go!"

Xun wept bitterly and cried out in anguish, but she could do nothing. A pirate had lifted her entire body into the air as effortlessly as if he were holding a chick.

"Hahaha, it's a little too late to beg now."

"You bastards, don't celebrate too soon. It's not over yet!" No one knew where Xia found the strength, but her small body erupted with even more power than before she was injured. Like a wounded wolf, the savagery within her had been completely awakened.

The first unfortunate victim was the pirate who had struck her from behind. Before he could even swing his Spiked Club, his throat was shattered by a kick. He could not even let out one final scream, only clutching at his neck as he fell helplessly to the ground.

Yet Xia had not escaped unscathed. The blood streaming from her left shoulder was the clearest proof. But she seemed to know that she could not escape disaster today. Her fighting style had become utterly ruthless, trading wounds for lives, making everyone's hearts pound with fear. They could not help wondering—who were the real pirates here?

In only a short while, thirteen of the twenty-eight pirates had died, nearly half their number lost. Meanwhile, Xia's body bore too many wounds to count. An ordinary person—no, even a monster—should have fallen by now.

Xia was now holding on entirely through the conviction in her heart. She looked as though she might collapse at any moment, yet whenever the others thought she had finally exhausted herself, she stubbornly rose to her feet once more.

Xun had already cried herself into a tear-stained mess, filled with overwhelming guilt. If she had not insisted on saving those ungrateful wretches earlier, her sister would not have been driven into such danger. Hatred and guilt gnawed at her heart like poisonous snakes.

"No!"

"Ah! Th-this is... wh-what..."

Xun let out a despairing cry from the depths of her heart, and a strange power surged forth from within her body. The pirate holding Xun aside and watching the show discovered that his strength was rapidly draining away. He felt as though he had been struck by a grave illness, dizzy and weak, unable to muster any strength. The others stared at him with terror in their eyes.

Because from an outsider's perspective, what was draining from him was not stamina at all—it was his life force. His hair visibly turned gray and white, his skin rapidly aged and sagged, and countless wrinkles spread across his forehead. It was as if he had gone directly from thirty to ninety years old. Before he could even finish a sentence, he turned into a pile of bones.

"M-monster!"

"D-don't panic! The pirate lords are still here!"

"Die, you disgusting devil!"

The pirates were relatively composed, having seen their share of the world, but the villagers seemed to have witnessed the most horrifying sight imaginable. They screamed themselves hoarse.

The pirates' Chief of Staff was startled at first, then stared at Xun as though she were an unparalleled treasure. "So she has this ability in addition to healing wounds? What a terrifying monster. If we can keep her firmly under our control, the Blood Sail Pirates will definitely rise to prominence. No—my pirate crew will rise to prominence."

Something called ambition rapidly swelled within his heart. But when he saw Xun desperately running toward Xia, he was suddenly alarmed. If that girl managed to use her healing ability, today could become quite troublesome.

"Trying to join up? How naive." With a sinister grin, he aimed his musket at Xun. After hesitating briefly, he lowered his aim to her calf and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The destructive force of a firearm was naturally not something a little girl like Xun could withstand. Her calf pierced by the bullet, she fell helplessly to the ground, gritting her teeth as she crawled toward Xia.

Xia's eyes had long been blurred by blood, and she could no longer distinguish friend from foe. But she still heard the gunshot and Xun's cry. Using the last of her strength, she kicked away the enemy in front of her and staggered toward Xun.

Bang!

A bullet pierced Xia's heart, and she fell limply to the ground. Though she had unleashed unmatched strength at her limit, she was fundamentally still just an ordinary person. With such an injury, not only she—even a Zoan Devil Fruit Ability user would have no path but death.

As her life faded away, she vaguely heard their conversation.

"What a bunch of useless trash. I had to personally step in just to deal with two little girls. Stop dawdling and take that girl away. Her value is enormous."

"But, Chief of Staff, that little girl is a monster. What if we also..."

"Are you idiots? She obviously doesn't know how to use her ability yet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have passed out immediately from overexerting herself. To be safe, tie a rope around her ankles and drag her back. As long as she doesn't die, it's fine."

"No problem."

"Damn it, did they still take Xun away? Is this powerless feeling... am I about to die? No, I can't die yet. I still have to save Xun. I still have to take her away from this place. How can I fall here like this? Whoever you are, god or devil, please save me. I'm willing to give everything I have—even my soul." Xia's consciousness grew increasingly hazy, as though it would completely fade away the next moment.

"Girl, do you desire power?"