The Black Cat Pirates' Utter Defeat

The gist of the news:

[The Straw Hat Pirates defeated Clown Buggy in Orange Town, bringing down the East Blue overlord. It appears they worked together as a team to overcome Buggy. Clown Buggy's current whereabouts are unknown.]

To Jango, whether they defeated Buggy through teamwork wasn't the issue at all.

Because three years ago, the entire Black Cat Pirates challenged Buggy and were instantly crushed by him alone, with Captain Kuro left severely injured and near death.

So even if the Straw Hats could beat Buggy through combined effort, that still meant their overall strength far exceeded the Black Cat Pirates'.

And what if it was a one-on-one victory? Jango didn't even dare to think about it.

Either way, the Black Cat Pirates were finished today.

~

At that moment, Captain Kuro was locked in a fierce battle with Chouchou.

'Damn it, do I have to use that move?'

His speed had been seen through by Chouchou, and he could no longer land any damage on the dog.

Instead, Chouchou sent him flying with a single claw strike, and he crashed right next to the hypnotist Jango.

Seeing Kuro arrive, Jango immediately spoke up.

"Captain Kuro, take a look at this first. The Straw Hat Pirates—"

"Shut up! That damn mutt! I'll cut it to pieces!"

The enraged Captain Kuro had no interest in listening to Jango. He closed his eyes, and his body began to sway like a drunkard.

"Scoop!"

In an instant, Captain Kuro vanished from sight.

Cold sweat dripped down Jango's forehead as he quickly fled into the distance.

Because once Captain Kuro used that move, he showed no mercy to friend or foe.

"Tch, even with Scoop, there's no way he can beat that thing. Forget it, he won't listen. I'll just stay out of the way."

Jango muttered to himself as he ran.

~

Scoop was Captain Kuro's signature finishing move. His movement speed was so fast that even he couldn't tell where he was going, slashing indiscriminately at everything around him.

That was why, even though Captain Kuro had left the Black Cat Pirates three years ago, his former crew still feared him.

And now, everyone on the beach was within the killing range of this dark assassin, Kuro.

Can Yue watched the scene and finally stopped feeling so drowsy.

'At least that's giving Chouchou some trouble.'

~

On another battlefield, Zoro had already secured victory.

A fat cat-man and a thin cat-man were panting heavily, covered in sword wounds, clearly on their last legs.

Just as Zoro was about to finish them off, the Cat-man Brothers suddenly dropped to their knees and kowtowed to him.

"Lord Zoro, we were wrong! Please don't kill us!"

The two curled up on the ground, trembling.

This behavior instantly drained Zoro of any interest in fighting.

"Tch." Zoro let out a sigh, sheathed his swords, and walked away, thinking, 'I'll let Luffy decide what to do with these guys later.'

The moment Zoro's hands left his blades, the Cat-man Brothers flashed sinister grins.

Their fearful expressions vanished as they lunged at Zoro, extending their clawed gauntlets to strike.

"Damn it!" Zoro's hair stood on end. He spun around to face them, already drawing his swords to fight—even if he'd be cut, he'd meet the enemy head-on.

But then, something unexpected happened. An invisible attack pierced the Cat-man Brothers' chests. Blood gushed from their mouths. They were likely done for.

"Who's there?"

Zoro had already drawn both swords, warily scanning his surroundings.

~

That attack was, of course, from Captain Kuro, who had activated Scoop.

It wasn't just the Cat-man Brothers. Even the Black Cat Pirates' fodder, who had been knocked down the slope by Can Yue's "Luffy's Whip," were being slashed or killed one by one by this unseen assault.

Because of its massive size and its inability to grasp Captain Kuro's fighting style, Chouchou also bore some shallow scratch wounds.

At that moment, the giant dog Chouchou's nostrils flared as its eyes darted around rapidly.

Suddenly, Chouchou let out a deafening roar in the direction where the hypnotist Jango was hiding. "ROAR!"

A terrifying sonic wave, infused with Demonic Aura, swept forth and struck Captain Kuro, who was still attacking indiscriminately.

The powerful shockwave heavily wounded Captain Kuro while also carving a trench three meters wide and thirty meters long into the sand.

The sound wave extended all the way to the boulder where Jango was hiding, leaving an indelible scar on the nearly five-meter-tall rock.

Can Yue smiled as he watched this scene, muttering to himself, "Not bad."

But Usopp, Nami, and Kaya, who also saw this, were so shocked their bodies tensed up and their pupils trembled.

"Chouchou is amazing," Nami said, her feelings complicated. Last night, Chouchou was just a dog she could pet freely, but now it was a beast that could easily take a life.

"One roar, and it changed the terrain." Usopp wiped cold sweat from his forehead.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Usopp's head. He turned to the still-dazed Kaya and said, "Kaya, look, this is the skill of the giant lion I fought when I was ten. The effect is even scarier than Chouchou's."

Kaya was amused by Usopp's exaggerated lie, and her tension eased a lot.

But as she relaxed, Kaya's gaze drifted to Can Yue, who was still smiling. Her head spun instantly, her body went weak, and with her last shred of reason, she grabbed Usopp's arm and said, "I feel a bit dizzy. Take me somewhere far to rest."

Usopp, thrilled by the skin contact with Kaya, excitedly scooped Kaya up and carried her toward a boulder in the back.

Nami watched this scene, thought for a moment, smiled slightly, and said to herself, "I've learned something."

She then pretended to fall forward. "Oh dear, Can Yue, I'm so scared. Catch me."

Can Yue got goosebumps all over from Nami's coquettish tone. Disgusted, he sidestepped, and Nami immediately fell flat on her face like "Chouchou eating shit."

Below, Captain Kuro, struck by Chouchou's "Dog Howl Technique," crashed into the boulder, spitting blood, with nearly every bone in his body shattered. He could no longer get up.

Jango, having hidden behind the boulder, escaped the attack. He looked at Captain Kuro, who was now limp on the ground.

Then, one by one, Jango opened the bounty posters of Can Yue and the others in front of Captain Kuro for him to see.

"White-haired Swordsman Can Yue, bounty: 30 million Beli. Straw Hat Kid Luffy, bounty: 20 million Beli. Pirate Hunter Zoro, bounty: 15 million Beli."

Since Nami hadn't done anything noteworthy, the Marines hadn't put a bounty on her.

Chouchou was treated as a pet dog and ignored.

The terrifying bounty amounts made Captain Kuro, who had been jolted back to consciousness, break out in a cold sweat.

Even Zoro, with the lowest bounty, was no different from him.

And that white-haired man had actually reached 30 million.

"How is that possible? 30 million is the bounty of that Clown Buggy. No one in the East Blue could have such a high bounty."

Jango let out a self-deprecating laugh, slowly opened a newspaper, and showed Kuro the biggest headline in the East Blue section.

Captain Kuro used his barely functional right hand to adjust his glasses and stared at the newspaper.

When he clearly saw the news content, his mouth suddenly dropped open, but he couldn't make a sound.

In Captain Kuro's mind, a word slowly echoed.

"Overestimating yourself."

Then, Captain Kuro's eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.