"Idiots! Get up, now!" Jango roared furiously from behind them.
"Captain Jango! We can't!" a Pirate lying face-down on the ground, his face covered in oil, wailed. "They poured oil all over the slope! There's nowhere to put our feet!"
"Yes!" At the top of the slope, Usopp saw that his trap had worked brilliantly, and his confidence soared.
He drew back his slingshot. He did not even need to aim, simply firing blindly into the crowd with his eyes closed.
"Deadly Move: Chain Shot!"
"Pop! Pop!"
Several pellets landed amid the packed crowd, immediately drawing miserable screams from the pirates and plunging them into even greater chaos.
"Nice one, Usopp!" Nami could not help laughing at the ridiculous scene below.
Just as everyone thought they could hold the line with ease, a massive figure emerged from the rear of the Pirate mob.
He was a huge man, round and fat as a ball, with black cat-ear ornaments on his head—Buchi, one of the Cat-man Brothers.
He glared fiercely at the useless fools blocking the way ahead and gave a cold snort.
"Bunch of worthless trash, move aside!"
With a roar, Buchi drove forcefully off the ground with his thick legs and shot into the air!
He did not leap toward the top of the slope, but toward the steep rock walls on either side of it.
"Meow—!!"
He flipped through the air, his sharp, hook-like Cat Claws carrying immense force as they savagely raked across the fragile rock face!
The pirates struggling on the oily ground saw this, their pupils instantly widening as they cried out in despair, "No! Big Brother Buchi! We're still down here!"
Buchi turned a deaf ear, his eyes filled with cruel indifference.
"Rumble—!!"
The rock wall collapsed beneath the monstrous strength of the Cat Claws, and massive boulders mixed with dirt came thundering down like a mudslide!
The rubble mercilessly crashed onto the slope, burying the slick layer of oil along with the dozen or so companions struggling desperately upon it!
"Aah—!!"
The shrill screams abruptly ceased.
Blood seeped from between the rocks, instantly staining the newly paved road red.
"Nicely done, Buchi." Jango pushed up his glasses as if those who had died were not his subordinates, but merely gravel used to pave a road.
At the top of the slope, the air instantly froze.
The playful mood from moments ago, when the trap had succeeded, vanished completely.
Luffy lowered his Straw Hat. Shadow covered his eyes, but the veins bulging on his clenched fists revealed the fury burning within him.
"They were... their companions..." Luffy's voice was low, yet it contained a storm. "I'm going to... send every last one of them flying!"
As someone who valued his companions above all else, this trampling of their comrades' lives had touched Luffy's greatest taboo.
At that moment, a hand rested on Luffy's shoulder.
Ronan stepped out from behind Luffy, carrying the heavy Zhangba Iron Spear in one hand. His gaze was as still as an ancient well, yet unfathomably deep.
"Luffy, you don't need to deal with this trash."
Ronan's voice was calm, but every word seemed forced through clenched teeth. "Cover me. This spear has just been sharpened. It needs some filthy blood as an offering."
Zoro glanced at the iron spear in Ronan's hand, which radiated a chilling air. He released the hilt of his sword and said calmly,
"Then leave it to you, Ronan."
Ronan said nothing more.
With one stomp, he ceased to be that gentle young man. He became a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
With unstoppable momentum, he charged down the bloodstained stone path toward the pirates below!
"That kid came down!"
"Just one person? Is he looking to die?!"
"Kill him! Step over his corpse and enter the village!"
Seeing Ronan charge alone, the pirates immediately revealed savage grins.
To them, he was meat delivered right to their door.
The few pirates at the front brandished sabers and axes, shrieking as they lunged at Ronan.
Ronan's gaze sharpened. In that instant, everything around him seemed to slow.
The sensation of wind brushing past his hair, the loose gravel beneath his feet, the murky killing intent in the pirates' eyes...
[Host has entered battle mode. Cultivation Multiplier ×3]
The long-absent warmth surged through him once more.
Facing the saber slashing down at him, Ronan advanced instead of retreating.
His right hand gripped the butt of the spear while his left slid to the middle of the shaft. His waist and stance moved as one, his spine twisting like a great dragon, and an immense force instantly surged through his right arm!
"Xingyi Great Spear: Ground Thunder!"
"Boom!"
It was a muffled sound that made teeth ache.
Ronan did not use the spear tip to stab. Borrowing the momentum of his charge, he wielded the Zhangba Iron Spear like a black steel whip, striking upward in a vicious lifting blow!
"Bang—crack!"
The hundred-pound iron spear carved a black afterimage through the air and smashed precisely into the jaw of the saber-wielding Pirate.
There was no suspense.
The Pirate did not even have time to scream before he was hit like a man struck by a galloping wild horse, his neck snapping instantly.
His body flew more than three meters into the air under the tremendous impact. The saber flew from his hand, spinning through the air toward the distance.
One strike, one kill!
Yet Ronan's movements did not pause in the slightest.
The instant he sent the first man flying, he borrowed the rebound of the spear shaft and sharply twisted his wrist.
The spear tip drew a deadly semicircle through the air, then came crashing down like Mount Tai bearing down!
"Smack!"
The spear shaft slammed heavily onto the head of another Pirate trying to ambush him.
The Pirate's head burst like a watermelon struck by an iron hammer, red and white matter exploding everywhere.
That upward strike and downward smash took no more than the blink of an eye.
Two vicious-looking pirates had already become cold corpses.
"W-what?!"
The pirates behind them froze in terror at the brutal sight.
They had thought he was just some green kid waving a spear around to scare people. Who knew that what he held was a hundred-pound death-dealing demon?
"Don't be afraid! He's alone! That spear is too long and clumsy! Get in close and kill him!" Jango shouted from behind them.
Several pirates who thought themselves clever immediately crouched down, attempting to slip into the blind spot of Ronan's spear.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of the mouth of Ronan.
"Naive."
A spear was clumsy? Only because its wielder did not understand the art of the great spear!
Faced with enemies closing in on him, Ronan did not draw back his iron spear. Instead, he abruptly retracted it, the butt snapping backward like a venomous snake's tongue and smashing into the chest of the ambusher behind him, instantly shattering the man's heart.
Immediately afterward, he gripped the end of the spear shaft with both hands and used the entire Zhangba Iron Spear as a giant club, sweeping it in a whirlwind with the force of his waist driving his arms!
"Sweep the Six Directions!"
"Whoosh—!!"
The heavy iron spear tore through the air, releasing a shriek like Oni-giri.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of crisp bone-cracking sounds made everyone's scalp go numb.
The pirates attempting to get close were struck across the waist by the thick iron shaft.
The enormous Kinetic Energy instantly shattered their ribs. They were sent flying like rag dolls, slamming viciously into the rock walls on either side. By the time they slid down, they were nothing but mangled heaps of flesh.
At this moment, Ronan was like a tiger among sheep, like a flood dragon churning the sea.
The iron spear in his hands stabbed like a venomous snake leaving its hole, striking the throat and withdrawing at once; seized and twisted, sending weapons flying; burst forth with force, cracking tiger's mouth; cleaved with Force Splits Mount Hua, unstoppable in its momentum.
A reach of ten feet and eight inches was the absolute boundary between life and death.
Not a single Pirate could withstand one strike from Ronan's spear.
Not a single weapon could block the crushing blow of that hundred-pound iron spear.
Blood stained the ground beneath Ronan's feet red, and it stained the pitch black shaft in his hands as well.
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