Catman Brothers - Sam

The group watching the battle from the hilltop, Luffy and the others, were completely stunned.

"So... so strong..."

Usopp's mouth hung open, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.

"Those were dozens of ferocious pirates... How come they looked like a bunch of dolls in front of Ronan?"

Nami also covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock.

"Is this... Ronan's strength? That iron spear in his hand, it feels lighter than a feather, yet heavier than a cannon?"

Zoro's gaze was locked onto Ronan's every move, his hands trembling slightly with excitement.

"The spear isn't light."

Zoro's eyes flashed with brilliance. As a swordsman, he saw the trick.

"Ronan isn't using his arm strength for every strike, but his entire body. Power from the spine, channeled to the spear tip. Is this what he meant by... National Martial Arts?"

In the center of the battlefield.

Ronan gave his spear a violent shake, flicking off the blood droplets from its tip.

He stood alone with his spear on the slope, over twenty pirate corpses at his feet.

He slowly raised his head, his calm eyes now ignited with fighting spirit. He pointed his iron spear towards Jango and Buchi at the bottom of the slope.

"Next, who's it gonna be?"

On the slope, the sea breeze carried a heavy scent of blood, whistling through the narrow rock walls.

The previously noisy battle cries had fallen silent, leaving only the groans of wounded pirates and the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Ronan, alone with his spear, stood amidst the scattered corpses like a guardian war god, blocking the only path for the Black Cat Pirates to enter the village.

Jango stood at the bottom of the slope, adjusting his heart-shaped glasses. Fine beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead.

He looked at Ronan, who was like an Asura, swallowed hard, and turned to the two strangely shaped figures beside him—the cat-person brothers of the Black Cat Pirates.

"Buchi, Sam!"

Jango's voice trembled slightly but held no room for doubt.

"You both saw it, this kid is tough. But Captain Kuro's plan absolutely cannot fail... No matter what, we must get through this slope! Take care of him for me!"

At the top of the slope, Nami watched the remaining three below with a grave expression.

Although the enemy's numbers had drastically decreased, the oppressive feeling had somehow intensified.

"Ronan, you need to be careful!"

Nami shouted loudly, her voice laced with tension. "The remaining three are not comparable to the trash we just dealt with; they are all experts with high bounties!"

Usopp, standing nearby, his hand holding the slingshot trembling slightly, turned pale at the words "high bounties." "H-how much?"

Nami took a deep breath, quickly recalling the bounty information in her mind.

"The hypnotist Jango, the one leading them with glasses, has a bounty of nine million Belly! And those two cat-person brothers... each of them is a formidable fighter with a bounty of seven million Belly!"

"Seven... seven million?!"

Usopp's eyes bulged out in fright. His legs went weak, and he almost fell to his knees.

"Doesn't that add up to over twenty million in bounties? H-how is this even possible to win!"

He frantically looked at Luffy and Zoro beside him, only to find that neither of them showed any sign of tension. Instead, they wore expressions of onlookers.

"Hey! Luffy, Zoro!"

Usopp shouted anxiously. "Aren't you going to help? Can Ronan handle this alone? Those are three experts with bounties!"

Zoro sat cross-legged on a rock, holding the Wado Ichimonji, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Opponents of this level are nothing more than whetstones for Ronan right now. Leave it to him, what do you think, Luffy?"

Luffy pulled down his straw hat, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Heh heh, Ronan looks like he's having fun! I want to watch his performance!"

In the center of the battlefield.

Ronan looked at the cat-person brothers as they slowly emerged, his gaze calm.

For him, who had awakened Observation Haki, these two pirates, notorious in the East Blue, were no longer a threat but excellent "living targets."

Sam, the hunched, scrawny one among the cat-person brothers, slowly walked towards Ronan.

He moved without a sound, like a real cat, his eyes filled with cunning and cruelty.

"Hey, kid..." Sam let out a high-pitched, eerie laugh, licking the Cat Claws gloves in his hand. "You seemed to enjoy yourself quite a bit just now, killing them. You've got some skills."

Before he finished speaking, Sam's figure vanished abruptly!

Without any warning, the gravel beneath his feet instantly shattered.

The entire figure was like a gray phantom, moving at extreme speed, hugging the ground as he lunged at Ronan!

"So fast!" Usopp, on the hilltop, exclaimed in surprise.

However, facing this thunderous strike, Ronan made a move that surprised everyone.

"Clang!"

He thrust his hand back and inserted the mighty Zhangba iron spear, which had been slaughtering everything in its path, deeply into a nearby rock crevice. It sank three inches deep, humming ominously.

Ronan, with bare hands, slowly took a starting stance for Xing Yi Quan, calmly watching the direction in which Sam had disappeared.

"Looks like he's a speed type."

Ronan muttered to himself, a playful curve forming on his lips. "But, as someone who just awakened Observation Haki, you are truly... the best sparring partner."

The reason he put away the iron spear was that the weapon's lethality was too great.

With the Zhangba's attack range, Sam would likely be impaled and killed before he could even get close.

If that happened, the battle would end too quickly, and how would Ronan use the triple multiplier of his combat mode to "grind for experience"?

The instant Ronan put away his spear and stood still, a sharp whistling sound tore through the air.

Sam's figure abruptly appeared to Ronan's left, his face contorted with ferocious killing intent. "Die! You arrogant brat!"

His sharp Cat Claws, glinting with cold light, aimed straight for Ronan's temple!

The Speed was incredibly fast, so fast that to ordinary eyes, he was merely a blur.

But in Ronan's "vision," the world was a different scene.

Ronan's senses were instantly amplified.

Under the perception of Observation Haki, the wisp of red killing intent emanating from Sam was like a beacon, illuminating his attack trajectory half a second in advance.

This was not just visual capture; it was a premonition of "intent."

Ronan didn't move his body much, merely tilting his head slightly. His feet remained rooted to the spot, unmoving.

"Swish—"

The Cat Claws, capable of shredding rock, grazed past Ronan's nose, even severing a strand of hair that fell over his forehead.

A difference of a hair's breadth, yet a chasm.

"What?!" Sam's pupils constricted. The surreal feeling of his attack missing its mark startled him.

But he was, after all, a battle-hardened Pirate, and his reaction was swift.

Using his momentum, his body twisted bizarrely in mid-air, and the Cat Claws on his other hand swept towards Ronan's throat!

"Too slow."

Ronan thought to himself.

It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He leaned his upper body back slightly into a perfect "iron bridge," and the deadly claws once again brushed past his chin.

Sam landed, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He gritted his teeth, his body erupting forward again. "Coincidence! It must be a coincidence!"