Why?
They were both pirates.
Shouldn't they be targeting the Marines?
Even if pirates fighting among themselves was perfectly normal...
That was still supposed to be based on profit, conflict, or grudges.
Botran realized Maud's true objective, but before the doubts it aroused could fully take shape, the blade light rushing toward him shattered them all.
At that moment, Botran no longer had the energy to think about those chaotic matters.
Getting through the crisis before him was more important than anything else.
Clang—!
He swung his heavy-backed cleaver and blocked Maud's attack.
The force of both sides collided through their clashing blades, instantly kicking up a wave of air that spread in every direction.
Although Maud had struck Botran with a slash earlier, he was still a pirate with a bounty of nearly a hundred million. His strength was far from weak.
"Do you really have to wipe us out?"
While blocking the attacks, Botran's expression was grim.
If there was even the slightest possibility, he had no desire to fight Maud.
Besides, this battle held no meaning for him.
Maud remained silent, but he was rather surprised by the strength Botran displayed after being injured.
After all, he was a pirate with a Marine bounty of 98 million, far stronger than Buffalo, who had developed his Devil Fruit into a complete mess.
Some people were simply like that.
After eating a Devil Fruit with relatively weak abilities, they instead placed too much importance on those abilities and ended up sacrificing their own strengths in certain areas.
Only a Zoan, a Devil Fruit focused purely on enhancing the user's physical constitution, could avoid this potential drawback.
Maud's silence put Botran in a foul mood.
Knowing that this battle could no longer be avoided, Botran endured the pain of his