Blade, Saw

"Whoosh--"

The Chainsaw Devil and the Blade Devil lunged forward. The Blade Devil moved like lightning, appearing before the cat-person brothers in the blink of an eye, crossing its arms for a horizontal slash.

In a moment of desperation, the cat-person brothers reacted instinctively. The tall Buchi crossed his claws in front of his chest, while the smaller Sam subconsciously leaped up.

"Clang--"

Sparks flew as the cat-claws and the long sword collided.

Buchi gripped the long sword with all his might, hearing a grinding sound from his hands.

"Now, Sam!"

Feeling the immense strength of his opponent, knowing he couldn't hold on for more than a few seconds, he urgently shouted to his partner.

A glint of heat appeared in Sam's eyes. He swiftly swung the blade in his hand, aiming straight for the opponent's throat.

However, someone was faster. The Blade Devil let Sam attack, neither dodging nor evading. While Sam was engaging him, he was also being held back.

"Screech-- Screech--"

From behind the Blade Devil, the Chainsaw Devil appeared from below in an instant, its terrifying chainsaw slashing towards Buchi's bulky body.

"Ch-k!"

"Ugh..."

Two gouts of blood splattered. In a flash, two horrifying gashes were opened on Buchi's chest, and his grip loosened simultaneously.

The Blade Devil withdrew its sword and flicked it towards Sam, who was clawing in mid-air.

"Clang--"

Sparks flew.

"Buchi!!!"

Sam roared in distress, but it was too late to glance at his partner. The Blade Devil's arm moved as if carrying immense weight, tossing him aside.

Sam dissipated the force, using his powerful core strength to roll and leap behind the Blade Devil.

Before he even landed, he heard the piercing sound of a chainsaw behind him. The Chainsaw Devil had caught up from behind at some point. Sam suddenly turned and swiped his hand.

Just as the cat-claw glove was about to touch the chainsaw, the Chainsaw Devil suddenly changed its move, spinning around and slashing horizontally with its two saws, one from above and one from below.

"Ah!!!"

A sharp scream rang out. Although Sam instinctively turned sideways, he still had an arm brutally torn off by the high-speed rotating chainsaw.

Sam was terrified. Before he could counterattack the Chainsaw Devil in front of him, the Blade Devil had already rushed to his side.

"Wait a minute!" Sam shouted in panic.

Slish! Slish!

Ignoring the other's cries, the two long swords flashed with cold light, piercing smoothly into Sam's body as if cutting tofu.

Sam looked down, stunned, at the sharp double swords piercing through him. Blood dripped uncontrollably onto the ground.

The scene became so quiet it was suffocating.

Zing--!

The long swords were pulled out, and Sam's body went limp, collapsing onto the deck.

In just a few breaths since the fight began, the cat-person brothers had both fallen in a pool of blood. The deck was stained crimson. Looking at the two devil-like figures, their swords and saws were covered in blood.

"I told you, that laugh wouldn't last long,"

Lina's calm voice broke the silence.

He lit a cigarette and slowly walked towards Nami, looking down at the girl trembling and terrified on the ground, extending his palm.

"I! Am a pirate, and I'm robbing you!"

"O-Okay, I'll... I'll give you everything."

"Please don't kill me!"

Nami's voice trembled, her palm slick with sweat. She tightly clutched a bag of treasure and held it out.

The cat-person brothers, with bounties of seven million, had been killed in the blink of an eye. Seeing this horrifying scene, she had no desire to resist.

After extending the treasure, seeing that he didn't take it, Nami directly let go and placed it on the ground, quickly retracting her arm and holding it against her chest.

"My, my, I'm not robbing for money, I'm robbing for people."

Lina chuckled, kicking aside a bag of treasure at his feet. He took a drag from his cigarette and put away the two undead, the sword and saw, belonging to the fallen.

He withdrew his hand and sat down cross-legged. "You said your name was Nami, right? Do you know navigation?"

"A little bit."

Nami replied softly. Seeing the two devil-like figures disappear inexplicably, although shocked, she felt a sense of relief.

Lina's demeanor became friendly. Of course, he knew Nami knew navigation. "We are pirates, preparing to go to the Grand Line. How about you become our navigator?"

"I..." Nami hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping. She didn't dare refuse, but when she thought of Cocoyasi Village...

Her hometown was still under Arlong's brutal rule. She wanted to save up 100 million berries to buy the village back from Arlong. If she left now, the villagers of Cocoyasi Village would never see the light of day again.

"What should I do? Should I just agree for now and find a chance to escape later?" Nami's thoughts churned as she secretly thought:

"It should be fine. They're just a few people, they can't possibly keep an eye on me all the time. I'll definitely find a chance to escape."

Nami weighed her options for a moment and was about to pretend to agree when Lina interrupted her.

"What are you secretly planning?"

Lina looked at the pensive Nami, resting his chin on his hand. "Pretend to agree first, then find a chance to escape? Or even try to pull a fast one on us?"

Nami's pupils contracted, and she showed a look of surprise.

Lina understood Nami's little schemes too well, because...

He was that kind of person!

At this moment, Luffy and Zoro had already dealt with the Black Cat Pirates and captured Jango.

Lina pointed at Nami and shouted to them, "Hey Luffy, Navigator, I found her."

"Huh? Really!"

Luffy looked at Nami excitedly, his eyes shining. "Hello, my name is Luffy."

"H-hello," Nami was like a startled little lamb. She had personally witnessed the combat power displayed by Luffy and Zoro just now.

Among the three, Lina seemed the least strong, but he appeared to be able to command two terrifying devils.

Now that all three were present, she had no ability to resist at all. Nami felt like she was having the worst luck today.

"Oh, right, Lina."

Luffy seemed to remember something and brought up Jango, whom he was holding by the collar. "This guy also seems to be heading to Syrup Village. He said he has a secret he can tell us."

Jango, with a bruised and swollen face, was grinning obsequiously. Lina remembered that this guy seemed to know hypnosis.

Three years ago, it was he who hypnotized Morgan, making him believe he had captured Captain Kuro. Morgan was promoted to Captain because of this, while Kuro took the opportunity to hide in Syrup Village and began a three-year scheme targeting Kaya's family fortune.

"As long as you let me go, I guarantee you'll get a generous reward."

Jango rubbed his hands together, grinning at the group.

"Let's hear it," Lina already had a rough idea of the secret he was talking about, which was nothing more than Kuro's business.

Then, under the group's unfriendly gazes, Jango revealed Kuro's entire plan.

It turned out Kuro intended to use Jango's hypnosis ability to make Kaya write a will leaving all her property to Kuro, and then kill her.

"In short, you can cooperate with Captain Kuro to split Kaya's family fortune, or you can report him to the Marines to stop him. I believe Kaya's family will also offer a good reward."

Jango had a shifty look in his eyes and even started offering them advice.

His words only made Luffy angrier.

Duang!

"That scoundrel! To do such a despicable thing!" Luffy punched Jango unconscious, shaking his fist in anger.

Lina had no interest in Kuro's schemes, but he was lusting after Kuro. He would go find Kuro whether this happened or not.

Besides, Kaya's family had a ship, which would become their first pirate ship. And then there was Usopp, that man from ancient Greece who presided over desperate situations.

It was still a day's journey to Syrup Village. This was a dungeon full of benefits, and he couldn't wait to go grind Kuro for loot