Rum Tavern.
It stood on Fifth Avenue in Demon Valley Town. Though it was only morning, it was barely any quieter than in the afternoon.
Plenty of pirates were still drinking and eating, including the Blood Thorn Pirates.
As always, Blood Thorn Pradanite wore a black suit and dark sunglasses. He puffed on a cigar and sipped red wine, looking nothing like the ruthless pirate he was.
Before coming to Demon Valley Town, he had killed a Navy rear admiral at sea. Then Sakazuki, one of the Navy's three rising stars, had hunted him down. After narrowly escaping once, he came to Demon Valley Town.
That man was a mad dog, and an exceptionally powerful one.
His escape last time had been pure luck. Pradanite had no desire to see that man again.
Demon Valley Town's location made it unusual. It was almost entirely populated by pirates, so the Navy rarely came here.
It was the perfect place for many pirates to escape their pursuers.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Without the slightest warning, holes burst through the tavern walls, and golden weapons came flying in, trapping the pirates in a deadly assault.
"Ah!"
"Damn it!"
"We're under attack!"
Some pirates were drinking one moment and dead the next.
The whole hall descended into chaos in the blink of an eye. Food and drink covered the floor, mixing with the smell of smoke and blood to create a nauseating stench.
"Golden weapons! It's the Golden Emperor!"
Many pirates took cover and recognized the weapons embedded in the corpses at a glance.
Nobody but the Golden Emperor would be extravagant enough to use gold as a weapon—and make it so powerful.
Curses and furious shouts filled the air. The attack lasted only one wave, as if giving them time to react.
Pradanite's face darkened. His bulky body moved with surprising agility as he puffed on his cigar and strode out of the tavern on his short legs. The Blood Thorn Pirates members who had survived followed behind him.
Just as expected.
The moment Pradanite stepped outside, he saw the obnoxious show-off.
The Golden Throne seemed to glow beneath the sunlight, while golden weapons hung upside down in the sky all around him. They were visible from nearly every street nearby.
"So many golden weapons."
"It's the Golden Emperor."
"What does that loudmouth want now?"
"Who managed to piss off that attention-seeking bastard?"
"I've gotta admit, I'm a little jealous of him. Damn that Golden Emperor."
"If I were strong enough, I'd love to hack that bastard to pieces."
Pirates across several streets looked up at the sky. The golden weapons dangling overhead were like naked women, flaunting themselves to lure the pirates in.
But they were powerless to do anything about it.
Right now, the person everyone in Demon Valley Town most wanted to kill was undoubtedly the Golden Emperor.
He drew too much hatred.
"Golden Emperor, what do you want?"
Pradanite stood outside the Rum Tavern, his chubby face cold and grim.
"I heard you bet on the Zebra Killer to win against that broke loser."
Kaos sat on the floating throne, crossing one leg over the other as he casually trimmed his nails with a golden knife. His expression made it clear he didn't consider Pradanite worth a second thought.
"So you killed more than ten of my men just for that?"
Pradanite blew out a ring of smoke, his gaze growing colder.
"No, no. I'm here to wipe out all of you."
As soon as Kaos finished speaking, Pradanite sneered.
"You think driving Swordsman Crus away means you can come here and provoke me?"
"Let me tell you, I could kill that guy in a minute."
Pradanite was confident. Swordsman Crus had a higher bounty, but in his eyes, Crus was just a stray dog.
He might have been wary before last night's fight, but after Crus fled, his apprehension vanished.
A bounty of 124 million? Nothing impressive!
"Oh?"
Kaos lifted his chin and looked down his nose at Pradanite, his eyes full of contempt.
One expression said it all: trash, disdain, scorn, mockery, idiot.
"Kill that bastard! I'm going to smash his face in!"
The powder keg exploded. Pradanite couldn't hold back any longer.
That look on Kaos's face had crushed his final restraint. No other provocation could compare to how infuriating it was.
Bang!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Blood Thorn Pirates opened fire and charged all at once.
They had only one thought now: kill him.
"Heh!"
Having successfully enraged every member of the Blood Thorn Pirates, Kaos's sneer deepened. He added fuel to the fire.
"You're all trash. Too weak."
The golden weapons hanging overhead shot down. They deflected the bullets, sending sparks flying, then launched forward like arrows. Cries of pain and the stench of blood began to fill the street.
"Damn it!"
A pirate was pinned to the ground by a halberd. Even as he died, he glared viciously at Kaos.
He died with his eyes open.
For no other reason than that he couldn't swallow his anger.
The Golden Emperor was just too arrogant and infuriating.
If he got the chance, he'd take that bastard down with him.
Unforgivable!
And it wasn't only the Blood Thorn Pirates. Even some of the pirates watching from afar were gritting their teeth in fury.
No reason. He just rubbed them the wrong way.
"Thorn Fist."
Pradanite finally moved, his afterimage flashing into view. Ten black thorns sprouted from his right hand as he appeared before Kaos and swung a punch at his face. It was hard to imagine that someone so fat could move so fast.
Kaos's expression didn't change. As if he had expected it, he didn't even blink. A golden trident-shaped axe appeared and firmly blocked Pradanite's fist, while several golden weapons crashed down from above.
"Thorn Barrage."
Pradanite reacted quickly. Dense spikes suddenly burst from his entire body, turning him into a round, spiked ball with no apparent weak point.
The Paramecia: Thorn Fruit let its user sprout thorns from anywhere on the body, sharp enough to pierce even rock.
It was the ability later used by Miss Doublefinger, an agent of Baroque Works, who gave Nami a hard time.
As the current Thorn Fruit user, Pradanite had developed his powers far better than the next user, Miss Doublefinger. His thorns were genuinely harder than steel.
Kaos vanished in an instant. A gust of wind then pressed down from above as several golden weapons slammed into the spikes, unable to penetrate his defenses.
Pradanite took the opportunity to land. A mass of spikes rose from his back, making him look like a fat Godzilla from a distance.
Quite the resemblance.
"That defense is hard to get your teeth into."
But as Kaos descended from the sky, the Golden Throne rang with the clash of metal. Sparks flashed as it wrapped around him and became Golden Armor. All the scattered golden weapons fused together, eventually forming a ten-meter-long spiked club, a meter thick at the head.
The sunlight overhead was warm, but as Kaos hefted the club, a chill spread down the entire street.
Many of the pirates watching sucked in a sharp breath.
Pradanite's pudgy face twitched, and his expression changed.
His defense was formidable. Anyone who tried to hurt him would almost certainly get impaled in return. His only weakness was being struck by a heavy weapon.
"Whoosh!"
Kaos grinned, flashing his white teeth. He darted left and right again and again, appearing before Pradanite after just three breaths. Then he gripped the enormous spiked club with both hands and swung for a home run.
Pradanite's hair stood on end, and he vanished from the spot at once.
He didn't try to take the hit head-on.
The ground was torn apart. Dirt and shattered stone went flying with the club, and its ear-splitting, weighty roar through the air spoke of nothing but overwhelming force.