Daz Bones' fingers were covered in a layer of metal like blades. He charged at Rono, who took a deep breath, activated Scarlet Armament, and roared as he met Daz head-on.
Clang! The ear-splitting clash of metal didn't faze either of them. Clang, clang, clang! No matter where Rono's hard Bone Claws struck Daz Bones, they only made the sound of metal colliding. Damn, that's so unfair! Rono lamented inwardly, then said it out loud, "Hey, why are you like steel? Is that your Devil Fruit Ability?"
Daz Bones looked like he was missing a few screws, and he actually nodded matter-of-factly. "That's right. I'm the Blade Person, with blades all over my body. What's your Devil Fruit? It can clash with my blades without being affected at all. Not bad."
"Your Devil Fruit Ability?" Rono had barely finished speaking when—bang! His head burst like a watermelon. He collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Daz Bones: "..." Sairona: "..." Though he was displeased, the most important thing for an assassin was completing the job. So he stopped looking at Rono, turned, and headed toward the sofa behind which Sairona was hiding.
Sairona hurried toward the tavern's exit, the revolver in his hand still smoking.
Daz Bones pursued close behind, slicing apart anything in his way. He gradually caught up with Sairona, who rolled aside while firing his revolver repeatedly. The sharp clanging of bullets against metal rang out. The tremendous impact staggered Daz two steps, allowing Sairona to pull ahead. Sairona was now heading inland, deeper into Alabasta. He couldn't board the ship; who knew what other tricks Deng had prepared? Maybe Haddaway was there too...
Sairona quickly reloaded, then took down a few small-time thugs who hadn't run far and were hoping to scavenge. He spun around and fired three shots, which struck Daz Bones in a triangular formation. Slowing Daz's pursuit for a moment, Sairona thought bitterly, I've only got six bullets left. Damn it, if only I'd brought my Sniper Rifle... Wait! He remembered something, made a sharp ninety-degree turn, and ran toward a tall building.
Back in the tavern, Rono felt his newly regrown head. Hmm, still as handsome as ever.
"Honestly, I hadn't even gotten to introduce myself. Were you really in such a hurry to kill me?"
The moment Rono had been shot, Scarlet Armament had deactivated. He had no time to catch his breath. Supporting himself against the door, he left the tavern, but the surrounding streets were completely deserted. It looked like everyone had gone to take shelter. Well, Rono had been one of the disasters they were sheltering from.
Scarlet Armament and regrowing his head had cost Rono a great deal of stamina, so he "borrowed" some food from the tavern owner and ate as he hurried along.
The sound of Sairona's gunfire made an excellent trail to follow, and Rono caught up with ease.
The scene shifted to Sairona.
Sairona had started climbing the tall building. His Sniper Rifle was up there. But things weren't looking good; he was running out of stamina. Daz Bones was only a few steps behind him, and Sairona had tossed away his revolver to lighten his load. He practically crawled up to the attic. A corpse lay there—it was Deng. At the instant Deng fired, Sairona had fired too. Their movements had been so fast that the two gunshots overlapped, sounding like a single shot.
Sairona rolled again, bent down to pick up the Sniper Rifle beside Deng, and fired over his shoulder. "Bang!"
But Sairona's movements were too obvious. Daz Bones had been ready and dodged Sairona's final attempt with a quick sidestep.
"I'm surprised you managed to kill this guy. But it's about time you met your end!"
Daz Bones raised his right hand and sliced Sairona's Sniper Rifle in half. He felt uneasy with the gun still in Sairona's hands.
His next move would be the final blow. He raised his right hand high and slashed down hard. If that strike landed, Sairona would definitely die.
"Ah!!!" A shirtless, red-haired boy burst through the window, shouting as he tackled Daz Bones to the ground. The blade never came down.
"Round two, begin." Rono brushed the glass shards off himself and grinned at Sairona. "Surprised?"
"Surprised? I'm fucking terrified." His tone remained flat.
Rono didn't keep chatting with Sairona. He activated Scarlet Armament, ready to take on Daz one-on-one again. "I didn't get enough of a workout just now." Rono brushed the flakes of skin off himself and spoke to Daz.
Daz said nothing. Rono's appearance, when he should have been dead, had clearly put him under tremendous pressure.
Daz settled into a fighting stance and activated his Devil Fruit Ability to its fullest. His skin gleamed faintly.
The muscles in Rono's right leg bulged. The next moment, he appeared behind Daz and thrust his right claw toward Daz's back.
A shower of sparks burst out. Rono's first strike missed, but he immediately followed up with another. "Knee Strike: Explosive Round!" The recoil shattered the stone slabs beneath Rono's feet, and a cloud of blood burst from the muscles in his lower leg.
Boom~~
Daz smashed through a wall and flew out of the attic.
"Ugh!" Daz spat out a mouthful of blood. His defenses had been breached.
Daz climbed out of the rubble and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Damn it, was that kid a monster?
Rono's knee strike had been accompanied by a bone-spike attack. But Daz didn't dare pull the bone spikes out of his waist and abdomen; he'd lose too much blood and be done for.
Rono shaded his eyes with one hand and looked around. After a moment, he spotted Daz.
"Sigh, I should've known not to hit him so hard. How am I supposed to catch up now?" Beside him, even Sairona's usually unchanging expression had turned to astonishment. He'd known Rono's close-range damage was explosive, but he hadn't expected him to be this terrifying.
"If you gave me a Sniper Rifle—or no, just any gun—today would be his last day." Sairona watched Daz retreat into the distance and spoke in frustration.
"!" Rono didn't hesitate. He stepped in front of Sairona. Bang! A huge hole appeared in Rono's abdomen, and Sairona, behind him, was splattered with bits of flesh.
Suppressing the urge to vomit as his stomach churned, Rono hurried to a spot out of the shooter's line of sight. "Northwest. The bullet's 3.2 centimeters in diameter. It should be a KT-741."
Rono hurried over too. He might not die, but it still hurt.
"We need to go, Rono. This is someone else's territory. We're at a disadvantage." Sairona calmly assessed the situation.
But Rono replied, "Cowards? Screw that. Let's kick his ass." He deactivated Scarlet Armament and glared fiercely. Damn, someone had just taken a shot at him. If he backed down now, how could he ever show his face in the underworld again?
"..." Sairona fell silent. About a minute later, he gave a wry look and said, "You saved my life. So what if I go crazy with you for once!" Sairona was an exceptionally gifted sniper, a true genius. Otherwise, the Gongdongtalio Family wouldn't have recruited him. Geniuses always had a bit of pride, and now Sairona's pride had been roused.
"I need a gun." Sairona stared into Rono's eyes as he spoke.
"No problem."
Before you continue