By the time Kuzan, Momonga, and the others reached the west coast, the battle there had already come to an end.
Pirate corpses lay scattered at Tsugikuni Yoriichi's feet, while countless more unconscious pirates lay nearby. Standing amid the bodies, Yoriichi was soaked in blood from head to toe. Under the sunlight, his black training uniform had turned a dark purplish red.
Yoriichi panted heavily, his Haki not yet fully withdrawn. His blood-red hair whipped wildly in the sea breeze. Sensing people approaching, Tsugikuni Yoriichi glanced sideways. The surging killing intent in his eyes made Momonga, Binji, and the others shudder instinctively.
"Y-Yoriichi!"
"What happened?!"
Kuzan, too, was startled by Tsugikuni Yoriichi's gaze. He hurriedly called out to Yoriichi, his voice full of concern. Only then did Tsugikuni Yoriichi's eyes finally soften.
Having focused intently on slaughtering the pirates, Tsugikuni Yoriichi's vigilance had become overly heightened. When he saw Kuzan and the others, he had not yet fully emerged from that state. Only after hearing Kuzan call to him did Tsugikuni Yoriichi slowly come back to himself.
"Oh, it was nothing."
"I just ran into some pirates."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi braced himself against his sword with both hands, using it to support his body as exhaustion washed over him. Fighting Golden Lion had not been this taxing, but clearing out Golden Lion's subordinates had cost Yoriichi quite a bit of strength.
The crew Golden Lion had recruited were all formidable. Not only were they highly capable, but every one of them possessed some strange and unusual ability, leaving Yoriichi constantly on guard.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi knew Golden Lion Shiki's Devil Fruit ability very well. He even understood the level of the man's swordsmanship, so he had a fairly good idea of what to expect when fighting him.
But when fighting those strange