All's Fair in War

Inland Bacchus Island, the middle section of the Primeval Forest.

"BOOM!"

A dull, thunderous roar erupted from the direction of the basin, sending a massive flock of startled birds fluttering into the sky like a black cloud. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, as if the very heart of the island had been struck a heavy blow.

The three people walking along the forest path came to an abrupt halt. They had just finished hauling a hundred barrels of rum and supplies back to the hold when this sudden tremor sent them stumbling.

"What the hell? Is this island sinking or something?"

Buggy wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead.

"It's the Captain's doing."

Sabo, walking in the lead, looked up at the lingering scorching red glow above the basin and adjusted his top hat.

"It seems he's found the main target. We need to pick up the pace."

Just as the trio prepared to dash across this stretch of woodland, forty or fifty heavily armed poachers in black burst out from the bushes ahead.

The leader was a bald, burly man with a scar on his face, carrying a heavy mountain-cleaving axe on his shoulder. Upon seeing Sabo and his companions, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"This is Lord Truv's territory ahead. Butcher these—"

"Too wordy. I don't have time to listen to your introductions."

Before the burly man could even finish his line, Sabo had already stepped forward.

A deep blue figure cut into the crowd.

Sabo did not slow his pace. He was in a hurry and had no interest in hearing these people state their names.

In a fit of shock and rage, the bald man instinctively swung his mountain-cleaving axe downward with a roar.

However, Sabo didn't even bother to dodge. He extended his right hand, coated in Armament Haki, and pressed three fingers together to meet the blade head-on.

"Dragon Claw."

"CLANG!"

After the crisp sound of impact.

Under the stunned gaze of everyone present, that fine steel axe, capable of cleaving through ancient trees, was cracked open by the sheer force of Sabo's three fingers.

"CRACK!"

The fissures spread rapidly, and the entire axe shattered into a pile of scrap metal.

Sabo took the opportunity to lunge forward, locking his hand around the burly man's throat. Orange-red flames erupted from his palm, instantly engulfing the man's entire body.

"BOOM!"

The flames exploded; the burly man couldn't even let out a full scream before he was burned into a charred corpse, crashing heavily onto the side of the road.

"The boss was taken out in a single exchange?!"

The remaining two poacher officers were so terrified their legs began to shake.

"Since you're blocking the way, I'll clear you out as well."

Sabo turned his head, his voice calm.

"Buggy, hurry it up."

"Are you kidding me! Have you gotten addicted to bossing me around?!"

Buggy cursed loudly, but his body had already skillfully moved to engage.

"A bunch of frogs in a well who don't know the height of the sky! Today, this great me will use you to test my blades!"

Seeing that it was only a red-nosed man walking up, the two officers immediately tried to use their numbers to flank him.

The officer with the meteor hammer immediately raised a thick, fine steel round shield to protect his entire body, while the other gripped dual blades, ready to launch a surprise attack from the side.

Buggy sneered, and his body instantly split into pieces.

His hands and forearm fragments flew out from different directions, while his shoulders and elbows changed angles in mid-air, slamming into the round shield one after another.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

A series of dull thuds exploded against the surface of the shield.

"Idiot! You think you can pierce my defense with that kind of flimsy force?"

The meteor hammer officer had just hidden behind his shield to mock him when Buggy's head, floating in mid-air, revealed a sinister grin.

"Who said this great me was going to pierce your shield?"

The two fists slamming against the shield suddenly split apart.

The next instant, several fingers equipped with folding blades bypassed the edge of the shield. Before the opponent could react, the thin blades popping out from the base of the finger guards struck viciously toward his eyes.

"SQUELCH!"

"AAAAHHH! My eyes!"

The officer threw away his shield in agony, clutching his face as he rolled frantically on the ground.

The dual-blade officer on the other side was scared out of his wits; just as he wanted to retreat, Buggy's scattered body parts had already rapidly reassembled into the silhouette of his upper torso.

A heavy, powerful iron fist landed squarely on his chin.

Immediately following.

"Bang!"

A gunshot echoed through the forest.

Carina, who had been watching from the rear, held her wrist with rock-steady precision.

The accurate lead bullet pierced the dual-wielding officer's knee, stripping him of all ability to resist as he collapsed to the ground in a scream of agony.

With their backbone falling one after another, the remaining dozens of lackeys were already terrified, turning to flee.

"Too late!"

Buggy quickly landed and reassembled his body, laughing as he pulled out a special red glass sphere.

"Special Buggy Ball!"

The bomb was tossed into the densest part of the fleeing crowd.

"Boom!"

A blinding fireball erupted in the woods, and a heatwave swept outward, carrying splintered wood and dirt. The elite poachers were swallowed by the flames, their wails quickly drowned out by the roar of the explosion.

By the time the smoke cleared, the poaching unit responsible for sealing the perimeter had completely collapsed, leaving behind nothing but broken branches and scattered corpses.

"Easy work!"

Buggy adjusted his collar, lifted his chin, and struck the pose of an insufferably arrogant veteran.

"If we were any slower, the Captain would have finished his fight already."

Sabo offered a generous word of affirmation, taking the lead with long strides as he crossed the devastated woodland.

"Tch, it was clearly my cover fire that provided the opening."

Carina nimbly holstered her flintlock and followed closely behind.

The three of them did not linger, moving quickly along the cleared path toward the basin at the heart of the forest.

When they pushed aside the final layer of brush and stood at the edge of the basin, the sight before them brought all three to a sudden halt.

The earth was cracked.

The basin, hundreds of meters in diameter, looked as if it had just been struck by a devastating, localized meteor shower. Most of the once-dense ancient trees had been leveled by a powerful shockwave, and the air was thick with the pungent stench of scorched fur and charred earth.

In the massive crater at the very center of the basin, a mountain-like Ancient Species boar lay overturned, foaming at the mouth.

Its once-proud, hardened bristles had been burned to ash, and as its body twitched a few times, it became clear it had lost all capacity to resist.

At the edge of the crater, their black-haired Captain stood quietly with his back to them.

Opposite Ace, the tall, hot-tempered red-haired cook stood holding two blood-stained bone-cleaving knives, her eyes fixed on him with a complex mix of shock and awe.

"Looks like we arrived just in time for dinner."

Sabo adjusted his top hat, watching Ace stand unscathed at the edge of the crater, his eyes filled with the pride and satisfaction belonging to the Eclipse Pirates.