Still Fighting?

Annoyed.

Linley was extremely annoyed right now.

There were three reasons why he hadn't attacked the Black Cat Pirates when he was on Granny Siya's merchant ship.

First, he was worried that the fight would affect Granny Siya and the crew. After all, Granny Siya was already old, and the crew members all had their own families.

Second, there were rules on the sea, and while Linley had the ability to drive off the Black Cat Pirates, he couldn't stay with Granny Siya and the others forever. If any escaped and sought revenge on Granny Siya, Linley wouldn't be able to protect them.

Therefore, avoiding conflict was the best option.

Third, it was entirely because Kuro was a nobody. Linley's only interest in him was his Silent Step, which was as fast as one of the Rokushiki techniques, Soru.

So, Linley had originally planned to find a time later to confront them himself, as an individual.

However, he never expected that Kuro would dare to collude with Krieg to attack the people of Windmill Village!

Did he really think Linley was easy to mess with?

Kidnapping, threats, Seastone weapons, schemes, backing...

All the messy things Kuro had orchestrated made it seem like he was the mastermind controlling everything, and Linley was falling into his trap step by step.

And this was what truly annoyed Linley.

All this flashy, unnecessary stuff!

He wanted to let Kuro know one thing—

Linley Barek's nickname was [BOSS], so he was always the challenger.

Others always challenged him; he never challenged others!

Linley grabbed Kuro's collar and swung a fist the size of a sandbag towards Kuro's face.

As he punched, he said:

"Who do,"

Bang!

"you think,"

Bang!

"you are, you lit-"

Bang!

"tle-"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"kitty!"

Blow after blow landed on Kuro's face.

Kuro's glasses had already been shattered by the fists, leaving only the frame hanging on his ear.

His hair, which had been meticulously styled, was now a mess, with a few strands stuck to his forehead by the blood he'd spat out.

Kuro had only one thought at this moment—or rather, only one thought could surface:

What happened?

This pirate, who had wreaked havoc across the East Blue with his schemes and earned the title [Hundred Schemes], was now—

stunned.

Although he had heard that the man before him was a madman with a bounty of 100 Million Beli, Kuro was confident he could defeat him with his schemes.

After all, he had managed to get the World Government and that [JOKER] to back him up!

But now, Linley's relentless punches were shattering Kuro's illusions.

The intense pain felt like it was telling Kuro:

Stop with all the flashy nonsense; it's useless.

Kuro now felt his consciousness gradually blurring, his entire being dazed from the beating.

He mustered all his strength and finally shouted:

"Stop!"

Linley's fist actually stopped in mid-air.

Kuro finally had a moment to catch his breath. After a few seconds of recovery, he used his remaining strength to swing his Ten-Blade Cat Claws at Linley.

His Ten-Blade Cat Claws were also equipped with Seastone, so as long as they hit Linley, no matter how badly he was beaten before, the result would be his victory.

However, in the next second, Kuro faced Linley's shoe sole.

Just before the Ten-Blade Cat Claws could hit him, Linley lifted his leg and kicked Kuro in the face!

Bang!

Kuro was sent flying backward again, crashing heavily against the wall.

The Ten-Blade Cat Claws on his hands came off and fell onto the sides of the street.

Accompanied by the clanging sound of the blades hitting the ground, a suffocating atmosphere filled the street.

The pirates watching the scene couldn't make a sound.

The infamous "Hundred Plans" Kuro, known throughout the East Blue for his cruelty and ruthlessness, was currently embedded in a wall, having been kicked there by a man named Linley!

Linley rubbed his shoulder and walked over, digging Kuro out of the rubble. He then grabbed him by the collar again and lifted him up.

"Let them go, or else..."

Linley looked at him calmly and slowly asked, "Are you still going to fight?"

Kuro struggled to pry Linley's fingers off his collar, but without the threat of Seastone, Linley's grip was like an iron clamp, holding Kuro fast.

Bang!

Another punch landed squarely on Kuro's face.

Kuro felt a throbbing ache and swelling on his face, his nose bridge already crooked. The face that could still be called gentlemanly was now a complete mess.

Linley pulled Kuro's face closer, his gaze fixed on it, and continued to ask slowly:

"Are you still going to fight?"

Kuro gasped for air, as if he hadn't recovered from the previous blows.

When he finally caught his breath, he stared at Linley, gritting his teeth and saying:

"I can still fi..."

Before the last word could leave his lips, Linley's fist slammed into Kuro's face once more!

However, after taking Linley's punch head-on, Kuro suddenly grabbed Linley's arm, locked Linley's right arm with his legs, and tensed his body with a sudden surge.

Even Linley was surprised. Kuro, the pirate renowned in the East Blue for his assassination techniques and schemes, had used his own nimble body to execute a variation of the Cross Armbar on Linley in mid-air!

This move was extremely practical in close-quarters combat. The attacker would press the defender's arm against their chest with both hands and forcefully thrust their hips forward, forcing the defender to submit or risk having one of their arms disabled.

The principle behind Silent Step was similar to Soru, both being footwork techniques that involved high-speed stomping on the ground to move rapidly. Therefore, Kuro's leg strength was undoubtedly superhuman.

In other words, Linley was facing a variation of the Cross Armbar executed with that superhuman leg strength!

The Cross Armbar posture was already formed, and in such a situation, no ordinary person could break free from the restraint.

But Linley was no ordinary person!

Linley's right arm bulged with veins. He stepped forward into a lunge to his left, lowered his center of gravity, and let out a roar.

Then, an astonishing scene unfolded.

Linley, using only the strength of his right arm, lifted Kuro completely off the ground!

He then slammed him heavily onto the ground!

Boom!

The ground cracked, the fissures spreading several meters. Dust was kicked up by the violent tremor.

As the smoke and dust settled, Linley was surprised to find that Kuro had protected the back of his head with both hands, his eyes squeezed shut, having barely endured the slam without losing consciousness.

His legs were still tightly locked around Linley's right arm, forcing Linley to expend energy resisting him.

However, just as Linley was preparing to slam Kuro onto the ground again, Kuro suddenly opened his eyes.

Linley's monstrous, terrifying strength had indeed far exceeded Kuro's expectations.

But he, "Hundred Plans" Kuro, still had one last trump card!

Kuro roared with all his might towards the distance:

"Brother Krieg, fire!"

In that instant, Linley's mind raced.

He certainly didn't believe Kuro thought an ordinary gun could take him down.

However, the pirates present all had Seastone weapons, so the "gun" Kuro mentioned must also fire Seastone bullets!

In the future, Zephyr would rely on the sneak attack of Seastone bullets to defeat Luffy, who was quite confident in his abilities at the time. It was Chopper who later helped Luffy identify the Seastone bullets.

Linley was alone now, and if he were shot, he would instantly lose all ability to resist!

He had to dodge!

Seastone bullets were difficult to manufacture, so there wouldn't be many bullets made of Seastone, otherwise, Kuro wouldn't have kept it as his final trump card.

While holding Kuro, Linley scanned his surroundings. As long as Krieg fired the first shot, he was confident he could pinpoint Krieg's location and then rush over to eliminate him.

Dodging the first shot was Linley's path to victory!

However—

Boom!

A sound did indeed ring out, but calling it a gunshot would be too muffled.

The sound was like the sound Linley made when he smashed the pirates into the wall!

At that moment, continuous muffled thuds came from Linley's right rear, as if someone was repeatedly smashing into walls, and the location of the wall-smashing was getting closer.

Finally, the sound was only one wall away from Back Street No. 5.

With a muffled "boom," bricks flew, and three figures appeared before everyone amidst the dust.

One was a "Fleet Admiral" clad in heavy Seastone armor;

One was the "White Hunter," smoking a cigar and wearing casual clothes;

And one was a blue-haired, somewhat handsome man with a bath towel draped over him...

Who was that?