Fatal Front Lotus

The fierce battle on the scene grew increasingly intense.

Kuro, who was constantly weaving between the mountain walls using "Scoop," finally felt that he was losing control of the situation. Veins bulged on his forehead: "You damn pirate... why can you keep up with my speed!"

The cat claws on his hands lashed out in an instant, carving three strips of flesh into Buggy's chest.

Buggy's body stiffened, his speed lagging for a beat, but at the same time, his separated body parts reassembled instantly!

"Why are you completely unscathed!" Kuro, feeling the cat claws strike the man's body with solid impact, felt a sense of collapse, "What kind of monster are you!"

Buggy did not reply. He stepped using "Shave" to follow Kuro, occasionally unleashing Finger Pistol to force his opponent to change his offensive and trajectory, all while keeping a close eye on the man's footwork and state.

His footwork is faltering!

Buggy instantly seized the fleeting opportunity, his right foot curling slightly.

In the next second, he kicked out violently. A pale white slashing air current, about a meter wide, flew out and slammed into the mountain rock ten meters ahead of Kuro's sprinting trajectory.

Boom!

The rock wall collapsed, boulders tumbled down, and dust swirled in the air.

Kuro, who had always relied on unpredictable trajectories and a seamless blend of offense and defense, finally had his "Scoop" interrupted after Buggy caught him on a mistimed beat.

He stepped against the rock wall and, in his haste, leaped sideways onto the ground seven or eight meters away.

At this moment, Kuro's face was marked with shallow scratches from the flying stone debris. His perfectly groomed slicked-back hair was disheveled, and his pristine suit was stained with a few drops of blood. He looked utterly disheveled, a stark contrast to the composed, mastermind image he had projected just moments ago.

He looked at Buggy with blurred vision, his gloomy face dark enough to drip water: "What exactly are you..."

Buggy looked at him craftily and said, half-truthfully: "As a fellow traveler, you should have heard the legend of the immortal body."

"So that's how it is..." Kuro narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to bring his vision into focus, "I always thought Devil Fruit were things of legend. It seems they truly exist. You must have eaten one of those..."

"As expected of the experienced Captain Kuro, I still can't fool you."

"I have already abandoned the identity of Captain Kuro..." Kuro was neither happy nor sad, his peripheral vision drifting toward Kaya in the distance behind him, "Then, the strange power she possesses must also stem from this thing..."

Buggy was stunned, his gaze falling on Kaya. So, the Devil Fruit that cat had stolen had been eaten by this young lady.

Kuro habitually pushed up his non-existent glasses with his palm and lowered his head naturally, "Although I haven't been active for over two years, my body can still withstand an even higher intensity of 'Scoop'..."

"I am going to..." Kuro's body began to sway with decreasing amplitude, his voice turning into a faint murmur, "send you all to..."

Whoosh!

His body disappeared again!!

Buggy's expression turned grave. He stepped on the ground, using "Shave" to keep up with his opponent's pace.

The speed is much faster... It's almost reaching my current limit.

Buggy's mind faltered for only a split second, and Kuro's figure had already vanished from his striking range.

Five neat, deep gouges appeared on the mountain rock, followed by a crew member of the Black Cat Pirates. His body was sent flying into mid-air by the impact of the cat claws, five bloody gashes appearing on his clothes before he crashed to the ground.

"No!"

"Captain Kuro, spare us!"

More and more pirates began to scream in panic, one after another.

Clang!!

Cabaji drew his sword to block in front of him. The sudden force of the cat claws sent him staggering back two steps, leaving distinct marks in the mud.

The nearly one-meter-long cat claws were wider and even more terrifying than Buchi's previous attacks!

Shuma stepped on the air using Moonwalk. The aerial vantage point meant he could more effectively control the enemy's movements. He held the Raptor Boomerang in his hand, his eyes rapidly tracking Kuro's movements, ready to strike at any moment.

Buggy stopped following Kuro and stood at the intersection of the beach and the slope, vaguely gaining an insight into this state of Kuro's...

The cat claws that tore through the air instantly sliced his upper body into five pieces, then vanished again.

Buggy's body restored itself. While he was still pondering, he suddenly seemed to have an epiphany...

He abruptly used Life Return to concentrate all the energy in his body into his eyes. His eyes instantly became bloodshot, capturing every movement and facial expression of Kuro as he moved at high speed.

It was only for the blink of an eye before the energy gathered by Life Return returned to the various parts of his body. Fragile areas like the eyes truly couldn't withstand such high intensity, but it was enough...

Buggy suddenly stretched out both hands, grabbing toward a patch of empty space ten meters away.

Kuro, who had been hidden in the wind, was exposed in that instant. His two feet were entangled by Buggy's hands; his movement trajectory had been seen through!

"Game time... is over."

Buggy's body split apart of its own accord, wrapping frantically around the stunned Kuro and dragging his body high into the sky.

"Damn it!"

Kuro desperately used his cat claws to carve into Buggy's fragmented body, a sense of unprecedented crisis rising in his heart.

But even after Buggy's body was sliced into several pieces, it clung to him like a maggot on a rotting bone.

His body carried Kuro a hundred meters into the air before plummeting downward.

"Front Lotus—Sniper Cannon!"

The two figures fell like a meteor, the sound of breaking air filling their ears.

"No, let me go!!"

Kuro, who was usually calm and full of schemes, erupted with emotions far more exaggerated than an ordinary person when faced with life and death. Amidst his constantly dilating pupils and powerless, terrified screams, his body slammed into the rocky ground like a cannonball.

BOOM!!!

The rocky ground dozens of meters wide emitted a violent crashing sound, and the frenzied dust nearly obscured half of the rocky beach. Everyone covered their mouths and noses, watching the outcome of this heart-stopping battle without blinking.

At the final moment before landing, Buggy channeled all of his downward thrust into Kuro's body, simultaneously using the downward reaction force to pull himself away and land on the ground.

Watching the dust swirl across the ground, he drew the dagger he habitually carried on his person and walked toward Kuro's position.

The dust finally dissipated. Kuro's body was twisted as it sank into the ground, and there were seven or eight obvious, sharp knife wounds near his heart on the left side of his chest, meaning that unless a miracle occurred, he could not possibly survive.

When it comes to finishing someone off... a dagger is indeed the most convenient, Buggy thought. He sheathed his dagger and beckoned to a few pirates from the Black Cat Pirates: "I'll leave the battlefield cleanup to you."

The few Black Cat Pirates looked at the scene before them, trembling. They exchanged glances, pushing and shoving until a few unlucky souls were nudged forward. They carried Kuro's corpse and the Cat Brothers, who had also been finished off, and scurried back to the crowd in a panic. Then, as if fleeing for their lives, they grabbed the stunned Jango, scrambled onto the Black Cat Pirate Ship, and set sail to flee rapidly.