"Zoro!!"
Luffy's roar rang through the sky, filled with incredulous fury and terror.
Watching his companion collapse in a pool of blood, the Straw Hat boy instantly lost his mind.
"You bastard! Gum-Gum—"
Luffy violently stretched both arms backward, the elasticity of his rubber body building to its limit in an instant as he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
His hands tightly gripped the edge of the deck, using it as leverage to turn his body into a massive slingshot as his head slammed toward the swordsman in black.
"Rocket Launcher!!"
Faced with the sudden attack, Hawk-Eye Mihawk merely shifted slightly to the side.
With only a glance from those golden eyes as sharp as a hawk's, he effortlessly evaded the brute-force blow.
Another beast.
Bang!
With a loud crash, Luffy had put too much force into his attack and lost his target.
His head slammed straight into the wooden planks behind Hawkeye, lodging there tightly while his legs kicked helplessly in the air.
And in that split second, something happened on the sea that even made Hawkeye turn his gaze toward it.
The moment Zoro was struck by the black blade, Victor, who had been watching from the sidelines, moved.
He did not jump. Instead, he simply took one step forward and planted his foot firmly on the rolling sea.
The water beneath his feet seemed to become solid ground, rippling only in faint circles.
The next moment, he moved at an astonishing speed, even leaving an afterimage in the air.
Just as Zoro was about to fall into the icy sea, a pair of strong hands gently caught his back.
Victor crouched halfway over the surface of the water and steadily caught the badly wounded swordsman.
Blood dyed the seawater red and stained Victor's