Since We're Here

Rune and Kuma followed the pirate from earlier. With their strength, dealing with an ordinary pirate like this was no different from dealing with fodder.

Conqueror's Haki was precisely exerted on him, knocking him unconscious in an instant. After Rune took the odachi from the pirate's hand, though, he was a little surprised.

The blade was trembling.

"This sword seems to have a spirit. It doesn't feel like an ordinary blade, does it?"

Rune looked at the odachi in his hand, gripping its trembling hilt as he slowly drew it. Its pitch-black blade was exceptionally thick and had a satisfying weight in his hand.

The black blade bore the engraved character for "Shadow," as though it could absorb the light around it. Rune narrowed his eyes slightly and circulated the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, finding that it matched the odachi remarkably well.

Yet the blade continued to tremble, as if it were in a great hurry.

"Your master is already dead. Before he died, he said that if I avenged him, he would give you to me."

Rune did not know whether the blade could understand him. After drawing the odachi, he plunged it into the pirate's head.

The skull, which should have been hard, offered Rune no resistance whatsoever. Like cutting tofu, he effortlessly split the pirate's head apart.

Rune froze for a moment. This odachi was quite sharp.

After Rune killed that pirate, the previously trembling blade finally fell silent. Rune smiled faintly. This sword truly possessed quite a bit of spirit.

Darkness covered the blade, and Rune directly merged the odachi into his body. With the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to contain all things, he could accomplish this as long as he partially activated his elemental form.

Although elementalization could not negate the pain caused by attacks, it was quite convenient to use as a darkness pocket.

"Let's go. Let's find Drake, Kid, and Killer."

Rune and Kuma concealed themselves and began raising funds for their ship. Since Rune had been to Wano Country once before, he was already familiar with the place.

Before long, Rune found Drake's trail.

"Kuma, I'm going to start charging up. When I open my eyes, send me straight in front of Drake."

"Understood."

Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit could instantly transport people away. If he coordinated with Rune, then in a surprise attack like this, Rune might even have a chance to injure an opponent on Kaido's level. Of course, beings at that level generally possessed powerful Observation Haki, making a successful ambush difficult.

But Drake was far weaker. Even if Rune faced Drake head-on now, it would practically be an instant victory. He only chose to have Kuma help because he wanted to defeat him in one blow and avoid causing a disturbance.

Conqueror's Haki wrapped around Rune's arm, and black lightning-like strands of Haki soon appeared over his fist. As Rune opened his eyes, Kuma's paw instantly struck down.

Drake was still wandering around the island when he looked up and saw a pitch-black fist.

Before he even had a chance to react, that fist carrying Conqueror's Haki smashed brutally into his face.

Drake was knocked unconscious on the spot.

"Two hundred million secured."

Rune smiled faintly. Drake's bounty was currently around 240 million. Handing him over to the Marines should earn about 200 million Beli.

After swallowing the unconscious Drake with the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, Rune and Kuma went to search for Kid and Killer.

When Rune was at the Sabaody Archipelago last time, he had seen Kid's crew defeated by Kaido. That meant Kid and his people should now be in the prisoner quarry.

That was not difficult for Rune and Kuma to find.

Soon, Rune found Kid and Killer. But there, he saw two other people as well.

Apoo and Hawkins.

Those two were also Supernovas. Apoo's bounty was close to 200 million, while Hawkins's bounty should currently be around 250 million.

Rune recalled what he knew of the two. Hawkins often let his subordinates die in his place, while Apoo was an opportunistic traitor who constantly switched sides.

"Since we're already here, having a little more funding will let us build a better ship."

With a since we're already here mindset, Rune planned to capture those two as well. They were evil pirates anyway, so handing them over to the Marines for imprisonment in exchange for money did not weigh on his conscience.

"Kuma, get ready here. Once I defeat Apoo, Hawkins, Kid, and Killer, transport me back to Water 7 immediately."

Kuma nodded, indicating that he understood Rune's plan. Rune then activated the Dark-Dark Fruit and had Kuma send him directly in front of Hawkins.

This man with the substitute ability would take the most time to deal with. But to Rune, he was actually one of the easier ones.

A black hand seized Hawkins by the throat. Rune activated the Dark-Dark Fruit, directly nullifying Hawkins's Devil Fruit ability. Then a fist wrapped in Conqueror's Haki smashed into his face.

After storing the unconscious Hawkins in darkness, Rune appeared before Apoo once more.

Pirates worth two or three hundred million had no ability to resist Rune now.

A punch combining Dark Erosion and Conqueror's Coating knocked Apoo unconscious outright.

After storing them away in darkness, Rune landed beside Kid and Killer.

"Don't resist my Devil Fruit ability. I'll take you out of here."

Rune grabbed one in each hand, and Kuma instantly appeared beside him. The Paw-Paw Fruit's power activated, and before anyone else there could understand what had happened, Rune had taken them out of Wano Country.

"You are?"

Kid was puzzled as to why Rune had saved him, but before he could figure it out, a fist the size of a sandbag slammed into his head.

Killer received the exact same treatment.

Rune activated the Dark-Dark Fruit and extracted Kid's Magnet-Magnet Fruit. He tossed it to Kuma and had him put it away, then released all the "funding" he had stored.

Drake, Hawkins, and Kid together could bring in roughly 700 million. Apoo and Killer together could bring in 300 million.

Altogether, these pirates could bring Rune nearly one billion in funding.

"Tashigi, get to work."

Rune looked at the Seastone handcuffs on Kid's wrists and could not help feeling disgusted. As a Devil Fruit user, he truly hated the stuff.

With Kuma's help, the process of exchanging them for money was not difficult. After this operation, Rune's little team suddenly became wealthy.

With one billion Beli, Rune looked forward to his future ship even more.

"Rune, I talked things over with Iceburg. He's willing to build you a pirate ship, but you'll need to pay properly."

Luffy found Rune, his expression not looking very good. Rune guessed that after seeing Iceburg, Luffy had thought of Franky again.

Luffy had always blamed himself for failing to protect his companions.