Black Cat and White Rabbit

"Come out!" William strolled leisurely into a deserted alley and suddenly called out.

"So you really do have some skills. You actually noticed us?" A pair of strikingly similar twin sisters appeared before William.

"Do I know you?" William had only wanted to test who had been following him. He hadn't expected the twin sisters to reveal themselves so readily. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't they have pretended not to be discovered and kept hiding?

"I'm White Rabbit Mary!" said the white-clad girl holding a rifle.

"I'm Black Cat Anne!" said the black-clad girl with a rapier at her waist.

"We're the bounty hunter sisters!" the twins introduced themselves.

The girl calling herself White Rabbit Mary wore a white T-shirt and shorts, with short golden hair. A rifle was slung across her back, making it obvious that she was a marksman. The girl calling herself Black Cat Anne wore a black T-shirt and long pants, her golden hair tied in a ponytail. A rapier hung at Anne's waist, so she was probably a swordswoman.

"Ladies, what can I do for you?" William looked at the twin beauties in confusion. Since they were bounty hunters, shouldn't they be looking for wanted criminals? Why had they come for an unknown nobody like him?

"You're a member of the Straw Hat Crew, aren't you?" Black Cat Anne took out Luffy's wanted poster and pointed at a tiny silhouette in the photograph.

"Huh?" William really hadn't noticed that his back was visible in the photo. And someone had actually recognized him from such a tiny silhouette. Still, he said, "Even if you capture me, it won't do you any good. My head isn't worth anything!"

"Because we're going to use you as bait!" The twin sisters smiled. Their real target was clearly still Luffy's head.

"I see!" When William heard that the sisters intended to use him as bait to lure Luffy out, he immediately refused. "Sorry, but I can't be your bait! I can't let my captain fall for your trap!"

William had no intention of wasting time on something like this. Setting aside whether they could capture him, Luffy would definitely come back to rescue him with his personality. But was there any need to wait for Luffy to save him? If the sisters truly had the strength to capture him, then Luffy would have a hard fight on his hands as well. Clearly, they wanted to capture Luffy through schemes and traps.

But they seemed to have misunderstood something. Although he was a member of the Straw Hat Crew, William, like Zoro and the others, was not Luffy's subordinate but his partner. In terms of strength, he was no weaker than Luffy, their captain. They had joined the Straw Hat Crew not because Captain Luffy was powerful, but because their individual dreams had brought them together.

"That's not up to you!" Before the words had even faded, the sisters kicked William at the same time, sending him flying.

"These two women really don't hold back." William lay on the ground and grumbled. He wasn't angry about being kicked away. He had simply felt a sudden urge to test how strong the sisters were and see what level the other bounty hunters of the East Blue were at besides Zoro.

"As expected of a subordinate of the East Blue's most vicious pirate, you're certainly not ordinary!" The sisters were quite surprised when they saw William get to his feet unharmed. But they weren't afraid. They merely assumed William was unusually tough.

"I'm curious. Why are you trying to capture my captain?" As the most wanted criminal, Luffy carried a bounty of forty thousand Beli. In the East Blue, unless bounty hunters were desperately short of money, they generally wouldn't casually go after a criminal with a bounty in the tens of thousands.

"Of course it's for the reward. With that money, we can go to the Grand Line." William hadn't expected the sisters to answer his question and even reveal their goal.

Bang! Bang!

"You scared me! Those things are dangerous!" William casually dodged White Rabbit Mary's rifle shots with ease.

"How is that possible?" White Rabbit Mary stared at William in astonishment. She had clearly aimed at the target, so she couldn't possibly have missed. She was confident in her marksmanship. Though she wasn't some legendary sharpshooter, she couldn't have missed at such close range. The only explanation was that William had dodged the shots himself.

"Mary, don't just stand there!" Black Cat Anne shouted. "Attack from both sides!"

Anne drew the rapier from her waist and slashed at William, while Mary gripped her rifle and swung the stock toward his head.

Iron Body! This time, William did not dodge. Instead, he directly used Iron Body to defend himself. Ignoring the weapons that struck him, he calmly asked, "You want to go to the Grand Line?"

Although William had never heard of the twin sisters, Nojiko had heard a little about them. Their names were quite popular among bounty hunters. Part of that was due to their beauty, but the sisters were indeed quite capable as well.

And the fact that they dared set their sights on Luffy, the East Blue's number one "criminal," proved that both of them had ambition and courage. Of course, they weren't the kind of reckless fools who were all bravery and no brains. Otherwise, they wouldn't have planned to capture William and use him as bait. Clearly, they had some talent for strategy.

William was simply very curious about what the sisters wanted to do in the Grand Line.

"That has nothing to do with you!" Once Mary and Anne realized they couldn't hurt William, they immediately pulled back. It was a wise choice that prevented the enemy from getting an opportunity to grab them.

"Giving up already?" William asked in confusion when he saw the sisters suddenly put away their weapons. Had they realized they weren't his match and decided to give up?

"Let us show you our sisters' true strength! Don't cry when you get scared!" But the sisters clearly had not abandoned their plan to capture William as bait. They were simply changing tactics.

"They're Devil Fruit users?" This time, William was truly dumbfounded.

Devil Fruit users had appeared one after another in the East Blue, a sea praised as the weakest? In the original story, only four Devil Fruit users had appeared in the East Blue, and they had all been Paramecia users.

"I ate the Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, White Rabbit Model!" Mary's body was covered in white fur, and a pair of rabbit ears made her look incredibly charming. She looked exactly like a proper bunny girl.

"I ate the Cat-Cat Fruit, Black Cat Model!" Anne was covered in black fur, and her pair of cat ears and long cat tail made it obvious at a glance that she was a Cat-Cat Fruit user.

"It'll be troublesome if we draw 'White Chase' Captain Smoker here." William helplessly scratched the back of his head.

"That's right. You're our bait for capturing Straw Hat Luffy, so how can we let the Marines take you?" The sisters also wanted to end the battle quickly. Before the big fish named Luffy took the bait, they absolutely could not let William, their bait, be taken away by the Marines. That was why they had exposed their identities as Devil Fruit users.

"So fast!" William discovered that Mary's speed in her hybrid form had increased several times over. She was already nearly as fast as "Kuro of a Hundred Plans" Kuro's Silent Step. And the Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit was not merely a speed-type Zoan Devil Fruit. It also greatly enhanced leg strength. The power of her kicks alone was not much weaker than Sanji, the kicking specialist.

"What monstrous strength!" When William used Iron Body to block Black Cat Anne's fist, he was actually forced back several steps. Her enhanced strength was formidable, but it still could not breach Iron Body's defense in the slightest.

"Are you really Straw Hat Luffy's subordinate?" Even after using their Devil Fruit powers, they still couldn't defeat William, which left the sisters astonished. According to their investigation, the Straw Hat Crew had very few members. Even if they followed an elite route, there should have been a certain gap between them and Straw Hat Luffy.

"Sorry, but the game is over!" William reached out and grabbed the sisters. Before they could break free, he immediately activated his Devil Fruit power and brought them into the castle within his body, then locked them up in Castle Prison.

"Where did that lightning come from?" A bolt of lightning as thick as an arm suddenly struck at William. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he would already have been charred.

"Dragon William! I finally found you!" A girl in a Marine uniform descended from the sky and called out William's full name.

Mary was one of this story's original characters. Her name was taken from the famous pirate sister Mary Read. She had eaten the Zoan Devil Fruit, Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, White Rabbit Model, becoming a white rabbit human. In her hybrid form, she possessed tremendous speed and greatly enhanced leg strength.

Anne was likewise one of this story's original characters. Her name was taken from the famous pirate sister Anne Bonny. She had eaten the Zoan Devil Fruit, Cat-Cat Fruit, Black Cat Model, becoming a black cat human. In her hybrid form, she possessed tremendous beastlike strength.