Fierce Battle!

Somewhere on the island, in a luxurious mansion.

"You're nothing but a filthy pirate!"

A tall, slender man in a black suit and round glasses said this to Usopp.

Little did he know that as he spoke, Luffy adjusted his hat and looked at him with a meaningful gaze.

"You and the young lady belong to completely different worlds. Is money what you're after? How much do you want?"

Kaya immediately shouted at him angrily, "You've gone too far, Klahadore! Apologize to Usopp right now!"

It was clear that she cared deeply about Usopp as a friend.

"Why should I apologize to such a barbaric man, young lady?"

Klahadore pushed up his glasses with his palm and continued,

"I'm only stating the facts. You must hate him, don't you? That bastard father of yours who abandoned his wife and child, left the village, and valued treasure more than his family's lives!"

"Klahadore!"

"Don't you dare insult my dad again!"

After saying that, Usopp grabbed the rope and leaped down from the tree. Before Klahadore could finish mocking him, he rushed forward and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Y-You see? Resorting to violence right away. Like father, like son..."

Clap, clap, clap!

"What a fine performance, Captain Kuro!"

Hearing the sound from somewhere nearby, Klahadore, who had been about to get up, immediately frowned and followed everyone's gaze. There stood a young, slender man in simple, light clothing.

"Zero!"

Luffy shouted, while Roronoa Zoro behind him asked, "Zero, where did you run off to just now?"

Faced with everyone's confusion, Zero gave no answer. He merely nodded at his companions before questioning Klahadore, "Kuro, why are you here?"

"Zero, you've got the wrong person. He's Kaya's butler, Klahadore, not Kuro—"

Zero raised a hand to cut Usopp off and continued, "Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates, known as Kuro of a Hundred Plans. Bounty: sixteen million. He once single-handedly destroyed a Marine warship. He vanished three years ago, and now he's working as an ordinary butler? That's truly hard to believe!"

"Kuro of a Hundred Plans?"

"A sixteen-million bounty? That's even higher than Buggy's!"

As everyone exclaimed in shock, and even Kaya looked at him with suspicion, Klahadore hurriedly explained, "Young lady, don't listen to his nonsense. I'm not this Kuro of a Hundred Plans or whatever. I'm just an ordinary man."

"Hmph, really? Come out!"

Zero clapped his hands. The next moment, everyone saw a beautiful orange-haired woman emerge from behind a large tree in the distance, followed by two men in strange clothes, one fat and one thin.

However, the two men looked rather miserable, as though they had been brutally beaten.

Zero also noticed that when Kuro saw the two men, his expression suddenly darkened. He immediately felt rather pleased with himself—

Kuro, you didn't expect me to have this trick up my sleeve, did you?

Hahaha~ (￣▽￣~)~

"Zero, Nami, who are those two?"

In response to Roronoa Zoro's question, Zero first laughed before adding, "Members of the Black Cat Pirates. Their ship is docked by the island's shore now, and I wiped out every pirate aboard. These two should be officers or something, right, gentlemen?"

The two men had originally kept their heads lowered, too afraid to speak. But when Zero questioned them, they immediately wailed at Klahadore.

"Captain Kuro, save us!"

"Captain Kuro, he's a demon! All our brothers were beaten down! Please save us!"

"..."

Seeing Klahadore lower his head without saying anything, Kaya already had part of her answer. Though she still could not accept the truth, she could not help asking, "Klahadore, is what they said true?"

Seeing Kaya like this, Usopp felt a dull ache in his heart. He then pointed at Klahadore. "Klahadore—no, Pirate Kuro! What exactly are you plotting by hiding on this island?"

A familiar scene had appeared once more, except this time, Kuro himself was the one being questioned instead of Usopp.

Since things had reached this point, Kuro no longer remained silent. He simply braced one hand against the ground and rose to his feet, brushed the dust from his knees, then adjusted his glasses with his palm before saying to Zero in the distance,

"Although I don't know how you found out, I'm no longer curious. So now, go die—"

The moment his voice fell, his body suddenly vanished from before everyone's eyes. Only when Luffy shouted at Zero did they realize that Kuro was already standing behind him, with sharp blades fitted onto all ten of his fingers!

Kuro's personal weapon—the Ten Blades, Cat Claws!

"Zero!"

Whoosh!

Kuro gave a soft cry of surprise. The man before him merely turned lightly and leaped backward, leaving his attack to slash through empty air.

He wanted to pursue, but a stretching arm shot toward him at incredible speed. He could only halt his attack and block it with the Ten Blades, Cat Claws!

"Kuro, how dare you attack my crewmate? I'll beat you!"

Roronoa Zoro had already drawn all three swords and charged Kuro alongside Luffy.

"Ahhh, that was terrifying!"

Usopp had just narrowly dodged a stone that flew toward him.

Although he looked utterly terrified, he still ran to the back and brought his three little followers to safety. While tending to them, he did not forget to look up at Kaya on the upper floor. His round eyes held a trace of concern.

She must be suffering right now, right?

Damn Klahadore—no, Pirate Kuro!

Kuro had no time to care what Usopp thought of him. In fact, the longer he fought, the more alarmed he became!

There was no need to mention the man who had wiped out his pirate crew. But what was with that straw-hatted guy behind him? He actually possessed a rare Devil Fruit? And the swordsman in front of him with the green bandana was quite formidable as well. How had he never heard of people like these?

Clang!

After barely blocking the three-sword-style fighter's blades, before he could even catch his breath, a stretching arm suddenly appeared and struck his abdomen heavily.

Crash!

Kuro was sent flying by the punch. He slid more than ten meters before finally stopping, unable to keep himself from coughing up a little red fluid.

Cough, cough!

Kuro straightened up and took a deep breath, making his chest feel slightly better.

He realized that his situation was looking rather grim—the two men before him were impossible to break through when working together, and Zero, whose strength was unknown, was watching from nearby for a chance to strike.

If he did not use another method, he might really fall here!

With that thought, Kuro lowered his head amid everyone's confusion and slowly closed his eyes. Then he softly uttered, "Spoon!"