Death

Sis discovered this and instantly flew into a rage. With Haki activated, he charged straight through the phantoms' attacks.

What he had not expected was that this Locke was also an illusion. As Sis drew near, before he could even attack, Locke dispersed on his own, then reappeared some distance away, still with that familiar pose and that mocking smile.

By now, Sis had been driven berserk by Locke's provocations. No longer caring about conserving his strength, he raised his fist and smashed it into the ground. Under the force of the blow, chunks of stone flew in all directions, hurtling toward the surrounding phantoms. Before long, Sis had cleared them all away.

Once he had cleared them out, Sis attacked in the direction where Locke had just been. Naturally, he missed again. Worse still, the phantoms he had just destroyed reappeared around him.

Seeing this, Sis felt like he was going insane.

But there was nothing he could do. He still had to defend himself. Who knew whether that damned brat was hiding among those phantoms, waiting to ambush him?

As the battle slowly wore on, Sis felt his stamina beginning to fail. Yet every time he exposed an opening, Locke attacked him. If this continued, he would definitely die here.

Amid the swirling phantoms, Sis suddenly revealed another opening. Locke seized the chance and attacked with his real body. But just as Locke was about to strike Sis, he saw a triumphant smile suddenly appear on Sis's face, as if he were saying, Brat, you fell for it!

Sure enough, Sis merely shifted slightly to the side and dodged Locke's long-planned attack. Then, just as Locke realized he had been tricked and tried to pull back, Sis grabbed the wrist holding Locke's Tang Dao.

"Run again. Let me see you try!" After grabbing Locke, Sis unleashed a savage beating.

He did not let go until he was certain Locke had lost the ability to resist.

"Die, brat." After throwing Locke to the ground, Sis drew the sailor's knife he had kept at his waist and lunged straight at him.

Lying on the ground and coughing up blood, Locke watched the blade draw ever closer. So many thoughts ran through his mind. He had transmigrated into the world of One Piece and had not even begun to accomplish anything. Was he really going to die here today?

Locke was unwilling to accept it. In the transmigration novels he had read in his previous life, weren't all the protagonists invincible, crushing heaven, earth, and everything in between? Why was he about to die before he had even gotten started?

But while Locke's thoughts were running wild, the blade rapidly approached his face. Just as its tip was 0.01 millimeters from his eye, it suddenly stopped.

Locke had no idea why, but this was no time to think. He hurriedly used the last of his strength to move his body away from beneath the blade.

Only then did Locke have the presence of mind to look at Sis. Sis seemed to have seen something terrifying. His eyes were blank, his pupils dilated, and even his legs were trembling uncontrollably.

But Locke could not worry about that now. He picked up the Tang Dao he had dropped earlier and thrust it straight at Sis.

"How dare you..." The instant Locke stabbed Sis through the heart, Sis snapped out of that strange state. Looking at the Tang Dao buried in his body, then at Locke, who collapsed again after delivering that strike, Sis let out a roar.

Then he kicked Locke flying.

As Locke was sent flying, he saw Sis slowly collapse after kicking him away.

"I actually... died... here..." Sis struggled to speak as he slowly fell. "The boss... won't let..."

Before he could finish, Sis stopped breathing.

Seeing this, Locke finally relaxed and passed out.

The three Kuma brothers, who had been fighting nearby, had also finished off their opponents. When they saw this, they immediately ran over.

"Third, hurry up and check him!" The eldest brother roared at the third brother behind him as he ran over.

"Okay!" Hearing his eldest brother's words, the third brother hurried forward, reached Locke's side, and began examining his injuries.

"He's not dead. He just has several broken ribs, some internal organ damage, and a mild concussion. None of it is a serious threat to his life. As long as he recuperates properly, he'll recover," the third brother said after examining Locke.

"Thank goodness. We don't know who he is, but without him, those people would have taken us away to be slaves. He's our benefactor. We have to save him if we can!" After hearing the third brother's words, the eldest brother also came to Locke's side, but after saying that, he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

"Big Brother, your injuries need treatment too. Fourth Brother's injuries need to be treated as well." Seeing his eldest brother like this, the third brother hurriedly supported him.

"No rush. We won't die yet. Treat our benefactor first."

"All right! I'll finish as quickly as I can." Seeing his eldest brother insist again and again, the third brother could only answer helplessly.

Fortunately, the third brother worked quickly. After treating Locke's injuries, he also treated the eldest brother and Fourth Brother.

"Big Brother, what do we do now?"

"You're the least injured. Carry our benefactor, and we'll head to the shore. He couldn't have flown to this island; he must have come by ship. Let's look for it. We should be able to find it," the eldest brother said after thinking for a moment.

"Fourth Brother, get up!" After seeing the third brother carry Locke onto his back, he called to Fourth Brother, who was lying nearby.

The three of them carried Locke toward the coast. As they left, Fourth Brother went over to Sis's corpse, gave it two hard kicks, pulled the Tang Dao from his body, and only then followed the other two.

Meanwhile, aboard the slave ship.

Yun Zhinnan watched the sailors charging toward him. He held a dagger he had picked up on the ship, already prepared to die with them. Fortunately, Carmen, who should have been hiding somewhere, appeared on the ship and stood in front of Yun Zhinnan.

"Carmen... why are you... here..." Yun Zhinnan asked as he looked at the figure before him.

"Lie down and rest. Leave the rest to me!"

"..." Yun Zhinnan had wanted to say more, but his injuries were too severe. Before he could speak, he collapsed and passed out.

"Little girl, you're quite pretty! Did you come aboard to have some fun with us?" After Yun Zhinnan fell, the sailors surrounded Carmen and grinned at her lewdly.