Backstab! John's Death!

"Mm, there really was a trap."

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, John nodded very solemnly, the expression on his face growing increasingly strange.

"Wait... this place will collapse."

Without waiting for the pirates to ask for details or offering any explanation, he floated into the air and drifted toward the shore.

Pete's expression changed. He signaled the pirates with his eyes, then leaped after him in haste.

Having received the signal, the pirates sprang into action. Those who could jump to shore followed suit, while those who could not lowered their small rafts and rowed over.

"John, what kind of trap are you talking about? A bomb that will blow this place apart?"

Pete followed John to the treasure piled into a small mountain. His eyes burned with greed, but he did not dare touch it for fear of triggering a mechanism.

If the cave collapsed, Armament Haki might keep them from being crushed to death, but they would surely be pinned beneath massive boulders and buried alive.

After all, they had not eaten the Paramecia Strength-Strength Fruit, which would let them lift an entire mountain.

"Mm, the trap was..."

John propped up his chin, pondering as though trying to remember.

"The trap was... what was the trap again?"

After thinking for a long time without remembering, he tilted his head with a blank look on his face.

"Hey! You forgot it yourself?!"

Pete roared in fury, nearly unable to stop himself from slapping John across the head.

This bastard was about to die, so why had he suddenly developed amnesia?

"Oh! I remember now."

John suddenly smacked his fist into his palm, realization dawning on him.

"I was afraid I might accidentally trigger the mechanism, so I didn't set any traps."

"No traps?" Pete confirmed again.

"None!"

Pfft—

The moment John finished speaking, a large blade pierced his back, its tip passing through his body and emerging from his abdomen.

Dark red blood continuously dripped down the blade.

At some point, Pete had moved behind and to John's right. He gripped the hilt of the sword, a savage grin on his face.

"Since you didn't set any traps, then die!"

Yet despite the weapon piercing straight through him, John seemed to feel nothing at all, still holding his fist against his palm.

Even the expression on his face remained one of sudden realization, no different from a damaged wax doll.

Reaction Fruit, activate!

Behind them, seeing Pete make his move, the pirates drew their loaded flintlocks and pulled the triggers, firing bullet after bullet coated in Armament Haki.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets easily tore through John's black coat, sending great sprays of blood splattering everywhere.

"Die, John!"

"Hahaha! You damned miser!"

"Die! Die! You bastard who blocked our path to riches!"

Gun smoke billowed as muzzle flashes turned the cave as bright as day, illuminating the pirates' twisted, ugly faces.

"Stop firing!"

Pete suddenly bellowed, glaring at the pirates through gritted teeth.

"Can you idiots aim? Your bullets are hitting me!"

"Uh..."

The pirates hurriedly stopped firing in fright. They looked at one another, then pointed at the people beside them.

The meaning was obvious: he did it, it had nothing to do with me.

"A bunch of idiots!"

Pete was so furious he nearly exploded, yet he forced himself not to settle accounts with these stupid pirates.

After all, none of them were weak. It could be said that every one of them was proficient in both Armament and Observation Haki.

With wealth stirring their greed, attacking anyone other than John could easily trigger a massive brawl. By then, it would be hard to say who would survive.

"Forget it."

Pete took a deep breath and released the Reaction Fruit's ability on John.

He wanted to vent all his anger on John while he still had one last breath left.

As the Reaction Fruit's effect was released, John's battered body, like a rag doll, suddenly let out a miserable scream.

"Ah!!!"

"You animals, you actually dared betray me!"

John turned to stare at Pete, his eyes blood-red and savage.

Pete met his gaze without fear and bared his teeth in a grim smile.

"John, that pirate nonsense went out of style long ago. We're sick of drifting around at sea every day too."

"I warned you long ago, but you wouldn't listen. You insisted on shouting about the so-called 'romance of pirates.'"

"Then take your worthless 'romance' and die!"

As he spoke, Pete violently pulled the long blade from John's body, adjusted its angle, and thrust it toward John's heart from behind.

"Die? Even if I die, I'll drag you traitors down with me!"

John suddenly crouched, dodging the blade as he pressed both hands against the black rock floor.

With a crackle, purple arcs of electricity surged from his palms like frenzied serpents, spreading throughout the entire cave in an instant.

Then, with a thunderous rumble, the entire mountain began to shake violently. Dense, vicious cracks appeared across the cave walls, exposing iron ore of varying sizes.

"Not good!"

Pete instantly realized that this was John's real trap.

Without bothering to finish John off, he hurriedly turned and ordered the pirates.

"Quick! Get the Golden Ship and the treasure out! If you're too slow, we'll all be buried alive in here!"

Upon receiving the order, the pirates even forgot to respond. They all turned and either jumped or rowed their small rafts toward the Golden Ship behind them.

Every pirate had eyes only for the enormous Golden Ship, completely ignoring the treasure piled on shore.

Pete was so angry he wanted to curse again, but he also knew the pirates had made the right choice. At a time like this, they had to make a decisive decision.

They had to abandon part of it!

"The treasure is all mine!"

John suddenly let out a furious roar.

With that roar, the cave ceiling abruptly split apart to the left and right, opening a huge gap as sunlight instantly poured in from outside.

Then, the Golden Ship and the mountain of treasure floated into the air out of nowhere and shot through the crack in the ceiling like projectiles before the pirates' stunned eyes.

"No!!!"

Cries of anguish rose one after another. The pirates madly rushed toward the rock walls on either side, coating their cold weapons with Armament Haki and driving them into the hard stone. Like a swarm of ants, they climbed upward, trying to chase after the flying Golden Ship and treasure.

"Urgh!"

Pete was so furious that he spat out a mouthful of blood. Raising his gun, he blew off the head of a pirate climbing the rock wall.

"Get back here! Get the ship out first!"

"This is the Calm Belt! Without a ship, we'll all be trapped to death here!"

Especially him!

The other pirates would be fine. If they were lucky, they might be able to avoid the Sea Kings and swim all the way back.

But as a Devil Fruit user, he could not swim!

And there was not even a single tree on this island, making it impossible to build a raft!

"Get back and sail the ship!"

Under Pete's repeated gunfire and threats, the pirates suddenly came to their senses. They hurriedly leaped down from the rock walls into the water and desperately swam toward the Treasure.

Before leaving, Pete glanced back at John, who lay lifeless on the ground, his blood-red eyes wishing he could cut him into a thousand pieces.