The Fire of Revenge Must Not Harm the Innocent

After making a promise to the injured Brûlée, Katakuri picked up his trident and sprinted away without looking back.

The only people who held grudges against him were those few groups. Among them, who would hurt his sister Brûlée?

One ugly face after another flashed through Katakuri's mind before finally settling on one particular group.

Katakuri's intuition told him...

It had to be them!

Katakuri raced through the streets of Hachinosu like a shooting star, kicking up clouds of dust and drawing the attention of passing pirates.

"Isn't that one of Linlin's brats?"

"That expression is terrifying. What happened?"

"Who made fun of that guy's mouth again?"

The pirates' chatter drifted past his ears. About ten minutes later, Katakuri arrived at the hideout of the group he had in mind after running at full speed the entire way.

It was a tavern at the port on the southwestern shore. From behind its half-closed low door came the faint sounds of criminals laughing and joking.

"That girl's crying face was truly wonderful!"

"That 'Eel Eater' must have had a priceless expression when he found out his sister had been disfigured..."

The criminals' words were like fuel poured onto a fire, causing Katakuri's already surging rage to erupt completely.

"I'll... kill every last one of you!"

Katakuri had always held to his bottom line. Even when those people mocked him, he would only beat them badly and never take their lives.

But now he had changed his mind. It was because he had failed to wipe them out completely that Brûlée had suffered such treatment.

If I had killed all of them from the start...

Faced with Katakuri, whose gaze was as terrifying as a demon god's, the criminals were instantly scared out of their wits, their previous smugness vanishing without a trace.

"S-Sorry..."

But it was already too late for apologies. Or rather, apologies were useless. At that moment, Katakuri wanted nothing more than to kill them ten thousand times over.

The criminals tried to rush past Katakuri and escape through the low door, but Katakuri alone blocked every route of retreat. None of the criminals in the tavern could leave, so they had no choice but to fight back.

"W-What's there to be afraid of? No matter how strong he is, he's only a ten-year-old kid!"

"Let's attack together! We don't know who's going to kill whom yet!"

Imagination was full, but reality was harsh. Against the rampaging Katakuri, these criminals could not last more than a few exchanges before collapsing in defeat.

Though he was only ten years old, Katakuri had perfectly inherited Charlotte Linlin's formidable talent. More than a dozen criminals were swiftly pierced through by his trident.

"D-Don't kill me! My boss is Fat Shark! He..."

Before the last criminal could finish speaking, the blade of the trident pierced his throat. Dark red blood sprayed out, staining the floor crimson.

Worse still, Katakuri had already been consumed by bloodlust.

The tavern's other patrons had merely intended to enjoy the spectacle, but they sensed killing intent in Katakuri's bloodshot eyes.

"What are you doing, Katakuri?!"

"We had nothing to do with hurting your sister!"

But Katakuri had no intention of sparing them. With trident in hand, he charged at the others inside the tavern.

At that moment, a massive hammer crashed down before Katakuri, shattering the floor and blocking his path.

Katakuri raised his head and looked toward the hammer's owner.

He was a hulking man dragging a cart full of wine barrels. More importantly, the giant was completely naked, every line of his muscular body exposed to the air.

"Rururura... Don't slaughter the innocent, kid."

The giant let out a rough laugh.

"Move!"

As he spoke, Katakuri mercilessly thrust his trident forward.

Yet the next second, the giant effortlessly lifted the incredibly heavy hammer. Flames rose from its surface as though it had been heated.

The blood-stained trident blade suddenly gleamed orange-red, and the blood along its edge was rapidly vaporized!

Katakuri calmed down slightly, but he still stared fixedly at the naked giant before him.

"That guy called Fat Shark is over by the port. If you hurry, you might still catch him," the giant said.

Just then, the young Perospero hurriedly pushed open the low door and entered the tavern.

"Katakuri..."

The instant Perospero saw the naked giant, all color drained from his face. He urgently grabbed Katakuri and pulled him back.

"Idiot! Do you know who that is? Flame Hammer Yale! Annus's subordinate!"

"That fool you fought to a draw with was killed by him! Do you want to die too?"

Perospero's words restored clarity to Katakuri's eyes.

He remembered. That really had happened.

About two days ago, the rookie pirate who had constantly clashed with him had tried to rise to the top in one leap by defeating Flame Hammer Yale and earning Rocks's favor. Instead, he had become a corpse before the Heaven-Piercing Tower, not even leaving behind his name.

It had also become a recent topic of conversation among pirates after drinking. Since Katakuri had fought that unlucky fool to a draw, the incident had left a deep impression on him.

"Rururura, I did kill a pretty strong young man two days ago. You Charlotte Family brats knew him?"

"Yes, Mr. Yale. We meant no offense. I'll take Katakuri and leave right away..." Perospero said fearfully.

"Don't worry! Rururura! I'm only here to buy wine! I'm leaving this island soon, and not being able to drink Beehive's wine would be quite troubling!"

With that, Yale dragged his cart of wine barrels out through the low door.

Seeing this, the pirates in the tavern hurriedly fled after him.

Yale was gone, and no one remained to protect them.

For a time, only the still-shaken Perospero and the silent Katakuri remained in the tavern.

"Katakuri! You're really insane! You even dared provoke Calamity's people!"

To pirates living on Hachinosu, Annus was someone they absolutely could not afford to provoke.

The same went for Annus's subordinates.

Calamity's protectiveness toward his own was famous throughout Hachinosu!

Furthermore, his three top officers—Black Wing Diumil, Flame Hammer Yale, and Enchanted Angel Lilith—were each notorious figures across the seas!

If anyone killed a soldier of the Angel Legion, it would draw the attention of the three top officers. And if an enemy appeared whom even they could not handle, Annus himself would personally step in!

That was why Perospero, who understood the rules for surviving on Hachinosu so well, had shown such fear when facing Yale.

"Good thing Mr. Yale was only buying wine! Otherwise..."

"Enough! Stop talking! I'm going to find the real culprit and get revenge! His name is Fat Shark, right? That uncle just told me!"

After being harshly scolded by Perospero, Katakuri finally recovered completely from his rampage, but he showed no fear.