"Hundred Flowers Wither-Ten-Fold Dance"

"Hey hey, don't look at me!"

The scorching cigarette butt landed on his crotch, but Wild Dog remained completely oblivious.

Sweat dripped from his forehead.

He felt that the things landing on him were not gazes at all, but sharp arrows!

Especially the gloomy glare from Lord Gotti.

It made him feel like he was hallucinating his own miserable future of falling in freefall into the ocean to feed the fish.

Calm down, Wild Dog, calm down.

He tremblingly wiped the sweat from his head, trying to steady his breathing and suppress the heartbeat that was about to break through the sky.

This bit of difficulty is nothing.

It's just a misunderstanding, as long as you explain clearly, Lord Gotti will still believe you!

That's right, you can do it!

You can do it!

He raised his head, stretched out both hands, and shouted loudly, "Wait, listen to my explanation..."

Nobody listened to his explanation at all.

Because, the second before he explained, Jogo had already started asking questions!

As if he didn't see the malicious stares surrounding him, Jogo said to Gotti in a vibrating voice:

"Didn't you just wipe out the Chest Hair Pirates? To the Capone Family, that's not much of a loss, right?"

"Why react so intensely?"

The disco fell silent.

A crowd of gangsters leaned back in unison.

In the silent space, the echo of Jogo's questioning could practically be heard.

The next second, everyone's gaze toward Wild Dog turned deeply meaningful.

"Such a question..."

"Hoh~ Wild Dog Gang, a bit interesting, could they be spies from other families!"

Wild Dog had already turned to stone on the spot.

With a quiver of his legs, he slid straight from the sofa to the floor on his knees, opening his mouth to speak, but tears had already flowed from his crotch a step ahead.

"I am not..."

"I didn't..."

"I really didn't teach him this!!!"

Weeping bitterly, he scrambled onto the sofa, reaching out to grab Jogo.

"What the hell are you saying!"

"Stop talking, if you keep talking I'm going to die!!"

Jogos looked at Wild Dog in surprise, nodding with a solemn expression as if he finally understood something, and turned to bombard Gotti with machine-gun-like questions:

"We of the Wild Dog Gang just want to ask--Ohara is no pushover,

by rashly mobilizing the main force of the Capone Family to attack, aren't you afraid the other four families will take advantage of the void?"

"I am fu--"

Puff--

Wild Dog spat a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the sofa.

The other underlings of the Wild Dog Gang nearby had long since knelt on the ground, a trace of serenity mixed within their expressions of despair.

And just as Jogo asked his second question, Gotti on the sofa had already stood up abruptly, pulling the heavy machine gun in his right hand.

The fury on his face could no longer be suppressed.

"You bastard, are you questioning the decision of the Capone Family?"

What he hated most was people insulting his comrades!

--Questioning a comrade's decision was also an insult!

The two subordinates on his left and right hurriedly grabbed his arms.

"Don't be impulsive, Lord Gotti!"

"There are still so many people present!"

If you kill them all, who is going to act as cannon fodder?

As Gotti's entourage, Bege's task for them was never to assist in combat,

but rather to hold back the bad-tempered Gotti to prevent him from causing massive destruction wherever he went.

Seeing this, the gangsters in the disco were also thrown into panic.

They knew very well that once Gotti lost his temper, he would definitely not spare a thought for them!

"Lord Gotti, don't!"

"Wild Dog, look what you've done!"

"That brat, what are you still staring at, apologize quickly!"

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, Jogo adopted their advice, stiffened his neck, extended a finger, pointed it hard at Gotti, raised his volume, and shouted angrily, "Why aren't you answering? Are you harboring a guilty conscience?"

"..."

"We're dead for sure!!!"

Instantly, the gangsters in the disco burst into a spray of tears and mucus, clutching their faces in screams.

Crash!

The tabletop shattered.

The furious Gotti brandished his triple-barreled heavy machine gun.

The people in the disco immediately scattered in panic, some kneeling on the ground, others rolling over to run.

As for Wild Dog... Wild Dog lay numbly in his own puddle of tears, no longer knowing whether he was alive or dead.

Let this world just be destroyed!

And just as Gotti was about to strike, a gangster follower noticed something, quick-wittedly pulled out a magazine, and thrust it in front of Gotti.

"Lord Gotti, look!"

Gotti lowered his head.

Before him was a third-rate popular science magazine he had never seen before.

The cover printed a familiar face, with a large line of arrogant and despotic characters beneath it.

--<History's youngest historian makes his grand debut!>

Gotti started, snapped his head up to look at Jogo, then lowered his head to look at the familiar face on the cover, then looked up again, bursting into fury the next second:

"So you're a historian!"

Huh?

A historian?

The gangsters attempting to flee in the disco turned back one after another.

The next second, the people around Jogo abruptly scattered away.

"What!!!"

"Actually a historian!"

"Bastard, right in our midst?"

"Wild Dog, you've got a lot of nerve!!"

In the blink of an eye, the crowd of gangsters gathered around Gotti, pulling out guns and unsheathing blades.

As if their earlier flight had been an illusion.

A few seconds later, the disco had been split into two halves,

on the left were the crowded gangsters and Gotti squeezed behind them, on the right was Jogo... and Wild Dog, who had already peacefully closed his eyes.

"You've got a lot of nerve!"

"Still not surrendering, brat?"

"Or do you want to fight all of us by yourself?"

Jeers echoed from among the gangsters.

Jogos shrugged.

Although he had prepared himself for his identity to be exposed while asking those questions... but pulling a two-year-old third-rate popular science magazine out of a disco, wasn't that a bit too absurd?

Did the people of West Blue love studying that much?

Amidst the puzzled gazes of everyone, Jogo stretched out his empty hands.

"Speaking personally, I prefer..."

"A one-on-one!"

With a light clap of his hands, a terrifying aura swept across the entire venue!

Conqueror's Haki Released: 100%

Whoosh!

In just an instant, the crowd of gangsters fainted onto the floor, blades, guns, and clubs clattering everywhere.

Gotti also clutched his head and staggered forward a few steps without falling, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes: "This is... Conqueror's Haki?"

There was no time to be surprised as a heavy, whistling sound of wind rang out.

Gotti raised his head to see a table tumbling through the air, flying straight toward him.

"A sneak attack? Want close combat?"

He let out a cold snort, refusing to retreat and instead charging forward head-on, his left hand instantly drawing his blade.

Swish swish swish!

Three silver lights flashed, and the table was neatly cleaved into three pieces.

Few people knew that aside from the heavy machine gun in his right hand, Gotti was equally proficient in left-handed swordsmanship!

He had lost count of how many guys he had killed over the years who saw the heavy machine gun in his hand and rushed up attempting close-quarters combat!

"Go ahead and... die... Huh?"

Gotti paused.

--Gazing through the gap, he didn't see Jogo's figure behind the table as expected.

"Wrong, a feint?"

Seeming to hear something, he abruptly lowered his center of gravity, shifted the shield on his arm horizontally, and guarded it in front of his face.

The next second, a fierce gale struck!

Like a ghost, Jogo had appeared at his side out of nowhere, wearing knuckle dusters on his hands, and delivered a heavy punch straight into the steel plate!

Clang!!

A few sparks splattered, cutting across a pair of calm, water-like black pupils beneath fine, dark hair.

This wasn't the end.

Along with the sound of a faint, almost imperceptible intake of breath.

The next second came a barrage of punches as swift as a storm!

Clang clang clang clang clang!!!

Hooks, jabs, low sweeps, heavy strikes... continuous heavy punches battered the steel plate.

Different angles, different directions.

The only constant was that every single punch was packed with absolute strength!

Sparks splattered, emitting a heavy, muffled thud.

Gotti used his shield to guard his body, his feet planted firmly into the ground, yet his three-meter-tall frame couldn't stop sliding backward inch by inch.

For a moment, he was actually suppressed and unable to launch a counterattack!

This was the weakness Jogo had targeted long ago--Gotti's shield was fixed to his left shoulder, meaning his left-handed swordsmanship couldn't be deployed once it was used for blocking!

In that case, it was a ch--

Slash!

In the fraction of a second as Jogo withdrew and threw a punch, a brilliant blade light cut right into the gap between Jogo's arms!

"So fast!"

Jogo's eyes widened.

Rip!

A wound appeared on his arm, too late to evade.

Behind the shield, a sneer crept onto Gotti's face.

"Decent speed, and strength isn't bad either, but... I've already killed far too many opponents of your caliber!"

Instantly, the crisscrossing blade light chased after Jogo's double fists.

Clang clang clang clang clang!

Jogo retreated all the way, and the blade light pursued all the way.

In just the blink of an eye, the situation had reversed!

After a flurry of collisions between knuckle dusters and blade edges,

by the time Jogo finally found an opportunity to break free from the range of Gotti's blade light, his arms were already covered in wounds.

Fresh blood flowed down his elbows, dripping onto the ground.

He hunched his back slightly, working his numb palms.

Without Armament Haki, fists against blades were inherently at a massive disadvantage.

To make matters worse, Gotti's swordsmanship was unexpectedly formidable!

At the very least, it's more than one tier stronger than my physical arts.

Jogo breathed heavily, analyzing in his heart.

However, Gotti gave Jogo no time to rest.

Extending the distance and breaking away from close-range combat, huh!

Grinning savagely, Gotti raised his right arm and pointed it at Jogo—then go ahead and taste my triple-barreled heavy machine gun!

Da-da-da-da-da!!!!!

In an instant, the air was torn apart, and a metal storm swept through the entire disco!

Twisting his body and completely ignoring the unconscious mob hoodlums on the ground, Gotti laughed wildly, blasting away wherever Jogo fled.

"Die, die, die, die..."

Wherever the bullets went, whether floor or walls, they collapsed like tofu.

Fleeing for his life, Jogo sighed in his heart.

Still falling short by too much!

He finally understood the gap between himself and high-tier combatants in the West Blue.

Close combat featured superb swordsmanship, ranged combat had suppression fire, and when attacked, defense was like a turtle shell.

It was despairingly all-rounded.

It seems this is my limit.

He sprinted rapidly through the disco, suddenly kicking off the floor hard to change directions and closing in on Gotti in a zigzag!

Fortunately... this isn't the limit of the [Haki Panel]!

Perhaps because the gun barrels were overheating, seeing Jogo suddenly approach, Gotti abruptly stopped firing with his right hand and charged at Jogo with his blade trailing.

"Is that all the strength you have?"

He burst into wild laughter, kicking away the unconscious hoodlums on the ground:

"Foolish brat, it ends here!!"

"...Indeed, it ends here."

Under Gotti's puzzled gaze, Jogo suddenly came to a halt, tossed the brass knuckles in his hand aside, and raised his right hand toward him.

The next second, his palm rotated, abruptly clenching into a fist like a blooming flower closing up.

"Cien Fleurs: Delphinium!"

Trait switch!

Conqueror's Haki (Awakened)
Equipped Traits: "Flower-Flower Fruit (Gold)", "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)"

From beginning to end, Jogo understood one thing: given the strength gap between him and Gotti, relying solely on his own Conqueror's Haki would be insufficient to knock Gotti out.

But... what about the superposition of ten of him?!!

In an instant, taking Gotti's head as the center, Conqueror's Haki erupted simultaneously from ten points, merging into one!

Conqueror's Haki release: 1000%

Boom!

The air seemed to distort for a fraction of a second!

The lights in the disco flashed violently, and the corpses and debris on the ground were instantly pushed aside!

At the very center of the Haki explosion, in a split second, Gotti felt as though a hundred thousand iron hammers had slammed into his forehead. The previous second he was still laughing wildly, and the next second, his whole body went limp, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-up onto the ground with a smile still on his face.