Ambush

The Stuart family was also one of the families in East Blue's underworld.

After asking his master, Werther learned that they had clashed with the Stuart family over a mission. That encounter had changed his eldest senior brother and Senior Sister An's lives forever.

At the time, Sword Hall had accepted an assassination contract, while the Stuart family had been sent to steal a chart of the first half of the Grand Line from the target's home.

By sheer coincidence, the two sides had crossed paths. The Stuart family had deployed only two people then: its eldest son, Stuart Green, and second son, Stuart Walker.

His master, eldest senior brother, and Senior Sister An had driven off the Stuarts and secured the map. They had all assumed the other side would come negotiate symbolically, and that handing over the map would settle everything. They had only fought because of a misunderstanding.

Unexpectedly, the Stuarts never came to negotiate. They directly attacked eldest senior brother's family. Eldest senior brother and Senior Sister An were badly wounded in the assault, but the worst part was that eldest senior brother's eight-year-old son, Nancy, was killed by Stuart Green, the Stuart family's eldest son.

From then on, the conflict intensified. Sword Hall launched a full-scale counterattack, and the Stuart family was defeated. They vanished without a trace and never appeared again.

Until yesterday, when his master received word that the Stuart family had resurfaced.

At that moment, the four gathered in Sword Hall's secret chamber, discussing how they would investigate the island where the Stuart family had appeared tomorrow—and take their revenge.

In the secret chamber, Roy had lost his usual playful smile. His eyes were filled with bone-deep hatred.

"Master, have those bastards really returned to East Blue? That's wonderful. I'll make them wish they were dead. I want to set sail and find them right now!" Roy gritted his teeth as he questioned whether the information was true. He clearly hated the Stuart family to the core.

"Don't be impulsive, Roy. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to sail at night? Even revenge requires thorough preparation and a proper plan. Do you want to repeat the last tragedy?" Longliang, who rarely got angry, rebuked Roy furiously.

Just as they were discussing their strategy, Werther suddenly caught the scent of wet earth after rain in the air. Then his body began to feel weak.

"The air is poisoned! Get out, now!" Werther shouted.

He immediately activated Lightning Mode and kicked a huge hole through the wall. His master and the others hurriedly ran outside.

The moment they reached the courtyard, they found three people standing there, in what had been an empty yard.

The leader was a burly middle-aged man carrying a massive sword on his back.

"Stuart Aiden, Stuart Green, Stuart Walker! You three actually dare show your faces before me? I'll slaughter you today!" Roy's eyes had turned bloodshot as he roared in a hoarse voice.

The newcomers were none other than members of the Stuart family: the family head Stuart Aiden, eldest son Stuart Green, and second son Stuart Walker.

Sword Hall had not even gone looking for them, yet they had come to Sword Hall on their own initiative, intending to deal with the people who had hunted them for years.

"Hahaha, Nisse, you never expected us to come looking for you ourselves, did you? Oh, and I was the one who spread the news about that island. Today, we'll get rid of all of you. How's that new airborne poison I bought from JkeR at a hefty price? Feeling weak all over? What a pity you noticed it too early. Otherwise, you might not even be able to hold your swords steady by now." Stuart Aiden was visibly excited. At last, he could put this lingering problem to rest, return to his homeland, and stop hiding everywhere. Werther discovered that after activating Lightning Mode, the airborne poison no longer affected him. Feeling no discomfort, he drew his twin swords and rushed forward, intending to use his speed advantage to take one of them out immediately.

Stuart Aiden looked at the young man across from him, someone he had never seen before, wielding twin swords. Aiden had not thought much of him at first, but when that fellow began glowing blue and charged at him, he was truly startled. The man's speed was so fast that he could barely react.

Just as Werther reached the enemy and was about to take down the burly middle-aged man with the greatsword, a mass of soft, sticky pink substance flew toward him at an even greater speed. It struck him head-on and sent him flying deep into the forest behind the mountain.

The moment Werther was sent flying, a gaunt old man stepped out from behind Stuart Aiden.

"You never told me there were four targets. And the extra one is this strong," the gaunt old man said calmly to Stuart Aiden.

"I'll give you another five million Beli afterward. Go deal with that guy. Killing him would be best, but at least keep him from coming back anytime soon." Stuart Aiden had a headache over this temporarily hired bounty hunter. He could only offer a higher price for now to keep him cooperative.

The gaunt old man said nothing more. His hands transformed into two masses of sticky pink substance, which adhered to the roof. They stretched outward, then launched his entire body toward Werther like a slingshot.

Meanwhile, the six people in the courtyard each found their own opponent, and a brutal fight began.

In the forest behind the mountain, Werther had been thrown so hard that his head spun. It took him a while before his vision stopped swaying.

Werther's first thought was to return and help his master, but then he heard the sound of something tearing through the air above him. Looking up, he saw the gaunt old man flying in his direction.

Without wasting a word, Werther charged forward in Lightning Mode and slashed his sword across the old man's waist.

Strangely, the gaunt old man did not dodge. He was cut into two and fell to the ground with a wet squelch.

Werther did not relax just because he had cut the man in half. Having cut many people in half before, he knew the feeling was wrong.

After landing, the gaunt old man's body turned into a huge mass of sticky pink substance, which slowly reshaped itself into a human form.

Werther grew wary. The opponent seemed to possess an unknown Logia-type ability, or perhaps a special Paramecia-type ability, allowing his body to transform into a mass of sticky pink substance.

The old man did not act like those people in anime who introduced their powers and proclaimed how invincible they were. He simply swung his hands, launching two masses of sticky pink substance at Werther.

Werther did not deliberately evade them. He had already been hit once, and the pink sticky substance did not seem harmful to the body. Moreover, the mass that had hit him earlier had vanished while it was still in the air.

He dodged one mass and blocked the other with his sword. The pink sticky substance clung to the blade, and the large mass made it considerably heavier. Werther moved closer to inspect it and found that it had a faint sweet scent and was remarkably elastic. It was like chewing gum?

Because of the lightning on his sword, the sticky substance only clung there briefly before sliding to the ground. Seeing this, the gaunt old man's expression turned rather unpleasant.

"The Gum-Gum Fruit? What a strange ability. Its survival potential must be strong, but aside from that move just now, I wonder what other offensive abilities it has?" Werther asked probingly. It sounded like idle chatter, but he was actually fishing for information, trying to confirm whether it truly was the Gum-Gum Fruit.

"You'll find out. When you're about to die." The gaunt old man showed no reaction to his ability being exposed. He only felt that Werther's power somewhat countered the binding ability of his Gum-Gum Fruit, so he watched him cautiously.

Werther stopped wasting words and charged forward with a sword in each hand.