"How are your injuries from yesterday?"
Before long, Charlie brought out the food. Ye Chen and Lucci chatted as they ate, looking for all the world like the closest of friends.
Lucci snorted. "They're nothing. Barely even a scratch. Don't worry, I'll kill you today."
Ye Chen poured him a cup of wine and laughed. "Lucci, I've heard that so many times my ears are growing calluses. Can't you come up with something new? You say it every day, and I'm still alive and kicking."
"Don't get cocky. Fine. Maybe I'll come pay my respects to you this time next year."
Lucci rarely smiled, but the mood was anything but tense. Ye Chen kept grinning and joking with him, until even Lucci's threats to kill him sounded like harmless banter.
Even Kuina hadn't taken them seriously. But after the two men finished eating and headed to the Woods behind the village as usual, what happened next took her completely by surprise.
Ye Chen had barely stripped off his outer robe and tossed it aside when Lucci pushed hard off the ground, kicking up dust. A dark blur flashed before Kuina's eyes, and Lucci shot straight at Ye Chen like a cannonball.
Before Ye Chen could turn around, Lucci's form changed in midair. His speed more than doubled, and his body transformed into a terrifying leopard.
Spotted covered him from head to toe, with a long tail trailing behind. Leopard wasn't quite the right word; he looked more like a Leopard-Man, able to move and stand at will.
"Finger Pistol!"
Lucci might not have used his Devil Fruit powers against anyone else, but he knew exactly how strong Ye Chen was. Unless he fought at full strength, he had no chance of killing him. (*Hey, even in Leopard Form, you still