The moment Hikaru spoke, all sorts of thoughts surged through everyone's minds.
Drake and Urouge both trembled inwardly. Could it be that the Alliance Leader had returned long ago and was hiding in the shadows, watching the battle? But Hawkins's sword strike just now had been extremely dangerous. One slip, and Drake would have become a ghost beneath the blade. Why had the Alliance Leader still not appeared to save him?
Kid and the others, however, had different thoughts. Their already fragile alliance instantly exposed its fatal weakness. Terrifying, deadly distrust erupted in everyone's hearts, and every pirate turned their gaze toward Hawkins.
"You deliberately spared him?" Kid's expression turned vicious and cruel. "Because you noticed this stray dog's arrival long ago, and wanted to curry favor with him? So that when you met face-to-face, you could reach an agreement and stab me in the back?"
Killer and Apoo both faced Hawkins. Hikaru sensed their auras rising faintly, as though they might suddenly attack at any moment.
Hawkins did not answer Kid's questioning. Instead, he turned to Hikaru and pulled a deck of cards from inside his coat.
With a swish, Hawkins flung them out. The divination cards danced through the air in a dazzling blur, continuously shifting through various patterns in an orderly flow.
"Quit playing tricks!" Kid drew his gun and aimed it at Hawkins. Armament Haki coiled around the barrel, and it could fire an Armament Haki-infused bullet at any moment. "Have you forgotten what we said when we formed this alliance? Are you trying to betray our alliance now?"
"When we wanted to bring down the Four Emperors, I performed a divination and got an omen of near-certain death! Pirates are supposed to have a spirit of adventure, sure, but choosing the path of certain death