Shave, Soru, and Rommel's Sickle Weasel

"I don't believe it!"

Kuro gritted his teeth and swallowed the taste of blood in his mouth. He launched Spoon Stance again, his entire body turning into an afterimage before vanishing into the air.

Though Spoon's speed was fast, among the powerful opponents he had fought in the past, there had been people capable of keeping up with it.

But Shave was different.

To achieve that absurd speed, he had even abandoned his own senses. In exchange for indiscriminate attacks, he gained a speed more than twice that of Spoon.

"No human can keep up with this speed!"

Kuro's voice rang out from the air again, shifting between near and far.

His vicious Claw Blades launched another indiscriminate assault. From the mast to the deck railings, everything in sight gained fresh slash marks at incredible speed.

In his fury, Kuro was even thirty percent faster than before!

Yet in his blurred vision, the figure standing at the center of the deck remained as immovable as a mountain. His mere presence radiated an invisible pressure.

"You'll die from this strike!"

"I'll die!"

Kuro gritted his teeth, raised both arms to shield his face, and spread his sharp Claw Blades at his sides. Their edges tore through the air with a piercing shriek.

"Shave—Ghost Cry!"

As the words fell—

Kuro turned into a streak of light and charged toward Gawain. He barely raised his head and forced his eyes open to look at Gawain in the distance, only for his blurred vision to meet a pair of utterly emotionless eyes...

He could really see him!

The instant that thought arose, Kuro's scalp went numb. Then Gawain's indifferent voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Kuro, the limits of humanity are far higher than you think!"

As the words fell—

A silvery-white gleam rapidly expanded in Kuro's vision. He instantly realized that Gawain had merely placed his sword along his path.

But in his Shave state, he had almost completely lost control over his body. He could only barely sense the enemy's position and steer himself in a general direction.

At this distance... he couldn't dodge!

He would be cut in half at the waist!

At that moment, Kuro remembered the miserable fates of the enemies he had killed in the past. Instead, his heart calmed down. Or rather, he had anticipated this day ever since he killed his former captain and took his place.

Only now did he understand that he had already grown old the moment he became tired of the pirate's life.

And pirates did not grow old. They only died!

"Damn—!"

The next instant—

Kuro crashed straight into it. Yet the cold sensation of his body being severed never came. Instead, a large, well-defined hand pressed firmly against his chest.

"Cough!"

Kuro coughed up another mouthful of blood. Though he had avoided being cut in half, being forcibly brought to a stop at such speed was not much different from being hit by a cannonball.

At least five of his ribs were broken, and his internal organs had suffered varying degrees of damage. Even breathing made his chest feel as though it were on fire.

Tap!

A longsword rested on Kuro's shoulder. Its blade had curled and even chipped apart during the battle, yet the man holding it only inspired greater awe.

"The East Blue is too small. It can't contain you, and it can't contain me either."

"Become my second-in-command, Kuro."

Gawain extended his invitation once more. He truly wanted to bring the man before him under his command.

Even setting aside his potential, Kuro's evaluation as the second-smartest person in the world alone made him an exceptional strategist. Besides, Kuro's potential was nothing to scoff at either.

A screen invisible to everyone else unfolded before Gawain's eyes:

[Name—Kuro]

[Potential—Bronze]

[Rating—Black Iron: Possesses extraordinary talent in footwork. Unfortunately, his physical aptitude holds him back, but Black Iron is not his limit!]

Yes.

Kuro was the only person Gawain had seen so far, aside from himself, whose potential surpassed Black Iron.

By the system's standards, if Bronze-rank talent was developed to its limit, one could reach the threshold of a commissioned officer in the Marines. Among pirates, they would also be a figure with a Bounty Over 100 Million, qualified to serve as an officer in a major force.

Moreover, Gawain was also very interested in Kuro's footwork known as Shave.

Some had compared this footwork to Soru of the Marines' Six Powers, but in Gawain's view, the two were completely incomparable.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Soru was teleportation, while Shave was acceleration.

The principle of Soru was to stomp the ground more than ten or even dozens of times in a short period, gaining explosive speed in return.

Spoon, however, could maintain an ultra-high-speed state continuously, though it came with the flaw of being uncontrollable.

This skill was highly similar to Cavendish's Alter Ego, White Horse, known as Rommel's Sickle Weasel.

Both possessed speed that surpassed ordinary people's strength, and both had their own limitations. But Shave clearly had a higher ceiling.

After all, as long as the issue of perception during high-speed movement could be solved, Shave's final flaw would be completely patched up—and Gawain happened to know the method.

"Heh."

Kuro chuckled, a look of relief appearing on his face instead.

"So this is my end? It really is an ugly sight~"

"Hahahahahaha~"

His hoarse laughter echoed across the sea.

The Black Cat Pirates members who had narrowly escaped disaster slowly returned to the deck, only to find a scene completely opposite to what they had imagined.

Kuro knelt on one knee, grinning wildly as he calmly faced death after defeat.

Gawain stood over him, a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Shave was broken? How is that possible? How could anyone keep up with the speed of that move?"

Sam fired off a string of questions. If not for the faint pain still coming from his wounds, he would have thought it was all a dream.

But when he looked at Kuro kneeling on the deck, all his questions had their answers.

"Knight Gawain... I've heard that name before. His Bounty was only Eight Million. How could he be this strong?"

Buchi slowly rose to his feet and asked in confusion.

A sea breeze swept past, bringing a chill as it carried a Wanted Poster into Buchi's face.

He snatched it out of the air. After one glance, his body shuddered violently, and he began to stammer.

"F-f-f-forty-eight million?"

"What Forty-eight Million?"

Sam leaned over, saw the number on the Wanted Poster, then matched the photograph with Gawain in the distance. A chill ran down his spine.

"Knight Gawain's Bounty is... 48 Million Berries? Wasn't Arlong the highest bounty in the East Blue? Since when did someone this important appear?"

"I..."

But at that moment, Gawain's gaze swept over them.

The Catman Brothers did not hesitate for even a second. They immediately raised both hands and surrendered.

To make themselves appear completely nonthreatening, they even removed their Cat Claws.

"We surrender!"

"Captain Gawain, we have some influence in the East Blue. We can be useful to you!"

Gawain did not respond. Instead, he turned to Kuro and said flatly, "That hypnotist named Jango has already surrendered. He was even the one who gave me your information."

"Kuro, you no longer have any chance of turning this around."