"Prepare to fall back..." Before Garp could finish, something unexpected happened!
Koby, who had just been helped a short distance away, suddenly tore himself free of his companions' hands!
As though he had heard something, he fixed his gaze on a burning alley on the other side of the square!
"Help! Someone, please save me!!"
The desperate sobs of a young-sounding girl came from deep within the alley.
Koby shuddered, his eyes instantly filling with the impulse to be a "champion of justice" and the burning urge to leap to someone's rescue.
With almost no hesitation, he spun around and sprinted toward the alley, where flames and shadows intertwined in what was clearly a trap!
"Koby! Come back! It's a trap!" The Sword members and Garp shouted at the same time.
But Koby turned a deaf ear-or rather... at that moment,
His left brain was attacking his right brain, his cerebellum was elbowing his cerebrum, his urinary system had taken command, and his bladder was doing the thinking.
He was completely incapable of making a rational human judgment!!
"Idiot!"
For a moment, that thought flashed through the minds of every Sword member, including Koby's best buddy, Helmeppo.
A lone, helpless cry for aid had suddenly sounded in the heart of the enemy's stronghold. What could it be but a trap?!
Sure enough, just as Koby was about to charge into the alley, his face even shining with the resolve that, despite being rescued himself, he could still "save someone,"
The air behind him rippled ever so slightly.
A completely transparent figure radiating bone-chilling murderous intent suddenly appeared!
It was Shiryu of the Rain, who had remained out of sight until now, concealed by the Clear-Clear Fruit's power!
His famous sword, Raiu, coated in Armament Haki, thrust silently toward Koby's back,