The Great Shichibukai

But at that moment...

Arthur, who had been quietly watching how things unfolded, finally broke his silence.

The reason he had said nothing earlier

was that he wanted to assess the pirates with his Observation Haki.

Although he was quite confident in his current strength,

it never hurt to take more precautions and observe a little longer.

After all,

no one knew whether someone stronger than him was aboard this slave ship. If there really was, he could prepare ahead of time.

However, judging by what he had just sensed with his Observation Haki

and what he could infer from the pirate's words,

the pirate before him, named Jeffrey, was probably the boss of this ship.

In that case, things would be easy.

Then,

Arthur looked at the smug Jeffrey across from him and said calmly, "But have you considered one possibility, you who are called 'Jeffrey, the man who plans for everything'?"

Hearing that,

Jeffrey held off on giving an order.

He asked with some curiosity, "What possibility?"

After all, the man speaking before him seemed to be the prince of that fallen kingdom, and he was also the one who had dealt with the idiot guarding the cells earlier.

Jeffrey wanted to know

what other possibility he had failed to account for.

At that, Arthur smiled.

The smile that suddenly appeared on his face

gave Jeffrey a terribly frightening feeling.

Jeffrey could not understand why this fellow could still smile.

Wasn't he the one who had the whole situation under control?

Shouldn't he be the one smiling now?

The next moment,

Arthur answered Jeffrey's question.

"The possibility that I'm far stronger than all of you!"

As those utterly emotionless words fell,

the aura surrounding Arthur abruptly changed!

A savage, wild presence

instantly poured out of his body!

Rough black scales emerged from Arthur's skin, spreading across his entire body until they covered him completely.

Arthur's hands also turned into sharp claws.

Sharp teeth grew in his mouth as well.

Fins sprouted from his back.

His eyes transformed into vertical pupils.

Like the eyes of a mighty dragon,

they instantly brimmed with an incomparably powerful pressure!

Arthur had entered his hybrid form directly!

This was one of the forms of a Zoan Devil Fruit,

which combined animal traits while retaining a human body's appearance.

It possessed the enhancements of an animal transformation and the flexibility of a human form.

It was a form that combined the advantages of both.

Although this was Arthur's first time using this form, it felt deeply familiar, just as a fish knew how to swim from birth.

It was an innate instinct!

"A m-monster!!!"

"A devil! That guy must have eaten a Devil Fruit!"

"A Devil Fruit User!!!"

At the sight of Arthur's transformation,

panic immediately swept through the pirates present!

Although Devil Fruit Users were the stuff of legend in the world of ordinary people, Devil Fruits were no legend in the world of pirates like them!

They had seen Devil Fruit Users.

But likewise, precisely because they had seen Devil Fruit Users,

they knew all the better

how powerful Devil Fruit Users were!

Their leader, Jeffrey, immediately darkened!

He had never imagined that one of the slaves would actually be a Devil Fruit User. Had he known earlier, he would definitely have used Seastone Handcuffs!

The informant who had been among the slaves was even more frightened.

He had not seen clearly how Arthur had dealt with his companion earlier.

If he had known Arthur was a Devil Fruit User, he would certainly have told his boss, Jeffrey, rather than being left at a complete loss like this.

"Open fire! Open fire!!"

Jeffrey shouted, his expression grim.

Now their only choice was to deal with the Devil Fruit User before them.

Otherwise,

the Devil Fruit User would deal with them.

Bang, bang, bang!!!

The pirates behind Jeffrey immediately opened fire.

The firearms in their hands spat flames, firing one potentially lethal bullet after another.

In the cramped confines of the hold, they did not even need to aim to create a dense net of gunfire that hurtled toward Arthur and the others.

At that moment,

the people behind Arthur were enveloped in even greater fear.

They had nowhere to hide!

Yet, faced with the dense storm of bullets,

Arthur looked disdainful.

He did not even deign to coat himself in Armament Haki,

defending directly with the Godzilla scales that had emerged over his body. Clink, clink, clink! The sounds of bullets striking and then falling to the floor immediately rang out.

The bullets struck showers of dazzling sparks from his scales.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Yet they did not harm Arthur at all.

Nor did Arthur let a single bullet fly past him.

"What?! Even bullets can't hurt him?!"

"Impossible! What kind of monster are you?!"

"What kind of Devil Fruit User is this?!"

Jeffrey and the pirates were immediately terrified!

Firearms were their primary offensive firepower. After a single volley, nothing in their sights would remain alive!

But now, before their eyes...

"Impossible!" Jeffrey's eyes widened sharply. Shock filled him as his mind raced through strategies to resolve the crisis before him.

Yet not a single strategy

could deal with this damned Devil Fruit User!

"Get in there, damn it!"

"Kill that guy!!!"

In his panic, Jeffrey lost his usual composure.

He shouted for his men to charge at Arthur.

Immediately,

the pirate sailors wielding blades charged at Arthur, shouting battle cries, trying to overwhelm him with their numbers and kill him.

But to Arthur,

no matter how many ants there were, it was merely the difference between one ant and a swarm.

They could not affect the already determined outcome in the slightest.

Facing the first pirate to charge,

Arthur blocked the sharp blade with his bare hand.

It was as though the blade gleaming with cold light was merely a toy sword, without the slightest killing power.

Then Arthur casually squeezed.

The blade immediately gave a crisp crack.

It shattered into countless fragments that scattered to the floor.

Extreme terror instantly appeared on its owner's face!

Arthur paid it no mind,

then tore out the heart of the man before him!

The blood-drenched heart seemed to still be beating in Arthur's palm.

Arthur squeezed again.

Squelch!

Blood splashed onto the face of the second pirate charging at him.

His face had not yet registered any reaction.

Then Arthur dispatched the second charging pirate cleanly and efficiently.

Over the stretch of time that followed,

Arthur dealt with the third, the fourth...

None of the pirates who charged could withstand even one move from Arthur.

By the end, Jeffrey had ordered his men to hold Arthur off while he fled the hold alone. Having watched Arthur fight just now,

Jeffrey knew very well

that not only his men,

but even he himself was no match for that Devil Fruit User!

Nothing mattered more now than escaping with his life!

That was what Jeffrey thought, never expecting Arthur to slaughter all his men so quickly.

And, following his presence, Arthur caught up with him directly.

By then, Jeffrey had hurried onto the stern deck. Behind the stern hung a small wooden boat for emergency use.

Jeffrey intended to use that little wooden boat to escape.

One of a Devil Fruit User's weaknesses was a fear of seawater.

As long as he escaped out to sea, he could save his life.

That was what Jeffrey thought.

But Arthur was one step faster, appearing on the stern deck.

Arthur said, "Now you're the last one left."

Hearing those words,

Jeffrey's pupils immediately contracted!

I'm the only one left?

There were dozens of pirates on this ship besides me!!!

Jeffrey could not believe it.

In the span of less than ten minutes,

Arthur had already dealt with every other accomplice aboard!

Driven by his extreme terror at that moment,

Jeffrey suddenly remembered something.

A nearly crazed smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Wait, wait! I have something to say!"

Arthur stopped walking.

Seeing this,

Jeffrey hurriedly continued, "Haha, you wouldn't dare kill me! I'm a member of the family of one of the great Shichibukai-the Donquixote Family!"

"Lord Diamante, a core officer of the Donquixote Family, values me highly. I'm specifically responsible for slave affairs in the North Blue branch."

"If I'm killed, it'll certainly cause Lord Diamante a great deal of trouble."

"And the Donquixote Family will also regard this act as an attack on their family!"

Jeffrey said all of this in one breath.

Then he let out a long breath and continued to look at Arthur with disdain as he said:

"You brat from the North Blue..."

"You must have no idea what the Shichibukai represent, nor what kind of existence the great Lord Doflamingo and his family truly are!"

At this point,

Jeffrey took a Den Den Mushi out of his coat.

This Den Den Mushi

could directly contact a core executive of the Donquixote Family-Diamante!