Barrier-Barrier Fruit, Bartolomeo

The priest's hand, gripping the gun, trembled uncontrollably. This was a monster! How could the gun possibly work?

In comparison, he had more faith in the cross.

May God protect you!

"No, don't come any closer! Get out of here right now, or I'll shoot! You devil!"

The priest shouted.

The word "demon" made N'Zoth feel better; he really was a demon, and at least he wasn't mistaken for some kind of superhuman.

Back in Elegia, he overheard Mr. Lycaon complaining that humans always called him a dog-headed man, even though he was clearly a wolf.

"Very well, just for that one sentence, I'll at least leave you with a complete corpse."

N'Zoth immediately extended his tentacles and lunged at the priest.

The priest tensed up, and as if on cue, pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang out, and a bizarre scene unfolded.

The bullet passed through the octopus-like shadow and landed on a tombstone behind it.

"What?"

The priest was greatly shocked. Without a second thought, facing the tentacles reaching for him, he instinctively raised the cross high and shouted:

"Demon, retreat...!"

Before he could even utter the word "scatter," the cross in his hand was knocked away by the tentacles, and he was also swept up by the tentacles and lifted into the air.

"Ah--!"

The nun screamed, dropped the Bible she was holding, and ran away.

N'Zoth didn't let her off the hook either. Although it didn't really matter to him whether she was exposed or not, it was best to avoid being exposed if possible.

"Shut up, or I'll send you to meet your gods right now."

N'Zoth rebuked him indignantly, then added, "Bah! What false god? Such a non-existent thing! The only god in this world is my lord!"

The priest was horrified. Monsters believe in gods?

"I ask you, is this Roger's grave?"

"Yes, yes!"

The priest answered tremblingly, his voice stammering.

Teenagers might not understand, but most locals who are a little older know that Pirate King is buried here.

Occasionally, people from other places come to visit, and a major source of income for their church is the sale of admission tickets.

Where is the body?

"N-I don't know..."

The priest quickly shook his head.

N'Zoth extended a third tentacle, its sharp tip aimed straight for the opponent's eye, finally stopping a centimeter away.

The priest instinctively closed his eyes, and in his terror, tried to avoid the attack by shaking his head.

As a result, the tentacle slapped him across the face, making him see stars.

"You think I'd believe that? Tell me, where's the body?"

"It was taken away, several years ago!"

The priest dared not hide the truth and quickly explained, forcing himself to speak:

"Roger is hated here. People often come here, and it's not just that they urinate in front of his grave; dancing in front of his grave also happens frequently, and there are countless other outrageous things."

About three years ago, someone couldn't stand it anymore, perhaps because they admired Roger, and he secretly removed the body.

Who is it? Where is it?

N'Zoth cut to the chase without beating around the bush.

The priest shook his head, then was slapped again by the tentacle, leaving a bright red mark on his face.

"No, I can't tell! I'll be dead if I do!"

"Then go die now."

The tentacle pierced straight towards the priest's mouth. Realizing that this demon truly intended to kill him, the priest was terrified and hurriedly shouted:

"I'll talk, I'll talk! It's the local gang leader!"

"Huh? A gangster is interested in the corpse of the Pirate King?"

"This isn't an ordinary gang; that guy's influence is enormous. He controls over 100 towns in the vicinity, including Loguetown!"

To ordinary people, he certainly sounds like a remarkable person.

N'Zoth didn't feel anything; it was just a rural gang. He was just wondering why the gang had moved Roger's body.

"Isn't the navy going to do anything about it?"

Upon hearing this, the priest was stunned. Why would the navy interfere with gangs?

Loguetown does indeed have Marine Base, and the base commander is Devil Fruit User, but the navy only cares about pirates and hardly pays attention to gangs.

As a human priest, he didn't know how to explain the situation to a monster.

N'Zoth didn't actually want to know the answer; he was just making a sarcastic remark.

"Where is that gang? What's the boss's name?"

"The leader's name is Bartolomeo, and rumors say he's a superhuman. His Barto Club is located in Loguetown!"

After a pause, the priest quickly added, "If you're looking for him, just look for the biggest and most impressive house in Loguetown!"

N'Zoth released his tentacles. He had no interest in killing the two weak humans, considering they had honestly provided information.

Forget everything you saw today.

Having said that, the black octopus's body seemed to melt away like ice and snow, quickly collapsing into a shadow on the ground.

The shadow vanished in the blink of an eye in front of the priest and nun.

The two survivors exchanged a glance.

"I survived!"

"Father, that grave..."

"Fill it out quickly, and pretend you know nothing about it, that nothing happened!"

The most impressive house in the eastern part of Loguetown.

A huge plaque hangs atop the building, bearing five artistic characters: Barto Club!

As a gang that rules over more than 100 villages and towns in the vicinity, the Barto Club is extremely wealthy, and can be described as the "richest man in the area" and the "underground emperor."

Take Loguetown as an example. To conduct business here, shop owners must Barto Club and pay protection money every month.

Of course, it wasn't officially a protection fee, but rather a club membership fee.

They are essentially the same thing, just with a nicer sound.

If you're not a member, thugs and street thugs will soon be visiting your shop, making it impossible for you to do business.

Barto Club will not use force directly, but will instead employ relatively mild harassment tactics.

Once you become a member, if someone causes trouble at your store, they will send someone to resolve the dispute.

Therefore, the locals are used to the existence of an underground emperor above them.

However, few people know that this underground emperor is actually just a 19-year-old young man.

Barto Club.

Banquet hall.

Bartolomeo had two young women on either side of him, taking a sip of wine with his left hand and eating a grape with his right.

Just then, a henchman rushed in.

"No, something terrible has happened, Lord Bartolomeo!"

"Huh? Another gang is causing trouble?"

"No... outside, everyone outside has been knocked unconscious!"

As the two were talking, a dark figure moved along the ground and arrived at the center of the hall.

Chapter 233 Barrier-Barrier Fruit, Bartolomeo

The dark shadow rose from the ground and gradually solidified into the shape of an octopus.

The next instant, a tentacle suddenly reached out towards the young man on the sofa.

"Ah--!"

The two young women beside him screamed, and Bartolomeo's expression changed slightly. He abruptly shoved them away.

Bang!

The tentacles abruptly stopped, and a semi-transparent square wall suddenly appeared, blocking the attack.

Behind the wall, Bartolomeo maintained a strange gesture.

He interlaced his index and middle fingers, his gaze fixed intently on the dark figure that appeared in the hall through the square barrier.

Who are you? A person with superpowers?

Devil Fruit Users are extremely rare in the East Blue; including himself, there are only two in the entire Loguetown.

The eerie black figure that appeared before them was clearly also a user of superpowers!

"You're Bartolomeo?"

N'Zoth observed the other's gestures, and from his meager memory, he actually remembered the meaning of those gestures.

This is an ancient cross-shaped hand gesture for exorcising demons.

However, the other party's use of this gesture was clearly not to drive him away, but rather a condition for activating their ability.

N'Zoth wasn't interested in ability users; he stated bluntly:

"Pirate King, did you steal Gol D. Roger's body?"

"Ah?"

Bartolomeo frowned, slowly rose from the sofa, and gestured to his underlings to step back.

After the center of the hall was cleared, he then said:

"Let me think... a corpse... there does seem to be such a thing."

About three years ago, Bartolomeo happened to be passing by the church cemetery when he saw a group of people unbuckling their belts in front of a tombstone.

He was only 16 years old at the time, and as a passionate young man, he immediately rushed over to stop him.

Even if there is some deep-seated hatred, it doesn't warrant venting one's anger at someone's grave after they've died.

After chasing away the group of venting their anger, he realized it was Roger's tombstone.

As a native of Loguetown, Roger was a very famous figure; even a three-year-old child had heard of him.

So, where is the body?

N'Zoth had no interest in listening to the other's long-winded explanation; he was only concerned with the corpse.

"Haha, I don't know what I was thinking at the time, but I just dug up the coffin and reburied him somewhere else."

Bartolomeo chuckled nonchalantly, "Hey buddy, what do you want Roger's body for? You want to vent your anger too? Forget it, he's been dead for years."

This guy had a grass-green rooster-like comb, a nose ring, sharp teeth, a tattoo under his right eye, and tattoos covering his chest; he looked as fierce as a demon.

Surprisingly, he turned out to be a good person?!

N'Zoth was speechless for a moment.