"Huh?"
"Honey badger."
Kong Tai stared at the creature standing with Ah Hua, its body smaller than Ah Hua's but with a more ferocious aura, a flicker of strangeness in his eyes.
The creature was covered in black fur in the front, but its head was topped with white fur that extended down its entire back, like a white blanket draped over it.
"Isn't that a honey badger?"
The honey badger, whose real name is Mellivora capensis, is a member of the Mustelidae family, belonging to the same large family as weasels and ferrets, but classified in its own subfamily, Mellivorinae.
Due to the white fur on its head that makes its forehead appear relatively flat, it earned the nickname "Honey Badger."
"Haha!!" Shaking his head, Kong Tai tilted his head back and took a drink of wine.
He hadn't expected to encounter such an interesting Devil Fruit user here.
Judging by its appearance, if Ah Hua didn't go all out, he might not be its match.
Indeed, this was the New World, and if it were the same as the first half of the Grand Line, it would be boring.
The joy of reunion was fleeting. Charles and the others hadn't forgotten the countless pirates outside!
So they followed Sophie onto the Freedom, expressing their gratitude once again to Gu Yi Na, their savior.
Only then did they walk to the other side of the Freedom, standing by the railing and looking at the distant battlefield.
Charles and his companions, having been harassed by pirates for months without peace, had no mood to pay attention to newspapers, and thus did not know who Kong Tai and his group were.
But they could see from the battlefield that the pirates did not want to prolong the fight.
Therefore, they guessed that Kong Tai's group must be even stronger.
This put their minds at ease somewhat.
However, the battlefield was ever-changing, and soon Ah Hua and the other three gradually fell into a disadvantage.
After all, these pirates were not novices. Even though they cooperated tacitly and had killed many pirates, the pirates' numbers were still overwhelming.
Not only were there three pirate leaders, but also over a dozen cadres who could use Haki. Under their siege, Ah Hua and the other three were forced to converge towards the center, their stamina rapidly depleting.
On the Freedom, Charles and his companions watched with anxious expressions as Ah Hua and the other three were trapped amidst the pirates.
If Ah Hua and the others were defeated, wouldn't the pirates attack again?
Charles glanced at Gu Yi Na and Robin standing beside him and said sternly, "Benefactors, should we go up and help those four?"
Gu Yi Na glanced at Charles, a smile curling the corners of her lips, and said, "It's still early."
"Early?"
Confused expressions appeared on Charles and the others' faces.
They were already surrounded by pirates, and anyone could see that Ah Hua and the other three were at a disadvantage. And it was still early?
Gu Yi Na offered no explanation, merely gesturing for them to watch.
Although Charles and his companions were anxious, they were powerless. They knew their own strength and that going up would be suicide.
Since their own people weren't in a hurry, they had no choice but to set aside their anxiety and cast their gaze back to the battlefield.
Just as they felt Ah Hua and the other three were gradually losing strength.
They saw Ah Hua and the other three simultaneously pull out carrots from their pockets.
Carrots, normal carrots.
"What good is that?"
Not only were they confused, but even the pirates were bewildered.
Ah Hua and the other three repelled their respective opponents, took a step back, raised their carrots, and took a bite.
Without chewing, they swallowed them whole.
The next moment, their heaving chests instantly calmed, and their panting ceased.
Their previously breathless appearance had, in an instant, returned to the state they were in when they first descended from the Freedom.
The pirates stared at Ah Hua and the other three, all stunned, swallowing hard.
A similar thought arose in their minds.
"Damn it."
"Cheating, cheating, I'm reporting this, someone is cheating in public."
The three Ghost Hands stood frozen.
How were they supposed to fight? Just when they were about to overwhelm these four, they took a bite of a carrot and were back to full health.
This was ridiculous.
The three exchanged glances.
"They're cheating, brothers, run."
The three turned around simultaneously and fled in three different directions, heading towards other directions.
Behind them were two terrifying figures, and in front were four cheaters. Fighting was impossible, they could only flee, to survive.
So the three used all their strength, not for fighting, but for running.
"This..."
Charles and his companions stared at the battlefield that had instantly transformed, utterly speechless.
Then, excitement bloomed on their faces.
They could see it.
These pirates were now like headless flies, only wanting to escape.
"Run?"
"Can you escape?"
The four, their stamina restored, looked at the fleeing pirates and charged again, finding their respective opponents, and resumed their fierce battles.
One side fought without restraint, the other only wished to escape. Thus, although the battle was fierce, it was also exceptionally peaceful.
Watching the pirate grunts abandon their leader and continuously head towards the large ship moored by the sea in the distance, a flicker of boredom crossed Kong Tai's eyes.
Then, he glared slightly forward.
Crackling—!
Electricity crackled in the void.
An aura of absolute dominance, far more powerful than the Ghost Hand's before, swept across the entire battlefield like ripples.
The fleeing pirates instantly froze, then their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground.
"This, this, this, what is this?"
The three Ghost Hands, fighting against Ah Hua and the other two, simultaneously looked up at the white figure lounging at the top of the Freedom's mast.
Their hearts felt as if they were squeezed by a pair of large hands, and the blood in their bodies momentarily stopped.
They were familiar with this feeling.
The monster with horns, which had left countless shadows on them, possessed this kind of domineering aura that seemed to surpass everything.
Although the Ghost Hand also possessed Conqueror's Haki, he knew that his Conqueror's Haki could only intimidate ordinary people, and was incomparable to truly world-class figures like Kong Tai.
"Distracted while fighting me."
Tao, watching Mark, who had paused slightly, the corners of his lips curled up, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.
The blade slashed down, and Tao unhesitatingly swung his sword.
As the blade attacked, Mark instantly came back to his senses. He was not a novice. Although Tao's sword was fast, he still raised his weapon and made a blocking motion.
But when he looked back and met Tao's orange-yellow eyes, his body seemed to be frozen as if by a spell, strangely stopping in place.
A hint of mockery flashed in Tao's eyes. He flipped his right hand, covering the blade with Armament Haki, and from right to left, from top to bottom, he unhesitatingly sliced across Mark's neck.
Squelch—!
"Er..."
The searing pain brought Mark's eyes back to clarity. He opened his mouth to cry out, but with his neck severed, he could only emit a faint "er, er, er."
Then darkness descended. His body could not withstand the heaviness of the darkness, and he fell backward.
As he fell, his head and body separated.
Thump—!
A faint puff of dust kicked up. On his head, which rolled away, a pair of eyes filled with unwillingness lost their last trace of clarity.
Tao looked at Mark's corpse, pouted, and then waved his right hand to the right.
Puff—!
A clear, straight line of blood, inconspicuous on the battlefield, but so dazzling in the eyes of Charles and his companions on the Freedom.
So dazzling that their eyes instantly reddened, and warm tears welled up.
They knew that the disaster of Cocoyasi Village was over.
It was over.
...