Bullet's lips curled into a vicious grin. "Where do we start?"
Carlo smiled. "With him…"
A bounty poster appeared on the screen. The man on it had a cruel, cold face, like someone who enjoyed bloodshed.
The Steam Pirates' chief steward, the second-highest authority. The Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit user with a bounty of 1,450,000,000: Bin Black.
* * *
The New World, Vosk Island.
This was the site of the largest weapons factory under Knox.
Inside the island's office, Bin Black reviewed the accounts. The officers standing before him kept their heads low, barely daring to breathe.
His expression darkened. "Why is this month's shipment so low? Are you trying to lower the price on purpose?"
This factory was the largest under the Steam Pirates. It had been expanding nonstop. Every weapon produced here was top quality and always in short supply. Otherwise, it would not have been expanded again and again.
Yet three-quarters of this month's production was still sitting in the warehouse. It made no sense.
The officers looked at one another without speaking.
Black let out a cold snort. At last, an older officer gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
"Sir, we're not holding back the stock on purpose. The Beasts Pirates suddenly got a huge batch of new weapons, and we don't know where they came from. They're selling them at half the cost. They stole many of our customers. We can't do anything… We can't sell at a loss and throw away all our profit…"
Black frowned. "Impossible. Half the cost? How much money does Kaido have to burn like that? Are those weapons even safe?"
The older officer gave a bitter smile as he replied, "We checked. We even bought batches of the weapons from different places. There's no problem at all. And the Beasts Pirates are building new factories everywhere. Almost every island with ore now has a factory chimney rising from it… they're selling without caring about cost."
Black still found it hard to believe. After thinking for a while, he still couldn't guess what Kaido was planning, only saying, "Find our old buyers. Lower the price and move this stock first. I'll report the rest to Boss."
His men hesitated, too afraid to speak.
He narrowed his eyes. "Say it."
The older officer forced himself to speak. "But… they're selling at half the cost. Even if our weapons are better, ours cost several times more… no one will buy them…"
Black took a deep breath. "Come here."
The older officer collapsed to the ground the moment he heard that. He crawled backward in fear.
Black picked up the gun on the table.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
He kept pulling the trigger. The older officer fell dead, riddled with more than a dozen bullet holes.
He clenched the gun so hard it crushed into a lump of twisted metal, then threw it at the corpse.
Boom!
The body exploded under the force of the Armament Haki-infused metal.
Blood splattered across the entire room.
Everyone was drenched in white… in red… some even had shards of bone lodged in their skin, yet none dared to make a sound.
Black's face was also stained with blood as he roared, "Under the protection of the Steam Pirates, each of them grows fat! And they won't buy our weapons?! Let's see who has the guts! You're pirates! Pirates! If they won't buy, then kill their families and destroy everything they have! You really need me to teach you something this simple? Idiots!"
His trembling officers shouted back.
"Yes!!!"
He glared at the group of fools and forced down his anger. "What are you waiting for? Get out and work!"
They rushed out in a panic, terrified that they would be the next unlucky one.
Black took a deep breath to calm himself.
Whoosh!
Carlo and Bullet appeared in the office at the same moment.
Black snapped his eyes open. His Armament Haki burst out, knocking aside Carlo's hand before it could touch his shoulder.
"Who are you?!"
He rose and activated his Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit and Haki together.
Bullet looked at Black's diamond-covered body and said to Carlo, "I told you it wouldn't work."
He slipped into his blue Demon Mode.
Carlo shrugged helplessly.
Across from them, Black let out a cold snort, already recognizing Bullet.
He stomped down, shaking the building violently. Then he charged like a wild beast, turning into a streak of light as he rushed toward Bullet.
The Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit allowed him to become diamond, the hardest material known. Anything with lower hardness was crushed by the fruit's power. Physical attacks barely worked on him. His ability combined speed, strength, and absolute hardness. He was a nightmare for martial artists and swordsmen. Even his weaknesses to fire and ice could be resisted with enough Haki.
Bullet already knew the fruit's abilities, but he still wanted to test them.
Crack!
He used Tekkai to collide with Black head-on. The impact obliterated the entire building, and a storm of smoke and dust swept outward.
Carlo had already vanished. His teleportation ability could not be revealed.
The two men each slid back slightly.
Bullet rolled his shoulder and stretched his neck. Looking at the man who was a little shorter but bulkier, he grinned. "Not bad. It actually hurts a bit."
Human flesh could never match the density of diamond. It wasn't about Haki. It was density. The destructive force of the Twinkle-Twinkle Fruit tore into a body and exploded inside it. A normal person would turn into mist on contact.
For a strong fighter using Haki, the damage would drop, but the pain still affected movement.
To Bullet… it was simply a long-lost sensation. Pain didn't stop him. It only made him more excited.
A bloodthirsty spark flashed in his eyes as he stared at his opponent.
Black narrowed his eyes. This was the first time someone had taken his charge head-on.
But it made sense. If Bullet had nothing special, he would never have clashed with Garp, that old monster.
Black believed in his power, but he wasn't arrogant. He knew his fruit made him nearly untouchable in physical fights, yet even he wouldn't claim victory over Garp.
Bullet sensed the growing number of pirates gathering around them. He pulled out a miniature missile and tossed it upward.
Buzz!
It expanded instantly, turning the sky dark as a house-sized warhead fell.
Bullet met Bin Black's gaze. His grin widened. His body leaned forward.
"One hundred times speed…"
Bang!
In a single instant, his hand clamped onto Black's face before the man could even process the movement.
"Wha—"
Both of them disappeared from the island.
In the sky, the enlarged missile dropped. Under the horrified eyes of the gathered pirates… it exploded.
Half the island vanished beneath the towering mushroom cloud.
**
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