"Ouch, that hurts."
Moses climbed off the little black-haired girl, rubbing his nose as his eyes genuinely welled up with tears. A stinging sensation brewed behind his eyelids.
Just then, a clear voice spoke up: "Um... are you okay, little brother?"
Still pinching the bridge of his nose to ease the discomfort, Moses looked up at the black-haired girl. Her face was dust-streaked, with two strands of hair framing her forehead, each secured at the ends with bronze clasps. She wore an unusual but beautiful style of clothing.
"My name's Moses, not 'little brother'," he sniffed. "And thanks for breaking my fall earlier. I'm fine."
"Oh, so you were captured by them too?"
At this, the girl grew visibly angry, her cheeks puffing up as blue eyes burned with fury.
"Yeah, got caught," Moses nodded. "What about you? How'd you end up here?"
The question seemed to fuel her indignation, as if she'd found an outlet for her frustration.
"Those bastards used underhanded tactics—knockout drugs! Otherwise, we'd never have been caught by such lowlifes. I'm a Nine Snake Trainee Warrior! An excellent crewmember approved for sea voyages!"
"And yet, here you are," Moses smirked. "'Trainee' and 'excellent' don't exactly go together, do they?"
The girl's face flushed crimson. She pointed an accusatory finger at Moses's nose, tilting her head back to glare down her nostrils at him, lips trembling with outrage.
"You—you—how dare you speak to me like that?"
"What else would you call it?" Moses turned to the other two girls. "Are you from Nine Snake too?"
The green-haired girl nodded but looked curiously at Moses. "How did you get captured?"
The orange-haired one also showed curiosity, though a flicker of fear passed through her eyes. "You're so young to be caught... how awful."
"Don't ignore me! I'm talking to you!" The black-haired girl slapped the ground in frustration. "Sandersonia! Marigold! Don't you dare acknowledge this rude little brat!"
At her words, the two girls named Sandersonia and Marigold hunched their shoulders slightly, turning their faces away with quiet murmurs of "Okay..."
Watching this exchange, Moses twitched his lips. His gaze fixed on the black-haired girl as he remarked flatly, "Still acting like a kid, throwing tantrums when you can't win an argument. By the way, what's your name?"
"Hmph!" The black-haired girl turned her face away, clearly displeased. "Why should I tell some annoying little pest my name?"
Deciding to ignore her, Moses addressed the other two girls instead. "Aren't you worried?"
Noticing their furtive glances, Moses raised an eyebrow at the black-haired girl before continuing:
"These guys are slave traders. In a few days, everyone in these cells will be shipped to Sabaody Archipelago and sold as slaves. You all seem pretty calm—got some escape plan?"
The two girls looked blankly at him. Slaves? They didn't fully grasp the weight of that term. But the black-haired girl apparently did.
"No! We'll definitely be rescued! The Nine Snakes are searching for us right now! We'll be saved soon, don't worry. Big sister will protect you both!"
As she spoke, she shot Moses a glare, clearly unhappy with his doomsaying.
"I heard this ship belongs to one of the Underworld's kings—a Slave Hunter Ship. The captain is also a famous hunter in the Underworld and a Devil Fruit User.
Are you really sure you can be rescued?"
The truth is often the sharpest blade.
Moses watched as confusion flickered in the eyes of the three girls. Unsurprisingly, concepts like the "Underworld" were blind spots in their knowledge.
The dark-haired girl took a deep breath and glared at him, her bravado barely masking her fear.
"Who cares what king he is? We of the Kuja Pirates fear no one! We will be rescued, so shut your mouth!"
Moses rubbed his nose and chuckled awkwardly. "Alright, let's change the subject. Have you thought about saving yourselves?"
"I have, but the iron cage won't open. And the food here makes us weak, but we have to eat. We've been captured for almost seven days now. Oh, I'm Hancock. Boa Hancock. The future strongest warrior of the Kuja."
"Ohhh~ My name is Hancock. I've been captured by slave hunters, my body is weak, and I'm waiting for a chance to escape—or for my people to rescue me. Woe is me~"
Moses muttered under his breath, "Is that how it is?"
Hancock froze, her face turning crimson as she trembled with rage. "I—I—I'll kill you! You annoying little brat!"
With a shriek, she lunged at him, claws bared. Moses leaned back against the iron bars, curling into a corner with his arms shielding his head.
Instantly, Hancock's frail hands grabbed his arms and began tugging, all while letting out incoherent screeches.
Peeking through the gaps between his arms, Moses glanced at the trio by the door. As expected, the commotion had drawn their attention.
"What the hell are you doing?!" A furious roar echoed as a figure stormed over. Juge arrived just in time to see Hancock pinning Moses down.
"You damn brat, stop right there! That kid's worth more than you!"
BANG!
A heavy kick slammed into the cage bars. Juge glared murderously at Hancock, who defiantly met his gaze.
His lips twitching violently, Juge felt insulted. But remembering how fiercely the girl had fought like a wild panther that day, a sliver of unease crept in.
Still, he reminded himself—she'd been drugged. Most of her strength was gone.
With a vicious grin, Juge shot a heated glance at Moses before snarling at Hancock, "You little bitch, I'll teach you a lesson today. How dare you lay hands on someone else!"
He turned and hurried off to fetch the keys, his two skinny lackeys following behind, smirking in amusement.
Click, click, click.
The lock opened, and the iron gate swung aside. Juge stepped in, eyeing Hancock, who had risen to her feet, fists clenched in wary defense.
In the next second, he lunged, his right hand shooting out to grab her hair. Hancock leaned back, dodging his grasp, then spun and kicked at his side.
Whack!
The sharp impact sent a jolt of pain through Juge's body. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "You're dead, brat!"
"Come on, Juge! Can't even handle some scrawny little girl? How pathetic!"
"Pfft—hahaha! What a joke!"
The taunting and jeering from the two onlookers made Juge's eyes bloodshot. With a furious roar, he lunged at Hancock in a spread-eagle motion.
Seeing this, Hancock initially wanted to dodge, but realizing her two younger sisters were right behind her, she had no choice but to grit her teeth, clench her fist, and swing forward.
Moses had already gotten up by this point. Witnessing the scene, he grinned and, aided by his Observation Haki's precognition, swiftly dashed forward and kicked Juge's left leg just as it left the ground during his leap.
Splat!
The considerable force immediately threw Juge off balance. He slid past Hancock in a spread-eagle position and face-planted onto the ground. The next moment, Moses strode over and stomped hard on the back of his neck.
Crack! The cervical bone snapped.
Without pause, Moses expanded his Observation Haki outward, sensing the movements of the remaining two men. With his right hand, he flipped the scalpel he'd just drawn from his boot and hurled it with force.
Whoosh! Thud!
A spray of blood erupted from the left eye of one of the thin men as the momentum sent him toppling backward.
At such close range, combined with the bodily control granted by his Breath and the assistance of Observation Haki, there was no chance of missing.
Moses didn't stop there. He charged toward the last remaining thin man. The distance of less than five meters vanished in an instant. Just as the thin man realized something was wrong and opened his mouth to shout, Moses' right leg whipped through the air and slammed mercilessly between his legs.
Snap! A crisp sound rang out. The sheer force of Moses' unrestrained kick sent the man airborne.
Moses pushed off the ground with his left foot, leaping up to grab the man's jaw with both hands and yank him downward.
Thud! A dull impact echoed as the last thin man spat blood, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.
Suddenly, a prompt flashed in Moses' mind. The next instant, three irregular crystals the size of rice grains materialized, shimmering with a mysterious glow.
[Obtained F-grade Soul Crystal ×3]
Moses stored the Soul Crystals in his panel without a second glance at the others. Instead, he immediately expanded his Observation Haki to sense Bogart nearby, using this "inner vision" ability to scrutinize him.
Soon, the presence he detected moved—in the blink of an eye, it appeared atop the ship overhead. Moses exhaled in relief. "This time, at least, he wasn't late."
Arriving at the door, he fastened the internal chain lock with the iron latch. "Hah, finally can relax a bit."
Moses plopped onto the stool by the entrance, rubbing his temples. For safety's sake, he hadn't held back this time, ending three lives in one go.
His eyes half-lidded, a storm of thoughts churned within him. 'Am I tense? No. Not even a ripple of emotion. It's no different from slaughtering a reindeer.'
Moses knew this detachment stemmed from the unnaturally high intelligence of animals in this world. Over his past hunting experiences, he'd grown thoroughly accustomed to it.
'Besides, these bastards had it coming. Those who don't treat others as human don't deserve to be treated as human themselves.
Killers will inevitably be killed—I'm no exception. I've made my peace with that.'
"You alright?"
A surprised voice broke the silence. Moses didn't need to look to know who it was. The next moment, the handle of a scalpel was offered to him, its blade wiped clean of bloodstains.
Moses took a deep breath, his eyes calming once more as he reached out to take the scalpel. He met her gaze and asked, "What's wrong? Something on your mind?"
Hancock lowered her head, biting her lip before suddenly looking up with blazing eyes. "You were deliberately provoking me earlier, weren't you? Trying to make me angry to draw their attention? Right?"
Moses looked at Hancock, who had leaned her face close to his, and gave a slight smirk. "What nonsense are you thinking? Reading too many storybooks? I didn't expect you to get so worked up earlier. Are you an idiot?"
"When your life isn't even in your own hands, you still act so recklessly. No wonder you got captured by slave traders—can't blame anyone else for that."
"But I'll give you some credit. At least you were useful in the end. That's worth encouraging."
Moses patted Hancock on the shoulder, amused by the frustrated twitch of her lips, then pushed her head away with a chuckle.
Stumbling back two steps, Hancock fumed.
"Me, an idiot? What about you? You only took out a few small fries. There are stronger ones above—do you think you can handle them?"
"Probably not."
"Hah! I thought you were so impressive, but you can't even win."
Hancock looked smug, as if she had scored a point. Moses gave her a strange glance. "Whose side are you on?"
Hancock stiffened, about to retort, when Moses raised a finger to his lips. "Shh. Listen."
Hancock frowned, confused, but within seconds, a series of furious screams and cries erupted from above, one after another.
Her eyes widened in realization as she turned to Moses expectantly. "You knew this would happen?"
Moses gave her an approving look. "Not completely stupid after all. Someone as clever as me wouldn't get caught by a bunch of lowlifes. I'm not like you, you fool."
Hancock fell silent.
She crouched down abruptly, biting her lip without another word.
Moses had no intention of going upstairs. His job was to guard the hostages here—Bogart could handle the rest.
Scanning the cages filled with "unfortunates," Moses stood and walked toward Juge. As Hancock's two sisters approached, he said,
"Go check on your sister. Seems like she's having a breakdown."
The two girls gave him odd looks—who exactly caused that breakdown?—but they nodded obediently without comment.
Moses unhooked a keyring from the iron-barred door, jingling it in his hand as he addressed the prisoners. "Relax. This ship has been taken over by the Marines."
"For now, just stay put quietly. The Marines will deal with you later. All you need to do is behave."
With that, he ignored them, making no move to unlock the cages. He didn't know these people, after all—who could say what they were really like?
Some might even be pirates.
Huh?
Actually, there were.
He subtly glanced at Hancock and her sisters, who were radiating nervous tension.
It was practically visible.
About three minutes later—
BANG BANG BANG!
The iron door rattled under heavy knocks, followed by Bogart's voice.
"Moses, you in there? Everything alright?"
Moses replied flatly, "Took you long enough. I wrapped things up ages ago. Been waiting."
He walked to the door, removed the iron chain, and opened it to see Bogart standing there, his clothes clean and neat, not looking like he'd been in a fight at all.
Moses asked curiously, "Didn't you run into that ability user?"
"Met him. Cut him down with one slash."
Bogart said coolly, "His ability wasn't bad, but his strength was lacking—just around the fifty-million bounty level. One slash was all it took."
"Then why did you take so long?" Moses grumbled. "Had me worried for nothing."
Bogart opened his mouth slightly, wanting to curse but holding back, finally muttering, "Were you actually worried about me?"
"Yeah, afraid that if you lost, I'd have to figure out how to save myself."
Bogart facepalmed and sighed. "You really are impossible."
"None of your business," Moses laughed. "Since you've already handled things upstairs, let's go treasure hunting. We'll leave this place as is for now and let the boss deal with it tomorrow."
"Fine."