The deck of the 'Brachiosaurus' was littered with fallen underlings, their bodies bleeding out. Queen had blocked Victor's daggers with his Armament Haki, while Osten had dodged them entirely—now transformed into a small, agile dinosaur.
"Small" was relative, of course. Compared to Queen's massive brachiosaurus form, Osten stood at a mere four to five meters tall.
That didn't mean Osten was faster than Victor's daggers, though. Victor had thrown them in rapid volleys, not at full speed. The True Disasters had taken the hits head-on, the blades sinking into their flesh. Though injured, they were still standing.
This wasn't some filler-arc nonsense where random mooks could block Luffy and Zoro. The anime loved padding, but reality wasn't so forgiving.
With only a few enemies left, Victor quickly assigned targets.
"Rebecca, you take the little one. Gion, the big guy's yours. I'll handle the rest and cover you both."
The two women nodded, moving toward their opponents.
Victor turned to Queen.
"You're Queen, one of the Beast Pirates' top officers, right? Word is your crew took over Wano two years ago. So why are you in the first half of the Grand Line now, attacking a Marine ship?"
Queen's eyes narrowed. 'How the hell does this guy know about Wano?' The country had been completely isolated.
"Wano? No idea what you're talking about," Queen scoffed. "We're just here to pick up one of our boys. And yeah, I 'love' sinking Marine ships. Gotta do it at least once a day, or I get twitchy. What'cha gonna do about it?"
He wasn't about to admit anything. If word got out that the Beast Pirates had seized Wano, they'd have both Whitebeard 'and' the remnants of Roger's crew breathing down their necks.
Oden had been part of both crews. If they came for revenge, Kaido's forces—still consolidating power—would be crushed. Even at full strength, they stood no chance against Whitebeard alone, let alone the Pirate King's former allies.
Right now, Kaido was strong, but he wasn't "Strongest Man in the World" strong.
Victor smirked. "That 'boy' you're picking up—you mean the lizard over there? Man, the Beast Pirates really 'are' just a zoo, huh?"
Queen's face twisted in rage. First, these three had the audacity to pick their opponents like shoppers at a meat market. Now, they were outright mocking them?
Done talking, Queen drew his twin blades and charged Gion.
Their swords clashed—Gion's techniques refined and precise, Queen's raw and brutal. Though he carried two swords, he had no formal training, relying on sheer power.
Neither used Haki-infused strikes yet, keeping the fight even.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was struggling. Osten's speed overwhelmed her. She'd been knocked down multiple times, her sword failing to land a single hit.
"HAHAHA! I ate the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Velociraptor! Among dinosaurs, my speed is top-tier! You'll never hit me! Just give up and let your man carry you home!"
Osten's taunts were pure pirate arrogance. He even shot a smug glance at Victor, sensing the danger radiating off him. That was why he'd held back—only ramming Rebecca, never using his razor-sharp teeth.
He wasn't stupid. Hurt her too badly, and Victor would end him.
Victor, meanwhile, had already moved.
His blade flashed.
The pirates fell one after another, each cut down in a single strike. No hesitation, no mercy.
By the time the second one dropped, the rest panicked—pleading, fleeing, even trying to jump overboard. None escaped. Victor's speed was inhuman.
Queen's eyes bulged behind his goggles. His men—gone, just like that. 'Pathetic. Weaklings deserve to die.'
Rebecca, however, refused to back down.
Her attacks grew fiercer, more reckless. She'd trained against 'Victor'—someone far faster than this overgrown lizard. Now, she was predicting Osten's movements.
Cuts began appearing on his scaled hide, though his Ancient Zoan regeneration sealed them quickly.
Victor kept his Observation Haki active, monitoring both battles.
Queen was the real concern. The man's body was a walking arsenal of hidden weapons, each more treacherous than the last.
Rebecca, at least, was holding her own. Osten didn't know Haki, relying solely on his fruit. And after months of training, Rebecca's senses had sharpened enough to evade most attacks.
Queen abandoned his swords—they were just props anyway. Against Gion's skill, they were useless. He'd taken several hits already, though his Armament Haki had tanked them.
Now, the real fight was about to begin.
Gion's blade now gleamed jet-black, fully sheathed in Armament Haki as she weaved between Queen's segmented neck and tail attacks. Each mechanical segment lashed out like a whip, forcing her into desperate defenses.
When she couldn't dodge, she blocked—but Queen's raw strength sent her flying every time. Blood trickled from her lips, her white uniform stained crimson.
"I can't match an Ancient Zoan's brute force... My only chance is speed." Gion wiped her mouth, analyzing coldly. "Without Victor here, this training voyage would've ended in disaster. I'm still too weak. But today... I'll use you, Queen, as my whetstone!"
She dodged a crushing dinosaur claw and lunged, her Haki-coated Konpira aiming for Queen's skull.
"Tch!" Queen armored his head just in time.
CLANG—!
The impact reverberated through the ship, Gion skidding back from the recoil. She charged again—only for Queen's mechanical arm to intercept, the hidden flamethrower inside scorching the air.
Then her Observation Haki screamed.
Too late.
WHAM!
Queen's massive tail smashed into her ribs, sending her crashing through three bulkheads before she crumpled in the wreckage.
"Gion!" Victor winced as she staggered up, her left arm dangling unnaturally. "Let me take over."
"I can still fight!"
A Soru later, she reappeared at Queen's flank—this time drawing first blood as her blade carved into his thigh.
"GYAARGH! Damn it, that stings!!" Queen's tongue flapped like a wriggling eel, his mechanical eye zooming in fury.
Meanwhile, Rebecca barely rolled under Osten's lightning-fast charge, her sword leaving a shallow gash along his velociraptor ribs. Two pounds of blood splattered the deck—not enough.
The scent triggered something primal in Osten. Pupils dilating, he abandoned all restraint. Claws, fangs, tail—every weapon became a blur aimed at ripping Rebecca apart.
Victor's gaze flickered between both battles:
- Gion, leveraging her agility to dance around Queen's slow-but-devastating strikes, though each blocked hit rattled her bones.
- Rebecca, now purely reactive as Osten's bloodlust outpaced her prediction.
"A stalemate," Victor observed. Both sides traded blows that their Haki could mostly neutralize. Gion's refined swordsmanship balanced Queen's overwhelming defense, while Rebecca's instincts barely kept Osten's fangs from her throat.
But time favored the Beasts Pirates. Ancient Zoan stamina was legendary, and every minute drained the women's energy...