"You actually dared to make the great Lord Kara bleed! You sinners deserve death by a thousand cuts!"
Kara roared in fury and charged straight toward the two Shadow Dragon Guard trainees who had been blasted away.
Bege's expression shifted as he prepared to activate his Castle-Castle Fruit.
These people were sent by Oguro to gain real combat experience. Some injuries were unavoidable.
But if he stood by and let casualties happen, Oguro definitely wouldn't let him off the hook.
However, someone moved even faster than he did.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several chains suddenly shot out, instantly wrapping around Kara's four limbs.
More than a dozen Shadow Dragon Guard trainees split into four teams, each gripping a chain and pulling with all their strength.
Kara's forward momentum halted abruptly, his body forced to slow against his will.
Soru!
The remaining fighters seized the opening and flashed forward, unleashing a full barrage of attacks onto Kara!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In just a few seconds, Kara took no fewer than thirty or forty Finger Pistol and Tempest Kick strikes!
Bege was completely stunned.
He'd expected these people to suppress Kara, maybe even defeat him.
But he hadn't imagined it would be this easy!
They didn't even need to shout commands. Their coordination was flawless.
This was exactly what Oguro demanded… the Shadow Dragon Guard had to master coordinated combat.
Top-tier powerhouses who could ignore numbers entirely were rare.
Against the vast majority of enemies, teamwork created overwhelming advantage.
Kara's appearance had just given these trainees a perfect live lesson.
"Damn it…"
Kara coughed up a mouthful of blood, collapsing to the ground, looking barely alive.
But in reality, thanks to the Zoan-type Devil Fruit's terrifying vitality, he hadn't completely lost his ability to fight.
The moment he sensed the slightest relaxation from the men in black suits, his body suddenly shrank.
From a three-to-four-meter-long giant wolf, he compressed into a roughly two-meter-tall werewolf.
As the chains slackened, he sprang free in a single leap!
By the time the Shadow Dragon Guard trainees reacted and tried to tighten the chains again, it was already too late.
They hadn't expected him to play dead.
Still not enough experience.
"You bastards actually made me lose face like this!"
Kara's eyes glowed red now. He didn't even call himself "the great Lord Kara" anymore.
He was truly furious.
"I'll rip off every one of your heads and put them on my trophy display!"
"I'll let everyone know what happens when you offend me!"
Kara threw his head back and howled.
The beast-man form was the Zoan-type Devil Fruit's strongest overall state.
This was him fighting at full power.
Whoosh!
Kara turned into a blur as he charged the Shadow Dragon Guard.
With the Zoan enhancement, his speed was no slower than Soru!
Slash!
Sharp wolf claws swept toward one man's throat.
The trainee's expression didn't change at all. His body suddenly became light and fluid, like drifting paper.
Paper Arts!
The claws passed through, the airflow pushing his body just enough to slip cleanly out of the strike's path.
"What… what kind of sorcery is this?!"
Kara was dumbfounded.
A backwater native from the West Blue like him had never seen combat techniques from the Grand Line.
Getting a Devil Fruit was already a miracle in his life.
Tempest Kick!
The trainee pivoted smoothly, his right leg snapping out as a sharp cyan blade of compressed air tore forward.
At point-blank range, Kara had no time to react.
The Tempest Kick slammed straight into his forehead!
Pshk!
A vicious gash split open across Kara's wolf head.
He staggered back two steps.
Before he could regain his balance, the Shadow Dragon Guard's focused fire arrived again.
As the saying goes, ants can kill an elephant.
And Kara wasn't even an elephant.
This time, having learned from the last mistake, no one held back.
They targeted vital points and poured on their attacks without mercy.
"Finger Pistol: Barrage!"
"Tempest Kick: Line!"
Boom!
Kara crashed heavily to the ground.
His beast-man form slowly faded, revealing his original human body.
"So this is the Four Blues," Bege shook his head.
"Even without Haki, mastering the Six Powers alone is enough to rule here."
He genuinely couldn't understand why Oguro wanted the West Blue at all.
Look at the Emperors and the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Who among them even glanced at the Four Blues?
If Oguro knew what Bege was thinking, he'd absolutely argue back.
What did he know about the boundless ocean of the masses?
If you wanted to build a supreme divine empire, people were the foundation.
"Is he dead?" Carina stepped forward and asked.
"No. Still barely breathing."
Carina nodded.
"Get more chains and bind him properly."
"When I reclaim the throne, we'll use this so-called legendary warrior and Red's head as sacrifices for the celebration!"
Her time as a captive slave had forged her heart into iron. Her words carried chilling killing intent.
She then turned her gaze to the remaining palace guards.
"You. Will you surrender… or fight to the death?"
"I—I surrender!"
With a clang, one guard dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
Was he kidding? Even Commander Kara, the so-called legendary warrior, had been defeated.
If they kept fighting, they'd just be throwing their lives away.
Once one man broke, the rest followed like dominoes, tossing aside their weapons and surrendering.
A trainee dragged the tightly bound Kara at the front as the group advanced toward the royal bedchamber in force.
Along the way, any guards who saw Kara captured didn't dare lift a hand, retreating to the sides and watching silently.
Of course, Red still had his diehard loyalists.
"You useless trash!"
"Aren't you grateful for all the rewards His Majesty gave you?! Get in there and kill them!"
A man who looked like a commander was screaming hoarsely, urging his subordinates on.
"If you kill them, I guarantee all of you noble titles!"
Under heavy rewards, brave fools did emerge. A few soldiers showed hesitation and temptation.
But before they could act, a black shadow appeared beside them as if out of thin air.
A single finger pierced straight through the commander's heart!
Finger Pistol!
A Shadow Dragon Guard trainee calmly wiped the blood from his finger and looked at the remaining guards.
"Ambition isn't a bad thing."
"But think carefully… do you actually have the strength to back it up?"
The soldiers collapsed onto the ground with a thud, scrambling backward on hands and feet as if they'd seen a ghost.
"We won't dare anymore! We swear!"
"Tch. Useless."
The trainee snorted coldly and turned away.
Soon, the group entered the royal bedchamber.
Bang!
The doors were kicked open violently.
They saw Red seated in a chair, his face dark and sinister.
"Carina… you really did come back."
"I knew it back then. Letting even one of you escape would spell trouble."
"If you want to regret it, you can do that in hell."
Carina didn't waste a word on the man who had destroyed her family and nation.
She motioned, and someone immediately bound him.
"Hahaha!"
Red burst into near-mad laughter.
"Carina, you're playing with fire, you know that?"
"Do you really think… I was the only one who wanted you dead back then?"
***
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