Chapter 96: Reunion (part 1)
On the shore of Greed Island.
“Go pay your life to Boss Foll, John!”
Wright, with a belief in certain death, launched his assassination. A dagger carrying the resolute will of its owner had already touched John’s chest, and one more step would have pierced his torso.
Yet John reacted as if he had only just realized, clearly a step too late, but not with the expected sidestep or raised hand to block.
Instead, he chose a roundabout path, circling his right hand before gripping the hilt of the saber at his left waist, intending to draw his sword and counterattack.
This action seemed ordinary, but upon reflection, it was extremely contrary to common sense.
Theoretically, when suddenly attacked, a person’s first reaction should be to evade or defend, before even considering a counterattack.
Surprise attacks are not duels; they don’t give you time to preset your mindset. It’s purely a test of your subconscious reaction.
And just as John was about to counterattack against common sense by drawing his sword, Babu, who had been hiding in the shadows, suddenly teleported behind John.
A dark spike, imbued with Armament Haki, fiercely stabbed towards John’s heart!
This attack had been brewing since Wright and the others returned to the shore.
While John was greeting Wright and the others, Babu had been watching everyone’s every move, though his gaze was focused on Wright.
After all, a master like John is highly sensitive to line of sight, and Babu dared not risk being discovered.
The moment Wright took out that navigational log, Babu simultaneously produced the steel spike, already coated in potent poison. His every action was a cover for Wright’s.
The tip of the specially made spike was polished with Seastone; even if the target wasn’t an ability user, the inherent hardness of Seastone was enough to break through their defenses to the maximum extent.
Wrapping his entire body’s Armament Haki around the forearm-length spike, Babu carefully adjusted his breath, fully focused and waiting for the fleeting opportunity.
Finally, the instant before John’s sword was drawn, Babu unleashed his ability.
The moment a target is chosen and an attack declared is undoubtedly the most vulnerable time for the opponent. Babu, located in John’s blind spot, teleported behind him almost simultaneously and delivered the fatal blow.
This was a snipe from hell!
Fast!
Quick!
Very fast!
So fast there was no time to think, no time to defend, no time to react!
Babu could already see the scene of John’s heart being pierced.
“Shhh!!!”
The sound of metal entering flesh was about to reach everyone’s ears in the next moment.
『Success!!!』
This was the last thought in the head of the flying severed head.
John, as if prescient, drew his sword with unbelievable speed, but slashed behind him!
The assassin who had teleported couldn’t even see the afterimage of his opponent’s arm swing.
It wasn’t until the spike in his hand, along with his neck, was pierced by the cold blade that the sound of metal scraping as the sword was drawn reached Babu’s ears.
His body couldn’t sense the life draining away, and his pupils still registered the mocking smile on the opponent’s face with a delay.
Like a spiderweb trapping a fly, like fangs slicing through a throat, it was the smile of a victor.
It was truly a pity that Babu’s seemingly perfect assassination ended with his own head severed.
This was thanks to La; the moment she raised her hand to aim at sea, John felt that suffocating sensation, like a python coiling around him.
This caused him to frantically search his surroundings with Observation Haki, and within an instant, he discovered Babu hiding in the blind spot behind him.
Even though Babu’s gaze never fell on John the entire time, even though he held his breath and blended almost perfectly with his surroundings…
Under John’s almost hysterical scrutiny, he was still caught by the tail.
John, upon discovering Babu, mistakenly identified him as the culprit behind his unease and prepared to play along and eliminate him.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, from Babu’s sudden appearance behind John to him being decapitated by a single sword strike, it took less than the time it takes to blink.
Wright and the Foll Pirate Crew behind him were like immobile background props, their expressions hadn’t even had time to change, still showing their resolute determination.
Despair had not yet caught up to them.
Just as Wright and the others’ eyes processed the scene, and their brains were about to process the reality of “Babu’s death, assassination failed,” a new, drastic change suddenly occurred.
…
“Divine Strike.”
With a soft whisper from La, who stood beyond everyone’s perception limit, John, with a mocking smile and a trace of imperceptible relief, suddenly froze along with the surrounding space, then his entire body dissolved into light particles.
This scene looked like the protagonist in a classic tokusatsu show turning into light particles after defeating the final boss, but considering John’s identity, these light particles were ironically beautiful.
…
The people on the Beasts Pirates’ small boat didn’t know what had happened at this moment.
Or rather, they knew something had happened, but not precisely what.
The instant La made the “launch” motion, no, at the same moment, the dense fog in front of them split down the middle, revealing Greed Island hidden within.
They heard no sound, saw no sword energy, the island simply appeared abruptly, as if everything around it had always been this way.
Everyone stood there, stunned, a little lost by the sudden change, until a gentle voice pulled them back to reality from their self-doubt.
“It’s done, let’s land.”
“Ah… ah?”
“Oh, okay.”
The warm, gentle breeze, as if hearing the school bell, wrapped around the boat again, filling the sails.
Gentle sunlight bathed their faces. When they looked up, they realized the early sun had already risen from the sea surface, watching them slowly sail towards their destination.
“…”
“Did we… did we forget something?”
Skipgate tilted his head and asked the squad leader beside him.
“Mmm~ I have that feeling too.”
“But it’s more important to get to the island and meet up with Wright and them now. We can talk about other things later.”
“Right.”
…
“Those who jumped off the ship earlier are still in the sea.”
Seeing that neither of them could remember, La reminded them at the opportune moment.
“!”*2
Skipgate and the squad leader simultaneously slapped their heads, then looked towards the sea surface.
They saw that those people had already swum a considerable distance, but due to the dense fog, none of them were heading in the right direction. Some were even swimming in the opposite direction.
Now that the fog had mostly dissipated, the people in the sea saw they were going the wrong way and turned back towards the small boat. The group soon reached the shore.
“Everyone be careful, that guy John is already on the island. Be ready to fight at any moment!”
After landing, Skipgate sternly ordered his men, simultaneously activating Observation Haki to scan for any commotion, looking very serious.
However, just as he was about to take a headcount and set off, a voice rang out from behind him.
“No need to be so tense. John is already dead.”
“?!”
“Miss La?! Why did you come down too?”
“And what do you mean John is dead?”
Clearly, Skipgate hadn’t realized La’s attack was directed at John, thinking she had merely used some ability to disperse the fog.
And it wasn’t his fault for thinking so, as La’s previous strike had left absolutely no trace.
“Literally. Follow me, your companions are ahead.”
La moved through the crowd to the front of the group, leading them towards the other side of the island.
“This…”
Despite still being full of questions, Skipgate still beckoned his subordinates to follow.
And on the other side of the island…
“F-First Mate, what just happened?” a pirate asked, stuttering slightly.
“I-I don’t know… What happened?”
Wright was so surprised he even spoke in his native West Sea dialect.
“I saw it. John seemed to turn around and ‘shua’ chop that Babu, then ‘pa’ he just disappeared.”
“No, that’s not right. It should have been ‘kucha’ and he vanished.”
“You’re all wrong. He exploded with a ‘peng’ sound, even sparking!”
The pirates babbled, but in the end, they couldn’t reach a consensus on whether John was alive or dead.
If they said he was alive, the person suddenly vanished, leaving only clothes and pants.
Oh, and two swords.
If they said he was dead, they hadn’t seen a corpse.
Who knew if those light particles were just special effects from some transfer ability?
After all, the person who could make people disappear before is still scratching his head beside them.
“First Mate Wright, what do we do now?” the impatient pirate asked.
“Hmm… In any case, let’s contact Boss Skipgate first. We have no clue about John’s situation right now.”
Saying this, Wright pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
