"What did you do to me?"
Bellamy looked at his own body in disbelief. He had fallen into a trap without even realizing it?
"Ah!" Stussy tried to scream again, but a jet-black hand clamped down on her throat, choking off the sound.
They were too close now; Bellamy could grab her with ease. He lifted her into the air like a rag doll.
"A human face on a bird's body, a voice like an angel, and the power to bewitch the human mind."
"A Harpy, or a Siren?"
The sea was never short of legends about monsters, especially in this world where the ocean covered more than ninety percent of the globe. The legend of the Siren was particularly widespread. However, there were several versions. In some tales, sirens were beautiful mermaids with the face of a human and the body of a fish, not only beautiful and sweet-voiced but also kind-hearted, often rescuing drowning sailors. In others, they were like this woman—a human face on a bird's body, with a wicked heart, using their songs to lure sailors to their deaths in the sea.
Bellamy didn't particularly care what a siren's true form was, but he was genuinely surprised that this woman's ability could penetrate his Armament Haki.
"My Armament Haki is a cut above even the old-timers in the New World."
"What is this woman's background?"
He refused to believe that he could just randomly run into someone with such an ability. The powerful figures in this world were mostly famous and had significant backgrounds. Bellamy could name pretty much anyone in the top fifty. But this woman, he had no recollection of her at all. Especially the way she had suddenly transformed from a young woman into an old one. If he had ever seen such a trait, he would surely have a deep impression of it.
"Is she CP0?"
Bellamy had suspected it from the beginning; now he was just more certain.
"Tell me who you are," Bellamy demanded casually, his hand tightening around Stussy's neck. He seemed to have forgotten that one can't speak while being choked.
Stussy desperately used her Armament Haki to resist Bellamy's brutal force. As for his question, she barely had the strength to roll her eyes.
"Damn it! How did I end up in this situation?!"
Before coming to the Boin Archipelago, she never would have imagined that this place could become her grave. This madman who had appeared out of nowhere was far stronger than the intelligence reports had indicated. Bellamy's Armament Haki was not the least bit weaker than her own. How on earth did he cultivate such powerful Haki at his age? Even if he had started training in the womb, there wouldn't have been enough time.
If she had known Bellamy was this strong, Stussy would never have engaged him so rashly. She knew her biggest mistake this time was showing killing intent the moment they met. A man like Bellamy, who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, would have sensed it instantly. Otherwise, with her methods, she wouldn't have failed to even establish a normal conversation.
Stussy clawed at Bellamy's massive hand, trying to fight for a sliver of hope. But in a pure contest of strength, how could she possibly compare to Bellamy in his powered-up state? His hand was now larger than a cattail fan. To say he was holding her by the neck was an understatement; it was more like he was gripping her entire head.
Seeing that she wasn't answering, Bellamy's patience wore thin. He tightened his grip on the woman's head and squeezed.
CRACK!
The sound of shattering bone came from his palm. Bellamy intended to crush Stussy's skull right then and there, a method perfectly in line with his usual brutal nature. It was a truly miserable way to die. Under his crushing force, the old woman wouldn't even have a complete corpse left.
Stussy had never imagined that her end would be so gruesome. As the sound of her skull cracking echoed, she felt her consciousness begin to fade.
"Am I dying?"
To die at the hands of a completely unrelated pirate... it was just too ironic. The Pleasure District was a notorious den of iniquity in the underworld, a place similar in function to the infamous "Lolita Island" of his world. As its queen, Stussy had committed countless sins in her life and had enemies all over the Four Blues. She had considered the possibility of a miserable death at the hands of one of her many foes. But fate had played a cruel joke on her. A boring mission, a strange pirate she had just met for the first time—this was to be her final curtain call.
"If I were twenty years younger, I would never have lost so easily."
In their initial exchange, Bellamy's response to her finger strike had been utterly reckless in her eyes. If her finger had been just a little stronger then, it would have been enough to pierce his neck, and the entire situation would have unfolded differently.
Even now, Stussy didn't understand that Bellamy's greatest strengths were his defense, his recovery, and his endurance. Just piercing his neck wouldn't have had much of an effect on him. Their battle had been far from its most brutal stage. Bellamy hadn't even used his true abilities; he had simply offered up a vital point and easily secured the outcome of the fight.
This woman was too old. Her age no longer allowed her to sustain a long, drawn-out battle. Just like Whitebeard, the difference in combat power between his prime and his old age was like heaven and earth.
Stussy's only chance to turn the tables in this fight had been the moment she controlled Bellamy. If she had a few masters by her side at that time, Bellamy would have suffered a major loss today, perhaps even his life. The utility of such an ability in combat was simply terrifying. In the world of One Piece, such hax-like abilities were rare, but not unheard of. The pirate overlord Rocks's disastrous defeat must have involved the World Government's secret intervention.
Just as Bellamy was about to end the fight, a rush of hurried footsteps came from the distance.
"Captain, what's this?" It was Drake, who had rushed over.
"An enemy. Already taken care of." Without outside interference, this woman stood no chance against him.
"A human face on a bird's body?"
"I feel like I've heard of that characteristic somewhere." With just one glance, Drake seemed to have vaguely guessed the woman's identity. "I remember now. Legend has it that in CP0, there's a female master with a human face and a bird's body."
But was that woman supposed to be this old?
Stussy's aged body made Drake doubt his own guess.
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