Caribou stared at Lancelot with utter contempt, his gaze as if looking down on an insignificant minor character, filled with disdain.
He sneered, "Hmph, with such pitiful attacks, you actually think you can hurt me? Don't be naive... Rear Admiral, just accept your fate quietly!"
With that, Caribou's body suddenly shuddered violently.
His entire form began to rapidly soften and deform, and in the blink of an eye, his abdomen transformed into a swamp.
Shockingly, this muddy morass seemed to conceal countless secrets, because the next moment, Caribou pulled out a pitch-black machine gun from the seemingly bottomless mud.
Gripping the machine gun's handle with both hands, he unhesitatingly aimed the barrel at Lancelot and madly pulled the trigger.
Instantly, tongues of flame spat out as a dense hail of bullets whistled toward Lancelot.
Faced with such a sudden assault, Lancelot was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure.
When he clearly saw the weapon in Caribou's hands and the attack being launched, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily, and he cursed inwardly.
'What an idiot...'
Before this, Mr. 5 had always been regarded by Lancelot as the most useless individual.
Despite possessing the immensely powerful Paramecia-type Bomb-Bomb Fruit, he only ever used it to pick his nose and flick his boogers, utterly squandering the potential of what should have been an excellent Devil Fruit.
He single-handedly dragged down both his own and the fruit's power and reputation by several notches.
Yet the Caribou now standing before him left Lancelot utterly speechless.
As a Logia-type Swamp-Swamp Fruit Ability User, with just minimal development of its techniques, he could have established himself in the New World and become a formidable power.
But this guy actually used it almost like the Paramecia-type Castle-Castle Fruit, completely failing to leverage the fruit's inherent advantages and unique characteristics.
It was nothing short of a waste of this precious Devil Fruit!
With a casual wave of his hand!
Instantly, a powerful force surged from his palm, forming what seemed like an invisible wall.
The dense barrage of bullets rapidly shooting toward him, upon encountering this force, abruptly halted as if meeting immense resistance.
Then, the bullets reversed direction like a flock of commanded birds, shooting straight back at Caribou.
"Thud, thud, thud, thud..."
A series of dense, muffled impacts echoed.
Every single bullet struck Caribou's body with unerring accuracy.
This sudden turn of events left Caribou stunned, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Clearly, he hadn't anticipated his attack being so effortlessly deflected and returned.
Although, being a Logia Ability User, he sustained no actual damage.
Nevertheless, Caribou couldn't help but reassess Lancelot, a flicker of surprise and confusion in his eyes.
Lancelot's displayed strength had caught him off guard.
After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, "I never expected... you actually possess such capabilities..."
But before he could finish, his tone abruptly shifted, his face once again contorting into an expression of contempt and disdain.
"Hmph, so what if you have some skills? I already told you, your attacks are completely useless against me... So, consider yourself unlucky to have crossed paths with me today..."
As Caribou rambled on, spewing nonsense with flying spittle, Lancelot had grown impatient.
He muttered under his breath, "Noisy!"
Simultaneously, he swiftly raised his right leg, the muscles tensing like a fully drawn bow.
Then, without hesitation, he forcefully kicked off, propelling himself toward Caribou like an arrow released from its string.
In the blink of an eye, his sharp, powerful kick slammed squarely into Caribou's abdomen.
A loud crash echoed: "BOOM..."
Caribou was sent flying like a cannonball, propelled by that terrifying force!
Under such immense impact, his body contorted into a bow shape, as if every bone in his body were on the verge of snapping.
His mouth gaped wide, his already extended tongue nearly vomiting out.
His eyes bulged like copper bells, eyeballs seemingly about to roll out of their sockets.
At this moment, the disdain and arrogance that once filled his face had completely vanished, replaced only by a deep look of terror.
It must be known that ever since he swallowed that mysterious Swamp-Swamp Fruit, he had never truly experienced the sensation of pain.
Yet just moments ago, that solid kick made him once again understand what pain truly felt like.
This agony surged forth like a tidal wave, rapidly spreading to every nerve ending in his body, making him genuinely feel the threat of death closing in step by step.
"BOOM..."
Everything happened far too quickly.
Accompanied by a deafening crash, Caribou slammed violently into the hard wall not far away.
In an instant, his entire body exploded like a bomb, shattering into countless tiny mud droplets that splattered in all directions.
These mud droplets fell like a sudden downpour, enveloping the entire tavern in a thick layer of muck.
The once clean and tidy floor, tables, chairs, and even the walls were now stained a dirty, earthy yellow, making it almost unbearable to witness the chaotic scene before them.
"Whoosh..."
Everything occurred too fast, like a bolt from the blue, instantly shattering the tavern's originally noisy and chaotic atmosphere, startling everyone present and making their hearts tremble.
Simultaneously, people panicked and scrambled to dodge, afraid of getting splattered by the filthy mud droplets.
At the same time, all eyes turned toward the tavern's entrance, eager to find out what had just happened.
When their gazes finally focused on the doorway, a figure gradually came into clear view!
"A Marine?"
Everyone wore expressions of astonishment, unable to comprehend why a Marine would appear on this island.
But when they clearly saw Lancelot's appearance, the reactions among the crowd varied greatly.
Some wore undisguised displeasure, clearly unhappy about Lancelot's arrival as a Marine and the mess he had caused; others widened their eyes, their faces overflowing with shock, evidently recognizing Lancelot's identity while feeling utterly surprised by his presence here.
And another group's expressions were even more exaggerated—their faces turned pale with fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably as if they had seen something extremely terrifying.
These vastly different reactions precisely reflected each person's distinct background and their ability to gather information.
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