Chapter 12: Team Wipeout
"Bad luck?"
Apollo shook his head with a smile and looked to the side, "Kuro, do you have anything to say?"
Kuro gave him an expressionless look. "Mr. Apollo, my name is Klahadore, not Kuro."
Apollo said nothing more, only pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, tossed it forward, and watched it float slowly onto the deck.
Everyone looked closely, then all stiffened, unconsciously stepping a few paces away from Kuro.
It was a wanted poster.
Captain of the Black Cat Pirates, Kuro of a Hundred Plans, bounty 16,000,000 Berries!
And the person in the image looked exactly like Klahadore.
Kaya was particularly shocked, looking at Kuro in disbelief. "Klahadore, you… you're a pirate?"
Kuro ignored her, pushed up his glasses with his wrist, and chuckled a few times. "Heh, when did you find out?"
"The first time I saw you," Apollo said indifferently.
"It seems you didn't tell the young lady," Kuro said, looking at the shocked Kaya.
"Because you disguised yourself very well, and I didn't have enough evidence," Apollo smiled.
"Of course, I'm also very curious. What is a great pirate with a bounty of 16,000,000 Berries doing, lurking beside a young girl? It's probably not just about money!"
He actually knew, but it would be more convincing if Kuro said it himself, and it would make Kaya completely despair of him.
Hadn't he waited this long just for this?
He believed Kuro wouldn't disappoint him.
"Money? Of course not!"
Kuro's face seemed to be covered in a shadow; his expression hadn't changed, yet it suddenly became ferocious. "Heh heh heh... besides money, I want stability!"
Perhaps thinking he had the upper hand, he slowly began to narrate his plan.
Including faking his death to escape, pretending to be a good person to gain Kaya's trust, and finally, the elaborate scheme of deception.
"For the past two years, I, who was once known as Captain Kuro, have humbly served this snot-nosed little girl. I endured this humiliation."
Kuro's face was filled with murderous intent. "It was all for that day in the future—to kill her!"
Kaya was already in tears, looking at him in disbelief.
Apollo gently rubbed her hair to comfort her and asked, "The three years aren't up yet. Are you already so impatient to make your move?"
"No! Today is only to get rid of you!"
Kuro's face suddenly became calm again.
"Originally, my plan was going very well, but your arrival changed everything!"
"I absolutely will not let a plan that has been two years in the making fail, so I can only kill you!
According to my plan, the young lady would hide in the cabin, completely safe and sound.
By the time she came out, everything would be over.
We would all be heroes who protected the young lady and fought pirates!"
He paused, adjusting his glasses. "I didn't expect you to suddenly become foolish, not letting the young lady leave, which made the plan less perfect.
But it doesn't matter. As long as Jango hypnotizes Kaya to forget what happened today, everything will still proceed according to my plan!"
"Excellent! Very good!" Apollo clapped his hands, admiration in his eyes.
Although Kuro's plan wasn't overly complex, if there were no unexpected factors, the probability of success was extremely high.
Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes; some things cannot be solved by strategy.
His plan was destined to fail!
Apollo said lightly, "Kuro, you are skilled in calculations, but you overlooked one thing: any plan must be built on a foundation of strength!
I don't need any schemes, I don't need any plans. The moment you reveal your true colors, I can simply reach out and give a gentle squeeze like this, and everything will be resolved!"
"Heh heh... it seems you've spent too much time with that person named Usopp, and you've learned to boast too!"
Kuro scoffed dismissively.
Squeeze him to death?
What a joke!
He didn't believe such a powerful person existed in the world.
He waved his hands, donned his signature weapon, the Ten-Blade 'Cat Claws,' and then slowly walked towards Apollo. "Jango, the rest of them are yours."
"Don't worry, Captain Kuro,"
Jango promised, thumping his chest.
No one knew Kuro's terror better than him.
The scenes of their journey together were still vivid in his mind; that was a powerful strength capable of killing an entire pirate crew by himself.
Although he had lived a peaceful life for over two years, he knew this man had not forgotten how to fight.
His signature gesture of pushing up his glasses with his wrist, developed to prevent the Ten-Blade Cat Claws from scratching his eyes, still remained.
"Teacher!" Kaya bit her lip tightly, her expression tense.
Apollo patted her hand and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, he's just a clown!
If I didn't want you to see his true colors, I would have dealt with him long ago."
He looked at Kuro again. "Do you think I'm bluffing?
You probably don't know that I am fully aware of all your actions, including you contacting the Black Cat Pirates today while Kaya and I were out for a meal.
You would never have imagined that I actually deliberately left that opportunity for you."
Hearing this, Kuro's expression finally changed.
His contact with Jango was top secret; how could it have been discovered?
A guess? Or... "No matter the reason, as long as I kill him, everything will be over!"
Kuro's eyes blazed with murderous intent, and his body seemed to transform into a ghost, silently sweeping towards Apollo.
"Alright, the farce should end now!" Apollo gently raised his palm and pressed it down.
Kuro's ferocious expression suddenly froze.
Very abruptly, a hand appeared before him, fair and slender, with distinct knuckles, fingers spread, and slightly bent.
"When?" Kuro's heart turned cold.
He hadn't noticed how Apollo had moved next to him at all.
Time seemed to have been cut short.
"This is impossible," he murmured silently.
He knew that his greatest skill and pride was speed, and he simply couldn't believe that someone's speed could reach such a level.
No matter what he thought, the fact remained.
That palm gently landed on his face, and Kuro instantly lost consciousness; his face collapsed downwards, and his head became twisted.
In the last moment of his life, he suddenly remembered Apollo's words—that he could be squeezed to death with a mere hand—and realized it wasn't an exaggeration at all.
Boom!
Wood splinters flew, and a large hole was smashed into the deck. Kuro lay there, completely lifeless.
The world suddenly fell silent, with only Apollo's slightly disappointed voice echoing.
"Too weak!"
So weak that the battle ended before he even felt anything.
Jango looked at the motionless Kuro, his mind unable to process it for a moment. "Why did he just lie down?"
A few seconds later, the skinny, hunchbacked man with green hair from the Black Cat Pirates sneered disdainfully. "It seems Kuro has become useless after two years of peaceful life, to actually lose to this kind of..."
Slap.
A crisp slapping sound rang out.
Before he could finish his sentence, his body flew up, one side of his face a bloody mess, eyes rolled back, losing consciousness before he even hit the ground.
Apollo's figure appeared in the hunchbacked skinny man's original position.
He looked at his palm and muttered, "I think I killed someone."
And two of them!
"I don't feel anything."
Apollo shook his head.
No panic, no dizziness, no nausea—nothing at all, just as normal as eating and drinking.
When he killed Kuro, he hadn't even realized he had killed someone.
However, it was somewhat expected.
His will had long been as tough as steel; killing would not shake his mind at all.
"Sham!"
The fat man next to him roared in grief and lunged at Apollo.
Apollo lightly raised his palm, and with a "slap," another strike was delivered.
This time, it was harder and fiercer; the fat man's head spun 360 degrees, almost twisting off, making it clear to anyone that he wouldn't survive.
"Sham, Buchi."
Cold sweat broke out on Jango's forehead.
Kuro was the ace of the original Black Cat Pirates, and the fat and skinny Nyaban Brothers were the aces of the current Black Cat Pirates.
Neither of the two aces was someone he could deal with.
Yet, in front of this terrifying man, they were like toys.
"Kuro, you've ruined me!"
Jango cursed inwardly, then forced a smile. "This is a misunderstanding. I'm actually a victim too; Kuro forced me to come. If I didn't, he would have killed me."
Apollo sneered, ignoring him, and softly said to Kaya, "Kaya, you go back and rest first. I'll take care of things here and be there soon."
The upcoming scene was not suitable for her.
"Okay, Teacher."
Kaya obediently replied and turned to return to the cabin.
Jango's eyes flickered, wondering whether to abduct the young lady to force that terrifying man to let him go.
After much thought, he gave up.
From the way Kuro and the two men died, it was clear that the man's speed was terrifying.
There was no chance of success at all!
Once Kaya entered the cabin, Jango knew he couldn't hesitate anymore.
He knelt down with a thud. "Please spare my life! Whatever your demands, I will agree."
A strange smile appeared on Apollo's face. "My demand is that you all go to hell!"
"No!"
Jango was terrified, but before he could react, he felt the world spin, and his consciousness rapidly blurred.
As he fell, his gaze happened to catch the back, where the Black Cat Pirates were falling like mown wheat.
Even more terrifying was that despite people constantly dying, he still couldn't see who was doing it.
"If apologies worked, what would we need the Marines for? I'm not as merciful as the Straw Hat Pirates."
Apollo lowered his hand, turned, and walked towards the cabin, instructing, "Clean this up!"
The only three breathing people left instinctively tensed their bodies. "Yes!"