Red light flickered in Carlo's eyes as he looked toward the harbor.
'Is that John?'
The ability Kid had in the manga…
…now, in this era, belonged to someone else.
That someone was the Captain of the John Pirates, the crew famed across the world for plundering treasure—John.
Just as Carlo was thinking this…
Several pirate grunts came running frantically from the town.
'Captain Carlo! Something terrible! The port's under attack! The attacker is… Captain John! Please come and stop him!'
Carlo simply turned away. 'Let someone else deal with it. Don't bother me with such trifles; I'm going home to train.'
'Captain Carlo! Captain Carlo! Wait, please!' The grunts panicked and rushed to block his path.
'Hmm?'
Carlo's gaze turned cold.
A terrifying pressure instantly spread out.
The two grunts dropped to their knees with a thud.
'I said I'm not interested. Let someone else—'
'Maron and Lord Gan Sui… have already been defeated! Captain John is too strong; on Hachinosu, apart from a few squad leaders, I'm afraid no one can stop him!'
The two small pirates were nearly wetting themselves.
Still, they forced down their fear and explained.
'Maron and Gan Sui were both beaten? John's that powerful?' Carlo was surprised.
Yet he kept walking toward his quarters.
'I said I'm not interested. Let Kaido handle it.'
In fact, without anyone telling him, Kaido was already up and running that way.
His weapon had been sucked away; he had to get it back no matter what.
Watching Carlo's departing back, the kneeling pirate shouted, 'Captain John is here for you!'
Carlo's steps halted.
He slowly turned. 'Here for me? Why? I don't even know him…'
'He said…' The trembling pirate clenched his teeth. 'He said he'd drop by to take your head and trade it to the Marines for the bounty…'
A gust of wind swept past.
When the two pirates looked up, Carlo had vanished.
At the same time…
…on the other side, Hachinosu harbor was already in chaos.
Countless metal objects large and small, pulled by an invisible force, flew from the streets and buildings toward a man standing in the road.
Swords and guns in pirates' hands.
Pots and pans from nearby houses.
Even rusted iron buried in the ground.
All were dragged through the air, gathering above the man.
Very quickly, a dense black cloud of metal formed over his head.
Beneath the cloud…
Some tried to stop him or attack.
But without exception, masses of metal blocked them.
Among the blocked were two towering, conspicuous giants wrapped tight by twisted steel and suspended mid-air—
—the Rocks Pirates' two Senior Combatants.
Maron and Gan Sui.
The man wasn't tall,
but carried himself with confidence.
In one hand he casually swigged from a bottle of liquor,
looking perfectly relaxed.
'Hahaha! Heard Hachinosu was loaded; looks like I came to the right place.'
Chest after chest floated down from a pirate ship moored at the port, piling into a hill in front of Captain John.
He sat at ease atop one chest, drinking as he regarded Maron and Gan Sui trussed up in metal.
'I hear there's a huge gold mine on this island. You two Senior Combatants under Rocks must know exactly where it is?'
'A gold mine…' John looked rapt. 'Must've been prepared just for me—no need to dig; I just crook a finger…'
He flicked a finger; the ground split, and clods of earth mixed with metal wreckage shot up, smashing toward Gan Sui in the air.
'…and the gold flies straight into my hand!'
'Tell me where the mine is—or better yet, take me—and maybe I'll graciously let you go…'
'Keep dreaming!' Maron and Gan Sui roared in unison.
'If you hadn't ambushed us, you'd never have handled us so easily!' Gan Sui strained, crooking a finger toward John.
'Die, John!'
'Steel Bomb!'
The metal wreckage John had lifted suddenly swelled and exploded.
In the blazing blast, countless razor-sharp shards shot at John.
John merely waved a hand.
The shards were repelled by an invisible force and shot back at Gan Sui, clanging against the metal armor encasing him.
Looking at Gan Sui wrapped like a turtle in thick plate, John sneered. 'Wearing that in front of me, Gan Sui—asking to die faster?'
He lifted a hand and clenched it at Gan Sui from afar.
'Iron Maiden!'
Gan Sui's heavy armor twisted into an iron coffin, sealing the furiously shouting man inside.
A bas-relief of a beautiful girl appeared on the lid.
John swept his hand downward.
The coffin plummeted toward the cracked ground.
Just then…
Something flashed across the sky at tremendous speed.
It slammed into the coffin.
In the next instant…
The coffin burst through the air like a giant missile, blasting straight at John!
John's pupils shrank; he sprang from the chest and flung both arms outward.
'Repulsion Field!'
Buzz!
A powerful magnetic field appeared, pushing outward.
The coffin screeched to a halt mere meters from him.
'Who's there?'
John narrowed his eyes, trying to spot the attacker.
But the hovering coffin lurched again!
A black war-hammer smashed into its rear like a bat, shattering it.
Gan Sui, armor shattered, shot out like a cannonball and slammed head-first into the startled John.
Bang!
Caught off guard, John was driven by Gan Sui's helmeted head into the pile of chests and through a house.
Inside the holed house, a dazed Gan Sui opened his eyes and, seeing John, roared, 'John! I'll kill—'
'Get lost—I've no time for a booger like you!'
John's face darkened; he swept his right hand.
Iron bars burst through the walls, twisting into a serpent dozens of meters long that seized Gan Sui and plunged straight into the sea!
Brushing himself off, John stood and looked outside.
The instant he raised his head—
BOOM!!
The entire roof exploded, and a black war-hammer came cleaving down at him.
'Heard you were looking for me, Captain John?'