"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Two guards looked at the maid carrying a bucket and mop with confusion. This was a "restricted area," and usually, the captured servants stayed as far away as possible. They wouldn't even come close unless they were specifically ordered to clean.
Thud. Thud.
Both guards collapsed to the ground as Sanji's figure slowly emerged from behind them.
"So jealous…"
Luffy and Chopper stared at Sanji with wide, sparkling eyes, but Sanji just snorted proudly.
"If it weren't for Pudding, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this Vinsmoke outfit…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever~~"
Roman waved him off, unimpressed. He was all talk. If Pudding wasn't keeping such a close watch, Sanji would've probably used his invisibility to sneak into the women's bathhouse by now.
By the way, all four Vinsmoke brothers were perverts, and not even genetic modifications could suppress their instincts. Which probably meant that when Vinsmoke Judge was younger, he wasn't exactly a gentleman either.
"This is the place, Lady Pudding."
A girl with curly black hair, Liya, hesitated before pointing to a room behind two guards.
"This is where they often bring food…"
"Isn't this… the underground chamber where Mom used to keep rare creatures?"
So it was still being used to hold "living things," except now, the prisoners were the former rulers of this place.
"Well, let's take a look~~"
Since nothing unusual had happened along the way, was the trap hidden inside the dungeon below?
Even though Liya hadn't shown any signs of betrayal and had safely led the Straw Hat Crew so far, Roman wasn't letting his guard down.
After all, some traps didn't require the person leading them to be aware of it. It was possible that Liya herself was in the dark, making it a perfect setup…
"Hehehe, I can sense a lot of people down there~~"
Luffy suddenly pushed the door open and barged in, but Roman didn't try to stop him.
With his advanced Haki—Observation, Armament, even Future Sight—there weren't many traps in this world that could pose a real threat to him anymore.
—Unless, of course, the plot randomly made Luffy forget he even had Haki, which would be ridiculous.
"Let's go!"
With Luffy leading the charge, Roman stepped onto the spiraling staircase going downward, and the rest of the Straw Hat Crew followed close behind. Robin even took Liya along.
After all, the Straw Hat Crew wasn't the type to use someone and then abandon them. They would make sure she got out safely.
?
Deep in the prison, the muffled sounds of movement made Charlotte Katakuri, who was shackled by Seastone chains, slowly lift his eyelids.
Even though he had already "seen" what was coming, he still couldn't help but be surprised.
"Hehehe~~ Mochi Man, so this is where you've been!"
As he looked at Luffy standing before him, along with a group of freed Charlotte family members, Katakuri fell silent, unsure of what to say.
But in the end, he spoke anyway.
"Even though you already 'know,' I still want to say… thanks."
Two people with Future Sight running into each other—it was like a riddle that never ended.
Roman, standing behind Luffy, glanced at Katakuri, who was still bound by the Seastone chains.
"You know what I'm about to do—"
Relax. Don't resist.
Slash!!
With a flash of his black Inazuma blade, Roman didn't bother trying to pick the lock or find a key.
Instead, he went with the simplest and fastest method—he just cut off Katakuri's arms.
"Katakuri-nii?!"
"I'm fine."
Amidst the shocked gasps of the freed Charlotte family members, Katakuri calmly reattached his severed arms using mochi.
Then, with a snap of Roman's fingers, the "surgical ability" was lifted, and Katakuri flexed his arms—fully intact, as if nothing had happened.
"Thank you all… I understand now."
"Pudding, thank you."
"Katakuri—"
"I'm really glad… to see you like this."
"Hey, hey, stop showing off your future sight already! You're taking all the lines for yourself!"
Roman was speechless. He was starting to think there was no point in even explaining things to Katakuri—after all, he could just use his "future sight" to figure it out.
But then, that created a paradox. If Roman explained, Katakuri would already know, so the explanation wasn't needed. But if Roman didn't explain, how would Katakuri know in the first place?
Tsk, tsk… thinking about it this way, "future sight" was actually pretty interesting.
"Alright, members of the Charlotte family, here's the situation..."
Even if he didn't explain to Katakuri, Roman still had to explain things to the rest of the Charlotte siblings. After quickly summarizing why they were there, he glanced around.
"Where's Perospero? I don't see him—"
"Big brother Perospero, he..."
"He was in battle..."
Seeing the silence from the rest of the Charlotte family, Roman understood. Looks like poor Perospero had fallen at the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates.
What bad luck. He was actually one of the more rational ones.
"Anyway, let's save the rest for after we get out of here."
If the "trap" hadn't sprung by now, there was only one explanation left—
With a *whoosh*, sheets of bright green paper flew out from Roman's body, swirling around the Charlotte siblings. In an instant, their weakened, drained bodies were filled with energy again.
At the same time, these upgraded "Blood Recovery Papers" had been soaked in Chopper's specially made medicine.
Stopping bleeding and restoring energy was just the basics—they could even heal wounds without leaving scars. Otherwise, after all the fights they had been through, the Straw Hat Crew would've looked like a bunch of scar-covered wild pirates by now.
Good, Cracker and Smoothie were here too.
With Roman's "Blood Recovery Papers" providing a massive boost of life force, the worn-out Charlotte officers immediately perked up! Weapons and armor formed from their Devil Fruit abilities landed in their hands, saving Roman the trouble of arming them himself.
"By the way, are you the one leading the way?"
Standing before the towering (five-meter-tall) Katakuri, a petite black-haired girl nodded rapidly. If she had a tail, it would probably be wagging like crazy...
"You live on 'Sugar Street 64,' and your father works under Lord Nozet as a clerk? His name is Hel, right?"
"Uh… my father's name is Gott, Lord Katakuri."
"Hmm, looks like I got that wrong."
While Katakuri subtly tested the girl leading the way, Roman turned to look at his captain.
"Luffy—"
Meeting Roman's gaze, Luffy adjusted his straw hat and nodded.
"Leave it to me!"
Since the rescue had gone surprisingly smoothly, it was now Luffy's turn to take action.
*Boom!*
With a powerful kick, Luffy blasted open the doors. As he charged forward, he suddenly reached to the side—grabbing a bullet that had silently curved toward him from the shadows.
The high-speed spinning bullet stopped right in his palm, causing Van Augur to sigh.
"Even a precious Seastone bullet couldn't hurt him… this must be fate."
"I've seen this kind of attack before—back when I fought Uncle Garp."
Striding forward, Luffy opened his hand slightly. The Seastone bullet, which had lost all its momentum, helplessly dropped to the floor with a soft *clink*.
Just like Roman had said, with "future sight" and advanced Haki, sneak attacks were basically useless against Luffy—unless he suddenly forgot how to fight.
As for why they weren't using "Air Doors" to escape?
For one, the Straw Hat Crew still had the job of drawing out the Blackbeard Pirates. And two, Roman simply didn't have the power to take so many people through at once.
Even the original owner of the fruit, Blueno, couldn't do that.
But just as Roman expected, the real challenge was here.
"Blackbeard!!"
"Teach—"
As Luffy led the way, the Straw Hat Crew followed, along with the rescued Charlotte siblings.
The moment they saw the group waiting calmly in the distance, with Teach standing front and center, the air filled with the sound of gritted teeth.
There was no such thing as a bloodless battle. Aside from Big Mom, plenty of Charlotte family members had fallen to the Blackbeard Pirates.
Now that they were face to face with their enemy, their rage was impossible to contain!
"Zehahaha! Well, well… how are things going?"
The towering Teach didn't seem to care about the furious glares of the Charlotte siblings. Instead, he casually turned to his officers behind him.
"I knew it. With Straw Hat's personality, saving the Charlotte family would be his top priority. If it were me, I would've used this chance to take down a few enemy commanders! Weakening their forces is way better than rescuing a bunch of losers!"
"Murururu~ Good thing you're not the one we're fighting, Admiral~~"
Hands on her hips, Catarina Devon let out her signature laugh. Even though the Blackbeard Pirates were confident in their strength, if their boss was serious about setting up an ambush, even Shiryuu would barely have time to strike a dignified final pose…
"There's no difference—"
Luffy took a big step forward, staring straight at Marshall D. Teach.
"As long as I beat you down here, everything will be settled!"
"Zehahaha~~"
Blackbeard threw his head back in laughter, slightly lowering his stance. He raised a clenched fist, his muscles tightening like stretched steel cables, ready to unleash their full power!
Whoosh—
That stance…?!
Before Roman could even react, Luffy had already dashed forward. His fist, coated in Conqueror's Haki and crackling with black lightning, swung straight at Blackbeard's incoming punch without any hesitation.
"Not a chance!"
Crack—!!
The clash of the Quake-Quake Fruit's power and Conqueror's Haki erupted, black and white energy colliding in a space-shattering impact! The black lightning and blinding white shockwaves burst outward, expanding endlessly from the point of impact between their fists. Buildings crumbled, the poor Cake Tower was torn apart, and a massive, destructive force split the battlefield like an unbreakable wall, dividing the world in two.
"Zehahaha! So, you've reached that level too?"
Blackbeard glanced at the black lightning wrapped around Luffy's fist, grinning with his signature gap-toothed smirk.
He laughed wildly, but there was an unmistakable frustration in his tone.
"I envy you chosen ones… Born with great bloodlines, trained by the best teachers, handed powerful Devil Fruits like they were gifts! Meanwhile, I've spent decades fighting tooth and nail for this power, while you so-called 'fated' ones claim it in just a few short years!"
"Enough talk, Teach!!"
Luffy glared at his longtime enemy.
"My strength comes from fighting alongside my crew! And if I let you land that punch—"
"Zehahaha! I knew you could see the future! That's exactly what I wanted!"
Blackbeard grinned as their fists clashed, locking in a power struggle.
Luffy's expression suddenly changed as he whipped his head around—
"Roman, watch out!!"
"Too late."
A clear voice rang out.
The girl who had been cowering behind Roman just moments ago—Liya—suddenly smiled.
A dense black mist erupted from her hand as she touched Roman's palm!
In an instant, his Devil Fruit powers were stripped away.
The black mist then began spinning rapidly, forming a vortex in the air!
Roman, now powerless, had no time to react. He couldn't even use Haki before being sucked into the swirling darkness, disappearing without a trace—?!
Just like that, their invincible strategist was gone?
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marshall D. Liya."
The short-haired maid slightly lifted her dress and gave a polite bow to the stunned Straw Hat Crew and the Charlotte siblings.
"Teach is my older brother. And yes, our father's name really was Xebec…"
"ROMAN!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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