The deeper I walked through the dark forest, the more I felt that my soul was being challenged. At the same time, all of my senses seemed to sharpen themselves to their full potential, as if they knew I was approaching a potentially dangerous situation.
The bluish moonlight would occasionally make its way through the thick forest, but it served no purpose other than to add a sense of aesthetic appeal to the otherwise gloomy environment I was surrounded by. Behind the tree branches that are covered in leaves, there is an eerie sound that can be heard every once in a while. Although I am certain that it is the sound of a bird, given that this island is still in the prehistoric era, it is also possible that it is the sound of another species of dangerous dinosaur.
In the end, I successfully broke free of the forest's hold on me when I discovered an open field. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but verdant grass taller than me, creating a new impression that piqued my interest in further investigating the area.
I planned to go to the highest mountain peak I had seen from the beach. The bright red glow that was visible in the night sky, which most likely originated from an explosion of hot lava, was what drew my attention.
I had just taken a step when I became aware of a frantic movement coming from the tall grass. This feeling of being followed was very familiar, and sure enough, a small head of a dinosaur appeared from behind the grass, not just one but many.
"fuck!... you scared the crap out of me!" Lately, for some reason, I've become easily irritated. Therefore, I didn't want to waste my time and immediately dealt with each of them with one attack where the body of this tiny carnivorous monster was sent flying in all directions.
After making my way through several other challenging landscapes and coming face to face with various herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs, I arrived at the mountainside. A short while later, I would be able to look into the active crater that was filled with lava.
"I didn't see wrong, right? What is a girl like her doing in this place?"
I didn't anticipate running into anyone else on this island, so when I turned around, I did so with some trepidation. To my surprise, two other people were standing nearby, and after carefully looking at them, I thought I recognized them.
The woman's striking appearance, along with her peculiar umbrella and male companion, who always appeared to be in a bad mood, triggered the memory of the incident on Kyuka Island, where we met two individuals who claimed to be members of Baroque Works.
"Ahh... look, Mr. 5, like I said, I really recognize this girl... if she's here that means they're also on this island, right?"
I didn't understand her words at first, but then, all of a sudden, a thought popped into my head that seemed to be designed to assist me in quickly unraveling the mystery.
"Wait, where are you going? I won't let you go back and tell your friends," The man standing next to Miss. I was a little hesitant about whether to fight them because, judging from their overly relaxed attitude, I knew they couldn't be underestimated.
"Are you sure you want to fight a marine? The punishment for your crime will be very big, you better stop now."
"kyahahaha, I didn't expect a little girl like you to be smart enough to make such threats, But don't worry, even if we kill a low-ranking marine like you, your superiors won't dare take revenge on Baroque Works."
I knew they wouldn't listen to me, and I understood right away that their objective was to get what Luffy had taken away from them, "I'm also surprised that an old lady like you can still do heavy tasks like this. Baroque Works is really cruel to keep you employed."
"Kiro Kiro!... you really annoy me, you Bitch!..."
Seeing her body suddenly floating high into the sky surprised me. However, shortly after that, I noticed that Mr. 5 was using his Den Den Mushi to communicate with someone else, and this is what caused my eyebrows to furrow.
'If I go back to the ship now, it seems like it's too late... *sigh... even though it annoys me to admit it, the presence of Luffy and Captain Hina on the ship relieves me.'
"10 kilos!... 100 kilos!... kyahahaha, I can't wait to see your delicate body get destroyed by me... 1000 kilos!... kyahahaha!... 10,000 kilos!"
People like her who have a lot of confidence but don't have the strength to support it always amaze me. In order to defend myself against her predictable attack, all I needed to do was apply a small amount of force while stepping to the side with my feet. This caused her to lose her target and fall free before she landed on the empty ground.
*Bam!
"Arghnn... Mr. 5, don't just stay there and help me!" An irritated Miss Valentine's voice could be heard from within the quite deep crater.
I was just getting ready to beef up my defenses against her partner when, all of a sudden, there was a huge explosion right in front of my face. My body, which had not been prepared to take the impact, went flying backward and landed with a loud bang on the mountain rocks. But that wasn't the end of it. After I landed hard, a series of explosions began to rain down on me, and the large rocks in the area immediately began to shatter.
*Cough
Following a series of violent coughs, I could detect a slight taste of blood in my mouth. My eyebrows immediately rose in surprise because it had been a long time since I had been injured since I returned to the Grand Line with Luffy.
Before I could stand up, I felt a strong wind pressure and heard high-pitched laughter getting closer and closer. When I saw Miss Valentine's body land right in front of my eyes, right at the spot where her knees were about to slam into my chest, it was as if time stopped moving altogether.
*BAM!!!
The impact felt more powerful this time than before when it seemed as though my ribs had been broken and crushed inside. My mouth opened up, and with it, a groan of agony followed by the spattering of some blood.
Fortunately, I could coat my chest with Haki in the last few seconds, so my wound wasn't as bad as it looked. I even had time to hold Miss Valentine's hand before I stood up and gave her a pretty good kick to the stomach.
All the air in her lungs had to be thrown out. Miss Valentine didn't seem to believe that I was still okay with her attack just now. But my next lift didn't give her a chance to think. Instead, I managed to deliver a series of consecutive kicks that caused her body to sink into the rocks.