"Bastard! You're asking for it!"
"Guys, get him! Take down that gunman!"
The companions of the two men who were shot in the head immediately roared in anger and charged at the man in the headscarf by the door.
"You're the ones asking for it."
The man in the headscarf narrowed his eyes slightly, put away his double-barreled pistol, and pulled out two tonfa with rounded ends. In one swift motion, he dashed through the group of thugs.
When he stopped in front of their leader, the obese man, the entire tavern fell silent.
Behind him, every single one of the thugs collapsed to the floor, lifeless.
The previously smug, obese leader turned pale as a sheet. "You bastard! You killed my men! I'll make you pay for that!"
Shouting, he drew his twin axes and swung them at the man in the headscarf with all his might.
"Pathetic!" The headscarfed man scoffed, effortlessly shattering one of the axes with a single strike from his tonfa. Another quick strike landed squarely on the obese man's face, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the opposite wall.
"You bastard! What did you do to my tavern?!" The tavern owner's face twisted in anger.
Takumi and Rayleigh remained silent, both staring at the man in the headscarf.
Rayleigh didn't recognize him, but Takumi did.
It was Gin, the Demon Man, and the commander of the Krieg Pirates.
Krieg was the pirate captain Takumi had taken down at Baratie.
"Kid, I've been looking for you!" Gin snarled, his eyes filled with fury as he glared at Takumi.
When Krieg had gone to Baratie, Gin hadn't accompanied him because he had another mission.
When he found out that Krieg had been killed, he nearly lost it.
Gin was the most loyal member of the Krieg Pirates.
Driven by the need for revenge, Gin had been searching for Takumi ever since.
That's why he was here now.
Takumi stared at him with a hint of annoyance.
Gin was known for being ruthless and merciless, but also for repaying his debts.
If this were the original storyline, Gin would have been indebted to Sanji, and even knocked out Krieg to repay that debt.
But now that Krieg was dead by Takumi's hand, and Takumi had no debt to Gin, it was only natural for Gin to come after him.
"Oh? It seems there's quite a deep grudge between you two," Rayleigh said, still wearing his amused, spectator's smile as he took another drink.
The tavern owner, on the other hand, was furious. "Whatever grudge you have, don't settle it in my tavern! Look at this, you've broken several of my tables!"
Gin's face twisted in anger, and he turned his menacing gaze toward the tavern owner.
He pulled out his double-barreled pistol and fired a shot straight at him.
The tavern owner flinched in terror.
Rayleigh, still holding a bottle of booze in one hand, drew his sword with the other.
As the bullet flew towards them, Rayleigh deftly redirected its path with the flat of his blade.
The bullet whizzed past the tavern owner's hair, smashing into the liquor shelf behind him, shattering a bottle.
Gin frowned slightly.
Rayleigh, on the other hand, sighed in disappointment. "What a waste of good booze."
"Hmph!" Gin snorted, turning his focus back to Takumi.
Without another word, he fired several more shots at Takumi, then charged forward with his tonfa.
Takumi calmly tilted his head, dodging each bullet with ease.
As Gin closed in, Takumi drew his sword, Toya Lake.
Time to test out the Divine Departure technique.
With a flash of his eyes, Takumi swung his blade, infusing his strikes with swirling Haki.
The Haki-infused sword energy seemed almost sentient, twisting and turning to dodge Gin's tonfa before striking him directly in the back.
Gin spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing face-first onto the floor, unconscious.
"That... that was incredible!" The tavern owner was stunned.
Rayleigh, who had been watching with a relaxed expression, suddenly tensed up when Takumi used that technique.
"Wait a minute..." Rayleigh muttered in surprise. "Was that... Divine Departure?"
Takumi quietly sheathed Toya Lake and took a drink from his bottle.
Rayleigh's eyes widened as he looked at Takumi.
He was certain—Takumi had just used Divine Departure!
That was one of Roger's sword techniques.
Even if someone understood the principles behind it, most couldn't replicate it.
Even with natural talent, it required years of rigorous training to master.
But Takumi, this kid, had done it effortlessly.
Rayleigh had been skeptical when Shanks said Takumi had the potential to shake the world in the future.
Now, he believed it.
A boy who could easily master one of Roger's sword techniques...
There was no way he was ordinary.
"Aren't you going to hide?" Takumi asked flatly, taking another sip of his drink.
Rayleigh snapped out of his thoughts, finally noticing the sounds of Marines approaching from the alley outside, drawn by the commotion.
This kid's observation Haki is excellent, Rayleigh thought, glancing at Takumi with newfound admiration.
Rayleigh chuckled, got to his feet, and looked at the tavern owner. "Mind if I hide out in your storeroom for a bit?"
The tavern owner, confused but compliant, nodded.
Rayleigh strolled into the storeroom where the tavern kept its liquor.
Moments later, Smoker burst in with a group of Marines.
Seeing the corpses scattered across the floor, Smoker's brows furrowed. His eyes then landed on Takumi, who was casually drinking at the bar as if nothing had happened.
That kid again... Did he kill all these men?
Smoker turned to his men. "Take these bodies outside."
"Yes, sir!" The Marines sprang into action, dragging the bodies away.
Smoker sat down next to Takumi.
His gaze fell on the empty bottle next to him.
"Did you drink that bottle too?" Smoker asked, narrowing his eyes.
Takumi glanced at Rayleigh's empty bottle and continued drinking, ignoring Smoker's question.
Seeing that Takumi wasn't going to answer him, Smoker turned to the tavern owner and said, "Give me a glass of rum."
The tavern owner coldly replied, "There's no booze here for you!"
Smoker didn't seem to care about the tavern owner's frosty attitude. Using his smoke, he grabbed a bottle from the shelf, popped it open, and took a swig.
"Kid, did you kill those men?" Smoker asked, his face impassive.
"No," Takumi replied calmly.
Just then, one of the Marines called out, "Captain Smoker! There's one still alive!"
Smoker turned to see the Marine hauling up a man. When Smoker saw the man's face, he raised an eyebrow. "This is Gin, the Demon Man? The commander of the Krieg Pirates? I remember Krieg died a few days ago, and Gin's been hunting down the guy who killed him. But why is he here? Does that mean... you're the one who killed Krieg?"
Smoker turned his surprised gaze back to Takumi.
But Takumi just kept drinking, as if the whole thing had nothing to do with him.
********
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