The Hyogoro froze on the spot.
After witnessing that earth-shattering strike with his own eyes, Hyogoro naturally didn’t dare harbor even the slightest killing intent toward Lucas.
However, remembering that he had been fortunate enough to encounter Kozuki Momonosuke once several decades ago, Hyogoro recalled the lewd expression that brat had worn when he encountered one of his maids.
He patted the shoulders of Cat and Dog and said,
"Thank you for your hard work. If you ever can’t hold back one day, give him a few more good hits. I’ll take responsibility for it!"
Meanwhile, Lucas appeared several miles away from Udon.
As his Observation Haki rapidly spread outward, he locked onto another direction.
His figure blurred, and he vanished from the spot.
Moving at such incredible speed, Lucas needed only a few minutes to cover more than a dozen miles.
When he saw several figures rushing toward him, a smile appeared on his face.
As expected, walking bags of berries!
BOOM!
A pitch-black arrow suddenly descended from the sky, shooting straight toward the staggering figure fleeing ahead.
The beautiful fleeing figure’s expression changed abruptly. She hurriedly rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding the incoming arrow.
BANG!
The thick rocky ground was pierced straight through.
In the next instant, the arrow embedded diagonally in the rock exploded with a thunderous boom!
A crater half a meter in diameter was blasted into the solid stone.
If that attack had struck a person, it would have punched a bloody hole straight through them!
"Heh heh. Young Master Yamato, I advise you to stop struggling. Before leaving, Boss Kaido specifically ordered us not to let you cause trouble."
High in the sky, a Batman whose upper body was wrapped in bandages grinned viciously.
"Still, we much prefer it when Young Master Yamato struggles as hard as possible. Only then will we have a chance to kill you!"
"Lord Kaido said that if you refuse to obey him and escape Onigashima, we’re permitted to kill you if necessary!"
"Hahaha! Bat, don’t make Lord Kaido sound so heartless. Young Master Yamato is Lord Kaido’s son, after all. At most, we can just make it look like an accident."
On a distant hillside, a Saiga Man and a Rat Man hurried over.
They were by no means unfamiliar with Yamato, this "dutiful son" who was constantly trying to put her own father to death.
During their more than twenty years on Onigashima, they had personally witnessed Kaido attempt to kill Yamato time and again.
In Kaido’s eyes, Yamato was merely an accidental byproduct.
If Yamato hadn’t eaten the Mythical Zoan that granted the form of the Okuchi no Makami, Kaido wouldn’t have paid her the slightest attention.
Because of that, Kaido had repeatedly left Yamato to fend for herself.
If she survived, so be it.
If she didn’t, then this cheap daughter dying was simply her fate.
Under Kaido’s law of survival—the strong prey upon the weak—even staying alive was a luxury for the weak.
"You bastards! I am Kozuki Oden, not some Yamato! If you have the guts, take these Seastone cuffs off me! I’ll show you what despair really is!"
Yamato struggled to her feet. Her long silver hair was already caked with blood and dust.
She glared viciously at the three Gifters who had been pursuing her all this way.
If she hadn’t long since become accustomed to the restrictions imposed by the Seastone cuffs—and if the Seastone in the cuffs weren’t somewhat impure—Yamato knew very well that she wouldn’t have been able to flee this far.
"Young Master Yamato, you really know how to joke around. But we certainly enjoy watching you struggle like this."
The Batman laughed viciously.
"Since you refuse to surrender, don’t blame us for killing you. Even if you scream yourself hoarse in a place like this, no one will come to save you!"
"Attack!"
The instant the Batman finished speaking, the Saiga Man nearby suddenly unleashed his immense strength.
The rocky ground beneath his feet shattered with a crack.
His entire body then shot forward like a ghost, crossing a hundred meters in an instant and appearing directly in front of Yamato.
"So fast!"
Yamato’s expression changed slightly.
With Seastone shackling her body, she had already lost most of her strength.
The fact that she still had enough energy to run was already quite impressive.
Against a fierce battle like this, dealing with three Gifters simultaneously was clearly beyond her current capabilities.
The only thing she could do was hurriedly raise her kanabō and block.
BANG!
Yamato was sent flying by a kick.
She crashed heavily against the rock behind her.
Feeling the weakness spreading throughout her body because of the Seastone, Yamato’s face turned ashen.
"You three bastards! Don’t let me survive! Otherwise, I’ll make you pay!"
In Yamato’s mind, Kaido certainly tried to put her to death from time to time.
But he would never actually kill her.
At least, that was what she believed.
Yet just as that thought surfaced in her mind, a chilling sound of something tearing through the air suddenly rang out.
A pitch-black arrow coated in Armament Haki tore through the sky and appeared directly before her.
Seeing the attack only inches away, Yamato froze.
Was he really going to kill her?
This was completely different from the way she had imagined things would unfold!
Unfortunately, with the attack rapidly expanding in her pupils and the weakness caused by the Seastone cuffs, Yamato simply couldn’t react in time.
In the distance, the Batman’s face lit up with delight at the sight.
But in the next instant, his pupils contracted violently, and his expression became one of utter disbelief.
BANG!
The incoming arrow stopped dead in front of Yamato’s eyes.
A hand had caught it.
With a sudden clench of five fingers, the arrow shattered like paper.
The abrupt turn of events caused the Saiga Man and Rat Man’s expressions to change dramatically.
All three of them were among the Gifters most skilled at pursuit.
Whenever they were dispatched, they could supposedly perceive every movement within a kilometer, no matter how slight.
Otherwise, Kaido would never have entrusted them with monitoring Yamato.
Yet an unexpected intruder had suddenly appeared.
What’s more, he had appeared right under their noses without the slightest warning.
This completely overturned their understanding of their own detection abilities.
"Sorry for interrupting your little performance of screaming yourselves hoarse."
Lucas took a small sip of shōchū and smiled.
"But the twenty million berries I’ve set my sights on isn’t something you can kill."
"The twenty million berries you’ve set your sights on?"
Yamato finally came back to her senses.
"Are you saying Kaido really ordered them to kill me?"
"That can’t be possible! Kaido still wants me to become the shogun of Wano and help him govern this country. He wouldn’t kill me!"
"He wouldn’t kill you?"
Lucas took another sip of shōchū. He couldn’t help laughing at Yamato’s bizarre train of thought.
"Why wouldn’t he?"
"A beast of a father and his absurdly devoted child—that’s exactly the kind of pair who are supposed to love and kill each other."
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