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"Hmph!"
Kuro quickly hid his shock and snorted.
"I'm Klahadore. I don't know who this 'Kuro' is, and I'm definitely not a pirate."
He kept his face calm, but he subtly checked the claws hidden inside his gloves.
If things really went south…Then there was only one option—no turning back.
He'd spent years on this plan. He wasn't about to let it fall apart now.
"Kuro, huh?" Zoro seemed to remember something.
"Yeah, I've heard of him. Big-time pirate, bounty of sixteen million Berries, I think."
"But I thought the Navy caught him after I set out to sea. Did he escape or something?"
"He didn't escape," Bai Ye said, cutting in, eyes still locked on Kuro."He was never caught in the first place."
"What?" Zoro was stunned. "You mean the Navy got the wrong guy? That's nuts!"
Before Bai Ye could explain more, another voice rang out:
"That's enough!"
Surprisingly, Kaya looked furious.
"Klahadore's been with my family for three years, always taking care of me. I won't let you guys slander him like this!"
"Usopp."
She turned to Usopp, who looked totally lost.
"I appreciate you worrying about my health, really. But… you guys can't do this."
"Please go back."
Kaya had deep feelings for Klahadore—but her bond with Usopp was just as strong.
So this was the only choice she felt she could make: ask him to leave, and never come back.
"Before we came here, we made a quick stop in Shells Town."
"And the Marine captain who ran that place—Morgan—just so happened to be the guy who 'captured' Kuro."
Bai Ye slowly held up a wanted poster for everyone to see. "Zoro, you fought him before. What did you think of his strength?" he asked calmly.
"Pretty weak," Zoro answered bluntly.
"So how does he compare to Buggy, the guy we beat earlier? By the way, Buggy's bounty was 15 million."
Bai Ye shrugged and continued.
"Buggy could take him out without breaking a sweat," Zoro replied again.
"Then here's the real question—if Morgan is so weak that even Buggy could crush him, how the hell did he manage to capture someone like Kuro all by himself?"
"Which means there's only one answer..." Sen chimed in.
"The Kuro who got arrested wasn't the real one," Bai Ye said, dropping the bombshell that hit everyone right in the gut.
"Hmph, that's just your—"
Kuro scoffed, but Bai Ye cut him off.
"Just my opinion, right? You seem pretty nervous, Mr. Kuro."
Kuro hesitated, clearly thrown off by Bai Ye's mocking smile.
"I just don't want to be slandered by some pirate, that's all."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough whether it's slander or not."
Bai Ye continued calmly, "I got quite a bit of info on Kuro when I was at that Marine base."
"For example, his signature weapons are the ten blades hidden in his gloves. And to avoid cutting himself, he developed this strange habit of adjusting his glasses using the palms of his hands. Not exactly a common habit, right?"
He turned his gaze to Kuro. "Funny, that's exactly the same habit as our friendly neighborhood butler here."
"Klahadore...?" Kaya said, her voice unsure. After living with him for so many years, of course she'd noticed that odd quirk.
"This... this could just be—"
"A coincidence, right?" Bai Ye finished for him with a smirk.
"Strange thing is, Uncle, Kuro was 'arrested' three years ago... and three years ago, you showed up here."
"Kuro adjusts his glasses with his palm. You do it too."
"One coincidence might be just that—a coincidence. But how many coincidences does it take before they stop being coincidences?"
"And then—"
Bai Ye paused for effect, then flipped his wrist. A wanted poster appeared in his hand.
"Uncle, care to explain this little coincidence? The guy on this bounty poster... looks exactly like you."
"What?!"
The moment everyone saw the poster, they were stunned—everyone except Bai Ye and Kuro.
At this point, Bai Ye didn't even need to say another word.
"You bastard!!!"
"You bastard!!!" Usopp was the first to react. He couldn't believe that a pirate had been living so close to Kaya all this time.
Furious, he charged forward, grabbed Kuro by the collar, and shouted:
"You bastard! What were you planning to do to Kaya?!"
Then he threw a punch, aiming to smash those damn glasses of his—
—but the next second, Kuro easily caught Usopp's fist and flung him to the ground.
"Usopp!" Kaya cried out.
"Three years... I've been hiding my identity for three whole years."
Kuro calmly adjusted his glasses again, but the shift in his aura was terrifying. Gone was the refined gentleman—now he looked totally unhinged.
"Just two more days. That's all I needed. Two days, and my plan would've been complete."
He looked up, eyes full of violence and madness.
"But now, after all that patience... it's all been for nothing!"
Kuro glared at Bai Ye like he was already dead.
"Why? Why'd you have to come here and ruin everything?!" Kuro demanded, glaring at Bai Ye like he was already dead.
Bai Ye looked completely unbothered and said, "Wow. Talking trash to yourself now? I gotta say—you've got talent."
"Klahadore..." Kaya's voice trembled. She stared at the man she'd spent years with, her tears falling silently.
"Why... Why would you do this?"
Kuro turned around and answered calmly:
"To legally inherit the estate, Miss~"
The way he said "Miss" dripped with sarcasm.
"My original plan was to slowly poison you, let you die quietly... but I guess I don't have time for that anymore."
Sching—
Blades snapped out from his gloves.
"Guess I'll just have to kill you all right here."
"Time to die!!!"
He lunged at Kaya with his blades—
"Gum-Gum... Wrap!"
Luffy stepped in just in time, pulling Kaya safely to his side.
No way was he gonna sit back and let that happen.
"A Devil Fruit user?"
Kuro looked surprised for a second. "Not that it matters. You won't be able to block my next move."
Shing!!!
Clang!!!
As the two sounds rang out, everyone finally saw what had just happened.
Right in front of Luffy and Kaya, both Bai Ye and Kuro had appeared at the same time.
Bai Ye had his left hand raised, glowing with golden light.
Kuro's ten blades struck the golden aura—but in the next second, they all snapped and clattered to the ground.
"What?! No way!!!"
Kuro's mind reeled. His two greatest techniques—Silent Step and Spoon—had just been blocked like it was nothing.
"Not a bad move, I'll give you that~"
Bai Ye looked up and grinned. "But it's still not good enough."
His right fist, which had been charged up this whole time, suddenly launched forward—
[Tai Chi Force — Collapse!!!]
Kuro took the punch right to the face and was sent flying, coughing up a mouthful of blood before hitting the ground completely unconscious.
"....."