A *plink*—
With a slash, the last pirate in the auction house was killed.
A Tao twirled her blade in a flourish and swung it to the right.
*Pfft*—
She flicked the blood off the blade, leaving a "1" on the ground, and then sheathed her sword.
She turned her head, her gaze sweeping across the hall. All she saw were corpses littering the floor, the acrid smell of blood filling the entire space.
"Hoo~"
Standing amidst the sea of corpses, A Tao let out a breath, her orange-yellow pupils gradually returning to normal.
She pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag, calming her inner turmoil.
Then, holding the cigarette holder in her right hand, she removed it from her lips and exhaled a large cloud of smoke.
"Heh!!" With a light chuckle, A Tao lowered her stance, pushed off the ground with her legs, and leaped out of the auction house.
Here, A Hua and the others were already standing by the shattered entrance of the auction house with an old man, watching the two distant battles with great interest, enjoying the spectacle.
Her gaze lingered on the old man for a moment, a curiosity as if seeing a legend, but not much surprise, after all, they weren't newcomers to the sea anymore.
As if sensing something, the old man turned his head, nodded at A Tao, and then retracted his gaze, focusing once more on Kong Tai and Kizaru, who were fighting in the distance.
With a chuckle at the old man's back, A Tao then strolled slowly into the midst of A Hua and the others.
"Yo!"
As soon as she stood firm, A Tao saw Kordora and the others approaching from a distance.
"CP0."
Having clashed with CP0 many times before, they recognized Kordora and the others by their attire and the distinct aura they exuded, especially their masks, which immediately told them they belonged to the CP organization.
"Heh!!"
A Hua adjusted his glasses, his gaze also falling on Kordora and his companions, and he chuckled, "I didn't expect the CP organization to dare send people to their deaths."
Because Kong Tai disliked CP0, they also harbored a similar animosity.
Every time they encountered them, they wiped them out completely, leaving no one alive.
"After all, a Celestial Dragon died."
A Luo ran a hand through his hair, tilted his head, and looked at Kordora and the others, sneering, "Judging by these guys' intentions, they're probably not here to fight. Maybe they just want to collect the corpse of that idiotic Celestial Dragon."
"Hahahahaha!!"
"But..."
The laughter abruptly stopped. A Tao quickly drew "Mei Dog" from her waist, aiming the muzzle at the increasingly close Kordora.
Her voice filled with killing intent, she said, "If you want to collect a corpse, you'll have to see if we agree, and if you guys are even qualified to cross us and enter the auction house."
Kordora was clearly the leader, so he was the one to be killed.
Lowering her head, two tentacles sprouted from A Tao's forehead. Her eyes locked onto the scope of the gun, and a flash of red light flickered in her pupils, which were clear black and white.
From her perspective, the world around her fell silent.
Kordora and his group, rushing forward at high speed in the distance, seemed to suddenly be wading through a spatial swamp, their movements drastically slowing.
Black Armament Haki, starting from her arm and extending upwards, directly wrapped around the bullet in the barrel.
She had no intention of holding back. Against CP0, she would go all out. If they could take it, she would fire more shots. If they couldn't, they would die.
*Pop*—
The bullet, semi-translucent white and wrapped in Armament Haki, shot out of the barrel, piercing the air, and heading directly for Kordora's forehead.
*Screech*~
Kordora's heart lurched violently. A wave of immense fear washed over him, giving him the illusion that he was facing an endless abyss.
He stopped himself urgently. The stinging sensation on his forehead prompted him to make a wise evasion.
After all, after decades of training by the World Government, and being the captain of a CP0 squad, he possessed strength beyond countless battles.
Observation Haki, a rare form of Haki, might not be possessed by ordinary CP0 agents, but captains like them generally had it.
With red light in his eyes, his head whipped to the right, and his body also tilted to the right.
*Puff*—
The bullet grazed his left temple and shot past him, continuing behind him.
"Sniper?"
He raised his head, his gaze fixed on the auction house.
*Boom*—
Before he could get a clear look, the bullet that had just passed him suddenly exploded on the ground behind them.
The intense shockwave sent his other CP0 teammates, who were running at high speed, flying forward even faster.
Only Kordora remained in place. He crouched slightly, his feet dug firmly into the ground, preventing his body from being swept away by the shockwave.
However, the shockwave from behind, carrying fragments of debris, still caused a slight pain in his back.
The shockwave passed.
Kordora turned his head and looked behind him.
*Gulp*—
He swallowed hard.
"Is that a sniper?"
"Even a cannon isn't this terrifying!"
The street behind him had been completely devastated. A massive crater, over 5 meters in diameter and more than 3 meters deep, revealing the brown tree roots beneath the ground, had appeared in the middle of the street. The walls of the buildings surrounding the street were now covered in countless spiderweb-like cracks.
There was no doubt that the vibration and shockwave from earlier had caused this.
"Haha! You dodged it." A Tao raised the cigarette clamped between her fingers, looked at the distant street, took a deep puff, and glanced at A Luo, "Can't you be a little more accurate?"
"Hmm!" A Luo's eyes left the scope, he glanced at A Tao, then stood up straight, put down "Mei Dog," and handed it to her, "How about... you try."
"Uh!"
A Tao's smoking motion paused, and then she burst into laughter, "Forget it, forget it. Mei Dog is your gun, not mine. Haha! Hahaha!!"
She had only spoken out of impulse. At such a distance, over a thousand meters at least. She could hit something tens of meters away, but at a thousand meters, she didn't dare to imagine her accuracy.
"If you're too scared to try, don't bother me."
A Luo pouted at A Tao, then withdrew his gaze, re-aimed the gun, and targeted Kordora again.
"Dodge?"
"Let's see how many shots you can dodge?"
His killing intent evident, he pulled the trigger once more at Kordora without hesitation.
Rayleigh, standing on the far left, turned his gaze to A Luo for the first time, looking at "Mei Dog" in his hand, a flicker of interest in his eyes.
He had seen the explosion just now.
Such power was certainly not from ordinary weapons.
He stared at "Mei Dog," red light appearing in his eyes.
"A living thing?"
He could feel that the gun, which was supposed to be inanimate, was now emitting a life force, though it was a peculiar kind, not like a normal life.
How to describe the feeling?
It was like a rock that had gained sentience, transforming into an alternative life form.
As if a thought struck him, a hint of understanding appeared in his eyes.
Although he hadn't seen it before, being on the last island of the Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago, and with Shakky working in intelligence, he knew many things that ordinary people couldn't.
He thought he had heard Shakky mention this thing.
"Something created by Dr. Vegapunk?"
"An object that ate a Devil Fruit..."
"Truly magical."
He withdrew his gaze, amazement filling his mind.
After the battle ended, he could ask this kid to let him have a good look at it.
After all, it was a novel item, something even he had never seen before, and he couldn't help but be curious.