"What? The Ghost Man, the World's Greatest Swordsman?" Cade asked, a mix of panic and confusion on his face.
Thwack!
Leo slapped a hand over his face, leaving only a pair of helpless eyes visible, as he mentally cursed Mihawk's drifting log yet again.
However, to maintain his cool and aloof persona, Leo slowly lowered his hand from his face, revealing a completely expressionless expression.
"We're done for, Leo, we're totally done for." Lena panicked, hurriedly flying to Leo's side to whisper.
I am not done for!
Leo ruthlessly pushed Lena away and said with a stern face, "Stop jinxing us! Since you know who he is, you better step up your game and get stronger!"
"Oh," Lena mumbled, feeling dejected.
Leo's expressionless, invincible facade only made Budoli believe him even more. Budoli's tone grew certain, tinged with a hint of emotion: "As expected of the Ghost Man—the rising swordsman whom Mihawk himself claimed could shake his position as the World's Greatest Swordsman. I never expected him to be so young."
Even if he only caught a few fragments, it was enough to send a wave of terror through Cade. His pupils shrank to pinpricks as panic gripped him: "W-What? Mihawk... Mihawk said that?! How is that possible?!"
"How is it not possible? You've spent too much time in the Grand Line, your brain must be rusted!"
Budoli turned his head, his eyes filled with a mixture of schadenfreude and the sweet taste of vengeance. He spoke loudly and excitedly, his sparse white hair trembling with every word: "You were too full of yourself! Gaining a tiny bit of fame in the Grand Line made you arrogant enough to think you could act however you pleased. Well, now you've kicked a steel wall. Reap what you sow!"
"You old bastard!!"
Cade's gloomy face grew even darker, his eyes burning with a murderous intent that made him want to slaughter the old man right then and there. His hatred for the old man even surpassed his hatred for Leo, who had ambushed them halfway and ruined his master plan.
Looks like there's some juicy gossip / their relationship is complicated.
Leo and Lena exchanged a glance, instantly catching the meaning in each other's eyes. They nodded in tacit understanding, then turned their heads away.
Let's watch the show first.
"So what if he is! I still have my trump card!!" Cade roared hysterically.
He swept his arms wide, bloodshot veins clearly visible in his eyes: "Old bastard, why do you think I left? You're too stingy! You hoard everything, you never want to give me anything! Minister Leonar gave away a Devil Fruit just like that—who do you expect me to follow?! Who do you expect me to follow?!"
As he roared, the clothes on his body suddenly began to tear as his physique rapidly expanded.
Huh?!
Not again?!
Leo felt a wave of helplessness inside.
Bzzzzz... Bang!
Cade's clothes burst apart completely. Thick brown hair erupted all over his skin like needles, and his pupils transformed into vertical slits. A massive brown bear standing seven or eight meters tall suddenly appeared on the deck, panting heavily.
"Ha—ha—roarrr!"
Seeing this, Leo couldn't help but complain, "Another ability user. I've run into more ability users lately than in the past three years combined."
"It's a Zoan," Lena said.
"I can see that."
"What do we do now?" Lena's eyes rolled around, scheming.
"Kill him, what else?" Leo said bluntly, missing her point entirely.
Lena silently rolled her eyes, then explained her thoughts: "I picked up on some information. This punk seems to be the subordinate of some nation's minister, and it's a Devil Fruit—worth one hundred million Belly! Can we tie him up and then..."
She rubbed her fingers together in front of Leo, gesturing at the bounty.
Leo rejected Lena's proposal without even thinking: "Did you not hear him say he's from the Grand Line? That place is a nest of monsters! Can we really go there? What if we die?"
"No, no, we'll just go for a little while!"
Lena was getting anxious. All that cold, hard cash, and not only had they missed out on the bounty, but they couldn't even make a little side money? How could she accept that?!
She grabbed Leo's shoulder, trying to persuade him further: "But that money..."
"Enough!!"
An angry shout cut her off—it was Cade.
He bared his teeth at Leo, his eyes filled with rage: "You think you've got me in the bag?! Stop looking down on me!"
Damn it! I didn't even say anything!
Leo, having absorbed the brunt of Cade's murderous glare, was left utterly speechless.
"Look at this! This is the new power bestowed upon me by Minister Leonar! This is true power!!"
transformed into his hybrid beast form, Cade roared up at the sky, wildly venting the exhilaration brought by his surging strength: "I am a brown bear man who ate the Zoan Brown Bear Fruit! Strength! This is power!"
Lena looked at the brawny Cade, fell silent for a moment, and voiced a doubt she'd harbored for years: "How come Zoans always feel like this... well, kind of brainless?"
"Maybe Devil Fruits affect the mind," Leo pondered for a moment.
"Does the Paper-Paper Fruit have any negative side effects?"
"It turns you into an airhead."
"Hey, I don't want that!"
"Grizzly Charge!" Unable to stand being ignored any longer, Cade's anger spiked. True to its name, his attack was a reckless charge straight ahead.
Lena glanced up, her paper wings instantly unfurling to lift her light body gracefully into the air.
Leaving Leo standing quietly in place.
That guy got left behind! Excellent, he definitely won't be able to dodge, die!
Cade was ecstatic, feeling profoundly grateful for the arrogant "Ghost Man" in front of him. Don't let the plain name fool you; his Grizzly Charge possessed enough power to snap a medium-sized warship right in half.
He's too arrogant! He let his guard down!!
The moment they closed the distance, Leo moved. He turned his body sideways, presenting the Executioner's Blade directly toward Cade.
Cade saw it. He saw his own ferocious reflection mirrored in the broad blade: How could a piece of junk like that possibly stop me...
They made contact. At that exact instant, the whisper of death brushed against his ear: "My Style: Dead Silence."
Wind!
Leo, who should have been right in front of Cade, suddenly dissolved into a thick mist that swallowed the surroundings, blurring the entire world.
And the ferocious Grizzly Charge inexplicably came to a complete halt. Like a ghost, Leo materialized behind him, a flash of crimson in his eyes. He gripped the hilt and slashed in a fraction of a second—
Swoosh...
And the very moment that slash was unleashed, time resumed its flow—
Splurt!
A single strike carved a massive chunk of flesh from Cade's back. But Cade was no Mihawk; he lacked monstrous reflexes and Observation Haki, failing to react even as the blade struck home. Seizing the opening, Leo unleashed dozens of lightning-fast slashes in succession—
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
Doated with dozens of cuts in under a second, and with his target ahead of him having vanished, Cade's momentum carried him slamming directly into the warship's mast.
With a deafening "boom," the mast snapped at the base, sending splinters flying everywhere. Under the sheer force of Cade's impact, the bow of the warship was actually lifted several meters into the air.
"Whoa, that impact, not bad!" Leo holstered the Executioner's Blade back onto his back, smacking his lips.
"What a cheap ability," Lena descended, landing back beside Leo with a sigh.
"It's alright, it just boosts physical stats," Leo mused, thinking back to Cade's Devil Fruit—truly a wholesome, daytime kind of power.
"I'm talking about you," Lena said speechlessly.
"Oh..."
That Perfect Counter really was a bit of a cheap, underworld trick, huh!