Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 96 Reunion

The shore of Greet Island.

"Go and pay for Brother Forle's life, John!"

Wright launched the assassination with the belief that he would die. A dagger carrying the owner's resolute will had touched John's chest and was about to pierce John's chest.

But John seemed to realize it too late and was obviously a step slow to react, but he did not dodge sideways or raise his hand to block as expected.

He chose a long-range approach instead of a close one. He moved his right hand around and grasped the hilt of the sword slung on his left waist, intending to draw his sword and fight back.

This behavior seems normal, but it is extremely unreasonable when you think about it carefully.

In theory, when a person is suddenly attacked, his first reaction should be to dodge or defend, and only then would he consider counterattacking.

A sneak attack is not a duel. It will not give you time to make mental preparations in advance. It is entirely a test of your subconscious reaction.

Just as John was about to draw his sword and fight back, contrary to common sense, Bob, who had been hiding in the dark, suddenly teleported and appeared behind John.

A short black spike with armed color domineering attached stabbed fiercely towards John's heart!
This attack began to brew as early as when Wright and others returned to the shore.

When John was greeting Wright and the others, Bob kept watching everyone's every move. Of course, his focus was always on Wright.

After all, masters like John are very sensitive to sight, and Bob doesn't dare to take the risk of being discovered now.

At the same moment when Wright took out the logbook, Bob also took out the stainless steel short spike that had been coated with poison. His every move was covered by Wright's actions.

The tip of the specially made short cone is polished from seastone. Even if the opponent is not a person with special abilities, the hardness of the seastone itself is enough to break through the opponent's defense to the maximum extent.

Wrapping all the Armament Haki in his body around the short cone that was as long as his forearm, Bob carefully adjusted his breathing and waited intently for the opportunity to reveal it for only a moment.

Finally, before John unsheathed his sword, Babu activated his ability.

The moment when the target was selected and the attack declaration was issued was undoubtedly the opponent's most vulnerable moment. Bob, who was in John's blind spot, almost teleported behind him and stabbed him with the fatal blow.

This is a cold shot from hell!
fast!
quickly!

very fast!
It’s so fast that there’s no time to think, no time to defend, no time to react!
Babu seemed to have seen the scene of John being stabbed through the heart.

"Bah!!!"

The sound of metal entering flesh was about to reach everyone's ears.

[Success!!!]
This is the last thought in the head flying in the air.

John drew his sword at an incredible speed as if he had predicted the future, and slashed behind him!

The assassin who teleported over didn't even see the afterimage of the other party's arm swinging.

It was not until the short awl in his hand and his neck were pierced by the cold blade that the sound of metal being unsheathed reached Babu's ears.

The body was unable to sense that life had slipped away, but the pupils still belatedly recorded the playful smile on the other person's face.

Just like a spider web catches flies and the saber teeth cut the throat, that is the smile of the winner.

Unfortunately, Babu's assassination, which he thought was perfect, ended with his own head and body being separated.

Thanks to La, the moment she raised her hand and aimed at the sea, John felt the suffocating feeling like being entangled by a python again.

So much so that the moment he used his Observation Haki to frantically search the surroundings, he discovered Bob who had been hiding in the blind spot behind him.

Even though Bob never laid eyes on John from beginning to end, even though he held his breath and concentrated so much that he almost blended into the environment...

But John was still caught by the tail due to his almost hysterical investigation.

John, who discovered Babu, mistakenly thought he was the culprit for his own unrest and planned to get rid of him.

All this happened in a flash, from the moment Bob suddenly appeared behind John to the moment he was beheaded, it took less than a blink of an eye.

Light and the members of the Fore Pirates behind him were like motionless background boards, without even having time to change their expressions, their faces still full of determination.

Despair had not yet overtaken them.

Just as Wright and the others' eyes received the image and their brains were about to process the reality that "Bab was dead and the assassination failed", a new major change suddenly occurred.

……

Divine Strike

As La, who was standing beyond the limits of everyone's perception, whispered, John, whose face was filled with a playful expression and a hint of imperceptible relief, and his entire body, along with the surrounding space, suddenly stopped as if frozen, and then his whole body turned into a point of light and dissipated.

This scene looks like the protagonist in a classic special effects film who turns into light spots in the sky after defeating the final boss, but considering John's identity, these light spots are so beautiful that it is a bit ironic.

……

The people on the beast boat didn't know what was happening at the moment.

Or they actually know something happened, but they don't know what exactly happened.

At the moment after La made the "launch" action, no, it should be said that at the same time, the thick fog in front of them was directly split in the middle, revealing Gret Island hidden in it.

They didn't hear any sound or see any sword flashes or sabers. The island just appeared suddenly, as if everything around it was already like that.

Everyone stood there in a daze, somewhat bewildered by this sudden turn of events, until a gentle voice brought them back to reality from their self-doubt. "It's settled. Let's go to the island."

"Ah... ah?"

"Oh well."

The gentle warm breeze, like a child hearing the school bell, wrapped around the boat again and lifted the canvas.

The gentle sunlight shone on everyone's faces. When they looked up, they found that the early sun had already risen from the sea level, watching them slowly sail towards their destination.

"..."

"Have we forgotten something?"

Skygate tilted his head and asked the team leader beside him.

"Yeah~ I feel the same way."

"But right now, it's more important to get to the island and reunite with Wright and the others. We can talk about other things later."

"Right."

……

"Those who jumped off the boat earlier, they're still in the sea."

Seeing that neither of them remembered, La reminded them in time.

"!"*2
Skepgate and the team leader slapped their heads at the same time, then looked towards the sea.

I saw that those people had already swam out for some distance, but because of the influence of heavy fog, none of them were swimming in the right direction, and some people were even swimming in the opposite direction.

Now the fog has almost dissipated. The people in the sea realized that they were going in the wrong direction and turned back to approach the boat. The group soon reached the shore.

"Everyone be careful, John has arrived on the island, be ready to fight at any time!"

After getting ashore, Skygate gave everyone serious instructions, and at the same time activated his Observation Haki to investigate the movements around him, appearing very serious.

But just as he was about to check the number of people coming ashore and set off, a voice sounded behind him.

"Don't be so nervous, John is dead."

"?!"

"Miss La?! Why are you coming down here too?"

"And what do you mean John is dead?"

Obviously, Skepgate hadn't realized that the attack was directed at John, and just thought that she had used some ability to disperse the fog.

Of course, it's not surprising that he thought so, because the attack just now really didn't leave any trace at all.

"Literally. Follow me, your companions are just ahead."

La made his way through the crowd to the front of the team, leading them to the other side of the island.

"This……"

Although he was still full of doubts, Skepgate still called on his men to follow.

And on the other side of the island...

"First mate, what happened just now?" a pirate asked stutteringly.

"No, I don't know... What's going on?"

Wright was so surprised that he even spoke the dialect of his hometown in Xihai.

"I saw it. Just now, John seemed to turn around and chopped Babu to pieces. Then, with a snap, he disappeared."

"No, that's not right. It should have disappeared in an instant."

"You're all wrong. It clearly exploded with a bang, and there were sparks!"

The pirates talked about it a lot, but in the end they couldn't decide whether John was dead or alive.

Let’s talk about being alive, but suddenly the person is gone, and all that’s left are his clothes and pants.

Oh, and two knives.

You say he's dead, but I didn't see the body.

Does anyone know if those light spots just now were special effects of some kind of transfer ability?
After all, the one who was able to make others disappear before is still confused now.

"First Mate Light, what should we do now?" asked the impatient pirate.

"Well... Anyway, let's contact Brother Skepgate first. After all, we don't have any clues about John's situation right now."

As he said that, Light took out the Den Den Mushi.

(End of this chapter)