Pirates: Martial Arts Masters on the Straw Hat Ship

Luffy and his crew, who were watching from the top of the hill, were completely stunned.

"Wow...that's amazing..."

Usopp's mouth dropped open, his jaw almost falling to the ground.

"Those were dozens of ruthless pirates... how come they look like a bunch of rag dolls in front of Ronan?"

Nami covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock:

"Is this... Ronan's strength? That iron spear in his hands feels lighter than a feather, yet heavier than a cannon?"

Zoro's eyes were fixed on Ronan's every move, his hands trembling slightly with excitement.

"It's not that the gun is light."

Zoro's eyes flashed with a sharp light; as a swordsman, he had seen through the trick.

"Ronan's every strike wasn't powered by his arm, but by the strength of his entire body. He generated power from his spine, channeling it to the tip of his spear. Is this what he meant by... traditional Chinese martial arts?"

In the center of the battlefield.

Ronan jerked the gun, shaking off the blood droplets on its tip.

He stood alone on the hillside with only a gun, with more than twenty pirate corpses lying at his feet.

He slowly raised his head, his calm eyes now ignited with fighting spirit, the iron spear in his hand pointing at Zango and Buji at the bottom of the slope.

"Who's next?"

On the slope, the sea breeze, carrying a heavy smell of blood, howled as it passed through the narrow rock face.

The previously noisy shouts of battle had fallen silent, leaving only the groans of wounded pirates and the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Ronan, alone with his gun, stood amidst a jumble of corpses, like a guardian war god, blocking the Black Cat Pirates' only path into the village.

Zango stood at the bottom of the slope, pushed up his heart-shaped glasses on the bridge of his nose, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

He looked at Ronan, who resembled a demon, swallowed hard, and turned to look at the two strangely shaped figures beside him—the cat-man brothers of the Black Cat Pirates.

"Budge, Sam!"

Zango's voice trembled slightly, but it left no room for doubt.

"You've all seen it, this kid's tough. But Captain Crowe's plan absolutely cannot fail... We must get through this slope no matter what! Take him out of here!"

At the top of the hill, Nami looked down at the three remaining people with a serious expression.

Although the number of the opposing force has been greatly reduced, the sense of oppression has only become stronger.

"Ronan, watch out!"

Nami shouted a warning, her voice trembling with tension, "The remaining three are not like those small fry we just saw; they are all highly skilled fighters with huge bounties!"

Usopp, whose hand was trembling slightly as he held the slingshot, turned deathly pale upon hearing the words "high bounty": "How...how much?"

Nami took a deep breath and quickly recalled the database of bounty posters in her mind:

"The leader, the bespectacled hypnotist Zango, has a bounty of nine million Berries! And those two cat-man brothers... each of them is a formidable character with a bounty of seven million Berries!"

"Seven...seven million?!"

Usopp was so frightened his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his legs went weak, almost causing him to kneel down.

"That adds up to over twenty million in bounty? How... how could we possibly win?"

He glanced nervously at Luffy and Zoro beside him, only to find that the two of them showed no sign of tension at all, but instead had expressions of watching a show.

"Hey! Luffy, Zoro!"

Usopp shouted anxiously, "Aren't you going to help? Can Ronan handle it alone? Those are three highly skilled fighters with bounties!"

Zoro sat cross-legged on a rock, holding the "Wado Ichimonji" sword, a faint smile playing on his lips:

"An opponent of this caliber is nothing more than a few whetstones for Ronan right now. Let's leave it to him, what do you say, Luffy?"

Luffy pulled down his straw hat, revealing a set of bright white teeth, his eyes gleaming with excitement:

"Hehe, Ronan looks like he's having a lot of fun! I want to see his performance!"

……

In the center of the battlefield.

Ronan watched the cat-man brothers slowly walk out, his gaze calm.

For him, who had awakened his Observation Haki, the two pirates in front of him, who were notorious in the East Blue, were no longer a threat, but rather perfect "living stakes".

Sam, one of the Catmen brothers, the hunched-over, skinny fellow, slowly walked towards Ronan.

He walked silently, like a real cat, with cunning and cruelty in his eyes.

"Hey kid..." Sam let out a shrill, eerie laugh, licking the cat-paw gloves on his hands. "You seemed to be having a good time killing people earlier. Looks like you've got some skills."

Before he could finish speaking, Sam's figure vanished!

Without any warning, the rubble beneath his feet instantly crumbled.

He moved like a gray ghost, skimming the ground as he pounced on Ronan at incredible speed!

"So fast!" Usopp exclaimed from the top of the hill.

However, faced with this thunderous attack, Ronan made a move that surprised everyone.

"Clang!"

With a backhand thrust, he actually plunged the mighty iron spear, which had been used to wreak havoc, deep into a crevice in the nearby rock, where it sank three-tenths of an inch into the stone and made a buzzing sound.

Ronan, bare-handed, slowly assumed a Xingyi Quan (Chinese martial arts) starting stance, calmly watching the direction Sam had disappeared in.

"Looks like it's a speed-type."

Ronan muttered to himself, a playful smile curving his lips, "However, as someone who has just awakened Observation Haki, you really are... the best sparring partner."

The reason for putting away the iron spear was that this spear was too lethal.

At such a long attack range, Sam would probably be killed before he could even get close.

If that's the case, the battle ends too quickly, so how can Ronan use the triple experience multiplier in battle mode to "farm experience"?

Just as Ronan holstered his gun and stood still, a sharp, piercing sound of wind breaking through the air rang out.

Sam suddenly appeared to Ronan's left, his face contorted with murderous intent: "Die, you arrogant brat!"

The sharp cat claws, gleaming with a cold light, aimed straight for Ronan's temple!

It was so fast that it was just a blur in the eyes of ordinary people.

But in Ronan's "vision," the world presented a different picture.

Ronan's senses were instantly amplified.

Under the perception of Observation Haki, the wisp of red killing intent emanating from Sam was like a beacon, illuminating his attack trajectory half a second in advance.

It's not just about capturing visual information, but also about anticipating "intentions".

Ronan did not move much; he merely tilted his head slightly, remaining completely still as if rooted to the spot.

"brush--"

The cat's claws, powerful enough to shatter rocks, grazed Ronan's nose and even severed a strand of hair that had fallen across his forehead.

A difference of a millimeter can be an insurmountable chasm.

"What?!" Sam's pupils shrank sharply, the unreal feeling of his attack missing startling him.

But he was, after all, a seasoned pirate with a lightning-fast reflexes.

Using the momentum, his body twisted strangely in the air, and his other hand's cat claw reached back towards Ronan's throat!

"Too slow."

Ronan silently recited to himself.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he leaned back slightly, executing a perfect "bridge" pose, and that deadly claw grazed his chin once more.

Sam landed, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He gritted his teeth, his body leaping forward again: "A coincidence! It must be a coincidence!"