"Huh... next?"
Through his scope, A Luo saw the scene on the white horse statue in the distance, a flicker of surprise on his face.
Even without Haki, the bullets he fired from the Underworld couldn't be taken by an ordinary person!
He remembered that the arrogant bounty hunter who had threatened to take their heads, rumored to have captured individuals with bounties over a hundred million, was sunk into the sea along with his ship with just an ordinary shot from him.
"Seems this guy really has some skill!"
He held onto the Underworld, his right hand gripping the handle again, his index finger on the trigger.
Then, a surge of black Armament Haki flowed through his hand into the Underworld's barrel, wrapping around a bullet.
"Let's see how you block this."
Through the scope, he watched the man dressed like a noble on the white horse statue at the bow of the sailboat ahead, a cold glint in his eyes.
"Alright, A Luo, let that guy come over! He's quite an interesting fellow! Since we're bored anyway, let him come and play."
Just as he was about to pull the trigger to finish Cavendish, Kong Tai's voice came from below.
A Luo's movements paused, the hostility instantly vanishing.
He took his eyes off the scope, lowered the Underworld, and pursed his lips at the distant sea.
"Lucky for you."
With that, he tucked the Underworld into his waist and began to furl the sails.
Since they were letting the guy come over, they might as well wait here. It wasn't that far anyway, and from Kong Tai's demeanor, it seemed he wanted to play with this guy.
They were bored, after all, so they could just watch the show.
Cavendish, on the back of the white horse statue, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine when A Luo actually pointed a gun at him. His hairs stood on end.
"An extremely dangerous feeling."
This was a feeling he had only experienced in the New World.
Ever since he was exiled and wandered through the Four Seas and then the Grand Line, even the Marines had never given him such a feeling.
He tightly gripped the hilt of Durandal, staring at the Freedom approaching ahead with a grave expression.
"Huh!"
Just then, the danger suddenly disappeared. He stared ahead, a look of confusion on his face.
When he saw the Freedom lower its sails and slowly glide towards them, a flicker of understanding crossed his eyes.
They were letting him come over with confidence.
He stood on the back of the white horse, frowning, a flash of anger quickly passing over his face.
"Do you look down on this young master that much?"
The feeling of A Luo pointing at him earlier had made him sense danger, but it wasn't fatal.
"What makes you so confident to welcome this young master in such a manner?"
*Ding!*
He stood straight on the back of the white horse statue, sheathed his sword, and facing the sea breeze, stepping on the waves, he stared at the approaching Freedom, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"Silver hair... your fame belongs to this young master now."
Before long, the two ships met amidst the rolling waves. Compared to Cavendish's ship, the Freedom was naturally smaller.
So, standing on the back of the white horse statue, Cavendish looked down with an air of arrogance.
He surveyed the scene below, his gaze first falling on A Luo. It was this guy who had made him feel danger earlier, likely the sniper of the silver-haired group.
However, his gaze didn't linger on A Luo for long. He ignored the others and looked directly at Kong Tai.
It was this guy who, upon appearing, had stolen his headlines.
"Hmm! He is indeed quite handsome, but still a little bit lacking compared to this young master."
Upon actually seeing Kong Tai, he was still somewhat surprised by his appearance, but given his narcissistic personality, how could he admit that his looks were inferior to Kong Tai's?
So, the guy produced a rose from somewhere, stuck it in his mouth, and struck a pose on the back of the white horse.
"Hmph!"
Kong Tai looked up at Cavendish, his flamboyant pose under the sunlight causing a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He took a swig of wine and asked Cavendish, "Hey! Blondie, how long are you going to stand there? Didn't you want to take this old man's head?"
"What are you standing there for?"
"Being flamboyant?"
"Ugh!"
Cavendish, who was striking a handsome pose, froze in place.
He had seen the two beautiful women on the other ship and wanted to compare whose handsomeness was superior to Kong Tai's, only to be so sarcastically criticized by Kong Tai.
He quickly recovered his stiff body, acting as if nothing had happened, and looking down at Kong Tai, he laughed maniacally, "Hahahahaha!! I'm sure you've heard of my name!"
"This young master..."
"Never heard of it."
Before he could continue, Kong Tai interrupted him.
The smile on his face vanished at an imperceptible speed. He lowered his head, staring at Kong Tai with utter disbelief.
"You, you... you haven't heard of me?"
He bent over, his eyes wide, looking down and pointing at himself.
"Yeah!"
Kong Tai nodded, took a swig of wine, then put down his wine gourd, tilted his head, and looked at Cavendish, "Who are you? Are you famous?"
"Ugh!"
Kong Tai's words left Cavendish speechless. He had indeed become famous in the past few months, but it depended on who you compared him to. Compared to the guy below, he was just a small fry.
"Never mind."
Kong Tai waved his hand at Cavendish, looking rather arrogant.
"No matter who you are, I don't need to know. Anyway, no matter how famous you are, you can't possibly be more famous than me, haha!"
"You guy."
"What? Am I wrong?"
Kong Tai glanced disdainfully at Cavendish, "Are you more famous than me?"
"You guy..."
Cavendish was completely enraged by Kong Tai's disdain. Veins bulged on his forehead. He removed the rose from his mouth with his left hand and crushed it, then gripped the hilt of Durandal with his right.
He didn't want to wait any longer. He wanted to make this silver-haired guy die immediately.
If it were a few months ago, Cavendish might not have had the courage to face Kong Tai directly.
Because a few months ago, Kong Tai had just set sail, and he was like a newly forged divine sword, full of sharpness. As long as one's senses weren't too dull, they could feel a sense of danger radiating from him.
But it was different now.
Having absorbed the centuries of combat experience of the two giants on Little Garden, Kong Tai had achieved mastery over his strength, able to control it at will.
Unless he encountered an opponent of equal caliber or someone with extremely acute senses, it would be difficult to detect any superfluous aura from him if he didn't actively expose it.
They could only sense that he was an ordinary person.
Well, the aura of an ordinary person was actually the most extraordinary, because no one would truly treat Kong Tai as an ordinary person. Anyone with a bit of sense would know that this was the result of applying his strength to the point of returning to simplicity.
Of course, this excluded those who didn't know Kong Tai, and those who were overly confident in themselves.
Cavendish was one such person.
...