Clang—!
Clang clang clang!!
On the beach of the ore island, the clanging of swords was endless.
The entire battlefield was divided into three sections, and they fought from noon until dusk.
The ground was pitted and scarred with the cracks formed by slashes and the craters from heavy impacts, covering the entire beach.
Ah Hua and his two companions, along with the CP organization, had the largest number of combatants but the smallest battlefield.
Around them lay members of the CP organization, their bodies covered in wounds.
Some wounds had already scabbed over, but more were still bleeding.
Around them, several CP organization members, breathing heavily, looked at Ah Hua and his two companions, who were back to back in the center, with terror.
It wasn't Ah Hua and his companions themselves, but the carrot Ah Hua had produced from somewhere.
If it weren't for this carrot, these guys would have fallen long ago.
Watching Ah Hua and his companions eat the carrots and regain their strength,
The surrounding people's lips twitched in unison.
"Are you guys seriously cheating like this!"
"This is too obvious a cheat!"
Ah Hua, holding his blade, a hint of fatigue flickered in his eyes.
Although the carrots could restore stamina, the mental exhaustion from prolonged life-and-death combat would not recover!
He looked at the remaining CP organization members in front of him, his gaze sharpened, and he called out, "Are you two okay?"
"How can we not be okay!"
Alo's antenna on his forehead twitched. Then, he tilted his head, dodging a bullet shot from the front, and gripped his pistol with both hands, his eyes fixed on the front.
On the battlefield, unless one had exceptionally strong defense and mastered techniques like Armament Haki and Tekkai to increase defense, "guns" were always the most lethal weapons.
Therefore, among the three, Alo had taken down the most people.
A Tao pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He glanced at the battlefield of Kuina and Kōta, a hint of unwillingness flashing in his eyes.
"Too weak, still too weak!"
Even with a divine medicine like carrots for infinite stamina, they had taken so long to deal with these CP organization lackeys.
And...
He took a puff of his cigarette and looked down at the貫穿 (piercing) wound on his chest.
If Indigo hadn't been assisting them, these wounds on his chest wouldn't have been all.
And most of them were aimed directly at the heart.
The fingers of these guys were sharper than bullets, and some of them could even kick out wind blades similar to a swordsman's slash.
He looked at the few remaining CP organization members in the distance, straightened his body, pushed off the ground with his feet, roared, and charged forward rapidly.
"Let's go, brothers."
"Okay."
...
Compared to the sorry state of Ah Hua and his two companions, Kuina had it much easier. Although her breathing was also slightly labored, compared to Sada and Kurū on the opposite side, who were covered in sword wounds, she looked like she had just finished warming up.
She looked at Sada and Kurū, who were panting, a constant look of puzzlement in her eyes.
She couldn't figure out why these two, whenever it came to a crucial moment, would always use their skill of standing still in place.
Many times, they could have dodged her sword with Soru (Shave) but chose not to.
"Are these two masochists!"
As she thought about it, she pulled out a carrot from her pocket and, like a rabbit, took a gentle bite, chewing slowly.
Sada, in a gap between breaths, looked up at Kuina, his eyes widening.
"What are you eating, you guy!"
"Why is it that every time you eat, your stamina seems to recover!"
"Oh..."
Kuina looked at Sada, slowly swallowed the carrot in her mouth, and held the hand with the carrot forward.
"You mean this?"
Then she tilted her head and said with a laugh, "After fighting for so long, don't you already know?"
After saying that, she took another bite, and her slightly panting breath immediately calmed down.
Kurū looked up at Kuina, his face filled with grimness.
"It really is food that can restore stamina, isn't it?"
"I just don't know if it's a Devil Fruit ability or just a type of food."
As he thought, he glanced at the battlefield of Ah Hua and his companions, looking at the fallen CP organization members and the still-fighting Ah Hua and his companions.
"Do all of them have these carrots?"
Kurū turned to look at Melas's battlefield. Due to the intense commotion, dust obscured the view, making it impossible to see clearly.
However, from the constant clashing sounds and the occasional slashes that burst out from within, it was likely that the silver-haired man had the upper hand.
After all, Melas was old, while the silver-haired man was in his prime, and he also had those stamina-restoring carrots.
Thinking of the carrots, he looked at Sada, and both of their lips twitched.
"This is too unfair!"
"Even now, you dare to be distracted."
Kuina looked at Sada and Kurū, put the unfinished carrot back into her pocket, then bent her legs, placed her right hand on the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji, and with a "whoosh," charged rapidly towards them.
"One-sword style, Iai, Banbutsu Zan!"
"Tekkai!"
Sada and Kurū's eyes flashed red, and a faint black Armament Haki quickly covered their bodies.
After fighting for so long, their stamina had severely decreased, and their Armament Haki could no longer maintain its maximum output.
Clang—!
The moment their chests made contact with Kuina's blade, they were sliced open, and then, under the force of the blade, they were propelled rapidly backward.
Their bodies ploughed two deep furrows in the sand.
Kuina stood where Sada and Kurū had been standing, flicked her right hand downwards, shook it to flick the blood from her blade, and looked at the dust-shrouded area ahead, a hint of coldness in her eyes.
"You're really asking for death."
Fighting with a swordsman and daring to be distracted.
In the dust, Sada's black and white mask suddenly slid to the sides, revealing a scarred and grim face underneath.
A new wound on Sada's face, following the mask, extended from his forehead all the way to his chin.
Sada paid no mind to the wound on his face.
He supported himself with his hands behind him and slowly sat up.
Blood continuously gushed from his mouth and a wound on his chest that had nearly cut him in half.
"Completely unable to block anymore."
Previously, they could still block Kuina's slashes with Armament Haki and Tekkai, but now they couldn't withstand them at all.
"Hey! Are you alright! Kurū."
"Kurū."
"..."
He didn't hear Kurū's response. He couldn't help but turn his head to look, and then his pupils contracted, his eyes filled with sadness.
Kurū had been standing to his left just now, meaning Kurū had taken the brunt of Kuina's blade first. In this instant, Kurū had failed to defend.
If he failed to defend, then naturally...
His sadness deepened at this thought.
No matter how unbearable or unfortunate their past had been,
At least in the lives they had as CP-0, they had truly felt alive.
Even though this feeling of being alive was far from the wishes they had as children in the orphanage.
But!
They had no regrets.
Because compared to not being needed, they wanted to be needed more!
Because those who were not needed were already dead.
Hearing the footsteps approaching from the front, Sada struggled to stand up.
Slowly, he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
They rarely smoked while on missions, as it would leave a trace of their presence.
But now that they were about to die, who cared about such things!
He looked down at Kurū one last time, then turned his head, his eyes firm as he looked forward. With a push of his feet, he charged rapidly towards Kuina.
"Wait for me, brother, I'll be there soon."
They had grown up together since childhood, never separated for a lifetime. Death...
They would face it together.