SWOOSH~

Lewis was moving at high speed in a circle, trying to divert and confuse my senses before he came stabbing at me with his dagger. He was using cowardly tactics and elaborated a hit and run strategy. The first attack had yet to land but it was easy to figure out what he was devising. The only problem was that he had miscalculated once again. My stamina and close combat abilities were top tiers but my senses and reflexes were even better.

If I had a showdown with a mongoose or a snake right now, I could probably put up a fight when it came to reaction time. Hokuto only served to make things worse for my adversary. After I finished condensing and absorbing the energy, my brain got enhanced by 70% from the original 30% humans were familiar to.

 TAP! TAP! TAP!

Things began moving at a slow motion around me. I could hear the lad trying to make his first raid on me. My eyes were still closed and when I opened them I grabbed on his sleeve. His leaps were fast but their trajectory was predictable; the mere fact of catching his sleeve allowed me to upset his balance, and destabilize his footings. He managed to extricate himself in time, but that was enough for him to find himself inside my range of action.

???!!!  The overconfident pirate wavered once more; he prepared his retreat at the same moment he was detected.

This kid can track my movements unexpectedly. I need to fall back before this turns sour...

But it was already too late. He was still inside my perimeter and with such a small gap between us, the pressure I exerted dulled his speed a little. There was too much energy swirling around and it stopped him from breathing properly for a half a moment. This was enough for me to counter...

I opened my eyes and looked at him. When he noticed the smug look I had he understood that his doom was unavoidable. It was a useless struggle; he knew that he was no match.  He only wished that he had realized this sooner because the vibes coming from me did not bode well for him at all. Having spent years on the Grand Line he'd seen that kind of expression often...

Being at the other end of this sinisterly ill-fated play was something he had never envisioned as a possible outcome; especially not in a showdown with a gnome...

FLEEE!!! He was panicked instantaneously.

"You're going nowhere!!...Die." I smacked him down from behind with a snake-like instinctive move and he crashed on the ground.

BOOMM!!

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"Hurgh!...Spit** He vomited a bit of blood and tried to regain power inside his legs. He was in a rush to escape and did not even try to look back when he was smashed to the ground. Unfortunately for him, his movements had become sluggish and his speed from before had dropped a great deal.

If he knew what I had hit him with he would stop striving in vain. His survival chances now were less than 2%, and it was only in the case he could protect himself from the following attacks as well as dispel the restraints I imposed on his legs. The vital point I hit was precisely tied with movement and coordination. Soon vertigo and dizziness would make him a target dummy, totally unfit for combat.

I made my way towards Lewis at breakneck speed and used my two palms to damage violently his chest. He was surprised to find me stopping his course, as the wooziness had completely messed up with his concept of time. He still thought he was faster, so it came to him as a shock.

PUCHI!!

His rib cage was riddled with finger marks. As his sensation of pain was dulled he thought my attack had missed and smiled. The next moment, however, his face became ghastly. All of his nerves had stopped working and he was paralyzed.

"Any last words?..." I asked.

"Stop joking! I won't die here like this...Lena!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

The woman simply looked away. What a pitiful end.

That boy will replace him perfectly, he's so ruthless at such a young age. But those moves of his are a bit off. What kind of martial art is that? I've never heard of any Marine or government agent use murdering techniques like these....Wait!! Did that child perhaps?...

"DAMN IT ALL...!!" Lewis Shrieked in anger and regret. If he knew he was going to die here today he wouldn't have followed this enchantress. There were so many women he had yet to taste in this world, he was not willing...

"Don't worry this will be quick." I congregated Haki in my right fist and pierced his chest with a powerful strike.

Puu!

His face was rigid for a second and then his body went limp as he fell on the ground, totally unanimated. He was dead beyond a remaining shred of doubt. Now it was time to figure out where and when that demon would escape.

I used my observation skills to look at his body, but I could not see anything. Apparently, I was missing something in order to see spirits and demons clearly like Hao. Maybe it had to with that spiritual Haki thing.

"So ruthless at such a young age...Raoh I like you more and more, Hihi." Lena said with an evil laughter.

"...Aren't you going to avenge him?" I asked worriedly. I had no time to spare with her; the most important thing to do was to go and chase for the devil fruit. I would never let such a marvelous ability go to waste, I had my own experiments to conduct also.

"Haha...You're really straightforward. However don't get ahead of yourself, you also need some patience and restraint... Don't mistake my passive reaction as weakness or you could get bit in the process.You have a future kid, and since you helped me get rid of this malignant tumor I will not force your hand. The only way for Brent to forgive you for killing this screwball is to join the crew. While he values family, my husband is ambitious. He values strength above anything else, so he will not pursue this matter. I will distract him for a while to leave you time to figure things out on your end. Just give me a call when you figure out your answer." She took out a snail from her pocket and threw it to me.

"I only give you two days kid. Call before things get troublesome for me." She left while waving in my direction.

"This woman is really..." I was disconcerted by her casualness. She did not even take the guy's corpse back.

I took another glance at him before asking the system for the location of my target.