The two men soon became within striking distance, and Bob was the first to make a move as he sent a punch with his left hand at Wilson's face.

Wilson received the fist the palm of his right hand and gripped it tightly. He then reared his left hand and sent it into bob's face only for the exact scene to repeat its self as bob caught Wilson's fist with his other hand.

They kept pushing each other, trying to free their hands to keep attacking without letting go of the other's hand. And after several seconds of that, they realized that their brute strength was matched evenly, causing them to try and improvise.

They both acted at the same time, mirroring each other as they reared their heads backward, then with a loud thud, their foreheads connected, and after sparing a second to check their opponent's condition. They realized that they were both unaffected, so they let go of each other and jumped backward.

Wilson raised his finger as soon as he landed and started to unleash Shigan bullets in Bob's direction. Bob saw it coming and dodged most of them while using his metallic gauntlets to deflect the ones he couldn't avoid, but one of them managed to graze his cheek, leaving a very faint red line that disappeared as soon as Bob wiped it with his thump.

"that's a neat trick you have there, but it's my turn now, punk," Bob said as he pointed his gauntlet at Wilson, and several small gun barrels came out of it right above the back of his hands and started rapidly firing bullets in Wilson direction.

Wilson used soru to avoid the first round of bullets, but he had to tank the other volley by crossing his arms in front of his face as Bob had predicted where he, will appear next and pre-fired before Wilson even arrived there.

Bob charged at Wilson while firing continuously to keep him pinned in his place, but when he was halfway there, Wilson smiled and then vanished, only to appear in front of Bob.

Wilson acted quickly and gripped Bob outstretched firing arm from the wrist, and even though Bob tried to retract his arm, he was too late. And now he can do nothing but watch as Wilson uppercuted him ten meters high into the air then followed him with geppo.

It took Wilson two geppo steps to position himself right above bob, and once he was there, he brought his arms together, and with a mighty blow to Bob's stomach, he sent him crashing into the ground.

Wilson, however, didn't think that was enough as he morphed into his gorilla point and then launched himself at the ground with a geppo step.

He crossed his arms in front of his head, which was now facing the ground as he continuously used geppo steps to increase his speed, but Halfway through, his body ignited in red flames, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"meteor strike."

Wilson impacted the ground with a thundering explosion as dust, debris, and flames started to fly everywhere. Wilson soon became visible for us to see, but he was in a very tattered state, and Bob was standing in front of him, not looking much better himself.

"How the hell did you avoid my attack like that? no, more importantly, how did you land a hit on me in that position after you dodged?" Wilson asked in amazement as he pointed his finger at Bob.

"it's a little technique called life return," Bob said as he dusted himself. " it allows me to manipulate my body's shape to a certain extent. I just tilted my body mass to the left to avoid being direct with that dangerous move of yours, then extended my arms and hit you after I went flying because of the impact," he concluded as a smile, still dusting his clothes.

"well, it won't save you again," Wilson said as he lowered his stance and swung his four arms backward, igniting them in flame.

"We shall see, punk," Bob remarked as he lowered while cracking his knuckles and his gauntlets started to emit blue arks of electricity.

They charged each other again, and my eyes widened in shock. "Laffite, help me stop these two idiots before they kill each other. You stop Bob, and I'll stop Winston," I said and then vanished quickly without waiting for a response.

I appeared at Wilson's left side and caught one of his arms, then spun him a couple of times and sent him flying into the cliff's face.

Laffite appeared behind Bob's back and caught also caught his arm right above his gauntlet. He then brought his knee to his back and pushed with all his strength to pin him down and keep him at the ground with a submission hold.

"are you idiots insane? You don't use that kind of force when sparring with your crew. You try doing that one more time, and you're both out of the crew," I said in an annoyed tone as I watched Wilson climb down from the cliff's face with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Sorry about that, johnny. I guess I got carried away," he said while rubbing the back of his head as he transformed himself back into his human form.

I looked at his apologetic face and decided to drop the matter as he seemed to be honestly regretting his stupidity.

I then looked at bob, who was already released from the submission hold that Laffite had him locked in.

"yes indeed, I got carried away as well as it's been so long since I had any real fight," Bob said after noticing me looking at him and bowed honestly.

"as long as you both understand, then it's fine, just don't do something like that again," I said with my arms crossed at my chest and paused a little to make sure my words sink in.

"at any rate, I believe this test is over, and I don't have any problems with bob joining the crew. If anyone has an objection, however, then say it now," I remarked as I looked at each one of my companion's faces.

"no objections then. Well, no one seems to have any objections about you joining us, so how about it, old man, do you want to join?" I said as I looked at Bob, who was now twirling his mustache in thought.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to join, but I am a cook, and so I would prefer not to fight unless absolutely necessary," he concluded after several seconds of silence as he extended one of his hands in my direction.

"Welcome to the crew, Bob," I said as I shook his hands with a smile on my face.

-0-

After the fight, we made our way back to the inn, and I spent some time in my room examining Wilson and bob's injuries to make sure there wasn't any long-lasting damage.

Fortunately, there was none, And I quickly stitched up and bandaged whatever wounds they had and told them to rest for a while, after renting a room in the inn for Bob.

I went downstairs after that, along with Laffite and Elly, who were present when I patched up the muscle head duo and took a seat at our usual table.

People at the inn have long since noticed we always sit there and decided they want nothing to do with it, and I can't really fault them for that. Who would want to deal with a dangerous-looking group like us, especially since two of us were armed 24/7 and the fact that Wilson keeps giving everyone dirty looks, but I digress.

We took a seat, and after making ourselves comfortable in our chairs, I was the first to speak.

"most of our business in the capital is done. We only need to take care of the Nittis family, and then we can leave. But we need a plan before we take any further action." I said after clearing my throat to get my two companions' attention.

"shouldn't we wait for Wilson and Bob before we make a plan?" Elly said in an unsure tone as she pointed to the inn's stairs.

"no. Wilson isn't the planning type. He only needs someone to point him in a direction and watch the ensuing mayhem, and Bob said he doesn't want to fight unless necessary, so we'll take care of it without him." I said as I shrugged my shoulders with a smile on my face, and both Laffite and Elly nodded in understanding.

"We first need information, information about their numbers, bases, weapons, military strength, connections, and anything else you could sniff out," I said as I raised a finger every time I added something new.

"you two will take care of gathering the information we need," I said as I pointed at the two of them.

"understood, I already have some information we can use, but getting more would make things easier for us, I suppose," said Elly as she nodded her head.

"very well, Captain. I shall contact some of my acquaintances and former colleagues, and I know some information brokers we can buy the intel from if nothing else works," Laffite remarked with a smile on his face as he spoke in his usual jolly tone.

"If you have some connections here, then that makes things a lot more simple. You should contact them as soon as you can to get us official permission to act against the Nitti family," I said while rubbing my chin in contemplation.

"they might make us look like the bad guys if we start massacring them all over the city. The local authorities might try to stop us if that happens," I concluded after a moment to gather my thoughts and organize them.

"that would be problematic indeed. Good thinking, captain," Laffite said with a nod, seemingly impressed by meticulous nature.

"I can't believe I haven't thought of that," Elly said with a sigh as she lowered her head, but she shook it off quickly, "then what are we going to do if Laffite can't get permission?" she asked with concern after she calmed down and raised her face.

"don't worry about it. If we can't get permission, we only need to act with more subtlety,' I said with an assuring smile. "If the subtle abroach doesn't work either, we'll burn this fucking city to the ground. Let consequences be damned. I'm sure that'll flush out the Nitti family," I said with my arms dramatically spread apart and laughed.

"I'm sure Wilson would approve of that approach," Laffite said as he chuckled.

Elly looked both touched and concerned at the same time but said nothing.

"Alright, you two, there's nothing more that needs to be said, so get your asses out of here and start working," I said as I leaned on my chair and covered my face with my hat to relax for a short while before I went out to keep working on my Shogeki ken (impact fist) technique.

I spent several minutes of relaxation to clear my mind of anything that would impede my training and then exited the inn and made my way to the desert outside the city.

Once there, I spent thirty minutes swinging my sword to warm up my body and then spent another hour practicing kami-e by moving my muscles around to loosen them up.

After the warm-up, I finally started practicing my impact fist technique for two hours and took a brief break after I felt tired.

Even though I can execute it a lot faster now, I still could not do it while moving, making it useless in an actual fight for now.

I resumed my training after the break and continued to work myself to exhaustion. I took a brief rest again and then continued the cycle of rest and exercise until the sky turned dark and it was time for me to go back to the inn.

I could finally perform the impact fist while moving but only if was doing tiny movement like taking small steps or moving sideways very slowly, meaning it was still unusable in combat and needed more work.

I performed on last impact fist on the ground, creating a small crater while sending sand and small rock shrapnel flying everywhere and then turned around to make my way to the inn.

I found the entire crew sitting at our usual table when I arrived at the inn and took a seat with them after a simple greeting.

"So, how did it go? Did you get us permission, Laffite?" I asked as soon as I sat while taking out my whisky bottle.

"Unfortunately, my connections weren't able to get us that kind of permission, but they arranged a meeting for me tomorrow with someone who can," he answered as he took the whisky bottle and filled everyone's glasses.

"do you need me to come along?" I asked as I took a sip from the glass in front of me.

"I don't think so, no. I can handle it on my own," Laffite said with a smile as he spoke in a very confident tone of voice.

"good. What about you, Elly? Did you discover anything new?" I asked the redhead, who was looking at her glass, seemingly deep in thought.

"No, I found nothing new, but I checked the information I already had about some of their safe houses, and they were still true," she answered as she drained her glass in one gulp.

"that's fine too. Take Wilson and hit one of those safe houses discreetly tomorrow. Try to question the gangsters there for more useful information," I said while pointing at Wilson, who at some point had gone and got himself a large beer glass that he was now filling with whisky.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to call it a day now since I'm feeling tired," I remarked as I snatched my whisky bottle from Winston's hand and made my way upstairs.

-0-

I woke up very early in the morning, way before the rest of the crew woke up, so I had a quick breakfast and left a message to my companions, informing them of my whereabouts before leaving the inn and making my to the desert to continue my training.

Once there, I started by doing a simple warm-up like yesterday and then began the actual impact fist's training.

I continued to do this for quite some time, noticing no improvement, until I suddenly thought of a way to improve the technique while taking one of my breaks.

I devoured my mean in haste and then stood up to try the idea immediately, to find a big rock so that I can try my new method on.

Once I found one, I stood at a ten-meter distance from it and closed my eyes in concentration to organize my mind and clear it of any thoughts that would impede my focus.

I opened my eyes and kept them locked on the rock once I was satisfied with the state of my mind and took a deep breath. I then kicked the ground in a certain way to perform a slower form of soru, and once I felt my feet leave the ground, I channeled the impact through my muscles, starting from my feet.

Unfortunately, I missed the perfect timing and had to release the impact before reaching the optimal distance to hit the rock with it and watched with a sigh as the shock wave dissipated just before hitting the rock.

I shook my head and smiled after some time. Even though I failed at it this time, it was very much possible. If I can't perform while consciously moving my body, I simply need to do it while my body is already in motion. I need to figure out the best timing for that first, though.

And so I began testing with the soru technique once again, repeating the scene of me trying to figure it out for the first time on the deserted island.

I would sometimes trip, crash into the rock, crash into some cactus, and all kinds of painful and embarrassing scenarios I was thankful no one was there to see, But I figured it out in the end.

I continued to train in that manner for even more time to make sure I could do it perfectly during a fight instead of embarrassing or endangering myself if I tried it.

Once I felt satisfied with my performance, I took a break and then head back into the city because I perceived that any further training would not yield any results for now, and as I was resting while humming a song to pass the time, I suddenly felt my senses flare-up, I instantly drew Satori for its sheath and swung it behind me only to stop a mere inch away from slicing Laffite's neck.

"goddamnit, Laffite. Do you have any idea how close I was to sending your head flying? Never do that again," I said with a sigh as I put satori back into its sheath.

"of course, captain. I came to inform you that I've got permission for us to act against the Nitti family, but it comes with the condition that any property damage we cause will be deducted from our rewards when we go to claim our bounties for some of the wanted people in the Nitti family," Laffite said with a calm smile on his face as if his head wasn't in the danger of rolling off his shoulders mere seconds ago.

"I was more than willing to go after them even if it meant I have to pay out of my own pocket to do it, so that's more than good enough," I said with a shrug as I started packing my belongings that were scattered all over the place.

"what about Wilson and Elly? Did they have any luck with the safe house they were supposed to attack?" I asked as I held a cigarette in my mouth and lit it up leisurely.

"They were successful in their mission. There wasn't anyone strong enough to stop the duo," Lafitte said in his usual tone of voice.

"They were also able to learn the whereabouts of several high-ranking gangsters after threatening the survivors of the safe house that Wilson, who had morphed into his gorilla form, would eat them." He concluded with a chuckle, and I laughed as well, making no further comments on that subject.

"let's head back to the inn so we can plan our next move. I had enough training for today anyway," I said as I wore my backpack after I finished collecting my scattered belongings, and Laffite nodded in agreement.

We soon reached the entrance of the city and entered through the city's gates. We then started marching in the inn's direction, only to halt our steps halfway through as a group of men dressed in back suits and armed with guns appeared in front of us.

They were running through the streets while shoving and kicking everyone in their way. Thanks to my enhanced senses, I overheard them talking about a massacre that left no survivors in one of their safe houses and some mister Aldo who was livid with rage because his son was in said safe house.

Laffite and I looked at each other and smiled but said nothing as we continued to walk, but then I quickly picked up a small stone and threw it at a gangster's foot, causing him to trip and fall before he smacked some poor old lady with the butt of his pistol.

I then shook my head with a sigh and kept walking to catch up with Laffite, who was several steps ahead of me.

We stood in front of the inn after several minutes of walking and made our way inside to find Wilson, Elly, and bob sitting at our usual table while talking about something in a seemingly good mood.

We sat down at the table after getting them and talked business immediately after making ourselves comfortable.

I first asked Elly and Bob to inform me of the mission at the safe house in detail and listened quietly, only stopping them occasionally to inquire about some details or tell them what they could have done better until they finished speaking.

"well, we have our permission and enough information to act against some of the gang's higher-ups, so split up and deal with them the same way you dealt with the safe house," I said with no expression on my face.

"Elly and Wilson can go after that Aldo guy. You already killed his son, so it's only fitting that you take care of him too," I said with a shrug while looking at Elly and Wilson, and they both nodded their heads.

"you can take off the remaining two yourself, Laffite, but take your time. You don't have to handle them both today," I continued as I turned to look at Laffite, and he nodded in agreement as well.

"Alright, you have your targets, and you already know where to find them, so get going," I concluded and watched them leave after bidding farewell, leaving only bob and me at the table.

-0-

"So Bob, I have several questions I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, If you don't mind, of course," I said with a solemn look on my face as I addressed the butler.

"I don't mind, I also had some questions to ask you about, but you can go first," Bob replied with a relaxed tone of voice.

"I'll take you up on that offer then," I said with a shrug and then continued. "I saw the way you fought, and I know for a fact that you should have been able to protect Elly's family, so how the hell did that happen?" I asked with a frown on my face while making eye contact with him.

"sigh, I had wanted to wipe out the gangsters when I figured out what they were after indeed, But Elly's father, Richard, that old fool, insisted that I've done more than enough to repay him for saving my life and that he'll take care of it somehow," he remarked with a sigh, and I just raised an eyebrow at that waiting for him to continue.

"there was no arguing with the man, so I decided to give him a chance to take care of it and only step in if things began turning to the worst likely situation," he continued his explanation with a sad voice.

"fate, however, had other plans. When things finally turned for the worst, I was already preparing to make a move, Richard's wife, Sophia, disappeared with their savings, and Richard asked me to go after her to make sure she was safe," Bob said as he lowered his head to look at the table and drew an even bigger sigh.

"I spent two days going after her tracks all over the city until I found out what happened to her. She had was tricked by Dante Nitti, Frank Nitti's little brother. He told her they only wanted the money, which her husband refused to give them, and that they'll leave them alone if she brought it to them behind Richard's back," he said, and there was a rage in his voice as he spoke.

"the bastard took the money, then killed her and fed her corpse to the pigs. I spent another two days to find him and another torturing the shit-eating scum before killing him," he concluded, his rage dissipating from his voice replaced by emptiness and nothing else.

"When I got back to the mansion outside the city, I learned from Elly that Richard took his rifle, went out, and didn't return. I ran out of the estate and back into the city as soon as I heard that, and after some digging around, I found out that he attacked a safe house belonging to the Nitti family and died for blood loss after killing everyone there," he said with a tired voice, as his face seemed to whither as if he had grown several years older.

"after even more digging, I found out that the man in charge of the safe house Richard attacked had ambushed Richard outside of the mansion, roughed him up, and told him that he would sell Elly to slave traders after taking over the estate and killing him," he said as he shook his head and recovered his calm.

"There was nothing else for me to do but return to the mansion and inform little Elly of her father's fate, but I didn't have it in me to tell her about her mother. She seemed so relieved that she one parent still alive somewhere, even if she thought that parent had abandoned her," he concluded as he called a server and asked him to bring the strongest drink they had.

"I understand why you couldn't protect them, but why didn't you help Elly take revenge, then?" I asked as I watched snatch the bottle that the server had brought and started drinking directly from the bottle.

"I offered to do that believe me, but that girl takes over her father, and I thought it was a good idea to let her do it since it would toughen her up and give her purpose to dedicate herself to," he said with as he sighed again and kept drinking from his bottle.

"Fair enough. Now it's your turn to ask," I said with a sigh of my own at how everything seemed to go wrong at the same time. When it rains, it pours, I guess.

"well, what I want to ask is very simple. I want to know about how you learned the marine's six powers?" he asked while eyeing me suspiciously.

"I figured them out myself while I was stranded on a deserted island, of course," I answered in a confident tone as if I was stating the obvious.

"And how did you know about them in the first place? You don't just come with this kind of thing while taking a shit in the forest," he said in suspicion with a raised eyebrow, but I already had an answer ready.

"I found a buried pirate treasure that had a journal describing the writer's encounter with marine soldiers who were using them," I said with a shrug of my shoulder, not showing any expression on my face.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"and what about you? How did you know about them? You even used soru while fighting Wilson," I said, deflecting his question right back at him.

"that's a story for another time," he said as he got up and made his way to his room without waiting for me to reply, leaving me alone on the table.

-0-

Shortly after Bob went to his room, I also got off my chair and exited the bar, as I had nothing to do, so I went out and enjoy what the city has to offer.

I started walking through the streets with no particular purpose other than passing some time while I could make myself busy by helping the crew dismantle the Nitti family. I honestly didn't feel like it, so I left it to my companions since it would help Elly And Wilson gain experience.

Elly had some experience in these kinds of covert operations. She, however, lacked fighting experience and actual strength, so watching Wilson in action would be very useful in expanding her horizons.

Wilson was both strong and experienced in fighting, but he was shit at anything that required any amount of subtlety, and he didn't work well with others, so having him go with Elly would help him gain experience in those departments.

Working together will also help strengthen the crew's bonds. I really like these guys, and I don't want them to scatter or run around like headless chickens if something ever happened to me, especially Wilson. I'm basically his only real friend, and I want him to have somewhere he belongs, just in case.

I have to admit, however, that sending Laffite to do two missions on his own was purely out of laziness because I didn't want to deal with small fries. What? I'm human too, you know. Besides, this kind of work is right up his ally, as he's moderately strong and a master of infiltration and stealth, so I can send all work of that nature in his direction and rest easy that he'll have it done.

I continued to walk around the streets as I was drowning in my own thoughts, but some screaming ahead of me in the street interrupted my thought process t, so I looked in the racket's direction to see what was happening.

"as I said, your payment was already due a week ago, you shitty old man," said a man dressed in a fine black suit as he stood in front of an old man who was standing in front of a little girl protectively as he glared at the man in the black outfit.

"How am I supposed to pay while you thugs are hounding my shop 24/7 and scaring away my customers? I'll pay as soon I have enough money, and you parasites standing in front of my shop all time isn't exactly helping with that," the old man shouted with anger as he kept gesturing wildly with his arms.

"let me make one thing clear for you, old man. The only reason you can keep living, and working is because our boss, Frank Nitti, protects you, and your business since you make him money," the gangster said with a casual voice as he looked at the old man dead in the eye.

The gangster then buried his fist in the shopkeeper's stomach, forcing him to fall onto his knees while gasping for breath as the earlier punch had driven out all air from his lungs.

"And you, you're taking advantage of his kindness, working without care about people that would inflict harm upon you without even paying him his dues. The only parasite here is you, you ungrateful fossil," he concluded without even so much as a twitch in his eyes and then kicked the elderly man in the chest, knocking him on flat on his back.

The old shopkeeper could do nothing but grunt in pain as the little girl behind him cried and threw herself on top of him protectively to cover him in a hug.

"you mean people, stop hurting grandpa. He did nothing to you!" the girl shouted in a muffled voice while sobbing as she buried her face in her grandpa's chest.

Looking at this scene, I felt my blood boil with rage and could barely stop myself from taking out my gun to put down this rabid animal. I was not someone who would rush to help anyone in need. I, however, had a bottom line that would make me angry when crossed, and intentionally bullying children crossed that line.

Despite my anger, I didn't act as my action would solve nothing. The gangsters already know where the store is and would only need to send more people if I took care of the ones hounding the shop owner right now.

Even though I was bubbling with rage and frustration, I stayed to watch this infuriating scene, regardless, because I wanted to make sure those animals don't go too far and to imprint the gangsters' faces in my mind, so I can find them later when everything is over.

I kept watching as the gangsters kept threatening and scolding the grandpa, but luckily for them, they didn't put their hands on the little girl because I might have lost control and put them down right here and now otherwise.

"one week, you stubborn old man, If you don't have our money by then we'll burn your shop, and then take that little girl of yours as a payment instead," one gangster said in a disdainful tone as he pointed at the man's granddaughter. "What? You thought we didn't hit her because of the goodness of our hearts?" he asked in a mocking voice. "No, we didn't hit her because it would damage her value when we sell her to an underground brother," he concluded with a smile as he kicked the grandpa again, and I finally snapped.

I drew my gun with a calm expression on my face and fired five bullets. Four Gangsters fell dead instantly with gaping holes in their foreheads, and the man who last spoke fell to the ground while clutching the back of his knee.

I started walking in his direction as I watched the people who were here to watch the show scattered in all directions while screaming in fear. I shot the last round in my gun's chamber at the gangster's hand that was reaching into his jacket, and he screamed even more loudly.

"young man, thank you for what you did, but you need to leave the city as soon as possible before their friends find you and kill you," the old man said as he stood up and stood in front of me to stop me from going any further.

"I didn't do this for you. I did it because of a personal grudge, so get out of my way, or you'll end up just like them," I said as I pointed my empty gun at his head and sent him a meaningful look.

"y-yes, sir. I'm s-sorry for my assumption," the old man said as he hurried away from me fearfully, but he didn't forget to send a grateful look in my direction before making himself scarce.

I took several more steps and soon found myself staring down at a squirming worm groaning in pain on the ground. I refer to it as a worm because; I refuse to consider this piece of trash as a human being.

I then quickly picked up the worm and then disappeared with a swift application of the soru technique.

-0-

I appeared in an empty alley several blocks away from the store with the filthy worm still in my hands and threw it to the ground as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to stop myself from putting several more bullet holes in it.

I opened my eyes after I calmed myself and stomped on the worm's uninjured arm as it was trying to reach into its jacket again with it.

"you enjoy bullying old people and children, don't you, little worm?" I asked with an icy voice as I removed my foot from the worm's arm and kicked its head.

"s-so you really stepped in to help that old piece of tra- "it couldn't complete its sentence as I stomped on his stomach this time, but it still stubbornly tried to keep talking. "That old man will be as good as dead, as soon as word of this incident reaches my companions, and so will you. Do you hear me? You're both as good as dead." it continued while coughing and laughing at the same with a confident voice as if any of its words meant something to me.

I said nothing as I kicked it in the side, but it still kept threatening me with all kinds of nonsense, as if it was in complete control of the situation.

"worms can't speak. Know your place, receive the beating in silence, and I just might put you out of your misery when I'm satisfied, worm," I remarked as I kicked it in the head once more, sending several of its teeth flying out of its filthy mouth.

"y-you won't get awa- "the worm tried to threaten me again, and I stomped on its chest, breaking its rib cage. "The boss wi-" it attempted to intimidate once more.

I raised my foot, floating it above the worm's body until it was above one area of its body, and smiled as the worm's turned several shades paler.

I then unceremoniously stomped on the worm's crotch, and my smile became even wider when the worm finally stopped laughing and trying to scare me as it finally screamed and beg for its worthless life.

"I'm going to kill you, worm. There's no doubt about that. But how soon I'll give you the privilege of dying depends entirely on you," I said as I raised the worm by its head and brought its face in front of my own.

It looked into my eyes and finally seemed to understand its situation since it nodded its head fervently while whimpering in pain and fear.

"how many people know about you going to extort that shop, and where can I find them?" I said as I put more strength into my left prosthetic hand that was holding its head.

"j-just the people in the safe house. I'll tell you its location, so please stop hurting me!" It said in a whimpering tone, and I couldn't help but frown.

"speak, where is it? And is there anyone in the safe house other than your gangster companions?" I asked as I buried my fist in its gut to vent my anger at having to deal with this kind of boring shit again because of it.

"it's just a few streets away from the shop," it said with a gasp as the air left his lungs. "No one can go there except gang members. It's supposed to serve as a warehouse and a hiding place in case of emergencies," it said quickly, trying to complete its sentence as fast as possible before I interrupted it with another fist in its gut.

"I see. Let's go and say hi to your friends then," I said to it after questioning it for more details, like the number of gangsters and the defenses of the safe house.

I appeared in front of the building that the gang used as a safe house and took a minute to survey the surroundings and make sure that no one was close enough to the building to be affected by what I was about to do.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you go, worm," I stated. No, I decreed in an icy voice as I spun the little worm in my hand and threw it at the building's front door.

I watched as it impacted the closed entrance head first, raised my left arm, took aim at the building's center, and then fired the explosive arm projectile.

I watched as the projectile instantly made contact with the building with a loud explosion, collapsing it entirely. There was some screaming and some movement in the now wrecked building, but that's all.

The screams soon died out, replaced by the voice of the raging fire as it continued to consume any and all flammable material nearby. I quickly drew my swords and sent several flying slashes to cut off the fire's path and stop it from expanding to the buildings nearby and made my way into the wreckage of the building in search of any survivors.

I found three gangsters on their last breaths, and I left them to suffer until they die instead of putting them out of their misery. I also found two gangsters who were only slightly injured. I gave them a quick death as it would, unfortunately, take too much time for me to do anything else.

I finally left after checking the wrecked building for one last time to make sure I didn't leave any survivors and disappeared from the spot with a quick Soru step.

-0-

I was roaming around the capital again, but my good mood is already gone. 'this is taking too long. I can't afford to waste too much time here, and those gangsters are really getting on my nerves,' I thought as I walked in the streets of the capital with a frown on my face.

'Wilson and the rest should have completed their tasks by now. I'll call to see where they are now so we can go drinking or something. I'm sure that will cheer me up,' I thought again as I took out my den den mushi and dialed Wilson's number, But I didn't receive an answer.

'what's going on? Could something have gone wrong?' I thought as I asked no in particular inside my head. 'With Wilson there, I doubt anything could go wrong, But I should check for myself to be sure,' I decided as I dialed Laffite's number this time.

"gotcha," the snail made the sound that showed it had successfully connected to the other side after several seconds. "This is Johnny. I'm in a hurry so, just listen. Wilson isn't answering my call, so I'm on my way to make sure everything is in order. Meet me there if you finished your task, or call me after you finish it if you haven't," I concluded and hung up the line as I made my way to Aldo's safe house as fast as I can.

I arrived at my destination after five minutes and heaved a sigh of relief as I found Wilson and Elly safe and sound in the wrecked gang's safe house.

Elly was the first to notice my arrival as she turned around and smiled in my direction. "Oh, captain, what are you doing here?" she asked, surprised at my presence after I had made it clear that I want nothing to do with this kind of work anymore.

I was about to answer him when I was interrupted by Wilson, who finally seemed to notice my presence too, as he came running towards me and shoved his face too close in front of my own.

"do you have any idea how bored I was, taking care of these small fries? You should come with us next time so we can get it done as quickly as possible," he said as he glared at me with annoyance.

"too close, you bastards. How many times do I have to tell you not to shove that ugly mug of yours so close in front of my face for you to understand?" I said as I punched him in his nose, pushing his face away from mine.

"I was planning to act myself anyway since some gangsters have gone done made me angry today," I said in an icy tone as the scene of the old shop owner getting roughed up flashed inside my head.

"so they made you angry, huh?" Wilson said with an excited smile. "I can still remember that one time when you got genuinely angry," he continued with a chuckle, and I felt my eyes twitch. "it was when those things, what did you call them? Baboons? Threw some half-eaten apples at you," he said as he raised his head and started to laugh loudly.

"What happened then?" Elly asked as she turned her head to look at me again curiously. "and why would you get so angry over some animals throwing fruits at you, captain?" she asked, and I felt my eyes twitch even further.

"he hunted every single one of their species on that island until they were extinct and then burned down all apple trees there too," Wilson answered as he laughed even more loudly. "Our brave captain here can't deal with- " and that as far as he got in his sentence as I sent him flying with another punch to the face.

"I'm going to make you go extinct if you don't shut your mouth, you damn blabbering gorilla," I said with a tangible aura of malice surrounding me.

"It doesn't matter anyway, captain. You still haven't told us what you're doing here," Elly said quickly, with a nervous voice, trying to change the subject.

"about that, I tried to call Wilson a little while ago to see how you guys are doing, but I didn't get an answer, so I came here to check on you two," I said as I finally remembered why I came here in the first place.

"Hey, big guy, why the hell didn't you answer the den den mushi when I called you?" I said as I turned to look at Wilson, who just tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Den den mushi? What the hell is that?" he asked in a confused tone as he scratched his head. "Is that snail thing Laffite gave us? Was it some kind of communication device?" he asked again, sounding even more confused.

"Laffite was supposed to explain it to you earlier. Did he forget to do that or something? That's not like him," I asked with a sigh as I tiredly began rubbing my eyes.

"Oh, he did, but I got bored and didn't listen to a word he said," he said with a broad smile. "And where is your den den mushi right now?" I asked, hoping against hope that Wilson's answer would not be too ridiculous.

"I ate it," he said while laughing and rubbing the back of his neck, causing both Elly and me to deadpan on the spot. "You ate it?" I asked, hoping that my ears were merely playing tricks on me.

"I was hungry and thought it was a snack meant for the road, so I ate it, but it didn't taste good at all," he said in an irritated tone as he spoke his sentence word by word as if he was explaining something very complicated to a group of mentally challenged children.

"that's because you're not supposed to eat it you fucking moron," I shouted as I punched on the top of his head with all my strength and buried his head into the ground, creating a small crater in the process.

"captain, Wilson, now is not the time to fight. It looks like we've been surrounded, while you two were arguing," Elly said in a hushed voice, causing both Wilson, who was getting himself up, and me to halt our actions as we looked at each other and then smiled.

-0-

'Elly's senses are as sharp as ever. Now that I think of it, it seemed as if she had felt presence back then when she fought that Francis guy,' I thought as I surveyed the surroundings.

'I thought it was just my imagination when it happened,' I kept thinking as I strained my senses even harder, trying to spot the enemies surrounding us.

'But now that she noticed the enemy's presence before I did, despite my enhanced senses, I have to reevaluate her sensory abilities,' I concluded my thoughts about the matter as I finally began to hear some noises from all around us.

"I think you just might be an observation Haki genius, Elly," I said with a proud smile as I patted the redhead on her head.

"Please don't do that, captain. I'm not a kid, and what the hell is observation Haki, anyway?" She said with puffed cheeks as she covered her head to stop me from patting her head anymore.

"well, adults don't exactly pout like that, do they?" I said with a smile as I took back my hand, and she just rolled her eyes in annoyance while Wilson snorted in amusement.

"as for Haki, I'll tell you about it later," I concluded as I drew my sword and sent a flying slash at the place that had the most noise I could hear.

"We already know you're there, so come on out, and I promise I won't tear into too many pieces when I kill you," I said as I lit a cigarette and watched as gangsters came out of their hiding places.

There was a sound of clapping as gangsters came out of every nook and cranny imaginable all around us. The source of the clapping finally made its self apparent as the last gangster showed himself.

"very impressive, very impressive indeed. Not only did you people manage to find and destroy several of my safe houses. You even sensed us surrounding you from this far distance," the clapping man said, and he seemed genuinely impressed.

I heard teeth grinding against each other, and I immediately realized the man's identity. 'Frank Nitti, huh?' I thought as I took a second to inspect him.

He was a Caucasian middle-aged man with black hair slicked backward and an icy, calculating pair of eyes.

He was dressed in a simple red shirt with its sleeves folded, showing his muscular forearms with red scars all over them, simple formal pants, and brown leather formal shoes.

'This guy looks like a typical third-rate villain who loves nothing more to hear himself speak, but it looks fun, so I'll humor him for now,' I thought as I put my hand on Elly's shoulder to stop her from jumping at him and smiled assuringly and the redhead nodded at me after taking a second to calm herself.

"Is there a reason you're stating the obvious, or do you just like the sound of your own voice?" I asked with a mocking smile, and both Elly and Wilson rolled their eyes at me for going along with this farce.

"Hilarious. Everyone can appreciate a man with a sense of humor," Frank Nitti said with a blank face as he took out a gun from his jacket. "But I'm afraid humor will not get you out of this situation," he concluded as he shot his pistol and hit one of his subordinates, who couldn't hold it in and laughed a little in the back of his head, killing him instantly.

"It definitely looks that way, but luckily for me, telling jokes isn't my go-to method to get myself out of sticky situations, as you'll soon find out," I said as I merely raised an eyebrow at the little show that he put up to scare us.

"But enough of that. How did you know we'll be here, anyway? And is all this nonsense going anywhere, or are you just here to chat?" I said as I lost interest in humoring him any further.

"that's very simple, in fact. I knew you would come here as soon as I heard that Aldo's brat was dead," He said with a faint smile. "I knew he would point you to this safe house, If you roughed him up a little since he doesn't have any guts because his father spoils him rotten," he concluded with an even bigger smile.

"and how were you so sure we'll appear here? Maybe he pointed us into another safe house?" I asked as I noticed Laffite appear on the rooftop of a building right above Frank Nitti while slitting the throat of the gangster stationed there.

"that's because the brat only knows about two safe houses, the one he died in and this one since he only started working for the family a week ago," he remarked with a calculating look in his cold pair of eyes.

"in that case, why didn't you stop us before we destroyed the safe house instead of waiting for us to wreck it before ambushing us?" I asked, this time genuinely curious and not just humoring him.

"Aldo was a traitor. He was scheming to kill me and take over the gang, so I called out everyone who wasn't already loyal to him when I figured out you'll be attacking this place," he said in a calm voice that grew more passionate with every word.

"I then watched from a distance as you took care of my dirty work for me," he stated with a maniacal smile and spread his arms dramatically as the gangsters began cheering for him and chanting his name.

"Tehahaha," hearing what he just said, Wilson, Elly, and I looked at each other and began laughing.

"Have you gone mad from shock?" Frank Nitti asked in a mocking tone as he looked at me with disdain.

"Not at all. It's just that this situation is so funny we couldn't help not laughing at it," I said after I calmed myself from my hysterical laughing fit.

Frank Nitti was about to say something, but I interrupted him before he said anything else. "There's nothing wrong with your plan. In fact, I would even say it was clever. Not only do you get rid of your competition and trap the people who have been attacking your safe houses."

"you even get to put on a show for those simpletons you call subordinates and impress them by revealing your plan to us in front of them," I said as I spread my arms even more dramatically than he did.

"that is why you've been talking so much, isn't it? Oh, wise and mighty gang leader? Tehahaha," I asked as I laughed again. "Do you know what's so funny about all of this?" I asked, and he didn't answer, so I continued.

"the funny thing is that none of this matters, because the only thing you've accomplished with your elaborate plan is saving us the trouble and the time of finding you ourselves," I stated as I signaled for Laffite to get ready to act.

"And now none of you will walk out of here alive, Tehahaha," I said with a cheerful smile, as my laughs became even more loud and maniacal.

-0-

"Wilson, Laffite, go wild, don't let the small fries get in Elly's way," I said and watched as Laffite jumped and landed behind Frank Nitti and the gangsters near him dropped like flies. "This is your moment, Elly, hold nothing back and let it all out," I concluded as Wilson transformed to his gorilla form and threw himself at a group of gangsters while shrugging everything they threw at him, including a shot from a hand cannon.

Elly looked at this scene, and her eyes began to tear up, but she shook her head and started sprinting in the mob boss's direction after muttering the words, "thank you."

I stood in my place and took out my gun, and began sniping the mobsters left and right at a leisurely pace while prioritizing those who looked like they were targeting Elly.

We, of course, couldn't stop all the gangsters from targeting Elly as there were too many of them, but that did not stop her as she was steadily advancing through the battlefield while performing all kinds of gymnastic moves to dodge the bullets.

Some gangsters decided to attack her in melee range, and I intentionally let two of them through to see how she would react to them while keeping a close eye on them to put them down with a bullet, if necessary, of course.

The first gangster that reached her was carrying an ordinary cutlass sword, which he swung at her sideways as soon as she was at striking distance.

Elly ducked under his word without stopping and reached to her belt to take a knife, which she threw backward without even looking as she kept sprinting.

'now that's a cool trick. I'll have to ask her to teach that later,' I thought with a smile as I watched the knife hit the gangster directly in the back of his head, killing him where he stood.

The second gangster to reach her was unarmed, so he stood in front of her with his arms wide open, trying to stop her sprint. She jumped over him with a graceful backflip, and I saw her making eye contact with me when her head was right above his head with a smug smile as she twisted his neck with her hands before landing and continuing to sprint.

"Nobody likes a show-off, Elly," I said as I raised my leg and sent a flying rankyaku slash right above her head, which hit two more gangsters in front of her, decapitating them and sending their heads rolling in the air.

"Tch, who's the show-off now, captain?" she snapped at me with a click of her tongue as she sprinted, but there was a smile on her lips.

By the time Elly finally reached Frank Nitti, Laffite had already taken care of all the gangsters near him, leaving only Laffite himself and the mob boss there.

Laffite looked at Elly and nodded with a smile as he walked forward and patted her shoulder. "I'll watch your back. He's all yours," he remarked and took one more step to stand behind Elly with their backs facing each other as he twirled his red cane.

I unsheathed my sword and sent several flying sword slashes to finish the remaining small fries near me as Wilson jumped near me and morphed back into his human form.

"what, it's already over? After all that talking, I thought this would be way more fun," Wilson said to me as he picked up a rock and threw it at a gangster who was playing dead.

"not yet. That guy has been awfully silent the entire time. He probably still has something up his sleeve," I said as I rubbed my chin in thought while pointing at the mob boss.

Wilson just shrugged his shoulder with no interest at all and jumped again, landing next to Laffite, and I followed him with a soru step.

"Frank Nitti, you do not know how long I've been waiting to tear you apart with my own hands," Elly said with an icy tone of voice as she clenched her fists hard enough for her knuckles to turn white while facing the man who destroyed her family.

"wait for your turn, little girl. Do you think you're the only one with a grudge against me?" he said with a calm smile. "in fact, I don't even know who you are," he concluded with a careless shrug of his shoulder, obviously trying to provoke her.

"You don't need to know who I am. You only need to know that I'll be reuniting you with your shit-eating son, Francis," Elly did not fall for his attempt to provoke her and replied calmly.

"so it was you, huh?" he replied calmly, but I can feel the rage boiling inside him as his body started to change.

His face was the first to change as his nose turned into a black snout while the rest of his face grew black, fuzzy fur, except his mouth and chin, which remained the same. The front of his body also grew the same black fur as his hands and feet grew long black claws, while the back of his body sprouted countless white, long spikes that looked sharp enough to penetrate rock.

"a hedgehog Zoan," I stated with a calm tone as I looked at this scene, and Laffite nodded while Wilson only looked slightly interested, but he didn't make any comments.

"you bastards really made a huge mess for me, but no matter, I will kill you all and rebuild the gang again after I'm take care of you lot," he stated with an even calmer tone as a large pulsing vein appeared on his forehead.

Elly seemed to have grown tired of waiting as she pointed her rifle in his direction and quickly fired a bullet aimed at his head. The mob boss saw it coming and quickly covered his face by bringing his hands in front of his face, causing the bullets to hit the spikes on the back of his arms and bounce off, doing no damage at all.

The mobster then pointed his arm in her direction and fired several spikes at her, which she dodged by performing a cartwheel flip to the side without her hands.

Frank Nitti, however, made use of her actions to close the gap as he started charging in her direction before she landed on the ground. Elly noticed this and started pedaling backward while firing two shots at him, which he shrugged of again.

He closed the distance in no time, and he brought his hands in front of him as he lunged in her direction, trying to impale her with the spikes on his arms.

Elly waited until the last second to reach for the coach gun and shot him with it at point-blank, sending him flying and crashing into a wall behind him, sliding backward because of the recoil, creating some space between them.

Elly took a second to steady herself and threw the coach gun to the side to retrieve a stick of dynamite from her belt and throw it at the wall Frank Nitti crashed into after he went flying.

She waited until the dynamite was right above the spot where he crashed and then shot it, causing it to explode with a thunderous bang as the fire devoured the rubble of the wall the mobster wrecked with his body during his crash.

-0-

Nothing happened for several seconds as we all stared at the fire left behind by the dynamite stick, But suddenly Elly widened her eyes and jumped backward. A mere fraction of a second later, a pair of long, black claws emerged from the ground where she was standing.

Dirt flew in every direction as Frank Nitti's battered, burned, and bleeding figure came out of the ground, lunging at Elly again, trying to impale her with his long claws.

Elly saw it coming and performed a backward flip while throwing three small knives, which somehow found their way between the mobster's spikes and embedded themselves in his forearms, causing him to grunt in pain as he lunged at her again.

"not bad, Elly's something else alright," said Wilson while nodding his head, seemingly impressed with the redhead's performance.

"She'll make a fine addition to our crew indeed," said Laffite appraisingly while watching the ensuing fight.

"though I had some doubts about her ability at first, I decided to have faith in your judgment, and now I can see your judgment as impeccable as ever, captain," he concluded as he took off his hat and bowed.

"that's all fine and dandy, but Elly should be nearing her limits. Get ready to jump in and bail her out any second now," I said with a sigh as I kept staring at Frank Nitti like a hawk, and both Laffite and Wilson nodded.

Meanwhile, the monster boss kept trying to catch Elly stubbornly showing no intention of giving up as she kept dodging and counter-attacking every and causing the mobster more injuries every chance she had.

The stalemate finally ended as one bullet managed to get past his defenses before he had the chance to block it with his arms and buried itself in his guts, creating a small gaping hole that spewed blood like a fountain.

The mob boss, however, was Zoan devil fruit eater. And he was nothing if not resilient. So he threw himself at her again, not minding the gaping wound in his stomach or the loss of blood that it caused him.

Elly tried to dodge again, but she staggered as her eyes widened, and she held her back in pain when the injury in her ribs flared up because of the stress it had accumulated during this battle. She was now a sitting duck, unable to do anything but wait for the mobster's claws to tear her apart.

"Die, you bitch," screamed the gangster, as he put even more strength into his charge, trying to end the fight with this one attack.

Wilson was the first to act as he vanished and appeared in front of the mobster and sent him flying with a punch, not minding the spikes covering the mobster's body and snapping the ones he hit like dried tree branches.

Laffite was next as he vanished with a chuckle and appeared behind the flying Frank Nitti and used his red cane like a baseball bat, Hitting square in the back and sending him into the air to make sure he doesn't use his ability to dig into the ground and escape.

That, however, wasn't the end of Frank Nitti's suffering as I appeared right above him in the air and grasped his face with my left prosthetic arm that had a coating of sea stone, forcing him to change back into his human form.

Frank Nitti, who was barely conscious at this point, seemed to have realized he didn't stand a chance from the beginning, and I could see his face start changing colors rapidly.

I looked down at Wilson and sent him a shit-eating grin as I proceeded to shamelessly copy his move. I corrected my posture in the air to assume a diving posture. I then used Geppo rapidly with both my legs and started descending into the ground extremely fast, with Frank Nitti's face shielding my body.

Frank Nitt's face hit the ground with a loud explosion, creating a small crater in the landing area, But I kept hold of his face even after the impact just in case and stood up without letting him go.

"as expected of a Zoan user, he isn't dead yet, just unconscious," I said while whistling. "He soon will be, though," I said with a smile as I watched Elly making her way to me while leaning on Wilson's shoulder.

Elly let go of Wilson's shoulder and took out a knife once she reached her destination. But the redhead did nothing and just stared at the unconscious mobster as she clenched and unclenched the blade in her hand.

"so, what do you want to do now? If you have something to say to him or you want to torture him a little before killing him, I can wake him up for you," I said with a smile while shaking the mobster in my hand like a tattered piece of cloth.

"no, it's just that I thought it's going to be more satisfying than this, taking this piece of shit down, I mean," she remarked with a sigh while shaking her head and winced as her wound flared up again.

"the thing about revenge is that it never feels as good as people expect it to, but some people still do it nonetheless because it would help them move on and not think about what-ifs for the rest of their lives, while some let it go and still move on in their own ways," I said with a sigh.

"maybe killing him would make you feel better, or it could make things worse. In the end, it's your decision and your decision alone, and no matter what you decide, we'll always have you back," I concluded with a smile as Wilson put his hand on her shoulders while he and Laffite both nodded with warm smiles on their faces.

Elly heard what I had to say and lowered her head to think, and after half a minute of deep thought, she raised her head and nodded with a serious face to show her resolve as she looked at the hand holding the knife and...