Looking at the small crew of pirates before him, Bat-Man stretched lazily, not giving them much thought.
The Beasts Pirates mainly recruited members from the New World. Only pirates who had made it to the New World were worth even a slight amount of their attention.
If someone didn’t even have the ability to make it past the first half of the Grand Line, they weren’t even qualified to be cannon fodder in the New World.
Nowadays, the New World had already become the territory of the Four Emperors. The four great pirates contended with one another, nibbling away at the scattered forces around them. A few years ago, there were still quite a few pirate alliances staking out their own turf on the fringes of the Emperors’ territories, challenging their authority.
But as time passed, such pirates became fewer and fewer—either they were wiped out, or they were assimilated. Those who managed to survive as independent individuals were extremely rare.
What separated the New World from Paradise was not just the Red Line but also Haki.
In the Four Seas and Paradise, pirates who knew about Haki were few and far between. This was why Logia users were practically invincible in the first half of the Grand Line. But upon reaching the New World, Haki has almost become the standard.
Anyone who can assume the position of officer couldn’t possibly be ignorant of Haki—they had to at least master one of its forms.
Although not a single digit number, Bat-Man was still among the top hundred Numbers. Though he was stationed on a Sky Island in the first half of the Grand Line, he had finally become an officer by New World standards.
For him, the pirates of Paradise weren’t even a challenge. If he ever lost to a rookie one day, there wouldn’t even be a need for Kaido to appear—some other senior officer would come to have a “chat” with him about how he had disgraced the crew.
In this era, there’s a subtle trend of internal competition among pirates. Even the Emperors of the Sea needed a constant influx of fresh blood to strengthen their crews. Otherwise, in the original timeline, Kaido wouldn’t have made a point to show up in front of several Super Rookies.
Bat-Man was stationed on Skypiea partly to handle unexpected incidents and partly to scout for any promising rookies. If he found any, their pirate crews would quickly come under the radar of the main crew of the Beasts Pirates in the New World.
After all, in the first half of the Grand Line, a rookie’s talent mattered more than their current strength.
This also led to another situation—unless they encountered some reckless fool who dared to break their rules or trample on their flag, officers like Bat-Man, stationed in the first half of the Grand Line, usually wouldn’t go all out to kill their opponents.
If a rookie truly had potential, they might become his colleague in the future. If they didn’t, then even if they left this place alive, sooner or later, they would either become fish food or die at someone else’s hands.
“Hey, the number on your stomach—does that mean you’re 49?”
For once, Luffy didn’t attack immediately. Instead, he curiously questioned about the number on Bat-Man’s stomach.
“Hm? You’ve met other Numbers before? I’ve never heard of anyone running into you.”
“How big is the disparity between you and 7? That masked woman knocked me out, and after that, I have no idea where she ran off to.”
Hearing Luffy’s words, Bat-Man sized him up from head to toe, a trace of doubt surfacing in his mind.
The person standing before him was still alive—and completely intact. This didn’t match the usual outcome of a fight with Ulti. Normally, anyone who crossed paths with her would either end up dead or missing a few body parts. It was extremely rare to see someone walk away without even a scar.
“There’s a huge gap between me and Lady Ulti, but it’s more than enough to deal with you all.”
“Enough talking. Now, let me see what you’re capable of.”
Buzz!
An invisible sound wave erupted from Bat-Man’s mouth—Golbat’s Supersonic engulfed the entire Going Merry.
The piercing sonic attack made everyone on the ship feel like their heads were splitting open. Even the ship’s mast let out an ominous creaking sound.
As a member of the Numbers, Bat-Man was well aware of how terrifying the strength gap between them was. The lower the number, the greater the disparity in power.
Numbers ranked above the 90s were only slightly weaker than those ranked ahead of them, but if they encountered a single-digit Number, they were usually taken out in a single hit. Whether it was Haki, abilities, talent, or sheer effort, the single-digit Numbers completely outclassed the rest.
Bat-Man didn’t know that Ulti had held back because of Yamato. He doesn’t have the right to know the personal affairs of the young miss. Although Yamato had been updating her status frequently during this period, the most he could do was to simply hit the ‘like’ button.
From Bat-Man’s perspective, the only reason Luffy was still in one piece must have been because there was something noteworthy about him. Since that was the case, there was no reason for Bat-Man to hold back either.
Sonic attacks were standard moves for Golbat. Under the influence of these sound waves, ordinary people would quickly lose their ability to move.
At the very least, Nami and Usopp had already become completely immobilized.
The others fared slightly better. As Bat-Man attacked, they each reacted in their own way.
However, since Bat-Man had the ability to fly, none of them—aside from Luffy—could even reach him in the air. They could only try to get closer by relying on their jumping ability.
But Luffy’s arm stretched out before anyone else could make a move.
“Gum-Gum Pistol!”
Luffy’s extended arm shot toward Bat-Man at an even faster speed, only to be caught firmly in Bat-Man’s grasp.
“It’s too slow.”
Bat-Man didn’t possess the advanced form of Observation Haki that can allow one to foresee the future, but he was more than capable of predicting attacks.
Especially since his ability was Golbat—the combination of Supersonic and Observation Haki made his Observation Haki even sharper.
After grabbing Luffy’s arm, Bat-Man’s muscles bulged as he swung Luffy like a flail, hurling him straight at Sanji below.
Sanji, who had no foothold to evade in midair, was hit squarely by the incoming Luffy, sending both of them plummeting toward the Island Cloud below.
“Straw-Chan! Damn it—Okama Kenpo: Memoir of that Summer Day!”
Due to his Okama Kenpo training, Bon Kurei’s jumping ability was even stronger than Sanji’s at this moment. His body spun rapidly as he launched a fierce spinning kick at Bat-Man in midair.
But with just two flaps of his wings, Bat-Man arrived above Bon Kurei.
“Your spinning speed is impressive, but it’s useless.”
Bat-Man firmly caught Bon Kurei’s sidekick, then he hurled threw him towards Sanji and Luffy below, using them as a cushion for Bon Kurei.
As a rubber man, Luffy was completely unharmed, but Sanji—who was at the very bottom—clearly furrowed his brows.
Clang!
Out of the four attackers, only Zoro remained standing. His strike did not miss—it landed squarely on Bat-Man’s stomach. However, the Haki reinforcing Bat-Man’s abdomen rendered Zoro’s slash completely ineffective.
“How is this possible?!”
During his battle with Mr. 1 in Alabasta, Zoro had already mastered the technique to cut through steel. Even Mr. 1’s Dice-Dice Fruit’s steel body hadn’t been able to withstand his slash. And yet, now, he couldn’t even cut through the skin of the man standing before him.
The same sequence of movements played out once more—Zoro, too, was thrown downward…
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