"It's nothing serious."
A slight smile played at the corner of Aeridar's lips as he spoke softly, "I just want to know the identity and whereabouts of the person who modified your body."
"Modified my body?! Glk—"
The words struck Otto like a thunderclap. He froze, montarily stunned, then swallowed hard. His gaze turned sharp, dangerous, locking onto Aeridar. With a low growl, he demanded, "How do you know that? Who the hell are you?"
"Hah... looks like I guessed right," Aeridar's eyes lit up with amusent.
"Oi, if that's all, I'm out of here," Goff interrupted. He turned to leave, not wanting any part in what was quickly escalating.
He was already at a disadvantage against soone with a 190 million bounty, there was no way he wanted to get involved with a man whose forr bounty had been 300 million, and who was now officially recognized by the World Governnt as one of the newest mbers of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. If a fight broke out, he knew he didn't stand a chance.
"Ah, it's fine. Sorry for interrupting your battle," Aeridar said with a polite smile, waving casually.
"...We're leaving!"
Goff was stunned for a mont, he hadn't expected such civility from soone so dangerous. He gave Aeridar a long, hard look, then signaled his crew and left without further word.
As Goff and his n disappeared, Otto grew visibly tense. His grip tightened on the wheel-bladed battle axe in his hands. He growled again, "You... what the hell do you want?"
Now, only the Dorot Pirates remained, facing Aeridar's group. They knew full well who he was, and that awareness made them uneasy.
"Would you be willing to tell who the scientist was that modified your body? And where I can find him?" Aeridar leaned forward slightly, his voice calm but firm.
Gulp...
Otto wasn't the only one swallowing hard. The other Dorot Pirates exchanged nervous glances.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Otto muttered darkly. "I've got business to take care of. I'm leaving."
Without even returning to his human form, Otto turned to go, motioning for his crew to follow.
"...Did I say you could leave?"
Aeridar's eyes narrowed, his tone turning cold. But what really caught his attention was sothing curious, he'd noticed that the bodies of the Dorot Pirates emitted an unusually strong sound signature, far louder than the average human body.
Arlan, Oliver, and the others imdiately spread out, surrounding the enemy. They didn't know why Aeridar was so fixated on Otto and his crew, but they understood well enough what his tone implied.
It might've looked absurd for a few n to surround a dozen, but Otto and his crew made no move to resist. They had recognized the faces of those encircling them, every one of them carried bounties in the tens of millions, if not over a hundred million. They weren't just any pirates; they were monsters in their own right.
"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about!" Otto barked, rage rising in his voice as he growled in warning, his massive axe raised in front of him in a guarded stance.
"We don't know what you an!"
"Get out of the way! We're leaving!"
"Bastards, what the hell do you want from us?!"
One by one, the Dorot Pirates drew their weapons, shouting angrily, tension sky-high.
"Well then..." Aeridar's smile disappeared. He flexed his fingers, his knuckles popped like snapping bones. "Since you won't talk, let's test how strong you all really are."
The mont the words left his lips, Aeridar threw back his coat in one smooth motion. Like lightning, he drew the ivory flintlock pistol from his waist, and fired directly at Otto.
Bang!
A flash at the muzzle, a spark, and a wisp of blue smoke.
"A gun?!"
Otto blinked. He hadn't expected a firearm. But almost instantly, a deep, primal sense of danger surged through him.
This shot could seriously injure or even kill !
He didn't hesitate. Instinctively, he raised his battle axe and blocked in front of him.
DOONG!!
The shot landed with the force of a war drum. Otto's battle axe trembled violently, letting out a tortured tallic groan. He staggered, as if yanked backward by an invisible force, nearly knocked off his feet.
Even so, the impact sent Otto skidding back, crashing into several of his own crew before finally managing to stop himself.
"D-Damn it... cough cough..."
Otto clutched his chest, coughing violently. It felt tight. It hurt. A lot.
When the pain subsided enough for him to stand, the others turned their eyes to his axe, and all gasped in unison.
Embedded in the steel surface of the wheel-bladed battle axe, over a ter and a half in length, was a single black, round bullet. It had punched a deep crater into the reinforced weapon, and radiating from the point of impact were spiderweb cracks stretching outward.
"Am I seeing things? What the hell?!"
"What kind of gun does that?"
"No way a bullet could leave a mark like this!"
"...Was that damn weapons dealer selling us junk?!"
The crew stared at the axe in stunned silence, their eyes wide, expressions pale. No one could believe what they were seeing.
Aeridar calmly blew the smoke off his barrel, then smiled. "Heh... not bad."
But it wasn't just the gun. Though the ivory flintlock was a masterfully crafted piece capable of firing four rounds in succession, its raw power alone shouldn't have been able to do that to refined steel.
The real power ca from the mont he pulled the trigger, when he unleashed a burst of raw Impact Force from his palm, driving the bullet forward with explosive velocity. That single action had transford an already-lethal round into sothing capable of tearing through steel plating.
"Damn it! You trying to kill ?!" Otto roared in outrage, visibly rattled. He might've looked monstrous in his beast form, but for a mont, real fear flashed in his eyes.
He knew full well that his transford body could withstand cannon fire, but that shot just now? If it had struck his head directly, it could've ended him.
It wasn't that the shot was stronger than a cannonball in pure destructive power. No, the difference lay in concentration. A bullet had a much smaller impact area, and all that energy was compressed into a tiny point. Even if the rounded shot couldn't pierce his skull, the sheer concussive force would've liquefied his brain on the spot.
"If one bullet from is all it takes to kill you," Aeridar said, giving a dismissive shrug, "then whoever engineered that fancy body of yours wasn't much of a genius to begin with."
He beckoned Otto forward with a casual wave. "Now co on, either fight with the intent to kill, or get ready to spend the rest of your life in chains."
"Hahahaha!" Arlan cackled from the side, his tone mocking. "Captain, feeding a big guy like this must cost a fortune in rations! All bulk and no bite, huh?"
"Just make sure this freak doesn't wreck the ship," Oliver grumbled, glaring at Otto's bestial form. "If he does, I'll gut him myself."
"Captain, are you seriously thinking of keeping him as a pet?" Millie and Mina chid in, sharing a bewildered look.
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