One-Punch Man in the One Piece World

52. Robbery!

When Cloth pushed open the door back into the banquet room, the noise inside had changed.

Two of the neatly arranged long tables were overturned, and wine mixed with meat juices spilled onto the floor.

Dozens of townspeople lay on the ground, some unconscious, others groaning as they clutched their wounds.

In addition to the smell of alcohol, the air was filled with the metallic, bloody stench.

Zoro leaned against the main pillar, all three swords sheathed, his eyes clear.

Bucky was grabbing a townsman by the collar, spitting almost in his face: "Ambush? Do you know where I used to hang out?!"

"Crow," Norton's voice came from the other end of the room, "in trouble?"

Kro's trousers had several dark spots splattered on them, and they weren't completely dry yet.

"The tail has been taken care of." Kro pushed up his glasses.

"Those bastards actually used underhanded tactics!" Bucky released the man and turned angrily to Norton. "Luckily, I—"

"You were sleeping too soundly," Nami interrupted him, still holding an empty bottle. "None of us were really drunk."

Funing wiped her brow with her sleeve and looked at Norton: "King, what should we do with these people?"

"Killing him would save trouble," Zoro said, arms crossed.

"Keep them; the living are more useful than the dead!" Norton's lips curled into a slight smile as he looked at Funing. "Let Sanosuke lead the fleet ashore!"

"clear."

At that moment, a townsman, his face covered in blood, struggled to sit up, his voice trembling, "Who...who are you?"

Many of them had also ventured out to sea, but they had never seen a new team that had just entered the Grand Line with such combat power.

"Us? We're pirates just like you, but unfortunately, we're much stronger than you," Norton laughed.

The boy hiding behind the cupboard was already dumbfounded. He had just witnessed the whole thing; Buggy and Zoro had already crushed hundreds of townspeople with just a few moves!

Inside the banquet hall, the townspeople had completely lost the ability to resist, and very few could even stand up.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open. Poliido led his gang of shipwreckers in.

Upon seeing the scene inside, Polino stopped abruptly, and the feigned friendliness on his face vanished instantly.

The bald girl, who had been hiding in the shadows, suddenly emerged and quickly retreated behind Polino, her eyes fixed on Zoro and Buggy: "Father! We've bitten off more than we can chew! That three-sword style guy is ridiculously strong, and he has a red nose! He's actually a Devil Fruit user!"

Polino's face turned extremely ugly, and when his gaze fell on Kro, his eyelids twitched violently.

"Where's Poli?!" Polito uttered each word as if it were being squeezed out of his throat.

"Killed him." Kro's tone was flat.

Poldo's breathing suddenly became heavy. He stared at Kro for two seconds, then slowly turned his head to look at Norton, Zoro, Buggy, Nami, and Fryn one by one. The resentment in his eyes was almost tangible.

"I want you all..." Mayor Polido took a step forward, the floorboards creaking under his weight, "to be buried with my son!"

A dangerous aura spread, and Nami and Funing unconsciously retreated, frightened by Polino's ferocious expression.

Zoro grinned and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword: "This man is mine."

Those small fry weren't even enough to make him sweat.

The others naturally had no objections.

Kro is not the kind of person who likes to fight, and neither is Bucky. Norton, although a battle maniac, has no desire to fight when facing someone much weaker than himself.

As for Nami and Funing... the two ladies would rather hide in the back; they are not combatants.

Polino didn't rush forward immediately. Instead, he took a half step back and gestured behind him.

The men who had come in with him quickly dispersed, each pulling out a black iron can from their pocket and smashing it on the ground.

Thick, grayish-white smoke exploded instantly, carrying a pungent sulfur smell, and engulfed most of the room in the blink of an eye.

Polido's figure floated in the fog, his outline blurred. He didn't pounce immediately, but turned his head to stare at the few men returning from the shore behind him, as if they were tools about to be discarded.

"superior."

The men exchanged glances, their Adam's apples bobbing.

But when Polido's gaze swept over them, the obedience ingrained in their bones by years of accumulated power still prompted them to launch an attack.

The group knew that the consequences of disobeying Mayor Polito would be far worse than dying in battle!

"Ugh—!"

The man on the far left let out a roar that was hard to tell whether it was to bolster his courage or out of despair, and charged out with his short axe.

Zoro tilted his head slightly, the axe blade grazing his ear and ruffling a few strands of hair. In the same instant, his left fist struck upwards, hitting the man's chin.

A clear cracking sound of bone breaking echoed as the short axe flew from his hand, and the man fell backward, motionless.

The remaining two were deathly pale, but their feet seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, and they pounced simultaneously from the left and right. One aimed for Zoro's waist and abdomen, while the other went straight for his throat.

Zoro gripped the hilt of Wado Ichimonji, keeping the sword still in its sheath, and used only the iron-clad scabbard to parry the crowbar aimed at his throat.

The left hand moved with lightning speed, fingers spread, grabbing the other man's axe-wielding wrist and twisting it forcefully—

"Snap!"

With his wrist bone broken, the man's scream was cut short by a knee strike to the abdomen from Zoro, and he collapsed to the ground vomiting.

The smoke was stirred up by these movements and dispersed a bit, revealing Zoro's impatient profile.

"Hey, is that all you've got? All you do is send your men to their deaths?" Zoro said.

Polino's feigned composure completely crumbled, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"Damn swordsman!!"

The floor shattered, and Poliido's right fist, gleaming with a metallic sheen, slammed down.

Zoro unleashed three swords simultaneously, using Wado Ichimonji to parry.

"Clang!"

The broad blade of the Wado Ichimonji blocked the punch horizontally, and a visible shockwave spread from the point of impact, causing dust to fall from the surrounding area.

Zoro slid backward with his feet close to the ground, and Polido's other punch followed immediately, hitting Zoro's face without any gap.

This punch was faster and heavier!

Snowwalker traced a light, silver arc before being repelled by a tremendous recoil force, the blade vibrating and humming.

Only a white mark slightly thicker than a hair was left on Polino's wrist, which disappeared in an instant. His fist did not hesitate for a moment and continued to press down!

Zoro used the momentum to spin around, his three swords flashing in front of him, creating a dazzling screen of light. He took two steps back, slightly out of breath, and his gaze towards Polino had become more serious and scrutinizing.

Watching from the sidelines, Kro couldn't help but push up his glasses. Poliido's "invincible body" was even more masterful than his son's!

"It's useless! Useless, useless, useless!"

Polino laughed wildly, his voice shaking the rooftops, as he unleashed a barrage of punches, a relentless storm of blows.

The force of the punch completely dispersed the remaining smoke, and the aftershocks left dents in the walls. A secondary pillar supporting the roof was grazed by the punch, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Zoro rapidly switched between the three swords.

Snowwalker is light and swift, Sandai Kitetsu is fierce and domineering, and Wado Ichimonji is like a pillar in the middle of the stream. Every parry is steady and precise, neutralizing the most deadly straight punch.

The battle reached a tense stalemate, with the sounds of blades clashing against flesh raining down!

"Chop away! Chop away as much as you want!"

Polado roared and threw a punch at Zoro's head, but Wado Ichimonji deflected it. The punch grazed Zoro's ear and slammed into the wall, creating a hole.

"My Vajra Body has been perfected through thirty years of arduous training; it is now an unbroken entity! Even if you slash it a thousand times or ten thousand times, you will not be able to break through my defenses!"

Zoro suddenly sheathed his sword, returning Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu to their original sheaths, leaving only Wado Ichimonji in his right hand. He lowered his body, placed his left hand on the sheath, and closed his eyes.

All the noise inside seemed to be instantly isolated by an invisible membrane, quickly fading away.

The world fell silent. The battle experiences accumulated over the past few days, including those with Sanosuke, the Navy, and pirates, flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern, culminating in the inexplicable sense of powerlessness when facing Norton.

I heard you!

At this moment, all Zoro could hear was the "breathing" of the sword in his hand!

Polino's hair stood on end instantly, and for the first time, the arrogant look on his face was replaced by surprise and doubt, which then turned into an even more ferocious and savage expression.

"Playing tricks!!"

Polido roared, and the bronze luster of his entire body burst forth with unprecedented brightness, as if he had instantly transformed into a bronze statue!

He brought his fists together in front of his chest, interlocking his fingers, and poured all his strength into this powerful, embracing strike!

At the last second, Zoro opened his eyes.

"Itto-ryu...Iai..."

"Lion's Song!"

Polino froze in his forward lunge position. He looked down, and a thin red line stretched diagonally from his right shoulder to his left abdomen, the line quickly darkening and oozing blood.

"No..." Polido gurgled in his throat.

The red line shattered, and the bronze sheen on Polado's body receded like a receding tide. His upper body slowly slid down along the smooth cut and crashed to the ground. The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

The head rolled to Crow's feet.

Kro adjusted his glasses and moved his feet away.

The townspeople inside were completely stunned.

"...Dead?"

"Polido is dead!!"

"That's incredible!"

"Is the family that has ruled this town for over a hundred years finally about to decline?"

After a moment of stunned silence, the townspeople began to whisper among themselves.

Just then, the sound of horns came from the sea, and the townspeople inside the house instinctively looked out the window.

The thick fog was dissipating, and under the moonlight, large, dark outlines appeared on the sea.

Those were layers upon layers of ship silhouettes! Masts pierced the night sky like a withered forest!

The thuds of the springboards crashing down echoed one after another, like heavy drumbeats. Then came a flurry of footsteps, so synchronized they were chilling.

The townsman by the window was deathly pale, his lips trembling: "Boats...so many boats..."

"Polopolo..."

The Den Den Mushi rang again, and Fu Ning answered it. Sanosuke's voice came through.

"This is Sanosuke, King. The fleet has docked. What's the next step?"

"Robbery, of course!" Norton grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "First, we'll take control of everyone in town, then loot all the treasure!"

Since this is a town of pirates, he won't be polite!

"clear!"

Silver skull and crossbow flags began to fly throughout the town, and looting commenced immediately.

The cellar door was smashed open, heavy chests were dragged out, sturdy wooden cabinets in the houses were chopped open with axes, and knife tips and crowbars were used to probe into the walls' crevices...

Berry, gold and silver utensils, unpolished gems, bundles of precious furs, stored grain, and even some decent-looking weapons and tools... everything deemed valuable was quickly moved out and transported to the largest open space in the center of town.

There, wealth piled up at a visible rate.

"We're rich!" Nami stood in front of the ever-growing mountain of treasure, an uncontrollable smile on her face.

As expected of a town where most of its members were once pirates, it is incredibly wealthy, especially the wooden castle in the center of town, which is piled with wealth that even Duke Funing, the daughter of a duke, would take notice of.

"That's too much!"

The townspeople looked resentful; this was the wealth the town had accumulated over three hundred years! And they were just handing it over to someone else like that!

The looting operation did not end until dawn.

"A fortune worth around three billion Berries!" Nami grinned from ear to ear after taking stock of the total amount.

"Great! I have money to buy more alcohol!" Zoro smiled happily.

With so much money, surely we can share some with him?

He contributed a lot!

And we can pay off the debts we owe!

"So many?" Norton was also somewhat surprised.

This town isn't particularly large, much smaller than Rogge, with a total population of less than a thousand.

How can someone have so much money?

"Because this is the town of pirates!" the bald girl, who was tied up to one side, suddenly spoke up.

Norton looked over and saw the bald girl glaring at him fiercely.

"You're still alive? I remember I was going to ask you, are you the mayor's daughter?"

"That's right! My name is Bodo! You'd better kill me, or one day I'll kill you! To avenge my father and brother!" the bald girl said.

Upon hearing this, Kro adjusted his glasses. If he were Portho, he would have pretended to comply, survived first, and then considered revenge... instead of courting death like this.

"I think you have a point," Norton chuckled dismissively, "but could you answer that first: why is your whole family bald?"

It's one thing for the father and son to both be bald, but it's quite another for the daughter to be bald as well.

"Because our whole family practices the 'Diamond Body'! Although the 'Diamond Body' is a powerful secret technique, its side effect is hair loss; the better you practice, the more hair you lose!"

Norton's lips twitched. Such a secret technique?

"You want our family's secret technique, don't you? I won't tell you! This is the trump card our family has relied on to rule this town for hundreds of years!" the bald girl shouted.

"I'm not interested in those hair-loss-causing techniques," Norton said, giving Sanosuke a wink.

Sanosuke understood immediately and dragged the bald girl away.

Norton then looked at the townspeople who were gathered and tied up in the open space. "Crow."

"exist."

"Take all these guys inside and pick out the ones who aren't pirates."

"I understand." Kro nodded, without asking why he picked it out.

Whether to kill him or let him go is none of his business; it's up to Norton to decide.

"Oh, right," Norton said, as if remembering something, pointing to the boy who had just delivered the message, "release that child and his mother."

"it is good."

At that moment, Nami walked over, holding a Log Pose in her hand.

"Norton! I found the saved log pointer! We don't have to wait a month! We can leave immediately! Before the 'snow disaster' arrives!"