"They... there are so many of them... What do we do?"
Mikita looked at the Marines surrounding them, her voice trembling as she leaned close to Ryan's ear.
Ryan didn't respond, merely glancing sideways at the cigar box on the table before leisurely pulling one out. An orange-red flame flickered at his fingertips. He blew out a smoke ring before finally looking up at Hina, his tone lazy yet sharp: "Beautiful Captain, take your people and leave. Disturbing my peace isn't a wise move."
Hina's sunglasses slid down to the tip of her nose with a click, her eyebrows shooting up sharply. Her pale pink hair stirred as if moved by an unfelt wind.
She hated this kind of disrespect most of all, especially when the other party clearly knew her identity yet still maintained this indifferent attitude, as if she and the Marines behind her were nothing but dust.
"Hina never lets bounty criminals escape!" Hina bit down on the cigarette butt in her mouth, suddenly spreading her arms wide. The skin beneath her deep purple gloves instantly took on a cold, metallic sheen: "Taste the power of 'Black Prison'—Feather Prison!"
Before her words faded, two pitch-black iron bars shot violently from Hina's arms with a tearing whoosh, like giant pythons lunging after long preparation, closing in on Ryan from both sides.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. Only when the iron bars carrying fierce winds approached within three feet did he slowly straighten up. He didn't even look at the deadly weapons whistling toward him, merely casually spreading his arms and lightly pressing his palms against the closing bars.
The expected scene of iron bars piercing through flesh didn't materialize. The bars abruptly halted the moment they touched Ryan's palms, emitting a sharp clang.
Hina gritted her teeth and increased her effort, the metallic sheen on her arms growing more intense, but the iron bars remained immovable, even groaning under the tremendous force.
"How is this possible?!" Hina's heart surged with shock: "There's something strange about this guy's body, or perhaps it's some kind of ability..."
Ryan glanced at the tense Hina and said calmly: "Last chance. Take your people and get lost."
"Get lost?" Hina's eyebrows shot up. Instead of retreating, she slowly straightened up, her pale pink hair swept behind her ears by the sea breeze, revealing her sharply defined jawline: "Hina's duty is to arrest bounty criminals like you."
"Soru!"
Before her words fully faded, Hina was already moving. Her slender legs tapped rapidly against the ground, executing the Marine Six Powers' "Soru." Her figure instantly transformed into an afterimage, her silhouette seemingly remaining in place while she flashed to within half a step of Ryan.
Hina's left arm spun rapidly, her wrist twisting as her entire arm suddenly transformed into a pitch-black iron whip. The whip body coiled with swirling air currents, carrying a sharp sound of tearing air as it viciously lashed toward Ryan's side.
"Huh?" Hina exclaimed in surprise, her pupils behind the sunglasses instantly contracting.
The moment the iron whip struck its target, the expected resistance of piercing flesh completely failed to materialize. Instead, a crisp clang traveled up her arm, numbing it with the vibration.
"Beautiful Captain," Ryan lowered his head, his gaze falling on Hina's face so close to his, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth: "So eager to press close—are you throwing yourself at me?"
Hina snapped back to reality, suddenly realizing that she had pressed almost half her body against Ryan due to excessive force, her posture both awkward and intimate. Shame mixed with the fury of being toyed with surged to her head, and she instinctively tried to pull back and create distance. But as soon as she moved her feet, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen.
"Ugh!" Hina groaned, her body curling uncontrollably as if struck by a heavy hammer. She staggered back two steps, clutching her stomach tightly, then dropped to one knee with a dull thud. The ache from her knee hitting the ground was nothing compared to the churning, cramping agony in her belly. Her pale pink hair fell forward, obscuring her ashen face.
"Captain Hina!" The surrounding Marines erupted into chaos at the sight, raising their rifles in unison and aiming them at Ryan. Ryan ignored the small fry, merely looking down at Hina, who was curled up on the ground.
"Fire!" someone shouted, and the soldiers' fingers tightened on their triggers.
At that moment, an invisible pressure erupted from Ryan, swirling like a deep-sea vortex with an all-devouring deterrent force that swept over the Marines.
"Argh—!"
The soldiers seemed choked by an unseen hand, their anger instantly replaced by terror. Their eyes rolled back, rifles clattering to the ground in a disorderly clatter, and they collapsed one by one, completely unconscious.
The beach fell silent, leaving only the sound of waves crashing on the shore.
"What... what just happened? Why did they all collapse suddenly?" Mikita stared, her mouth agape enough to fit an egg, her face full of astonishment at the sight of the fierce Marines dropping like flies.
Ryan glanced at Mikita, blew a smoke ring that slowly dissipated in the air, and offered no explanation.
This was Conqueror's Haki, awakened during his fight with Golden Lion. For now, it could only barely serve to intimidate.
But judging by the effect, it was pretty good.
"Hina was careless." Hina gritted her teeth, recovering on the ground for a while before finally regaining her senses. Clutching her still-throbbing abdomen, her voice carried a hint of frustration.
She had initially thought Ryan was some kind of special ability user who could resist the "Black Prison," but it turned out to be Haki—and he even had Conqueror's Haki. How could someone like this only have a 60 million Belly bounty? It was an insult to his strength, no wonder she had fallen here.
Hina clenched her fists tightly, resolving inwardly to report the situation to headquarters and have Ryan's threat level reassessed.
Ryan looked down at Hina, who was still holding on stubbornly, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips. He slowly crouched to meet her eye level, then lifted her chin with a provocative finger, forcing her to look up. "I told you to take your people and leave earlier, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've tasted the consequences?"
Hina's jaw ached from the grip, fury igniting in her eyes. She jerked her head aside to shake off his hand, her tone icy. "Hina is a Navy Captain . Capturing bounty criminals is her duty. She will never retreat because of a minor setback."
Even with the cramping pain still twisting inside her, her back remained straight, and there was not a trace of submission in her eyes.
Ryan raised an eyebrow and withdrew his hand, his fingertips brushing faintly past Hina's chin. His gaze swept over her, from her tightly pressed lips to her cold, gleaming eyes, before he suddenly chuckled softly. "To be honest, killing you would be the simplest solution, but... it would be such a waste."
His words sent a shiver down Hina's spine. She tensed and instinctively shrank back, her voice laced with caution. "What do you intend to do with Hina?"
She couldn't decipher this man's intentions. Was it humiliation? Or was he using this to threaten the Marines?
Ryan didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and abruptly bent down, hoisting Hina over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?!" Hina cried out in surprise, caught off guard. She instinctively struggled, but Ryan's hand pressed firmly against her waist, holding her in place. The pain in her abdomen sapped her strength, leaving her no choice but to let him carry her away.
Her pale pink hair cascaded down, brushing against Ryan's back in a disheveled mess.
"Stay still," Ryan's voice came from above, carrying an undeniable authority. He then turned his head toward Mikita, who was still frozen in place, and gestured with his chin. "Clean this up."
Mikita quickly nodded, watching in a daze as Ryan strode toward the hotel building with Hina slung over his shoulder.
No one had expected the confrontation to end like this.
"Let Hina go!" Hina shouted through gritted teeth, dizzy from the jostling. "You're making an enemy of the Marines by doing this!"
"I've long been on the opposite side of the Marines. One more offense won't make a difference," Ryan replied nonchalantly, his steps unwavering as he strode purposefully toward the inn.