A few days later, on Malad Island in the first half of the Grand Line.
After learning that Shakky, the first mate of the Kuja Pirates and the most beautiful woman of the era, was here, ordinary citizens, pirates, and even Marines from nearby bases flocked to the scene.
A temporary platform had been erected at the port.
Shakky, the first mate of the Kuja Pirates, stood on the stage. At first glance, it looked like a fan meeting, but upon closer inspection, it felt more like a product exhibition.
"Wow! It's Shakky, it really is Shakky!"
"Beautiful! So beautiful! How can such a beautiful woman exist?"
"If I could just touch her hand, it would be worth dying for!"
"Hey! The women next to her aren't bad either!"
"Wow, that woman with glasses has a presence that's in no way inferior to Shakky's!"
"I prefer that one in kimono. Is she from Wano?"
"I think the one with orange hair is pretty good. That figure is really..."
As more and more people gathered at the port, besides Shakky, many also noticed the players on the side of the stage, such as Mrs. Yukinoshita and Eri.
Immediately, the people of this Great Age of Suppression became restless.
Beam, standing at the center of the stage, announced: "Only those who bring a Devil Fruit are qualified to come on stage and speak with Shakky! Everyone else has to stay down below!"
The surviving onlookers erupted in an uproar.
They had only heard that Shakky was here and had come directly without thinking much.
In this era, ordinary people basically never left their home islands to go elsewhere unless it was for business.
Those who could travel around like this were basically pirates or bounty hunters.
These were not peaceful folks. They had come after hearing the news wanting to confirm if Shakky was really here.
Now that they had confirmed she was here, they felt free to do as they pleased.
Whether it was Beam, acting as the emcee on stage, or Makoto sitting on a chair nearby, the pirates and bounty hunters below didn't take them seriously at all.
They had never seen these people on wanted posters, so naturally, they didn't think much of Makoto's group, assuming they were just unknown pawns hired by Shakky.
"Hahaha! Since Shakky is here, I won't hold back!"
Just then, a well-dressed man in a suit who looked somewhat gentlemanly was the first to jump out. Strangely, he had four arms.
Gloriosa, standing beside Shakky, introduced him: "Gill Bastar, known as the Four-Armed Freak, a famous sniper on the Grand Line. It's said that Rocks really wants to recruit him."
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Gill Bastar, who had just jumped up, fell straight to the ground.
A huge hole had been torn in his abdomen, and blood flowed profusely.
The surrounding pirates, who had been eager to try, were all dumbfounded… a top-tier sniper on the Grand Line had been sniped.
Everyone looked up and saw Yu, standing next to Makoto who was sitting on a chair. His right hand had transformed into a pair of heavy sniper rifles, gunsmoke curling from the barrels. It was clearly his doing.
"His hand turned into a gun? Could it be the Weapon-Weapon Fruit?"
Many among these pirates had seen the Devil Fruit encyclopedia and knew of a fruit called the Weapon-Weapon Fruit, which allowed its user's body to transform freely into any kind of weapon.
"Could it be this guy?"
Yu said coldly: "There are even more idiots in this world than I imagined."
With that, Yu stepped forward two paces, transformed his other hand into a machine gun, and began indiscriminately spraying the area below.
Bang bang bang bang!
The pirates clearly hadn't expected these people to be so unhinged as to launch an indiscriminate attack.
Many, caught off guard, were shot to pieces.
Some, who had a bit of skill, weaved between the bullets and closed in on Yu.
"Kid, you're going too far!"
Seeing the man wielding a large sword jump towards him, Yu remained expressionless, letting the man's sword fall and cut off his head.
The surviving pirates on the scene cheered!
The burly man with the large sword laughed: "Hahaha! You think you can take the life of Quinn the [Heavy Blade], with a bounty of 170 million, that easily?"
Click!
The sound of a round being chambered suddenly rang out.
The man named Quinn turned his head and saw that the decapitated, headless body of the man he had just beheaded had raised its hand again, a dark gun muzzle now aimed at his own forehead.
The surviving pirates below were still cheering with raised fists when they heard another bang. They saw another headless body fall to the stage.
However, Yu's headless body, just over 170 cm tall, was still standing, while the nearly three-meter-tall burly man Quinn's headless body had already crashed down from the stage.
Instantly, the entire audience fell silent. Everyone's eyes nearly popped out as they stared at the headless Yu.
Then, they watched as that machine-gun man, still headless, walked down from the stage. Under the disbelieving gazes of everyone, his right hand transformed back into a human hand. With a tearing sound, he ripped a large chunk of flesh from Quinn's corpse and poured a large amount of blood onto his severed neck.
A few seconds later, his head grew back.
Not just the pirates who had come to gawk, but even the Kuja Pirates' members on stage were stunned.
Beam healing by drinking blood had been frightening enough, but now came someone even more exaggerated… he could recover even from losing his head?!
"Nishikawa-sama, is this also a power of the Weapon-Weapon Fruit?" Asked a bird-man covered in fur, dressed like a 19th-century London journalist from behind the stage, flustered.
Yes, he was the future president of the World Economy News Paper, known as Big News Morgans, but at present, he was just an intern reporter for a small newspaper on this island.
And it was Morgans who had spread the news that Shakky was on this island.
It's such a coincidence.
Makoto remained silent. Yu raised his machine gun again, tongues of flame erupting as he continuously fired.
He was in a bad mood right now.
After all, Beam had been bragging to everyone about taking an arrow for Makoto ever since he got back, making Yu feel like he'd been shown up.
"Wait! Wait a minute!"
Just as the pirates were almost all killed, one of them shouted, "I-I brought a Devil Fruit! I-I brought one!"
Hearing this, Yu stopped his actions, forcibly suppressed his anger, raised his thumb, and pointed towards the stage, signaling for him to hurry up and get up there.
This nameless pirate scrambled onto the stage. After seeing Shakky, he swallowed nervously and took out a treasure chest from behind him.
When he opened it, Makoto and the others saw it was a Devil Fruit shaped like a mushroom.
"This Devil Fruit is..."
Utaha, wearing a pair of glasses, flipped through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia she had bought from the town yesterday and said, "Mm... it's the Human-Human Fruit."
Makoto turned his head: "And then?"
Utaha blinked, looking at her man in confusion: "And then what?"
"What form of the Human-Human Fruit?"
Megumi, who had come up beside her, glanced at the description in the encyclopedia and replied, "It doesn't have a form. It just says Human-Human Fruit."
Makoto was speechless. He cursed at the pirate: "Are you f**king playing with me?"
He knew what fruit this was… the one Chopper ate. Although there were some overpowered ones among the Human-Human Fruits, like Sengoku's Daibutsu form, and the one officially designated by Oda as an external cheat, the Nika Form, both of which were extremely overpowered, there was also a low-tier one: Chopper's standard human form. That was the one in front of him. (T/N: Just regard MC's transmigration is before Chopper's fruit is shown to have the ability to remove Domi Reversi. Also, sorry for the spoiler for those who hadn't read until there.)
Makoto was truly exasperated. He could accept that the damned system had brought him to a time forty years before Luffy's era.
But to encounter this kind of low-tier fruit first?!
The nameless pirate was startled: "M-Master, is there a problem?"
Makoto's right eye shifted. Amaterasu activated, incinerating the pirate to ashes.
Yes, Makoto had never intended to let any of these pirates leave alive from the beginning.
He was using Shakky as bait for a mutually assured destruction scheme.