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  "This is a Devil Fruit!!" Rojen's eyes narrowed as he gred at Barron.

  "Zoan!" He murmured, realizing that Barron's transformed appearance clearly indicated he had ed a Zoan-type Devil Fruit.

  Zoan Fruits signifitly enhance a person's speed, strength, and reflexes. One could say that if a warrior focused solely on physical prowess bined with a Zoan Fruit, they would be nearly unstoppable.

  The fact that Barron had a bounty of over 40 million berries indeed suggested he had serious skill.

  Just based on the Devil Fruit alone, he was already at a much higher starting point than most pirates.

  However, Barron uedly let out a sound that took everyone by surprise.

  "Meow."

  What!? It was actually a cat!?

  Rojen's mouth twitched as he g the little cat perched on his shoulder; the feline merely turs head away, ign him.

  "I will kill you!" Barron's voice was sharp and fierce. If this was a cat, it was undoubtedly a ferocious one.

  His ced on the ground, and with incredible speed, his entire form seemed to bee as light as a feather. With just a bend of his knees, he leaped onto the rooftops oher side of the alley.

  Jason looked up, watg Barron run and jump swiftly along the street.

  At that moment, Barron's speed increased, and after teers, he transformed into a blur, moving so fast he was nearly invisible.

  "That's amazing!"

  The onlookers excimed in surprise.

  His incredible speed allowed them only to see streaks of afterimages.

  Barron and Jason were about fifty meters apart, and in just two to three seds, Barron's figure became a mere fsh, filling Jason's vision with his moving afterimages.

  Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out.

  "Meow!"

  Jason looked up at the empty space where he had just been.

  There, two sharp cws gleamed uhe moonlight.

  "Cw Strike: Shatter!" Barron shouted, using the momentum from his leap and his built-up speed to unleash the full power of this attack.

  "You're dead! No one has survived my attack!"

  He reized Jason's strength, so he started with his stro move.

  A breath ter, Barron's form shifted rapidly in mid-air; although the movements were small, they made it difficult for ao predict his angle of attack.

  Suddenly, he feio the left.

  Jason instinctively turned his gaze in that dire, but at that moment, Barron ged trajectory and luraight at him.

  "Haha, you guessed wrong!"

  "Die!"

  Two sharp streaks of light suddenly sshed through the air, seemingly capable of tearing through space itself.

  However, at the same time, Jason's right fist shot out.

  The muscles on his thick arm bulged, veins popping out like the ridges of a sea dragon.

  "Bang!"Jason's punded squarely on Barron's nose.

  "Crack!"

  The crisp sound of breaking bones echoed, and the crowd couldn't help but cover their noses as if they could feel Barron's pain.

  "This feels great!" Rojen's eyes twitched as he looked at this se.

  Jason's punch was so sudden that to outsiders, it looked as if Barron had simply walked into it.

  However, Rojen could see that Jason's strength was the real deal. He couldn't uand why this guy had been imprisoned by that group of pathetic pirates.

  At that moment, Jason's head was still turo the other side. Slowly, he turned bad spoke seriously.

  "I also ate a Devil Fruit, sorry."

  The statement sounded more like a taunt.

  But Rojen looked deeply at Jason, unsure of what kind of Fruit he had eaten; the power emanating from him was simply terrifying.

  Barron, who had been caught off guard by Jason's punch, was sent flying backward for nearly a hundred meters before crashing into a wall, causing it to colpse.

  Seeing this se, the onlookers were left dumbfounded.

  'What kind of power was this!?'

  Barron's pirate crew had been pletely wiped out!

  The most elite and vicious pirate gang in South Blue had been reduced to nothing all because of a simple "What are you looking at?"

  Who exactly was this burly man to possess such strength!?

  Looking around, Jason saw the enemies lying motionless on the ground. He scratched his head auro his usual simple demeanor.

  "Jason, it's time to go." Rojen casually said.

  "Ah! Oh, yes, Captain." Jason was still that simple, big man, and his earlier decisiveness and strength had vanished.

  With a grunt, he picked up two massive packages, each weighing at least a thousand pounds, and began following Rojen as they disappeared from the se.

  The crowd watched them go, stepping aside instinctively.

  Those with keen eyes noticed that the young man walking ahead held a position of prominence.

  This suggested that the boy might actually be even strohan the giant himself!

  Once aboard 'The Logan', Jason hauled the heavy cargo into the , filling the hold to the brim.

  "Alright, set sail. We're going to soak in hot springs and buy some new clothes."Rojen stretched zily and smiled.

  Jason wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded excitedly.

  "Jason, your clothes might be hard to tailor!"

  After all, Jason's sheer size made tail a y.

  Jason scratched his head and gave a simple smile.

  Then, the two of them, along with the cat, re-entered Alster Isnd.

  Half an hour ter, Rojen and Jason, bare-chested, fortably soaked i springs.

  Lordling shyly y beside the hot spring pool, too embarrassed to look at the two.

  "Ah, this feels great! I haven't felt this fortable in ages." Rojen sighed tentedly.

  "Treasure this moment of peace, Jason. Soon, we'll be busy again."

  Jason smiled simply, rexing as he leaned back, gazing at the skies.

  "Yeah, it's a rare moment of tranquility."

  At the entrance of the hot spring shop, two figures in sungsses and bck suits whispered to each other.

  "Did you get a good look? Is it him?"

  "No doubt about it. That face is unmistakable."

  "Acc to our ihe Battōsai has been spotted in South Blue retly, and it's defihis guy."

  The two exged hushed words while surveying the crowd.

  "If it weren't for that big guy making a se today, we wouldn't have noticed him."

  "It's like looking for treasure and stumbling upon it without effort."

  "But what's more ing is the cat on his shoulder. Look into that as well. It might be even more terrifying than him."

  "Uood."

  "I'll report this; you start the iigation."

  After exging a nod, the two figures vanished into the bustling street.

  (End of Chapter)