More Than That

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Harvey's Snake Bend was genuinely skilled.

Killer had watched Corvin break it with one precise cut.

For that one instant, Killer had looked forward to the sword duel between Corvin and Harvey.

He had been sure it would be a brilliant fight.

Then Corvin shattered that expectation with a single gunshot.

Killer's mood went completely flat.

He glanced at the captain beside him.

His look said plainly enough: This is the man you wanted me to watch?

Kid noticed Killer's strange look. One side of his cheek twitched slightly, but he pretended not to see it.

Around them, the pirates stared at Corvin with complicated expressions.

As for the Sea Snake Pirates, their eyes had gone bloodshot.

Harvey, shot through the chest, had not even managed to curse properly before Corvin followed with a cut and dropped him to the ground.

"Three moves? Sorry. I'm not interested."

Corvin looked calmly at Harvey, whose eyes were still open in death, then felt the swordsmanship returns pouring in from him.

They rose fast.

The hand-to-hand returns, by comparison, were almost negligible.

That was the natural reaction after physique had reached one star.

"Not bad."

Even so, Harvey's returns surprised Corvin.

He had not expected this at all.

Harvey was only a 13.8-million-Berry pirate, and Corvin had filled in no more than his full name, yet the swordsmanship returns were this strong.

That meant Harvey's real level was far above his bounty. If Corvin found a few more like him, swordsmanship might form its first star frame soon.

The thought delighted him, but it also left him a little regretful.

If his information had been more complete, and if he had written Harvey's techniques into the ledger, then with Harvey's depth in swordsmanship, Corvin might have drawn out one move or at least part of one.

Regret was regret. This much gain was already enough.

Corvin first glanced at the furious Sea Snake Pirates, then did something in full view of everyone.

He carried on Sol's weapons shop's fine tradition, crouched with practiced ease, and pulled a thick stack of Berries from Harvey's corpse before tucking it into his pocket.

The whole thing took a second or two.

The crowd had just begun to make noise again. Corvin's corpse-looting pushed them right back into silence.

The Sea Snake Pirates grew even angrier.

"His gun's empty! Kill him! Avenge Captain Harvey!"

Quincy, the Sea Snake Pirates' vice captain with an 11.5-million-Berry bounty, roared and charged at Corvin with the rest of the crew.

Quincy rushed ahead of the others, reached Corvin first, and swung his blade.

Corvin had already put away the flintlock he had fired. He raised Dark Crow one-handed and blocked Quincy's cut.

Clang.

Sparks burst as their blades locked.

The scene looked familiar.

This time, however, it was Quincy in front of him.

"Shameless bastard!"

Quincy gripped his saber with both hands and clenched his teeth, pouring all his strength in. He wanted to overpower Corvin and give his crewmates an opening.

Their strength passed down their arms and into their blades, seesawing back and forth like a tug-of-war.

"Your gun's empty. You're dead!"

The veins on Quincy's face stood out, making him look especially vicious.

Corvin contested Quincy's full strength with one hand and was faintly being pressed back.

As for why he was using only one hand, it obviously was not for style.

Bang.

Corvin drew a second flintlock and pulled the trigger cleanly.

The lead shot drove into Quincy's body, and the strength he had pushed into his blade broke apart.

Quincy stared in disbelief at the sudden wound.

Corvin said mildly, "That one was empty. I have another."

He did not care how Quincy reacted. One cut later, Quincy dropped beside Harvey.

Quincy could not even speak. He died just as miserably as his captain.

By then, the remaining five Sea Snake Pirates had barely reached Corvin.

They had never expected Vice Captain Quincy to die the moment they met either.

At that point, all they could do was grit their teeth and surround Corvin.

Surely there was no third gun.

Besides, there were five of them.

With that thought in mind, they met the blade Corvin swung toward them.

[Shatter Slash]

Corvin stepped forward and cut five times in rapid succession.

Five lines of blade light split outward and vanished. The five Sea Snake Pirates froze as if pinned in place.

Blood sprayed from each of their chests.

Corvin took one step back and straightened. Then he flicked his wrist, shook the blood from Dark Crow's blade, and slowly sheathed it.

Shatter Slash was one of Gabton's techniques. Its original form struck five times at high speed and converged on a single point.

When Corvin used it now, he divided the five cuts among the five Sea Snake Pirates instead.

The effect was just as clean.

Thud. Thud.

The Sea Snake Pirates collapsed dead to the ground.

Corvin crouched again and looted the bodies in front of everyone.

In moments, he pulled out another stack of Berries and pushed it into his pocket.

"Nice."

He had no time to count how much the two stacks were worth.

Under the dumbfounded stares of the watching pirates, Corvin left quickly and disappeared into the night.

Most of the pirates stared after him with complicated expressions.

They had all seen those last five cuts.

In other words, Corvin clearly possessed impressive swordsmanship, yet he still insisted on using pistols to trick people.

They had no idea how to judge that.

But plenty of pirates learned a very practical lesson.

For one dazed moment, Corvin might as well have been standing there with a smile, offering them a hand.

As if he were saying, Come on.

"That trick isn't bad."

"I'm going to the weapons shop first thing tomorrow."

"How do you even guard against that?"

Corvin's fighting method opened a new door for them.

In the crowd, Killer stared after Corvin, his gaze slightly vacant.

He had thought Corvin relied on pistols, which meant his swordsmanship could only be average. Then those five cuts had struck that assumption straight across the face.

A chill rose in Killer's heart.

Although he had watched Corvin take down the entire Sea Snake Pirates alone, he had the faint feeling that what he had seen was not everything.

What kind of person was he?

Kid glanced toward Killer.

With the mask in the way, he could not see Killer's expression clearly, but he could still feel how shaken Killer was.

"Killer, if you fought him, would you be confident?"

"No."

Killer shook his head, his gaze grave.

"That man has more than this."

"Is that so..."

A cold edge passed through Kid's eyes.

A monster with growth like that was better killed early.

But with that old man there...

The thought halted the impulse almost as soon as it appeared.

The excitement ended, and the crowd began to disperse.

Suddenly, an enraged woman's voice rang out.

"Usopp!"

Dense footsteps followed.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Aibe approaching in revealing clothes at the head of a furious group.

The crowd parted on instinct.

Aibe crossed through the gap and entered the cleared space. The first thing she saw was the corpses on the ground. Corvin was nowhere in sight.

"Where did Usopp go?!"

Aibe snapped her gaze toward the surrounding pirates.

No one answered.

"Too late..."

Aibe clenched her teeth, her chest rising and falling sharply.

For a while, many pirates who had been about to leave stopped again and stared greedily at the beautiful view.

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