The chaos of battle had only deepened. Smoke swirled above the Baratie's shattered deck as the clash between bounty hunters, pirates, and chefs reached a fever pitch.
Dez and Gin were locked in a vicious, high-speed brawl, every move a study in precision and ferocity. Metal slammed into metal, and each bullet fired echoed like thunder across the sea.
Gin's tonfa came down in a wide arc—Dez ducked and twisted, firing a short burst from Dawn that crackled with residual heat. Gin deflected the rounds, but one grazed his cheek, drawing blood.
"You're getting slower," Dez taunted, backstepping with fluid ease, spinning Dusk to reload it with a flick of his thumb.
Gin smirked, unbothered. "Or maybe you're getting predictable."
Their clash intensified—but then, Dez's sharp eye caught movement on the edge of the fray.
From the corner of his vision, he spotted Nami creeping toward the restaurant's edge, hoping to slip out unnoticed through the broken hull.
A Krieg pirate, battered but not down, rose behind her, brandishing a curved cutlass. His eyes were bloodshot, breath ragged—but his killing intent was clear.
Too far. No direct shot.
Dez's gaze shifted, calculating trajectories at lightning speed. In the middle of a parry, he glanced left—Zoro was locked in battle nearby, two swords clashing against a hulking pirate brute, one blade clenched in his mouth as always.
Dez smirked.
"Let's get flashy."
He fired two quick rounds.
BANG! BANG!
The first bullet struck the flat of Zoro's raised sword, bouncing at a steep angle. The second struck the hilt of Zoro's other blade mid-swing, redirecting it again.
Both bullets twisted through the air, bouncing once more off the steel beams overhead.
The pirate behind Nami never saw it coming.
THWIP! THWIP!
The bullets struck him clean—one in the shoulder, spinning him sideways; the second in the leg, dropping him entirely. He collapsed with a grunt, sword clattering from his grip.
Nami flinched and turned—eyes wide as she saw the pirate crumple behind her. Then she looked across the room…
And saw Dez, still mid-fight, spin-kick Gin away just as he holstered Dusk with a casual flourish.
He winked.
"Careful out there, sweetheart."
Nami blinked, half impressed, half annoyed. "Show off…"
Gin wiped sweat from his brow. "Did you just ricochet a shot off another man's swords while fighting me?"
Dez rolled his shoulder with a cocky grin. "Man's gotta multitask."
Gin let out a short laugh. "No wonder you were a nightmare back in the East Blue."
Before Dez could respond, Krieg's voice thundered again.
"Enough games!"
Krieg raised his explosive-laced battle cloak, cannons primed to fire.
Luffy stepped forward, stretching his arms with a lazy grin.
Zoro, panting but ready, raised his swords.
Sanji exhaled smoke from his nose, cracking his neck.
And Dez?
He spun Dawn once, the chamber clicking into a new form.
Impact Shot: Gravity Spike.
The bullet inside began to glow faintly.
"Guess I'll hang around a little longer," Dez muttered.
Absolutely—here's the next chapter of Bullet Tide, ramping things up with Krieg's explosive assault and Dez showing off in full gunslinger glory.
---
"DIE, ALL OF YOU!"
Don Krieg's voice exploded like the cannon fire that followed. From beneath his cape, a dozen micro-barrels launched a hellstorm of projectiles, a deadly spray of spiked bombs and shrapnel scattering in all directions.
The Baratie trembled.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Smoke and fire swallowed the restaurant's front as shouts filled the air.
"Gomu Gomu no—Balloon!"
Luffy stretched his torso wide, puffing up like a human shield. Cannonballs slammed into his rubber form, bouncing off and crashing into the sea.
"Tatsumaki!"
Zoro spun his blades into a whirlwind, deflecting debris and redirecting several missiles back at their origin.
"Anti-Manner Kick Course!"
Sanji soared into the air, his flaming leg swiping through bombs with surgical grace, cutting them mid-air before they could detonate.
But not all the projectiles could be caught.
From behind a veil of smoke, three small, blinking orbs zipped toward the heart of the restaurant.
Too close. Too fast.
Dez's hat tilted up as his eyes narrowed. He holstered Dawn—only to draw it again with a click, spinning the chamber.
"Trickshot: Split Round."
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The rounds split mid-air, forming spirals of glowing trails. Each one collided with an incoming explosive, detonating them early in the air in controlled bursts. One ricocheted and hit a pirate hiding behind cover.
"Get down!" Dez shouted, tossing an empty table toward a nearby chef as a shield. Then he moved—a blur of motion, drawing Dusk and meeting Gin head-on once more.
Gin lunged with his iron tonfa, Dez ducked under the swing and planted a boot to Gin's gut, forcing him back. Without missing a beat, Dez jumped off a shattered beam, backflipping over a charging Krieg soldier, and fired backwards mid-air, taking the man down.
He landed crouched, slid under Gin's follow-up, and blasted him point-blank in the shoulder with a Displacement Shot—sending him flying into Krieg.
BOOOOM!
The impact triggered a chain reaction as both Krieg and Gin were blown through the weakened front wall of the Baratie, crashing out onto the ocean's surface deck with a watery splash and wreckage tumbling after them.
Smoke, wood, and splinters filled the air as everyone inside stared at the now gaping hole in the restaurant.
Sanji whistled. "Guess someone doesn't like to be interrupted during lunch."
Zoro smirked. "Still reckless as ever."
Dez dusted himself off, holstering Dusk.
"Sometimes you gotta answer cannon fire with something a bit... louder."
From outside, Krieg roared in fury, dragging himself to his feet atop the floating debris.
Gin groaned beside him, bleeding but still breathing.
Dez stepped calmly onto the edge of the destroyed wall, chamber spinning, smoke trailing from Dawn's barrel. His silhouette was framed by the sunlight, wind catching his coat.
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "He's cool."
Zoro nodded. "He's deadly."
The final round was about to begin.