Chapter 4: Knife & Saw
*Swoosh—*
The Chainsaw Devil and the Katana Devil lunged forward in a single bound. The Katana Devil, fast as lightning, appeared before the Meowban Brothers in the blink of an eye, crossing its arms for a horizontal slash.
In the heat of the moment, the Meowban Brothers reacted instinctively. The tall Buchi crossed his claws defensively before his chest, while the smaller Sham reflexively leaped upwards.
*CLANG—*
Sparks flew as cat claws met long swords.
Buchi strained with all his might, gripping the long swords tightly as a grinding sound emanated from the contact point.
"Sham, now!"
Feeling the immense force from his opponent and knowing he couldn't hold on for more than a few seconds, Buchi desperately yelled to his partner.
A fierce glint appeared in Sham's eyes as he swiftly swung his claws straight for the Katana Devil's throat.
However, someone else was faster. The Katana Devil didn't dodge Sham's attack, letting it come. Just as Sham was pinning him, he was also being pinned.
*Whirr— Whirr—*
Right behind the Katana Devil, the Chainsaw Devil abruptly surged upwards from below, its terrifying chainsaws slashing towards Buchi's large frame.
*Schlick—*
"Urk—"
Two large sprays of blood erupted. In an instant, two ghastly wounds were torn open across Buchi's chest, and his grip simultaneously loosened.
The Katana Devil retracted its blades and thrust upwards towards Sham, who was still mid-air, claws swinging.
*CLANG—*
Sparks flashed again.
"Buchi!!!"
Sham roared in panic, but he had no time to spare a glance at his partner. The Katana Devil's arms seemed to carry immense force, throwing him off balance.
Sham absorbed the force, using his powerful core strength to execute a flip, leaping behind the Katana Devil.
Before he even landed, he heard the grating sound of chainsaws behind him. The Chainsaw Devil had caught up from behind without him noticing. Sham whipped around, thrusting his claws out.
Just as the cat claw gloves were about to make contact with the chainsaw, the Chainsaw Devil abruptly changed its attack pattern, spinning and delivering a horizontal slash with both saws, one high and one low.
"AHHH!!!"
A piercing scream rang out. Although Sham instinctively twisted his body sideways, one arm was still brutally torn off by the high-speed rotating chainsaw.
Sham was terrified. Before he could even react or counterattack the Chainsaw Devil in front of him, the Katana Devil had already rushed to his side.
"Wait!" Sham cried out in panic.
*Squish! Squish!*
Ignoring his pleas, the two long swords flashed with cold light, piercing Sham's body as smoothly as cutting through tofu.
Sham froze, staring down in disbelief at the chilling blades impaling his torso, blood dripping uncontrollably onto the deck.
The scene fell into a suffocating silence.
*Shing—!*
The long swords were withdrawn, and Sham's body slumped limply onto the deck.
From the start of the engagement, only a few breaths had passed, and both Meowban Brothers lay defeated in pools of their own blood. The deck was stained crimson. The two demonic figures stood amidst the gore, their blades and saws dripping.
"See? I told you that laugh meant a short life."
Reiner's calm voice broke the tense silence.
He slowly walked towards Nami, looking down at the terrified girl trembling on the deck, and held out his hand.
"Me! Pirate. Robbery!"
"O-Okay, okay, it's all yours..."
"Just don't kill me!"
Nami's voice trembled, her palms slick with sweat. She tightly clutched the bag of treasure and held it out.
Seeing the seven-million-Beri Meowban Brothers slain in the blink of an eye, witnessing the horrific scene, she had lost all will to resist.
After holding out the treasure and seeing Reiner make no move to take it, Nami simply let go, dropping the bag on the deck and quickly pulling her arms back protectively against her chest.
"Oh, my mistake. I don't rob money, I rob *people*."
Reiner chuckled, kicked the bag of treasure aside, took a drag from his cigarette, and recalled the Katana and Chainsaw undead.
He retracted his hand and sat down cross-legged. "You said your name is Nami, right? Do you know anything about navigation?"
"A little bit..."
Nami responded softly. Seeing the two demonic figures inexplicably vanish, she breathed a sigh of relief, though she was still deeply shocked.
Reiner adopted a more amiable tone; of course, he knew Nami was skilled in navigation. "We're pirates, heading for the Grand Line. How about you become our navigator?"
"Me..." Nami hesitated, wanting to refuse but unable to bring herself to do it. Yet, the thought of Cocoyasi Village...
Her hometown was still under Arlong's brutal rule. She needed to save 100 million Beri to buy the village back from him. If she just left now, the villagers of Cocoyasi might never see freedom.
*"What should I do? Maybe I should agree first, then find a chance to escape later?"* Nami's thoughts raced. She reasoned internally: *"It should be possible. There are only a few of them, they can't watch me every single second. I'll definitely find a chance to get away..."*
Nami weighed her options for a moment and was about to pretend to agree when Reiner interrupted her.
"Are you secretly planning something?"
Reiner looked at the thoughtful Nami, propping his chin on his hand. "Pretend to agree first, then find a chance to escape? Maybe even find a way to screw us over?"
Nami's pupils contracted, shock flashing across her face.
Reiner understood Nami's scheming mind perfectly, because...
He was exactly the same type of person!
By this time, Luffy and Zoro had finished dealing with the Black Cat Pirates and had even dragged Jango back with them.
Reiner pointed at Nami and called out to them, "Hey Luffy! Navigator! I found one!"
"Eh? Really!?"
Luffy looked excitedly at Nami, his eyes shining. "Hi, I'm Luffy!"
"H-hello," Nami replied timidly, feeling like a frightened little lamb. She had witnessed Luffy and Zoro's combat prowess firsthand just moments ago.
Among the three, Reiner seemed the least physically imposing, but he could apparently command those two terrifying demons.
Now, with all three present, she had absolutely no power to resist. Nami felt like today was just the worst luck ever.
"Oh right, Reiner,"
Luffy seemed to remember something, holding up Jango, whom he was carrying. "This guy seems to be heading to Syrup Village too. He said he has some secret he can tell us."
The bruised and swollen Jango managed a fawning smile. Reiner recalled that this guy used hypnosis.
Three years ago, he had hypnotized Morgan into believing he had captured Kuro of a Hundred Plans. Morgan was promoted to Captain based on this, while Kuro used the opportunity to hide in Syrup Village and begin his three-year plot targeting Kaya's fortune.
"If you just let me go, I guarantee you'll get a hefty reward!"
Jango rubbed his hands together, smiling sycophantically at them.
"Let's hear it then," Reiner said. He already knew the secret was just Kuro's business.
Under the unfriendly gazes of the group, Jango spilled everything about Kuro's plan.
It turned out Kuro intended to use Jango's hypnosis to make Kaya write a will leaving her entire fortune to him (as Klahadore), after which he planned to kill her.
"Basically," Jango concluded, looking shifty-eyed, "you could cooperate with Captain Kuro and split Kaya's fortune, or you could report Kuro to the Marines and stop him. I'm sure the Kaya family would give you a nice reward either way." He even started offering them strategic advice.
His words had the opposite effect. Luffy only got angrier.
*DUANG!*
"That bastard! How could he do something so horrible!" Luffy knocked Jango out cold with one punch, shaking his fist indignantly.
Reiner had zero interest in Kuro's scheme itself, but he *was* interested in Kuro's template. He would have gone after Kuro regardless of this situation.
Furthermore, the Kaya family had a ship – the one destined to be their first real pirate ship – plus Usopp, that "ancient Greek god of clutch situations.
It was a one-day journey to Syrup Village. Reiner saw it as a dungeon instance brimming with rewards, and he was already eager to go "farm Kuro for gold drops."