I'm Not Interested in Devil Fruits

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"You took him down that fast?"

Liam turned, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw Vice Admiral Momonga—a seasoned warrior of the Marines— now reduced to a lifeless stone statue, courtesy of Hancock's petrifying Medusa Eyes.

His Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) had already alerted him to Hancock's intent to "rescue" him. His clash with Smoker hadn't been intense enough to distract him from sensing her movements, yet he hadn't anticipated the swift and decisive end to the Vice Admiral's fight.

Ordinarily, against a high-level opponent like Vice Admiral Momonga, one would expect at least a dozen exchanges before a victor emerged.

After all, at 32, Momonga was at his physical prime— a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral renowned for his swordsmanship and battle experience.

From what Liam could tell, Hancock's raw strength wasn't necessarily superior to Momonga's. In a direct contest of power, he might even have had the edge. 

As a swordsman, Momonga also held a technical advantage over Hancock, who specialized in devastating kicks. Weapons were an extension of one's power— why else would warriors across history craft them?

Liam had anticipated a prolonged duel, planning to dispose of Smoker quickly before assisting Hancock.

Yet in the brief moment he took to turn his head, Momonga had already been turned to stone.

"What just happened, Miss Han?" Liam held Smoker's head in one hand… then casually tossed him aside, not bothering to check where he landed.

He turned to Hancock, who descended gracefully, her long black hair flowing behind her. His tone was half-scolding, half-incredulous.

'Miss Han?' Hancock blinked, momentarily confused, but she was accustomed to Liam's peculiar way of speaking. She dismissed it with a slight smirk.

Hearing his remark, she tilted her chin upward and scoffed, "How slow do you want me to be? Why would I waste time on someone like him?"

"You're just afraid of losing," Liam teased.

"Me? Lose?" Hancock sneered, narrowing her eyes before her expression softened into something far more dangerous— a teasing pout. "To anyone but you? Impossible."

Liam faltered. When the Pirate Empress turned on her charm like this, even seasoned warriors would crumble.

Around them, the battlefield shifted as more and more people took notice of Momonga's fate. Gasps and exclamations rippled through the crowd.

Marine soldiers and officers stared in horror. That was Vice Admiral Momonga! How had he been turned into stone in the blink of an eye? Just how terrifying were the Kuja Pirates?

Or… was it that Chopper-na Giorno had some kind of underhanded trick?

It wasn't unthinkable. Before Giorno's rise, no one had imagined that such a sinister ability could exist— the power to steal another person's Devil Fruit.

No wonder he hadn't used the Gasu Gasu no Mi (Gas Gas Fruit) he had taken from Caesar Clown. Clearly, over the years, he had stolen even more Devil Fruits!

'Damn it! All the gas masks and oxygen tanks they had prepared were useless now…'

Meanwhile, the pirates who had been forcibly conscripted under the Marines and the World Government felt a quiet sense of relief.

Those who recognized Giorno and the Kuja Pirates' reputation had already been keeping their distance. Now, seeing the once-imposing Vice Admiral reduced to a mere statue, they couldn't help but sneer inwardly:

'So much for your bravado, you wanted to trap the Kuja Pirates and wipe them out in one fell swoop, yet you got taken out instantly.'

'Is this the strength of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral? Laughable.'

"This… this isn't possible! Vice Admiral Momonga, he…" The other Marine Vice Admiral stationed at the entrance could hardly believe his eyes. "How could he lose? And so quickly? This… this can't be happening!"

The man was Bastille, a towering figure nearly three meters tall. Wielding a long-handled saw blade, he had once cleaved through a Sea King shark with a single swing— an act that had earned him the moniker "Shark Cutter." 

His strength was formidable, enough to secure him the rank of Vice Admiral at a young age.

He was one of the Vice Admirals slated to participate in the Marineford War in another timeline, though later, during the Dressrosa incident, his weapon and signature bull-horned helmet had been shattered by Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff Sabo's Dragon Claw.

As a rising Vice Admiral, Bastille held a deep respect for battle-hardened veterans like Momonga. Never had he imagined that someone of Momonga's caliber would fall so easily to the Kuja Pirates—and to that upstart Giorno!

"Was it a Devil Fruit ability?"

A thick cloud of smoke billowed before solidifying into a humanoid form—Smoker. His forehead bore five faint red-purple finger marks, still throbbing from Liam's grip.

His gaze locked onto Momonga's frozen expression, his heart sinking.

Time passed, yet the petrified Vice Admiral showed no signs of returning to normal. That meant…

This wasn't temporary.

A veteran Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral had just fallen here.

Smoker hadn't anticipated it. Hina hadn't anticipated it. Bastille certainly hadn't anticipated it.

No one— whether Marine, pirate, or bounty hunter— had imagined that the battle-hardened Vice Admiral, feared by criminals across the seas, could be taken down in mere seconds.

Smoker gritted his teeth and transformed into smoke, surging toward Giorno and the captivating Pirate Empress once more. He refused to let Momonga's defeat be in vain.

"Bastard!" Hina's eyes burned with fury as she shoved aside the relentless, winged serpent-woman she had been fighting and joined Smoker's charge.

"Are you sure?" Sandersonia stopped in her tracks, shaking her head with a soft chuckle. "I was having fun playing with you, but if it were my elder sister or Giorno you were up against… you wouldn't even be qualified to play."

"What… what did you do to Vice Admiral Momonga!?"

Smoker and Hina attacked from opposite directions— one striking with thick plumes of smoke, the other attempting to ensnare the composed Giorno with her Cage-Cage Fruit ability.

Behind them, the sight of Momonga's unmoving, petrified form only fueled their rage.

Pirates, pirates!

Slap!

Hancock backhanded Smoker, her hand clad in Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), sending him spiraling backward.

The faster he charged, the faster he was sent flying.

"What was that?" Hancock casually dusted off her hand before turning her gaze toward Giorno, who was now bound by Hina's black steel-like cages, his limbs restrained.

Hina swallowed hard. Facing this man— a pirate who had commanded a 100-million-berry bounty from the moment he appeared— she felt an overwhelming sense of pressure. When his gaze locked onto hers, she had to steel herself just to keep from trembling.

"It's useless," she declared. "Hina's cages are harder than steel. Unless you're some kind of serpent, like that woman earlier, there's no—"

"A serpent?" Hancock let out a melodious laugh. "He doesn't need to be one."

'What?!' Hina's expression stiffened. 'Could it be…?'

"Are all Marines this naive? That fool who turned to stone didn't even know what my power was before daring to meet my gaze."

Hina watched in stunned disbelief as the man trapped in her cages began to "swim" through them— his body moving with inhuman flexibility.

"So weak… yet you thought you could trap Giorno?" Hancock sneered.

Liam's limbs slid free from the Cage-Cage Fruit's prison as effortlessly as a snake shedding its skin.

"Don't be so shocked! It's just a simple trick from Rokushiki's Kami-e."

Liam wasn't like Sanji. He had no chivalrous restrictions about fighting women. And honestly? Hina was attractive—but compared to Robin or Hancock?

She didn't stand a chance.

(End Of The Chapter)