Then let me ask you what are you doing here now?" Rin asked knowingly, his voice calm but filled with sharp intent.
"Of course it's what I'm supposed to do." Hody Jones narrowed his eyes, wondering what Rin's real aim was. Why was this man appearing here of all times just as his plans were reaching their climax?
"Take a closer look around." Rin nodded toward the square below with a tilt of his chin, prompting Hody Jones to finally observe his surroundings.
"What!" Hody Jones' expression changed instantly. He noticed that the royal guards of Ryugu Kingdom had been secretly stationed in the shadows around him. They had formed a perimeter near the square. He had been so focused on aiming at Princess Otohime that he had completely ignored the sudden shift in the atmosphere.
"Don't think I don't know your goal trying to assassinate Princess Otohime? That's not happening." Rin's words were steady, but his tone was filled with righteous fury. He would not allow Hody Jones to leave this place alive today.
"When did my plan get leaked!" Hody Jones was shaken. He had been meticulous with this operation, hiding his hatred for humans under a false loyalty to Queen Otohime. Only he and the mastermind knew the full scope of the assassination attempt.
"You can only blame yourself for being too careless. I heard everything loud and clear when you were talking in the backroom of the Human Auctioning House in the Sabaody Archipelago." Rin gave a sneer. He wasn't afraid to expose how he found out because Hody wasn't going to live long enough to report it.
"What?! Were you eavesdropping back then?" Hody Jones was startled, immediately realizing the truth. When he was speaking with the shadowy orchestrator of the plan who was tied to certain rogue New Fishman Pirates Rin had overheard every word.
"Smart. Too bad you won't live long enough to draw any benefit from it." Rin's leg snapped through the air like a whip, slicing the wind itself.
Hody Jones saw the kick incoming and instinctively dodged. Rin's leg collided with the wall behind him—shattering the hard coral into fractured stone. A visible crack spread across it.
"You let me go, and I'll give you half my bounty!" Hody Jones blurted, panic starting to gnaw at his confidence. He could already tell from that strike that Rin's strength was beyond normal. That kick alone had enough power to rupture steel-reinforced coral.
"Bounty? I don't need it. Don't you know? The last thing I lack is Beli." Rin's words weren't arrogant they were true. His path had been drenched in battles, and he had plundered countless amounts from both pirates and warlords. He had even raided Enel's hidden treasure back in Skypiea. Not to mention the loot packs he unlocked daily sometimes worth millions.
"So what the hell do you want?!" Hody Jones finally yelled, not understanding Rin's obsession with foiling him. Since Rin showed up, everything had gone sideways.
"I want you to die." Rin's voice was cold. His next flying kick was sheathed in black armed with Busoshoku Haki.
"YAAH!" Hody Jones roared and met Rin's kick with a full-powered punch. But this was no ordinary collision. Rin's Haki-enhanced strike overwhelmed him completely. Their fists clashed for only an instant before Hody was sent flying. He smashed into the wall, reducing a large section to rubble.
"You… why are you so strong!?" Hody's eyes widened in disbelief. Rin's power was monstrous.far beyond what his appearance suggested. The punch felt like being hit by a Sea Train at full speed.
"Surprised? You had the guts to take my punch head-on.credit where it's due." Rin glanced at Hody's wrist, which now hung limp. The bones were clearly broken.
"Hiss…" Hody winced as the pain shot through his arm. Rage burned in his eyes. He hadn't wanted to resort to that, but Rin was leaving him no choice.
"I told you, I want you dead." Rin crushed the carbon-alloy sniper rifle at Hody's feet with a single stomp. The weapon, built to fire at high pressure through thick coral, shattered like brittle candy underfoot.
"You forced me!" Hody shouted, horrified by what he'd seen. That rifle was made from hardened materials imported from the surface yet Rin broke it as if it were bamboo. In desperation, he took out a small syringe and stabbed it into his own arm.
Almost instantly, the bones in his arm began to regenerate, and his muscles swelled unnaturally. The aura around him darkened. His blood vessels bulged and eyes turned crimson with fury.
"Hmph… Energy Steroid, huh?" Rin muttered. He recognized the infamous E.S. drug the very one that fueled Hody and his crew during their failed coup d'état in the original manga. The drug boosted strength drastically, but at the cost of lifespan and sanity.
"You know about it, then you should know what I'm capable of now!" Hody bared his sharpened teeth, hoping to scare Rin. But deep down, he had felt Rin's punch and feared even the drugs might not be enough.
"It dulls pain and boosts strength but only temporarily. And it only works best on those who are already powerful." Rin spoke calmly. He could tell this dose wouldn't be enough to turn Hody into a true threat. On someone like Kaido, maybe… but not on a second-rate schemer.
"I'll give you one last chance. Stop now, and I'll split the bounty with you!" Hody tried again to bargain, sweat forming on his brow.
"My answer hasn't changed 2.6 times if you like. You must die." Rin could see the desperation on Hody's face. This wasn't confidence it was fear.
"Then send me to hell!" Hody roared, fists tearing through the air like cannonballs. His fist struck toward Rin's head a blow that would've splattered an ordinary person's skull like a melon.
But Rin wasn't ordinary.
He vanished in a flash light bending around him. Like the Glint-Glint Fruit's power, he turned into a beam of radiance and reappeared at a different angle.
"Is that all you've got?" Rin mocked, voice echoing with disdain. He wanted Hody to use everything to push the E.S. drug to its limits. That's what would make this fight worth remembering.
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