Chapter 18

"Damn it!"

Feeling belittled, Law made a bold statement, "If we beat this guy, can we become officers?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present froze for a moment, and then burst into laughter as if mocking Law's overconfidence.

"Hahahaha~"

"Hehehe~ I'm laughing so hard my nose is running."

"Are you serious?"

"Stop laughing!"

Enraged and embarrassed, Law charged forward and took a strong swing at Diamante, who easily knocked him to the ground.

It was a pitiful sight, so embarrassing that Abel cringed on his behalf.

Speechless, he wondered how Law, usually quite clever, could behave so thoughtlessly in battle.

But then he realized it wasn't entirely strange; after all, Law had never received formal combat training, he didn't know how to fight properly.

Even when facing the vagabonds, Law only managed to hold his own due to his sheer grit.

Therefore, his ineptitude coupled with recklessness could be excused.

"Rushing headfirst won't kill anyone," Diamante continued his taunting.

"Then I'll use this. After all, I don't have much longer to live, so I have nothing to fear!"

Suddenly, Law pulled a grenade from his clothing, his face fierce.

This was something he had found and secretly stashed away on the ship.

Thanks to Senor, they hadn't been tied up after being captured and even managed to get full meals.

This gave Law the opportunity to hide something up his sleeve.

Yet, Law's action didn't frighten anyone. Instead, it visibly irritated Diamante, who scowled deeply.

"Don't underestimate pirates, kid!"

Diamante, who had been purely defensive up till now, suddenly struck out with the back of his blade!

With a cry, Law was sent flying several meters away, falling heavily to the ground. Both the knife and the grenade in his hands fell into a pile of trash.

What an absurd thought, to believe a single grenade could take down an opponent like Diamante?

No wonder Diamante was so enraged, feeling underestimated.

"Just as I thought, he's all talk and no action."

Before they knew it, two figures around the same age as Law were perched on the trash heap, watching the spectacle. One was a cute little girl dressed as a maid, complete with a yellow bow in her hair. The other was a chubby boy in overalls, donned in green and a pink beanie, looking rather simple-minded.

"Game's over, let's go play hide and seek."

"Agreed~"

The little girl and the chubby boy hopped off, preparing to leave. Even Doflamingo, who had been observing Law from above, shook his head slightly, ready to turn and leave.

But at that moment, something unexpected occurred!

"Not just him, but others have also underestimated us!"

Bang!

Whoosh!

Propelled by the power of his upgraded boots, Abel, who felt compelled to step in, kicked a pile of metal debris with all his might.

He was well aware that solely relying on these tech-enhanced shoes, even if he exhausted all their power, wouldn't be enough to beat his opponent.

But it could create an opportunity for his next move.

He wanted to show his worth as much as possible.

While he too had joined the Donquixote Family, his path was decidedly different from Law's future one.

Not only did he plan to climb up the ranks quickly, aiming to become an officer, but deep down, he harbored the ambition to replace Doflamingo himself!

Moreover, he believed that taking Doflamingo's place wasn't his limit.

He could do even better until one day, he'd stand at the pinnacle of this world!

With this terrifying ambition, countless pieces of metal debris instantly shrouded Diamante.

Diamante had indeed let his guard down.

His attention had been mostly fixated on Law, the audacious talker, thereby unconsciously overlooking another seemingly insignificant rookie beside him.

Who could have imagined that such a disregarded rookie could take him by surprise?

By the time the wave of metal debris was right in front of him, it was too late to dodge.

Bullfighting Cape!

The soft, shiny red cape materialized in front of Diamante in an instant.

Although the cape seemed delicate, it was in fact made of steel, turned soft by his Devil Fruit ability.

A chorus of clanging sounds echoed as the cascade of metal parts struck the cape.

A powerful opponent like Diamante was not something these minor tricks could handle; the gap in strength was too vast to bridge.

Not to mention breaching his defense, not a single nail could slip through - everything was blocked.

Even so, Diamante's expression turned even more sour.

Because he had actually used his Devil Fruit ability!

This was truly a disgrace!

The expression on Diamante's face, hidden behind the cape, was now fluctuating between dark and light.

If not for Doflamingo's orders, he would have torn that damned little brat, who had embarrassed him, into pieces!

However, this was merely the appetizer.

Nobody noticed that a banana was mixed in with the debris he kicked.

"Kid, you-"

Diamante's face had barely emerged from behind the cape when

BOOM!

A sudden explosion took everyone who was watching by surprise.

Abel wouldn't make the same mistake as Law. If he was going to use a bomb, there would be no need for empty talk!

Diamante didn't anticipate such a move, instantly being engulfed by flames.

Abel then quickly ran towards Law, picked up the grenade that had fallen on the ground, and without any hesitation, pulled the pin and tossed it towards the flames.

BOOM!

Another massive explosion.

The consecutive explosions somewhat stunned Diamante.

And it also gave everyone the false impression that, like Law, Abel had grenades hidden on his body, which he had just kicked towards Diamante along with the other metal debris.

Otherwise, they couldn't explain why a banana would explode.

Yet even so, Diamante remained invincible.

"I'm going to kill you, kid!"

With a roar of rage, Diamante, his entire body wrapped in the cape, charged out of the flames like an infuriated bull.

However, he wasn't entirely unscathed. At least, Abel noticed his hair was singed and his face was a patchwork of black and white.

If not for his clothing, pants, and cape, all made of steel, he would have been more than just a little disheveled at this point.

But soon, Abel had to pay the price for his actions.

Thud!

Diamante, his face twisted with anger, kicked Abel a good distance away.