18: Chapter 18 Uncle, don't worry! I will absolutely not dye my hair red.

Luffy shuddered in fear, his head shaking like a rattle.

"Uncle, don't worry! I definitely won't dye my hair red! I won't wear black lipstick either! I hate scrap metal the most!" Luffy promised solemnly.

Ace also nodded repeatedly from the side: "That's right! Uncle is right to teach us! Someone like that is obviously an uncultured idiot; he's practically ruining the atmosphere of the sea!"

This conversation was clearly and unmistakably transmitted into Kid's ears.

The subordinates around Kid were so scared that even their breathing stopped.

They secretly looked at their Captain.

They saw that Kid's face had already turned from an angry flush to an extreme livid blue, and finally, it completely transformed into a rampaging black-purple!

"You... you guys..."

Kid's whole body was trembling violently; he was the dignified Captain of the Kid Pirates, a monster with a fearsome reputation at the gateway to the New World!

To think he was being critiqued on his outfit like a "negative example" by a man in a floral shirt, right in front of his two subordinates?

Humiliation!

"I'm going to mince you into meat paste!!!"

Kid fell into a complete frenzy, letting out a beast-like roar as he violently swung his right hand forward.

"Repel!"

Boom!

That huge mechanical steel arm instantly disintegrated, turning into a sky full of dense swords and scrap metal, tearing through the air with a shrill whistle as it shot crazily toward the three of them—Carl, Luffy, and Ace—covering the sky!

"Kid! Calm down!" Killer was shocked and wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.

Facing the steel rainstorm.

Luffy and Ace didn't even dodge, and even yawned out of boredom.

They knew their Uncle too well.

Sure enough.

Carl remained standing in place, even taking another bite of his cotton candy.

Just when the sky full of swords was less than half a meter from Carl's face.

"Hum—!"

A terrifying Haki, presenting a deep, dark purple, erupted from Carl's body without any warning!

There was no sound of collision, no sound of metal clashing.

Only an eerie silence that made one's scalp tingle.

In the terrified gaze of all the pirates present, those thousands of swords and pieces of scrap metal, the moment they touched the one-meter radius around Carl, were like hitting an insurmountable invisible divine wall!

Immediately after.

"Crack... crack crack!"

Accompanied by a series of fine shattering sounds.

That hard steel actually crumbled inch by inch in mid-air, finally turning into iron powder that filled the sky, drifting down to the ground!

"This... how is this possible?"

Kid's arrogant expression instantly froze on his face, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets.

Killer was even more terrified and took two steps back, his hand gripping his weapon trembling violently: "He shattered the steel without even touching it? What level of Haki is this?!"

Carl sighed and handed the remaining cotton candy in his hand to Luffy behind him.

"Hold this, don't get it dirty."

Carl brushed the sugar off his hands, a heart-stopping cold glint flashing in his deep eyes.

"Uncouth wild brat."

"When an elder is speaking, who allowed you to litter?"

Swoosh!

Before the words even finished, Carl's figure directly left an afterimage in place and vanished into thin air!

Too fast! So fast that even the afterimage couldn't be seen clearly!

"Kid! Above!" Killer, relying on instinct, let out a terrified scream.

Kid violently raised his head.

He saw that Carl had already appeared directly above his head, looking down at him from a high position.

Carl hadn't even pulled out the seven wolves belt from his waist.

He just lifted his right hand nonchalantly and, with a backhand, slapped Kid right across his arrogant face!

"Slap!!!"

This slap landed solidly on Kid's left cheek!

"Pfft!"

Kid didn't even have time to let out a scream; he spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with a few white teeth, and his whole body, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, was slapped away by an irresistible, monstrous force!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kid's body traced a miserable parabola in mid-air, crashing through five or six sturdy buildings behind the tavern, and finally slammed heavily into the trunk of a huge Yarukiman Mangrove, only then barely coming to a stop.

One slap!

The Supernova with a bounty as high as 315 million was instantly killed on the spot!

The crew members of the Kid Pirates all had their mouths wide open, their legs shaking uncontrollably.

Killer was stiff all over, cold sweat instantly soaking through his clothes on his back.

Monster!

This was a terrifying monster that simply didn't belong in the first half of the Grand Line!

"This durability is far worse than a Pacifista. With only this much strength, you dare to come out and mess around in the underworld?"

Carl landed back on the ground, shaking his wrist in disgust, as if he had just swatted a buzzing fly.

He turned his head to look at Killer and the others, who were scared silly.

An invisible "Elder's Dignity" mixed with [Parents Gaze] crashed down upon them like Mount Tai.

"Thump!"

Killer and all the pirate underlings couldn't even hold on for a second; their knees softened, and they all knelt on the ground in unison, not even daring to raise their heads.

"Go, splash that redhead awake and drag him over here," Carl ordered coldly.

"Y-yes! My lord!" Killer had none of the backbone of a "Massacre Soldier" left; he scrambled into the ruins, forcibly splashed Kid awake with water from a canteen, and then dragged Kid to Carl's feet like a dead dog.

Kid slowly woke up, feeling his whole head buzzing, his left ear completely deaf.

He struggled to raise his head, looking at Carl with eyes full of terror and humiliation.

"You... who exactly are you..." Kid's voice was weak, filled with intense unwillingness.

Carl didn't answer him, but turned around and waved to Luffy and Ace, who were still obediently eating cotton candy.

"Luffy, Ace, come over and identify him."

Luffy and Ace held their cotton candy, obediently walked over, and casually took off their baseball caps, revealing their iconic faces.

The moment they saw those two faces.

Kid and Killer, kneeling on the ground, felt their pupils instantly shrink to the size of pinpricks!

"Straw Hat... Luffy?!"

"Whitebeard Pirates 2nd Division Commander... Fire Fist Ace?!"

What is going on?!

These two world-famous great pirates, the focus of the world that had been making headlines in the newspapers these past few days!

Why were they standing behind this man in a floral shirt like two obedient babies?!

And... what did they just call this man?!

Uncle?!!!

"Is he Eustass Kid?" Luffy curiously crouched down and poked Kid's face, which was swollen like a pig's head, "He looks so fierce, no wonder Uncle had to slap him."

"A guy who only knows how to cause trouble, getting slapped is only a matter of time." Ace also looked at Kid with a sympathetic expression, "Brother, out of everyone you could have provoked, you just had to act up in front of our Uncle. May you be blessed."

Hearing these two's commentary.

Kid finally realized it!

That man in the floral shirt who had almost slapped him back to the East Blue just now was the one the newspapers had been reporting on overwhelmingly these past few days—the one who wreaked havoc at the Marineford War and suppressed two Emperors single-handedly—the new Marine Admiral—Carl!!!

"Ad... Admiral Carl!!!"