Chapter 114: Desperation

In the midst of the desperate situation, the pirate let out a loud roar, calling out the name "Usopp."

He knew full well that even if he shouted the name, Usopp—a complete stranger to him—would not suddenly appear to block the blade.

Yet, the blade stopped.

The pirate, having survived the immediate threat, froze, then began to pant heavily.

Did it work? He hadn't expected that merely shouting Usopp's name would trigger a reaction from this monstrous woman. The pirate seemed to see a glimmer of hope for survival.

Gion looked at the disheveled, nameless pirate before her in surprise, taken aback that he had suddenly called out the name "Usopp." She knew that Usopp was the alias Mord had used in Mad Hatter Town. So, this pathetic weakling of a pirate knew Mord? As she pondered, her long blade, pointed at the pirate, remained suspended in mid-air.

The nameless pirate, unaware of Gion’s thoughts, stared fixedly at the motionless blade. He assumed that this monster of a woman must be wary of Usopp's strength. His mind began to race with opportunity.

"Scared, aren't you? Let me tell you, Usopp is—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Gion struck him down. To his final breath, the nameless pirate was left filled with nothing but confusion.

Gion did not even glance at the pirate's corpse; she continued to hunt down the others. Originally, the pirates had huddled together, allowing her to cut them down in groups and save effort. However, after a few strikes near the hole in the wall, the pirates had lost their will to fight and fled in a rout. With their targets scattered, it was a bit more troublesome to hunt them down one by one, but Gion had no intention of letting a single person present escape. With every pirate she caught up to, it was one strike, one life.

In the midst of this despair, voices began to rise again.

"Usopp, where are you!!!"

The fleeing pirates pinned the hopes of the entire village on Mord, whom they perceived to be the strongest among them. In reality, their logic was simple: they just wanted someone powerful to appear and distract Gion so they wouldn't be slaughtered like livestock.

"Usopp, where are you!!!"

Slowly, more and more pirates caught on, relaying the name "Usopp" to one another as they ran.

Hearing the cries from behind, Mord, who had already put a considerable distance between himself and the scene, felt his eyelid twitch. "These idiots. They couldn't even hold out for three seconds, and now they're shouting my name? What is this?"

"Wait, that's Usopp's name..." Mord shook his head violently.

"Why are they calling out your alias?" Sunny asked, looking puzzled.

"I don't know," Mord replied, then glanced back.

It was a mistake to look. The sight made his scalp prickle. Several pairs of expectant, desperate eyes were fixed directly on him. Mord recognized them; they were the ones who had fled the most decisively. Besides them, there was another small group that had started running the moment Mord squeezed through the crowd.

They were much smarter than the pirates who had stayed behind, foolishly dreaming of taking down Gion.

"These looks...?" A bad feeling washed over Mord.

"Usopp, you’re so strong, you can definitely handle that woman, right?" one of the pirates shouted loudly.

Mord’s eye twitched at the remark. *Go to hell.*

He cursed inwardly and sped up without looking back. He finally understood the motive behind these fools shouting his name. They felt he was powerful and hoped he would step forward to deal with Gion.

What a joke. He was running away precisely because he couldn't beat her. If he could win, he wouldn't need them to call him; he would have been at the front of the line for the experience points.

Seeing Mord run off without a second glance, the pirates trailing him showed expressions of disappointment. Even though they had reached this point, they still felt no sense of safety. They were desperate for a strong individual to step up and stop Gion, and Mord was clearly the most suitable candidate. However, such things could not be forced. The pirates soon abandoned the idea of relying on Mord and focused entirely on their escape.

Yet, that impulsive shout, while revealing Mord's location, had further summoned the Reaper.

"Usopp is over there!"

The pirates behind used the shout to quickly pinpoint Mord’s direction.

"Usopp is over there!"

Suddenly, as if they had found their leader, the pirates veered in their flight and began racing toward Mord's position. Driven by herd mentality, the scattered pirates formed an eerie, long line. At the very front of this formation was Mord, running the fastest.

Gion was not deaf; she followed the commotion and turned her gaze toward Mord.

"Is he there?" Gion’s eyes shifted.

She struck down a pirate in her path and immediately headed in that direction. She didn't spare a single pirate along the way, killing her way forward. Her actions sent a chill through the pirates who had been pinning their hopes on Mord.

*Something is wrong,* they thought.

At the front of the pack, Mord’s expression turned grim. His Observation Haki was like a blaring alarm, warning him of the lethal intent approaching from behind. That killing intent wasn't just aimed at him; it was aimed at the entire "street."

"Mord... that woman is coming," Sunny said, watching Gion approach as she cut through everything in her path. She freed one hand to raise her flintlock pistol, aiming it at Gion, who moved like a god of death. But she knew that mere firearms could not pose a substantial threat to Gion.

"I see her," Mord said, his eyes darkening.

This escape had been far from smooth. First Kuzan, and now this woman. Couldn't they have sent a few more Robbies instead? Mord sighed heavily in his heart and looked back at the rapidly approaching Gion. The numerous pirates in her path weren't even able to slow her down. Realizing that Gion’s speed was superior to his own, Mord’s heart sank.

"Sunny, we might not be able to get away."

"Yeah," Sunny agreed, watching Gion. Then, she turned to look at Mord’s profile and said, "Put me down. Keep running."

Mord instinctively turned his head and met Sunny’s gaze. She was completely serious.

"Mord, you cannot die here." Sunny forced a smile, but due to the scar on her face, it didn't look very beautiful. "As long as you reveal your true identity, that female Marine shouldn't give you a hard time."

"I just killed a Marine."

"If you don't say it, and they don't say it, no one will know." As she spoke, Sunny suddenly let go of her arms wrapped around Mord’s neck. In their flight, her seemingly fragile upper body tilted backward.

Mord reacted quickly, his hands moving from her thighs to her waist. With a burst of strength, he pulled her back firmly against his back.

"Are you crazy?" Mord’s voice was tinged with anger.

Sunny rested her chin on his shoulder again. "Better one of us escapes than both of us dying." She paused, then repeated in a calm tone, "Put me down. You keep running."

"Not happening."

"If we both die here, it’s not worth it. If you survive, you can at least pour a drink for me every year."

"Shut up."

"Okay." Sunny immediately became obedient.

A short while later, the pirates along the way had been wiped out. Gion caught up and blocked Mord and Sunny’s path. She didn't strike immediately, but just facing her sent a wave of lethal crisis washing over Mord.

This was a true dead end.

He would have preferred to face Kuzan.