Part eight - Demons of East Blue 4/??

The guy didn't even have time to think about running away - and where could he run in a completely open space? - when in his body, with the force of a huge hammer, several hundred bullets hit at once. The blow was so strong that Yosaku was lifted off the ground and thrown far back, where he, having fallen, slipped a few more meters along the boards, until he buried himself in the body of a pirate, previously killed by him. One hand of Yosaku was practically torn off, the whole mouth and throat turned into a bloody mess, half of the skull was taken off the guy, and the only surviving eye stared into the night sky. It was instant death. Ten seconds later, Johnny landed on the pier, next to Yosaku's body, and behind him, with a deafening roar, in a flash of fire, another ship he destroyed disappeared.

Looking at the motionless, blood-soaked, mutilated body of his old friend, Johnny slowly turned his gaze to the shore, and most importantly, to the army gathered on this shore. And even if this was an army consisting of only pirates, an army is an army. Due to the fact that the sandy coast almost immediately is followed by a small mountain, on the top of which Don Craig's main base was located, Johnny was able to see at once all the forces gathered by the pirate. About five thousand people with swords, and in front of them about five hundred riflemen, located by Don in two rows. The front row was on one knee, and the second row immediately behind them, full-length. Johnny was far enough away, so Craig was in no hurry to give the command "fire". Then the guy, throwing another look at the dead body of his friend, slowly moved forward, directly at Don Craig and several thousand of his people.

- FIRE!!!

Only, unlike Yosaku, Johnny did not die at all. The simultaneous impact of hundreds of bullets only made him go a little out of step and nothing more. If there was enough light on the shore, then all the gathered pirates would be able to see how the skin on Johnny's hands and face begins to gradually redden and change, turning into scales. But all of them were quite able to appreciate the changed eyes of the guy - around like a cat's elongated pupil the most natural fire blazed. In the darkness of the night, against the background of the glow from the flotilla engulfed in fire, Johnny's gaze instantly made almost everyone who saw him soggy backs.

- FIRE!!! - came another order from Don Craig.

The pirates obediently fired, but being literally mesmerized by Johnny's gaze, this time their shooting sounded a little out of tune, so the guy didn't even stray from his step.

- All shooters back! - Don's new order sounded. - Forward to all swordsmen! Kill that bastard!

The riflemen, briskly and with undisguised relief, stepped back, behind the backs of their comrades, but the swordsmen, for the most part, on the contrary, stepped forward slowly and with undisguised fear. Half of the pirate swordsmen were those who had escaped ashore from their ships, so none of that half were eager to fight Johnny, no matter what their numbers were. The other half of Craig's men were pirates that Don had brought with him from the base, so they felt a little more confident. But only a little. The fleet blazing to the skies, and the chilling screams of wounded or burning alive people, did not contribute in any way to the manifestation of courage. And only the fact that they were able to kill one of the famous East Blue hunters without much difficulty allowed the pirates to feel at least some confidence. But it was also pretty shaken by Johnny's inhuman gaze, and then completely smashed to smithereens when the guy, fifteen meters from the first line of swordsmen, stopped and, taking a full chest of air, said:

- Karyu no Hoko (Roar of the Fire Dragon) !!!

A horrifying wave of fire, exhaled by Johnny towards the pirates, instantly swept away and burned several hundred of them, and several hundred more received severe burns - the dense formation played a cruel joke with the pirates.

The howling of people made Johnny winced noticeably, as did the smell of charred bodies - sometimes the possession of heightened senses turned against him. And although he had long since gotten used to such things, there was pleasant in all this ... yes, there was nothing pleasant in it. This is why Johnny was not very fond of using his fire techniques when he fought people. Directly against people, the guy preferred to fight with his bare hands and feet, without any fire. However, when the number of your opponents goes to the thousands, there is no time for whims.

In the next instant, Johnny had to jump sharply to the side, avoiding the blow of a fist in an iron glove covered with diamonds.

- The power of the Devil Fruit… no wonder your superhuman strength is being talked about throughout the East Blue.

Johnny slightly tilted his head to one side, looking at Don Craig standing in front of him, not in the least affected by his fiery attack, although he was almost at its epicenter. Only a slightly smoking cloak indicated that Don was generally caught by fire. But his gilded armor continued to shine in the night like new.

- It's not about the fruit, - Johnny told him. - Often, the fruit itself does not mean much if it is not logia, but even in this case, a lot will depend on the person who ate it, - and although it was difficult to speak when dozens of people were howling and screaming in pain nearby, the guy simply could not keep silent. Could it be Luffy's influence? He almost never shut up himself, so he did not let others remain silent. - As my captain says, devil fruit users that are limited only by the strength of theirs fruit are dead devil fruit users. I am strong enough even without the power of my fruit, my captain and his first mate took care of this personally.

- Heh! However, in the end, you are only alive now thanks to the power of your fruit. - Craig stretched out his disgusting face in a brazen smile. - If your friend had the same power of the fruit, he would not die.

- You know, I find it funny that you said this just now, - Johnny chuckled slightly.

And it really was. Why? Because just a moment later, right next to Craig, as if out of thin air, an extremely irritated Yosaku appeared. And the degree of his irritation could be judged at least on the basis that he did not immediately try to chop Don into pieces, but limited himself to a monstrous kick in Craig's head ... a blow that turned out to be blocked by Don's hand. And, nevertheless, Yosaku's impact force was quite enough to send Craig's massive figure flying. Though short-lived. And Don landed without any problems. But the fact itself! Craig weighed, considering all his "body kits", no less than a couple of tons.

- Damn bastard! - Yosaku snapped irritated, referring to the shocked Craig, who was looking at him with a drooping jaw. - Do you even know how much it hurts when you are literally torn apart ?!

- You ... WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE ?! - Don literally roared.

- As our captain says, - Yosaku replied in a calmer voice, - if you were killed, then this is not a reason to remain dead.

It was noticeable that Craig's reaction was very much liked by the still recently dead guy, so his anger and irritation began to evaporate.

- It's impossible!!! - heard from the other pirates, when they saw quite a living Yosaku.

- So this is true ?! - literally whimpered another voice. - All these rumors are true ?! They really can't be killed ?!

- It's true! This is all true!!! - the third voice began to strain. - Even if one of them dies, he just resurrects! Everything as people said !!!