Chapter 6: Snakeman

Boom!!!

With a gunshot, the first to strike was the "Snakeman" Suleyman Shawn. Grinning wickedly, he squeezed the trigger of his rifle, and the bullet struck Perona squarely in the forehead.

"Hehehehe! It's as they say! The prettier the face, the emptier the head! Facing an enemy on the battlefield and acting so careless... Huh?"

Suleyman's taunt abruptly stopped. He stared in disbelief as the bullet passed through Perona's forehead without drawing blood or causing any damage, as though it had simply pierced the air.

"Oh, oh! The creepy geezer actually attacked me!" Perona puffed up her cheeks indignantly, shook the little umbrella in her hand, and flew straight into the air. At the same time, Victor leaped sideways to avoid the next volley. In an instant, a violent rain of bullets tore through the space where the pair had been standing.

"An army!? No, is someone using Devil Fruit powers?" Commander Marine Crohn, observing the fight from a distance, was stunned. There were only four people on the battlefield, yet the sheer firepower felt like an entire battalion was attacking.

"Heh... Is it really wise to expose your abilities so openly, Mr. Bege?" Victor remarked as he moved with incredible speed. Using his zipper ability, he traversed several meters in an instant, dashing along the walls of nearby residential buildings and closing in on Suleyman and Capone Bege.

"Hmph... Against someone like you, there's no need for subtlety. Fire!!"

Capone Bege didn't hesitate. He opened his right hand, revealing a miniature door in his palm. From the door emerged tiny black-clad men armed with artillery, unleashing a barrage of shells toward Victor.

Victor jumped to the fountain sculpture in the center of the town, narrowly avoiding the cannon fire. The sculpture was obliterated, but Victor escaped unscathed, dodging the blasts as though he had foreseen them.

Just as he leaped again to avoid another shell, the ground beneath him erupted. A massive snake's maw shot up, attempting to devour him whole-it was Suleyman in his "Snake" form!

Caught midair, Victor couldn't maneuver properly and barely twisted his upper body to evade the snake's bite. But Suleyman's agile serpentine body coiled around him with startling speed, wrapping him tightly in midair.

"Hehehehe! I call this one my 'special delivery'!" Suleyman hissed, squeezing tighter. His immense strength enough to smolder steel could have crushed even the sturdiest opponent.

Perona gasped in shock and prepared to drop down, but she froze when she noticed something odd-the center of Suleyman's coils was empty.

Victor had split his body into two with his zipper ability, slipping through the gap in the coils and reforming himself, Before Victor could react, a bullet fired with pinpoint accuracy was right in front of his right eye!

Suleyman's tail, still in snake form, turned into a rapid-burst firearm, targeting Victor with a deadly shot as he landed.

However, in an instant, Victor's left sleeve disassembled into a chain blade, which he wielded with precision. With a swift motion, he deflected the bullet midair, sending it off course.

The chain blade then morphed into a whip-like weapon and lashed out, striking Suleyman's scaled abdomen with devastating force.

"Ahhhh! You little b*****d!!!" Suleyman screamed in agony as the blow shattered his scales and the force ruptured his internal organs.

"Suleyman, get out-ah, forget it. fire at will!" Capone Bege's forces opened fire on both Victor and Suleyman without hesitation, leaving behind a miniature smoke screen. The smoke cleared to reveal a massive crater where the attacks had landed. Suleyman had burrowed underground to evade the barrage, but Victor was also nowhere to be seen.

"Boss! To your right!" One of Bege's miniature men whispered urgently from inside his head.

Bege turned and fired instinctively, his barrage demolishing the blacksmith's shop to his right. But Victor had already anticipated the move. With incredible agility, he leaped to the least-targeted area, avoiding all the shots, and sprinted toward Bege.

Golden sparks erupted with every step Victor took-his "Metal Zipper: Spark Tour" 

technique in action.

"Tch! This brat... Cavalry, charge! Musketeers, fire from the front!"

Capone Bege's legs transformed into tank treads, allowing him to retreat quickly while deploying his forces. Four cavalry units, each with ten men, flanked Victor from both sides. Simultaneously, a horizontal suspension bridge extended from Bege's chest, revealing twenty musketeers who kneeled and prepared to fire.

The musketeers unleashed a deadly volley as a massive shadow loomed over Victor -it was Suleyman, half-snake and half-human, lunging with his gaping maw to intercept Victor.

Victor now faced a perfect encirclement. The cavalry closed in, swords ready to strike, while Suleyman aimed to crush him from above.

"You bad guys!! Mini Ghosts: Firefly Band!!!"

Perona's voice rang out as hundreds of small, spherical ghosts descended from the sky like a swarm of fireflies. The cavalry was the first to fall victim to the explosive mini-ghosts. Each one detonated on impact, creating a chain of air-bomb explosions. In an instant, most of the forty-man cavalry was wiped out.

Perona hovered in the air, having spent her time creating the mini-ghosts. Although they lacked the "negative" powers of the ghosts seen in later comics, they were easy to produce in large numbers. Their strength wasn't in individual power but sheer quantity.

With a sharp hiss, Suleyman shed his snake skin, reverting to a half-human form to evade the ghost bombs. But Victor seized the moment, summoning a zipper to bind Suleyman's neck and yank him forward as a shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

The bullets intended for Victor instead riddled Suleyman's body. He screamed in pain, reverting to his human form and collapsing unconscious.

Victor grabbed Suleyman by his green ponytail, spun him like a shot put, and hurled him at Capone Bege.

The flying Suleyman knocked Bege to the ground, leaving him stunned. Before Bege could recover, Victor stood over him, and Perona prepared her second wave of mini- ghosts from above.

The tides had turned-offense became defense, and the Coral gang had gained the upper hand.