Chapter 1494: Escape from the Pursuit
It was the first time that Kidd met Luffy. He didn't expect it to be like this. The grandson of the navy hero was so embarrassed. Admiral Kizaru's kick was really not light.
On the ruins of the bell tower, Kidd stood near the rubble, his long scarlet hair burning like flames in the dust.
He frowned and looked around the area which had just experienced a tragic disaster.
The heart-pounding energy fluctuations lingering in the air, and the trail of destruction that had clearly been pierced by something, all pointed to an unusual answer.
"Admiral Kizaru is such a troublesome guy, causing such a big fuss," Kidd spat in a low voice, but still raised his arm and demonstrated the power of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit under the gaze of his two allies.
He closed his eyes slightly, and the powerful magnetic force quietly spread out with him as the center. In the ruins, the broken and twisted steel bars began to emit subtle buzzing sounds and move like awakened snakes.
Kidd's wrist turned slightly, as if manipulating invisible silk threads, "Get up!"
As he spoke in a low voice, several thick steel bars buried in the deepest part suddenly stretched straight, like nimble fingers, carefully prying up and moving away the heavy stones and broken beams pressing on them one by one.
The rubble was cleared away in an orderly manner, gradually revealing the outlines of the buried people. Both the grandfather and grandson, Cap, were seriously injured.
Luffy's appearance at this moment was so miserable that it was almost unbearable to look at. His shorts became tattered and his iconic red vest was torn in half.
His entire body was covered in gray-black dust and coagulated black blood, and his original skin color was almost unrecognizable.
The face that always wore a bright smile was now covered with scratches and bruises, his eyes were closed tightly, and his lips were pale due to blood loss.
The most shocking thing was the straw hat that he regarded as his life. The brim of the hat had obvious damage and cracks, making it look extremely fragile.
Kidd jumped onto the rubble, took a few steps closer, squatted down and gave it a rough inspection, his brow furrowed even more tightly.
The Straw Hat Boy's whole body was limp, and it was obvious that not a single good bone was intact, and his muscles had suffered devastating bruises.
If an ordinary person or even a slightly weaker pirate had suffered such an injury, he would have died ten times over.
Kidd's palm was hovering above Luffy's chest, and he could clearly feel a weak but extremely tenacious pulsation.
dong... dong... dong...
Although his heartbeat was slow, his rhythm was surprisingly steady. His chest rose and fell regularly with his heartbeat, maintaining his weak but continuous breathing.
"Tsk..." Kidd smacked his lips, an indescribable emotion flashing across his pupils, a mixture of surprise, dissatisfaction, and perhaps a hint of barely perceptible admiration, "You can't die like this... Your vitality, monster, is so strong that it makes me infuriated."
In the distance, the noise of the crowd and the hurried footsteps unique to the gang patrol could be heard. Such a loud noise was bound to attract attention.
"Let's go to a safe place and treat his injuries."
Kidd stood up, and under magnetic control, several relatively intact steel bars gently wrapped around Luffy's waist like living tentacles, carefully avoiding the area where the wound seemed to be the most serious.
The steel bars slowly contracted and twisted, forming a sturdy and crude metal bracket, lifting Luffy from the rubble and suspending him in mid-air.
"Let's go, Straw Hat Boy. Don't die on the way, otherwise all my efforts will be in vain." Kidd no longer hesitated, turned around and quickly left in the opposite direction of the noise.
The steel bars that supported Luffy seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, floating steadily and following behind him.
The three pirates disappeared one after another in the shadows of the intricate alleys of the Sabaody Archipelago, leaving only the ruins of the collapsed clock tower.
Less than a few minutes after Kidd left the scene with the seriously injured and unconscious Luffy, the sound of chaotic footsteps broke the silence around the ruins.
A group of men wearing uniform black suits and with fierce eyes came to the collapsed clock tower.
The leader was a burly man with a scar on his face. He swept his sharp eyes across the scene and immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Boss, the rubble here has been turned over," a younger brother squatted on the ground, pointing at the rubble that Kidd had moved away with magnetism, "Someone got here before us."
The scar-faced boss's eyes turned cold: "Search! See if there is anything left. He must be seriously injured and can't run far."
One of his men brought in a sturdy, fierce-eyed hunting dog. This kind of dog had been specially trained and was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. It was their effective tool in hunting down fugitives and "prey" in the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Go and smell it," the men led the hound to the center of the ruins.
The hound lowered its head, its nostrils flaring rapidly as it carefully distinguished among the messy dust and gravel.
Soon it stopped in front of a crack in the gravel, whimpering softly and scratching the ground with its claws.
There were a few inconspicuous dark red bloodstains that had not yet completely dried, which were the blood that seeped out from the wounds when Luffy was dragged out.
"There are traces of blood, they stopped here," the subordinate reported.
The scar-faced boss showed a sinister smile on his face: "Very good, let the hounds smell and see which direction they ran to"!
The man holding the dog understood and led the hound's nose to the drops of blood, then patted its neck and gave the order: "Chase!"
The bloodhound raised its head, its nostrils flaring wider, frantically catching the extremely faint, rusty smell of blood in the air.
It turned around twice and finally locked onto the direction that Kidd had left. It barked excitedly and pulled the rope to rush forward.
The scar-faced boss waved his hand, his face full of determination: "Chase them, they can't run far"!
A group of gang members immediately took action, following the barking hounds that rushed forward following the scent, like sharks smelling blood, and quickly rushed into the alley where Kidd and Luffy disappeared.
In the dim alley, the echoes amplified the barking of hounds and the chaotic footsteps of the gangsters, but unfortunately they ultimately failed.
As a former gang leader, Capone Becky knew the gang's tracking methods too well, so he deliberately let Kidd circle around in the alley a few more times.
Afterwards, he swallowed all the other allies and patients into his stomach and hid in his castle temporarily.
It would be easy for the three pirates, Kidd, Hawkins and Capone Bege, to deal with a group of ordinary gangsters, but in order to avoid complications and attract more strong men hired by the gangs.
Capone Bege disguised himself as an old man who happened to pass by, and thus brushed past the gang members and successfully returned to the safe house with Luffy.
Luffy has experienced a series of battles. First, he needs to rest. Second, he needs a lot of food. As for saving Ace, it has nothing to do with him for the time being.
