"Report to Lieutenant General Sephiroth! Something terrible has happened!"
"Sergeant Kuro fell overboard from the pirate ship and dropped into the sea..."
"Oh no! A Sea King just swallowed him whole!"
"What?"
Sephiroth sat up from his sun lounger and pulled down his sunglasses, staring at the Marine soldier delivering the report.
The news was so bizarre it left him momentarily speechless.
Kuro had mastered Moonwalk, Soru, and Paper Drawing from the Six Styles. That he could be knocked into the sea was genuinely surprising.
With Kuro's strength, handling a pirate with a bounty over 100 million in the first half of the Grand Line should have been simple.
This wasn't like the early years of the Great Pirate Era, when powerhouses flooded the Grand Line in search of Laugh Tale, just as Roger had described.
After more than a decade of relentless Marine sweeps, the overall quality of pirates outside the entrenched New World had plummeted. Most were utterly useless; pirates who could use Haki had become rare.
Of course, the World Government's crushing tribute to the Celestial Dragons, combined with heavy taxes in many countries, meant a fresh wave of people set out to sea as pirates every single year.
No matter how hard the Marine tried to annihilate them, pirates were like weeds on a plain—burn them, and they'd just grow back with the spring wind.
It was unavoidable. Faced with starving or freezing to death, many chose to become pirates instead.
They might even get rich overnight.
This era was rotten to the core. It wasn't something one person could change with a wild idea and a declaration.
Anyone who thought they could change the entire world alone was either an empty dreamer spouting nonsense or a complete idiot.
To overturn this dog-shit era required the collective effort and sacrifice of countless people.
Sephiroth felt a flicker of interest in whoever had defeated Kuro.
He grabbed the butcher knife leaning against his lounger, stood up, and spread his black wings.
Swish!
He shot into the air like an arrow, speeding toward the pirate ship not far away.
In the blink of an eye, he had crossed hundreds of meters and landed directly on the ship's deck.
"Captain Baccarat, look! Another one's here!"
"He's a Devil Fruit user!"
"Is this guy a Marine too?"
"Probably...?"
...
The pirates stared at Sephiroth—the saber in his hand, the floral shirt and shorts—and muttered among themselves. Their trust in Baccarat's Devil Fruit power kept them from growing tense.
Baccarat?
Hearing the name, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. He turned his head to look at the red-haired woman in light armor, his gaze appraising.
"Oh my! What a handsome young man!
I don't want to be your enemy...
How about we sit down, have a drink, and get to know each other better?"
As she spoke, Baccarat casually let the long sword in her hand clatter to the deck. The pistol tucked at her waist followed.
She walked toward Sephiroth with elegant, composed steps, a picture of nonchalance. She raised her right hand, lightly placed it on his left shoulder, and secretly activated her Luck-Luck Fruit ability, trying to steal his fortune...
The moment Sephiroth appeared on the ship and Baccarat saw his face clearly, she knew exactly who he was.
She had had photographic memory since childhood; anything she saw was instantly imprinted in her mind.
A year ago, she'd seen a news report: Sephiroth fighting Kaido, sinking more than half of Pollock Island. It was a strange coincidence.
So after recognizing Sephiroth now, even with the astonishing luck from her Luck Fruit, she still felt uneasy.
She wasn't at all sure the luck she held could defeat the strongest powerhouse in these seas.
Baccarat decided to gamble. She would touch him while he was off guard and steal his luck.
With such a staggering difference between them—one flooded with fortune, the other drained of it—she might have a chance to escape. Or even to win.
Sephiroth already knew about the Luck Fruit's power. Baccarat's subtle movements didn't escape him.
He didn't stop her, though. He let her hand land on his body.
After all, powerful Armament Haki could nullify most Devil Fruit abilities.
All this time, Sephiroth had been using his butcher knife to refine Haki and return it to himself, tempering his body with every cycle.
Now, every inch of his muscle was saturated with dense, powerful Armament Haki. It formed an invisible armor over his skin, a natural defense against certain Devil Fruit powers, against bullets and blades.
Reaching this level, he finally understood why Big Mom Charlotte Linlin and Kaido of the Beasts had such absurd defenses.
Their entire bodies were packed with Haki. Of course their resilience was monstrous.
Sephiroth lowered his eyelids, glancing at the red-haired woman's hand on his left shoulder. A wicked smile touched his lips.
"Woman," he said, his tone dangerously light. "You're playing with fire. You know that, right?"
Baccarat was good at reading expressions. She knew he wasn't angry.
What puzzled her was that even after activating her power, she couldn't feel any luck being drawn from him at all.
Unwilling to quit, she forced a charming smile. She lifted her other hand, stroking the young man's chin with a feather-light touch.
"Don't say that~!" she cooed, putting a tremble in her voice. "You'll scare me! Couldn't you just… let me go this once?"
Standing this close, they looked like a girlfriend sweet-talking her boyfriend.
Sephiroth gave a slight nod.
"Alright. I'll pretend that little move of yours never happened."
Baccarat's face flickered with surprise and doubt. Before she could pull back, Sephiroth's eyes snapped wide.
A vast, crushing wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him, swallowing every pirate on the ship.
Thud. Thud.
Every last one—Baccarat included—rolled their eyes and collapsed, unconscious, onto the deck.
They never had the right to stand before him in the first place.