Grand Line's first half, Angel Island. In the early morning, bright sunlight shone from the horizon, scattering across the land of Sky Island, dispelling the last trace of darkness.
Mountaintop villa, garden. Kuina and Iska were constantly swinging the Sabers in their hands, doing their daily training, while Kozuki Hiyori and Black Maria were sparring. Ever since being turned by Sephiroth, Kozuki Hiyori, who had received a tenth of his power, had steadily entered the Great Swordsman realm after fully adapting to her increased strength.
The Mythical Zoan fruit, combined with Great Swordsman swordsmanship, and the vampire's super regeneration, all three combined and superimposed on Kozuki Hiyori. Except for Sephiroth, who could suppress her with bloodline power, she basically surpassed even the strongest among his many women, such as Hancock, Yamato, and Marigold. Therefore, instead of saying Kozuki Hiyori was sparring with Black Maria, it was more accurate to say she was practicing with her...
Fortunately, after being turned by Sephiroth, Kozuki Hiyori became much more obedient, followed his orders, got along harmoniously with the other women, didn't fight or snatch, and even took the initiative to cancel the bet with Black Maria. Otherwise, with Black Maria's current record of repeated defeats, she would probably have been severely disciplined by Kozuki Hiyori!
Besides these women who were cultivating, the other women in the villa, even Uta and Perona, who were least skilled in physical techniques, also possessed physical fitness far exceeding ordinary people...
After many years of research, Sephiroth finally developed a super soldier serum with no side effects. After injection, ordinary people would have four times the physical fitness of ordinary people. Although this serum had less effect on people with stronger physical fitness... For example, for superhumans who had mastered the Six Styles techniques, the serum basically could not bring any physical improvement. However, for ordinary people, the serum's improvement was still huge!
However...
Due to material and technical problems, the fact that the cost of making a single dose of super soldier serum required two billion Berries meant that it was destined to be produced only on a small scale and could not be widely popularized. But... For Sephiroth, spending two billion Berries to create a serum that allowed the women who usually didn't practice much to gain some self-protection or a higher starting point for cultivation was still very worthwhile! In a corner of the garden, Sephiroth, wearing a red floral shirt and white beach shorts, sat on a white chair with his legs crossed.
On the table in front of him sat a steaming cup of black tea, and in his hand, a freshly printed World Economic News that still smelled of ink. "Umbrella Corporation has offered an astronomical annual salary of ten billion to hire Sephiroth, a Marine Rear Admiral who just retired three days ago, to become the Umbrella Corporation's security consultant, responsible for all security and defense matters of the Company..." Sephiroth first picked up the black tea and took a sip. He sighed lightly, a look of melancholy on his face.
From today onward, after this news was published, he would appear before the world as a high-level executive of the Umbrella Corporation. He would be watched by many forces, especially the World Government and the Marines...
To be honest, Sephiroth didn't really like standing on a stage, being watched by the world, and becoming the focus. He preferred to hide behind the scenes and plan everything.
But... the current situation forced him to step forward and actively take on the banner of the Company. Otherwise, the force he had spent eleven years building would suffer heavy losses. Sephiroth had grown accustomed to having a huge force as a backing. Going back to a state of having nothing would be even more unbearable than killing him! Therefore, some things, even if he didn't want to, he had to do.
Seeing this, Monet, who was standing beside Sephiroth in white stockings and a black maid's short skirt, asked with a slightly nervous expression, "That... Master, is there a problem with the taste of the black tea I made?"
Hearing this, Sephiroth couldn't help but smile mischievously, and he teased, "Hmm! Yes!...If you fed me with your mouth, I think it would taste even better."
"Ah! This..." Monet was flustered by his words and didn't know how to answer. She could only lower her head with a red face, her fingers tightly clasped together, her heart filled with conflict and shyness.
After watching the sunrise on Sky Island, Sephiroth finally stood up, patted Monet's butt, and said with a light smile, "Hmm! Alright, I won't tease you anymore! Come make breakfast with me!" "Oh!" Monet nodded with a red face, followed behind him, and walked into the villa's kitchen, starting to get busy with today's breakfast... As the enticing aroma of food gradually drifted from the kitchen, Yamato, Perona, Uta, and Sugar were also awakened by the smell and came to the dining room, sitting down at the long dining table, waiting for the food to be served. Seafood porridge, three-shred fried noodles, soup dumplings, bagel sandwiches, cumin lamb wraps... More than twenty different dishes were brought out by Monet one after another, filling the entire long dining table.
Kuina and the others entered the dining room after their morning exercise, took their seats at the long table, and began to enjoy their hearty breakfast.
Uta, holding a glass of fresh orange juice, watched Sephiroth emerge from the kitchen after washing his hands. She hurried over to him, offering a sheet of music. "Sephiroth, I've finally finished my tenth song, 'New Era.' What do you think? If it's good, I'm going to use it as the album's opening song..."
Sephiroth sat down at the table.
After carefully reading the lyrics, he smiled. "New Era...? The lyrics are excellent! It's perfect as the overture for the album..."
"Really? That's great..." Uta said with a grin. She picked up a soup dumpling from the table and took a careful bite. The hot, rich soup burst out, making her stick out her tongue and fan herself. In truth, Uta had finished a music album years ago. But...
Looking at the songs Sephiroth had written on the tracklist, she felt they weren't truly hers. It was fine to sing them, but this was her first, most important album. Regardless of how it turned out, she wanted to be willful and create her own album through her own efforts... Therefore, Uta had immersed herself in music creation for the past few years, aiming to write the ten songs needed for the album.
Sephiroth looked at the sheet music in his hand and tentatively suggested, "Speaking of which, Uta, what do you think about making your album in the form of a music video...?"
"Music video?" Uta tilted her head, a confused expression on her cute face.
"Hmm! It's like a movie video in an Image Den Den Mushi... But the video's content won't tell a story; it will record you singing and dancing..." Sephiroth explained as clearly as possible.
"That sounds great! But I'm not very good at dancing!" Uta said, a hint of worry in her voice.
"I can invite the most professional dance masters to teach you... Your musical talent is so good; I believe your dancing talent can't be bad either," Sephiroth suggested with a smile. Uta thought for a moment and finally agreed, smiling. "Okay! Then I'll make my album into a music video!"
Yamato said with a somewhat muffled voice, wolfing down the food on the table, "By the way, Sephiroth! I have something I want to tell you..."
"What is it?"
"I've learned Haoshoku Haki..." Saying that, Yamato raised her right hand and clenched it into a fist.
The next moment.
Strands of dark red lightning wound around her fist.
She hadn't been able to fully compress it yet, but she had indeed focused Haoshoku Haki on her attack...
"Hmm!? Yamato, you're amazing!" Sephiroth exclaimed sincerely.
He took time out to spar with Yamato in his spare time and guide her in the techniques of Haoshoku Haki. But that was mainly because Yamato's own talent was so high.
Just like Scarlett, who also had Haoshoku Haki, she had been training for so many years and was still stuck at the stage of partial release, unable to wrap it. Hancock had also recently mastered this power, but it should be noted that Yamato was only twenty years old now, while Hancock was already twenty-three, a difference of three years...
Yamato swung her right fist and said excitedly, "Then I should be able to go out and adventure now...?"
"After all, you told me before that only by mastering Haoshoku Haki can I be considered to have stepped into the threshold of top powerhouses, and even if Kaido comes to catch me, he won't be able to easily take me down..."
Once, after Yamato got tired of playing on Sky Island, she suggested the idea of adventuring on the sea. However, Sephiroth advised Yamato at that time to improve her strength first before adventuring; it wouldn't be too late. At least, she should be able to master the extent of Haoshoku Haki...
Otherwise, if Kaido found out her whereabouts, he would catch her and lock her up on Onigashima again. Yamato deeply agreed with this and temporarily suppressed her desire to go out and adventure, starting to hone her strength.
Sephiroth saw the girl's expectant look and didn't stop her. He said with a smile, "No problem, but how about you wait another month or two? I'll have someone build you a ship using Adam Treasure Tree. Oh right! I'll also get you the necessary crew..."
Hearing this, Yamato laughed and interrupted his words, "Hehehe! I don't need a crew, I've already found them."
"Who did you find to be your crew?" Sephiroth asked, a slight surprise in his voice.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Hearing this, Kozuki Hiyori, Kuina, Iska, and Perona all raised their right hands in unison.
Sephiroth: "..."
Good heavens! Was he being poached? Seeing this situation, Sephiroth could only cover his face with his hand and said in a slightly helpless tone, "Ah~! Alright! But when you set sail, remember to bring a vampire bat. If you encounter any trouble you can't solve, remember to contact me."
"Okay! No problem..." Yamato said with a grin.
Although Sephiroth could sense Kozuki Hiyori's location through the original blood he had injected into her, and thus find Yamato and the others. But... To be on the safe side, he deliberately emphasized that they should bring a vampire bat.