"You people…"
"You've really made a mess of this place."
A deep voice rang out.
The wind suddenly picked up, blowing away the smoke around the figure in the middle of the battlefield to reveal a tall, powerfully built man. One look at him was enough to give anyone the impression that they were staring at the absolute limit of what the human body could become.
"A Marine?!"
The surrounding pirates stared at him nervously.
Most ordinary people weren't even two meters tall, yet the man standing before them was a full three meters. His broad shoulders, dense muscles, and powerful frame gave off an overwhelming sense of vitality and raw strength.
The pirate at the front, wearing a bandana with a scar across his face, slowly looked up at him. For a moment, it felt like he was staring at a monster, and fear immediately washed over his face.
"M-Monster…"
His voice trembled as he instinctively backed away. The pressure coming from Kojin was so intense that even the air around them seemed to freeze.
"Hm?"
Kojin lowered his gaze toward the pirate who had spoken. The man was barely 1.7 meters tall. Standing in front of Kojin, he looked almost like a dwarf, barely reaching his waist.
The difference in size was ridiculous.
Height really was justice.
"As far as I'm concerned…"
Kojin's voice turned cold.
"…you bastards who run around destroying everything and killing innocent people are the real monsters."
His thick arm shot forward. Before the pirate could react, Kojin's huge hand clamped down over his face.
'Crack!'
His fingers tightened with tremendous force, twisting the pirate's face under the pressure as bones shattered beneath Kojin's grip. The next instant, Kojin slammed him down like a sack of grain.
'Bang!'
The ground shook, and the pirate's body bounced a few times before going still.
"Haa…" Kojin exhaled and slowly straightened up.
A pool of blood had already spread around the pirate's head. His eyes had rolled back, and he was completely unconscious.
"CAPTAIN!!"
Terrified screams erupted around them. The pirates holding swords and guns were now shaking with fear. Their captain had a bounty of 50 million berries, yet this Marine had taken him down in an instant. The sheer strength and ruthless efficiency of the attack left everyone horrified.
"It really has been a long time since Sabaody heard this much cannon fire," Kojin sighed lightly, his gaze sweeping across the area. With pirates fleeing in every direction, the harbor had already turned into a chaotic battlefield.
'Bang!'
Suddenly, about twenty meters ahead, a nervous pirate accidentally pulled the trigger of his pistol. The bullet shot straight toward Kojin.
Kojin simply raised his hand and flicked a finger, his fingertip striking the incoming bullet in an instant. The force of the impact distorted the air around it, crushing the lead slightly and redirecting it.
'Whoosh!'
The bullet flew straight back. Before the pirate could even blink, it pierced through his forehead, leaving a bloody hole between his brows.
The pirates beside him were still staring blankly when,
'Thud!'
His body collapsed.
Everyone's hearts jumped as a chill ran down their spines.
"MONSTER!!" someone screamed.
Fear completely overwhelmed the group. They couldn't even comprehend how much strength it took to flick a fired bullet back with a finger. What kind of monster could do something like that?
The pirates scattered immediately. Some were so terrified they wet themselves, while others ran with tears and snot streaming down their faces.
"I can't exactly let you all walk away that easily," Kojin shook his head with a sigh.
His fingers moved slightly, and blue arcs of electricity immediately shot out.
'Boom!'
A series of sharp explosions followed as every fleeing pirate was struck. Smoke rose from their bodies as they collapsed one after another.
Once he was finished, Kojin turned toward a nervous Marine Lieutenant Commander standing nearby.
"Lieutenant Commander," Kojin smiled, "I need the information on the Supernovas currently on Sabaody, along with a list of the other pirates on the island."
The Lieutenant Commander immediately relaxed. He hurried over, saluted, took a stack of documents from his adjutant, and handed them to Kojin.
"Admiral Kojin! All the information we have is here. We only just finished putting it together."
Kojin nodded and took the files, reading through them quietly.
The area around him fell completely silent. The Lieutenant Commander didn't dare move, afraid even the slightest noise might disturb the Admiral.
This was the first time he'd ever seen Kojin in person, and his first impression was simple: the man was enormous, powerful, and carried an unbelievable presence. Even his entrance had been unlike anything the Lieutenant Commander had ever seen.
But what was even more frightening was the way Kojin dealt with pirates, brutal, direct, and overwhelming. There was almost a strange beauty to the violence of it.
Meanwhile, Kojin continued flipping through the documents. They contained the bounties of the Eleven Supernovas along with brief summaries of their backgrounds, and the list wasn't much different from what Kojin remembered.
The most eye-catching document was naturally the bounty poster sitting at the very top: a young man wearing a straw hat.
"Where are the Straw Hats now?" Kojin asked quietly.
The sudden question snapped the Lieutenant Commander back to attention.
"Because everything happened so quickly, and because Dark King Rayleigh helped them, they managed to escape our encirclement. At the moment, we're searching the island for traces of the pirates."
Kojin smiled faintly. "So basically… you still don't know where any of the Eleven Supernovas are."
The Lieutenant Commander's face turned bright red. He lowered his head, not daring to say another word.
Pirates were slippery by nature. After years of being chased across the seas, they'd learned all kinds of ways to hide and throw off pursuit. Once they deliberately went to ground, finding them took time and effort.
"What a pain. And now I have to search for them myself," Kojin sighed, shoving the documents back into the Lieutenant Commander's hands as he started walking deeper into the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Trafalgar Law."
"X Drake."
"Capone Bege."
He spoke the three names with a faint smile, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It's been a long time. I hope you won't be too shocked when you see me again."
Lightning flashed around his body, and in the next instant, he disappeared.
...
Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
"What?!"
"This old man used to be a member of Pirate King Roger's crew?!"
Once the Straw Hats learned the identity of the white-haired, bespectacled old man before them, their eyes widened in shock and wonder.
"Thank you for saving Laboon," Rayleigh smiled at the group of young pirates. "So the reason you came looking for me is to have your ship coated?"
"Yeah, old man!" Luffy grinned.
"Heh." Rayleigh lifted his glass and smiled. "Then tell me, Luffy. What kind of person do you think the Pirate King is?"
It was a surprisingly meaningful question. Shakky, who was wiping down a bottle nearby, paused slightly. Rayleigh wasn't the kind of man who would ask just anyone a question like that.
"The Pirate King is the freest person on the sea!" Luffy answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
Rayleigh stared at him for a moment before his smile softened. "Looks like I really didn't misjudge you."
"Sir," Robin spoke up. "Do you know about the Poneglyphs?"
"Of course," Rayleigh nodded. "I could tell you everything, but I'd recommend that you find the answers yourselves. What you discover might be different from what we found back then."
Then he turned toward Luffy with a smile. "Do you want to know what the One Piece is, Luffy?"
Everyone froze. Usopp and Chopper immediately lit up with excitement.
"Nope!"
To everyone's surprise, Luffy grinned and rejected the offer without hesitation. Even Rayleigh was caught off guard by how decisive the boy in the straw hat was.
What pirate wouldn't be curious about the Pirate King's treasure?
Yet this young man refused instantly.
Beneath Luffy's carefree, easygoing nature was an incredibly firm heart and an unshakable will.
'He's got real potential,' Rayleigh thought silently, looking over the entire Straw Hat crew and becoming more impressed the longer he watched them. These youngsters had what it took to become true pirates.
Then Zoro's expression turned serious. He had been quiet until now, but the question he asked next made both Rayleigh and Shakky's expressions shift.
"There's a Marine I want to ask you about."
Rayleigh looked at him in surprise.
"A Marine?" He smiled. "I'm afraid I don't know that much about Marines."
"No," Zoro's voice was firm. "You should know this one. He once captured Roger."
Rayleigh's pupils contracted, and the smile vanished from his face instantly. Even Shakky stopped what she was doing, her expression turning grave.
"If you're talking about 'that' man…"
Rayleigh paused.
"…then yes. I know something about him."
Zoro's eyes immediately sharpened. Kojin was Kuina's teacher. He had also personally taught Zoro the sword technique known as Kamusari, Divine Departure.
In Zoro's eyes, Kojin was an extremely strange Marine; he couldn't even clearly tell whether the man was an enemy or an ally. He needed more reliable information about him.
"Kojin," Zoro spoke in a low voice. "I want to know everything about him."
The entire bar fell silent.
"You shouldn't even know his name," Rayleigh said quietly after a moment, letting out a soft sigh. "That man was once incredibly famous. Countless pirates feared him, but he's been gone for a very long time."
Nami tilted her head. "But we saw him not long ago."
Rayleigh's expression froze. He stared at the young pirates in front of him with complete seriousness.
When every single one of them nodded,
His face turned grave.
"You met him… and you're all still alive?" Rayleigh stared at them. "That's a miracle."
(End Of This Chapter)
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