"Brujme, you're safe for now."
The voice from the Den Den Mushi was hushed and hurried.
"Remain where you are. Do not move recklessly. We will secretly arrange for someone to escort you back to your ship."
The contact from the Goa Kingdom sounded anxious but composed.
Brujme's fingers tightened around the receiver.
Safe?
No demands?
No conditions?
That was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
From his experience with High Town nobles, there was always a price. Always leverage. Always a favor extracted before protection granted.
Yet this time
Nothing.
His instincts screamed.
He rose abruptly.
"Move!" he barked. "Everyone, get out!"
The pirates jolted upright, confused by the sudden command.
Before they could question him
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Cannon fire detonated outside the cave entrance. Stone cracked. Dust rained from the ceiling. The cavern trembled violently.
"Captain!" a crewman shouted, sprinting in. "The kingdom soldiers, They've turned on us!"
Brujme's eyes darkened.
So that was it.
"Return fire!" he roared. "Form a line at the entrance!"
The pirates scrambled into position, firing muskets and pistols toward the mouth of the cave.
But while his men held the defensive line
Brujme did not.
During his days hiding near Mount Colubo, he had mapped the cave's deeper tunnels. One passage sloped downward into an underground stream leading into forest terrain.
He waited for the smoke to thicken.
For the noise to peak.
Then he slipped away without a word.
At the harbor below, Saint Roselith Seraphina felt the concussion through the air before she heard it clearly.
Kenbunshoku Haki rippled outward.
Gunfire.
Fear.
Betrayal.
Without hesitation, she leapt.
Her boots touched a rooftop edge before propelling forward again. She crossed building after building in clean arcs, her Marine coat snapping in the wind. No wasted movement. No unnecessary flair.
Below, Aotluk III watched her disappear across the skyline.
"I hope they resolve it quickly," he muttered under his breath. "Otherwise… we will have to demonstrate what royal authority truly means."
Back at the cavern
"Charge!" shouted the captain of the Goa soldiers.
"The first man inside will be rewarded by His Majesty residence in High Town!"
The promise of elevation from poverty to privilege ignited reckless courage.
The soldiers surged forward.
Inside, the pirates realized too late
"Where's the Captain?!"
"Brujme's gone!"
Panic shattered cohesion.
A minor officer attempted to reorganize them.
"Retreat deeper! Use the rear tunnel!"
But discipline had already collapsed.
The soldiers stormed inside, blades flashing.
Orders had been clear:
Leave no survivors.
Seraphina arrived at the entrance just as the final resistance broke.
She stepped through smoke and blood.
The soldiers barely noticed her presence; they were too consumed by execution.
Her expression hardened.
Not anger for the pirates.
But confirmation.
The kingdom was erasing evidence.
"Report!" a soldier called out. "Brujme not found!"
"Continue searching!" the officer barked.
He turned toward Seraphina, forcing a grin.
"Colonel, you see? Goa Kingdom remains loyal"
She had already moved.
Words were wasted.
If Brujme had fled, there was only one viable direction.
Downstream.
Brujme ran.
The underground river was shallow but fast-moving. He followed its course until daylight pierced the canopy ahead.
He collapsed by the stream, cupping water greedily into his mouth.
Sold twice.
Used twice.
Discarded twice.
He had been born in Gray Terminal, a child of refuse and smoke.
He had once believed that if he served High Town loyally enough, he might earn entry.
Might become respectable.
Might become noble.
Instead, when the flames consumed Gray Terminal the year before
The gates of High Town had remained closed.
He remembered the soldiers' mocking eyes from the walls.
The burn scar along his cheek throbbed.
"I'll kill them," he muttered hoarsely. "Every last one."
He plunged deeper into the forest.
Elsewhere on Mount Colubo
"Ace!"
A small voice echoed.
"Help! It's a bear!"
A black-haired boy wearing a straw hat gritted his teeth, gripping a metal pipe as he faced a towering five-meter mountain bear.
From a nearby tree branch, another boy with freckles and sharp eyes folded his arms.
"Didn't you say you wanted to survive on your own?" he replied dryly.
The bear roared.
Before the confrontation could begin
Brujme burst through the brush.
He froze.
"A bear…?"
Then his gaze shifted.
Recognition dawned.
"You brats… It's you two."
The straw-hatted boy blinked.
"Huh? Uncle, do we know you?"
The freckled boy's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Brujme… You're still alive."
He shifted subtly, ready to flee with the younger boy if necessary.
The bear roared again, insulted at being ignored.
Brujme reacted first.
Bang!
A flintlock pistol fired.
Smoke curled from the barrel as the bear staggered.
He drew his saber in one fluid motion and finished the beast with a downward slash.
The children stared.
"Run!" the freckled boy shouted. "Luffy, move!"
Bang! Bang!
Two shots rang out.
One missed.
The second struck the boy's right leg.
He collapsed with a cry.
"Ace!" the younger boy shouted.
"Run!" Ace growled through clenched teeth.
"I won't!"
The straw-hatted boy threw himself in front of Ace.
Brujme kicked him aside effortlessly.
"You've grown," Brujme sneered at Ace. "But not enough."
Years ago, Ace and the mountain bandit Curly Dadan had driven him off.
Now, there was no Dadan here.
Brujme advanced.
Steel clashed as Ace tried to defend despite injury. But weakened and outmatched, he was knocked to the ground within moments.
Brujme raised his blade high.
He preferred to see fear before death.
Luffy crawled back, clinging desperately to his leg.
Brujme shook him off violently.
"You irritating brat!"
The sword descended
Clang!
The impact rang like struck silver.
A blade intercepted his mid-swing.
A silver-white figure stood between him and the children.
Even-cut hair swayed gently.
The faint scent of gardenia drifted through the forest air.
Saint Roselith Seraphina.
Her Marine coat settled around her shoulders as she glanced briefly at Ace's wound.
Not fatal.
Then her gaze shifted to Brujme.
Cold.
Measured.
"You abandoned your men," she said quietly.
Brujme's breath hitched.
"You're"
"Marine Colonel," she finished. "And you will answer for Gray Terminal."
✦ [SYSTEM] ✦
Primary Target Located: Brujme
Hidden Variable Detected: Future Historical Figures Present
Warning: Interference may alter long-term timeline threads.
Seraphina's eyes flicked for half a second toward the straw-hatted boy.
Straw hat.
Reckless courage.
Unyielding refusal to run.
She said nothing.
Brujme roared and swung again.
This time, she did not merely block.
Her blade moved with precision honed by relentless discipline.steel meeting steel with controlled force.
The forest seemed to still.
Mount Colubo held its breath.
The clash that would ripple into the future had begun.