Four months.
In the span of four months, the magnetic routes of the first half of the Grand Line underwent a subtle, terrifying shift. The usual chaos of pirate crews fighting Marines, fighting each other, and pillaging islands began to funnel inward.
It started as rumors in the dingy taverns of the Sabaody Archipelago and the back-alleys of Water 7. A ghost ship. A Marine vessel that didn't fire warning shots. They said it was commanded by a young Major with a polite smile and a dead gaze, a man whose Observation Haki was so twisted it could weigh a man's sins just by looking at him. If he looked at your crew and kept walking, you lived. If he drew his saber, you were already dead.
They called him the "Smiling Reaper."
Light stood on the bow of his ship, the sea breeze ruffling his pristine Marine coat. He wiped a fleck of blood from his cheek with a white handkerchief. Below him, the deck of the Twin-Snake, a pirate galleon that had been terrorizing the nearby merchant routes, was a slaughterhouse.
12,400. 8,900. 15,000. The numbers had flashed, and Light had reaped.
They never learn, Light thought, stepping over a severed arm. They come to the Grand Line thinking their little bounties make them kings. But they are just livestock. Uncivilized, filthy animals practically begging me to put them down. And I am happy to oblige.
"Major Yagami," T-Bone called out, his skeletal face pale but resolute as he stepped onto the pirate ship. He no longer questioned the piles of bodies. He had seen the crime scenes these pirates left behind on civilian islands. If this was the Major's brand of justice, T-Bone had made his peace with it. "The hold is secure. We found three survivors who... met your criteria."
"Excellent work, T-Bone," Light said, offering a warm, reassuring smile. "Make sure they are treated well and handed over to the nearest base. We aren't monsters, after all."
Just the three of them, Light thought, his smile not reaching his eyes. Out of a crew of sixty. It's almost laughable how thoroughly rotten this world is. But every drop of their worthless blood is fueling my ascension.
He opened his System interface mentally.
[ KARMA SYSTEM ] [ KP: 785,200 ]
[ SORU Lv.3 (MAX) ] [ SHIGAN Lv.3 (MAX) ] [ KAMI-E Lv.3 (MAX) ]
He had spent the last four months grinding. He had maxed out his three most used Rokushiki techniques, pushing his speed, evasion, and lethal piercing power to their absolute limits. The cost had been steep, but the Grand Line was generous.
"Sir, we have a visual on the Captain," a Marine shouted from the aft deck.
Light walked over, T-Bone at his side. The captain of the Twin-Snake was a massive man named 'Silver-back' Kael, boasting a 68 million Berry bounty. He was currently backed against the railing, bleeding from a superficial cut on his arm, but otherwise unharmed.
The strange thing was his skin. It was shimmering, reflecting the sunlight like polished chrome.
"Stay back!" Kael roared, his voice tinged with genuine panic. He had watched Light butcher his entire crew in under three minutes. "I ate the Hansa Hansa no Mi! I'm a Reflection man! Your swords, your bullets—none of it works on me! I reflect kinetic energy back at the attacker!"
To prove his point, a nervous Marine fired his rifle. The bullet struck Kael's chest, halted perfectly mid-air for a fraction of a second, and then fired backward with double the speed, embedding itself into the ship's mast inches from the Marine's head.
"See?!" Kael laughed, though it bordered on hysterical. "You can't touch me, Reaper!"
T-Bone drew his sword, his face darkening. "A kinetic reflection Paramecia. This is troublesome, Major. Physical strikes will only damage the attacker."
Light tilted his head, his pleasant expression unchanging. He looked at the number above Kael's head.
[ Kael — Pirate Captain ] [ Green: 100 / Red: 65,000 ]
6,500 KP. A decent yield. Light thought, entirely unfazed by the Devil Fruit. These fools think a Devil Fruit makes them gods. They rely on it entirely. They don't train their bodies. They don't train their minds. It's pathetic.
"Stand down, men," Light ordered mildly. He sheathed his saber and took a step forward.
"I told you, you can't touch me!" Kael yelled, bracing himself.
"I heard you, Kael. Kinetic energy is reflected," Light said smoothly. He raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at the captain from ten feet away. "But tell me... does your fruit reflect gravity? Does it reflect a vacuum?"
Kael blinked. "What?"
Light triggered his Force Authority, but not to repel. He inverted it. He created a localized, intense sphere of attraction directly inside Kael's center of mass, while simultaneously repelling the air immediately around the captain's head, creating a perfect, suffocating vacuum.
Kael gasped. His eyes bulged. He clutched his throat, his reflective skin doing absolutely nothing against the sheer lack of oxygen and the sudden, crushing internal pressure pulling his organs inward. He dropped to his knees, his face turning purple.
Light watched him suffocate with clinical detachment. No kinetic strike. No reflection. Just basic physics.
When Kael was disoriented and weak, dropping his Devil Fruit defense to gasp for non-existent air, Light used Soru. He vanished, reappearing directly behind Kael in less than a blink. Level 3 Soru was near-teleportation.
"Shigan."
Light's Haki-coated finger punched cleanly through the base of Kael's skull before the man's reflective skin could reactivate. Kael dropped dead instantly.
[ Target Eliminated. 6,500 KP Acquired. ]
"Clean the deck," Light instructed, pulling a fresh handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his finger. "We have a schedule to keep."
⬛ ⬛ ⬛
Later, in the navigation room, T-Bone laid out the latest intelligence reports. The gaunt knight looked exhausted but carried a grim satisfaction.
"It's working, Major," T-Bone said, pointing to the map. "Our aggressive patrols in sectors three, four, and seven have completely choked the southern routes. The mid-tier pirate crews are panicking. The surrounding seas are practically dead quiet."
"And Mock Town?" Light asked, sipping a cup of black coffee.
"Bloated, sir," T-Bone replied, a hint of awe in his voice. "Our informants in the underworld say the docks are so full that ships are anchoring a mile out. Crews from all four Blues, Grand Line veterans, super-rookies... they've all gathered there. They think it's a sanctuary from the 'Reaper'."
Light stared down at the map, his eyes locking onto the small dot labeled Jaya.
Tens of thousands of them. All neatly packed into one island. The perfect slaughterhouse. The god-complex that Light kept so carefully hidden behind his Marine facade flared to life, hot and intoxicating. He could almost feel the millions of Karma Points waiting for him. The power to enforce his will upon the entire world was sitting right there, ripe for the taking.
"T-Bone," Light said, setting his coffee down. His voice was soft, almost gentle. "Set a course for Jaya."
T-Bone straightened, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He knew what this meant. "Yes, Major Yagami. May justice guide our blades."
"Oh, it will," Light smiled.