The roar from the square shook the heavens.
Roger's light, airy words had uprooted the greed buried deep in the hearts of people across the world.
The torrential rain washed over the stone slabs, yet it could never wash away the frenzied scent of blood and desire mingled in the air.
Kane stood quietly beside the pool of blood. In the corner of his vision, a cascade of azure light poured down like a waterfall, with data refreshing frantically.
[Ding! Host detected. You have led and completed the declaration that opened the "Great Pirate Era"!]
[Action Assessment: By pretending to carry out an execution while actually cooperating with the Pirate King's performance, you successfully ignited the seeds of chaos on a global scale!]
[Violation Level: Extreme Violation! Caused immeasurable, devastating impact on the current world order!]
[System Evaluation: You are not only a disgrace to the Navy but also the greatest source of turmoil on these seas.]
[Violation Value Reward: 1,000,000 points!]
A full one million.
The muscles on Kane's face twitched slightly twice.
Under the gaze of tens of thousands and the lenses of the global broadcast, holding back laughter was truly a feat of skill.
He could only raise a hand to cover his nearly unrestrained expression, maintaining the solemn and grave demeanor of an Admiral flawlessly.
A rapid "Buru Buru" sound came from his pocket.
Kane leisurely pulled out the Den Den Mushi and pressed to answer.
The old face on the snail had turned a liverish purple, even the tuft of beard on its chin trembling with rage.
"Kane—!!!"
"Why did you let Roger say those words?! The whole world was watching! The whole world heard it!!"
Fleet Admiral Kong was truly furious.
He could imagine how many people across the world would abandon their peaceful lives from this moment on, rushing madly toward the sea.
The pressure the Navy would face in the coming decades had just increased tenfold, if not more!
"I was careless, Fleet Admiral."
Kane turned his back, facing Roger's still-warm corpse, his tone instantly switching to one filled with heartfelt anguish and unexpected regret.
"Who would have thought that even after I ran him through with my blade, his voice could still be so loud. Seems he held onto his last breath just to spite us all before dying."
His words sounded "sincere and earnest." The surrounding Navy officers, hearing them, couldn't help but empathize, each one filled with righteous indignation, glaring furiously at Roger's body.
"Despicable! The Pirate King truly is shameless and vile!"
"Even in death, he had to drag the whole world down with him. What a complete bastard!"
The proficiency and persuasiveness of this blame-shifting left a two-second vacuum on the other end of the line.
Fleet Admiral Kong's heavy breathing came through the receiver; he was clearly suppressing a towering rage.
"However, Fleet Admiral, perhaps you could look at this from another angle."
Kane shifted his tone, his voice now carrying a calculated calm.
"If the seas are destined to fall into chaos, then it means an era belonging to us, the Navy, is about to begin."
"To pacify the four seas, to uphold the absolute rule of the World Government, to protect the esteemed personal safety of the Celestial Dragons..."
"Shouldn't we also reconsider the Navy's military budget?"
"If we don't increase it by two or three times, how are we supposed to suppress these desperadoes who are about to sweep across the world? This is a rigid expenditure. If you take Roger's head to the Five Elders and demand funds, they won't have any reason to refuse."
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Kong fell silent once more.
His mind was buzzing.
Upon careful consideration... damn it, this actually seemed to make some sense?
"We'll discuss the military budget back at headquarters! For now, immediately, get the situation under control!" Fleet Admiral Kong raised his voice, issuing a strict order. "No more disturbances are allowed!"
With a sharp crack, the call was abruptly cut off.
Kane tucked the Den Den Mushi back into his pocket, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corner of his lips.
He didn't need to guess to know that the old man was probably cursing up a storm right now while ordering his adjutant to draft an exorbitant military budget request.
He turned around, once again looking down below.
The plaza in Loguetown had completely descended into chaos.
"To the Grand Line!"
"One Piece is mine!"
Red-eyed thugs, pirates gripping their swords, even the fruit vendor who had been selling nearby just moments before—all of them, swept up in this frenzy, surged toward the port like a bursting flood.
The Navy's perimeter defense lines were shattered and scattered.
Kane snorted disdainfully.
"A bunch of small fry."
"Worthy of participating in the script I've directed?"
The moment his words fell—
Boom—!!!
The torrential rain pouring from the sky ceased.
It wasn't that the storm had passed and the skies cleared; rather, every single raindrop was forcibly suspended in mid-air by a powerful force!
The Storm Fruit's abilities, operating at full power.
The thick thunderclouds above Loguetown began to swirl in a bizarre, reverse spiral centered on the execution platform. Dull rumbles of thunder rolled deep within the clouds, as if doomsday had arrived.
Immediately after, a dark red aura rose from Kane's body, spreading outward in a perfect hemispherical shockwave like an invisible force.
Advanced Conqueror's Haki—Supremacy!
A pressure as heavy as a mountain descended, squeezing even the oxygen from the air.
The hard stone pavement groaned under the strain, spiderweb-like cracks spreading all the way to the end of the street.
Thud.
Thud, thud.
The frenzied crowd's eyes rolled back, collapsing in droves into the muddy water.
Foaming at the mouth, limbs twitching.
The plaza, which had been boiling with noise and chaos just moments before, fell into absolute silence in the span of just three breaths.
Tens of thousands of people lay scattered on the ground, piled up like mountains of flesh.
The few who remained standing were none other than the future trailblazers of this era.
Crocodile knelt on one knee, his golden hook clawing desperately into the seams of the stone pavement, his chest heaving violently. Cold sweat dripped from his chin, mixing with the puddles on the ground. He stared fixedly at the high platform, his teeth grinding audibly.
At the edge of the crowd, Doflamingo's flamingo coat was caked in mud. His sunglasses had slid halfway down his nose, and the face that always wore a defiant, twisted grin was now tense to the extreme. In the face of this tangible, oppressive Haki, he couldn't even muster the thought of releasing his own Conqueror's Haki to resist.
In the dim alleyway, a red-haired boy wearing a straw hat clung to the wall with both hands, his eyes bloodshot. He stubbornly resisted the oppressive force, refusing to kneel, yet his fingers had already dug ten bloody marks into the brick wall.
These future titans were experiencing, for the first time so directly, the power that stood at the very pinnacle of the world's hierarchy of authority and strength.
"Monster..." Moria's bulky body swayed unsteadily as he forced the word out through gritted teeth.
Kane looked down from above, his gaze sweeping over these stubbornly standing "promising seedlings" as if surveying his own vegetable garden.
He reached over and picked up the still-active Amplifying Den Den Mushi nearby, cleared his throat, and his steady voice, laced with undisguised mockery, spread across the entire square.
"Look at the state of you now."
"Just a slight release of aura, and you're kneeling on the ground, unable to even lift your heads."
"With this weak-kneed appearance, you still think you can go to the New World and search for Roger's treasure?"
Crocodile's Adam's apple bobbed as he clenched his fists tightly.
A furious vein bulged at Doflamingo's temple.
"The sea is not a playground for the weak to amuse themselves."
Kane slowly raised a hand, his slender finger pointing through the air at the few stubborn figures below.
"You think just because Roger shouted a few slogans, the door to the throne will swing open for you?"
"I won't kill you today, because the pathetic state you're in now doesn't even stir my interest enough to draw my blade."
Kane grinned, revealing an arrogantly oppressive smile under the gloomy sky.
"But, if anyone truly thinks their life is tough enough, dares to raise a Pirate Flag and set foot into those seas..."
"I, and those bored-to-death monsters at Marineford, will be waiting for you there."
"Come one, I'll slaughter one."
"Come two, I'll bury a pair."
Reverse psychological manipulation was the deadliest kind.
For those lowly civilians whose minds were clouded by desire, this speech was pure intimidation, enough to cool their heads and send them scurrying home.
But for those born rebels, those ambitious overlords...
The Admiral's contempt was the final spark to ignite the powder keg.
The more they were suppressed, the fiercer the madness in their bones burned.
The more they were looked down upon, the more they wanted to climb to the summit and trample those in high positions underfoot.
[Ding! Detected host delivering an extremely inflammatory 'Declaration of Justice'!]
[The ambitions of important fate-bearing characters such as Crocodile and Doflamingo have been greatly stimulated! Future worldline deviation continues to increase!]
[Settling additional subversion points... Obtained Violation Value: 50,000 points!]
Well done.
Kane withdrew his gaze, casually tossing the Amplifying Den Den Mushi aside, the Haki surrounding him instantly retracting.
The torrential rain suspended in mid-air, now without support, cascaded down onto the ground, turning the square into a muddy mess.
The leading captain ran trembling onto the wooden platform, swallowing hard as he asked for instructions: "Admiral Kane... what should we do with the remaining people?"
"Those still standing are all Pirates with bounties. Arrest them and add them to your base's performance metrics. For the unconscious civilians, splash some cold water on them and send them home."
Kane brushed the rainwater off the shoulder of his Justice Coat and turned to walk toward the steps.
"The mission at Loguetown is over."
"Admiral, where will you be heading next for inspection?" the colonel cautiously inquired from behind.
"Back to G-5, for leave."
One Roger had fallen.
But countless lush, thriving Leeks were sprouting wildly in fields across the world.
Kane bit down on his cigar and stepped into the curtain of rain, his mood reaching the peak of delight.
This damned Great Age of Pirates.
It was truly wonderful.
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