Robin had already begun suspecting the Chief Security Officer the moment she realized something was off about this marathon.
There were many countries in the West Blue, and each had its own Chief Security Officer.
But someone capable of turning an ordinary marathon into a death game like this—
there was only one in the entire West Blue.
The Illusia Kingdom's infamous Chief Security Officer—
Lafitte, notorious for his violent law enforcement.
At the thought of this, Robin's brows furrowed slightly.
If the one in charge of this marathon really was Lafitte, then even in her current maid disguise…
she might still be recognized.
"Wow… what's that?"
Just as Robin was about to tell Arashi about Lafitte, Arashi suddenly looked up at the sky with excitement, his expression growing exaggerated.
"Th-That's a huge white dove!!!"
The moment Arashi's words fell, Robin instinctively looked up as well.
When she saw the figure rapidly approaching from the sky, her expression changed instantly, and she hurriedly said,
"Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, that's not a dove—that's—"
Whoosh!
Before she could finish, a stone shot out from Arashi's hand.
It traced a near-perfect arc through the air—
and struck the "big white dove" directly.
Smack!
A crisp sound echoed, followed by a miserable scream from high above.
The next moment—
Lafitte, in his white dove form, plummeted straight down from the sky and crashed heavily onto the ground not far in front of Arashi and Robin.
Seeing this, Robin couldn't help but feel a wave of exasperation.
Sure enough—
when traveling with this guy, you really shouldn't treat anything too seriously.
Just go with the flow… that's the only way.
Arashi himself hadn't expected to land the hit.
Blinking in confusion as he looked at the fallen "white dove," he turned to Robin.
"Robin, what were you saying just now?"
"N-Nothing…"
The man had already been shot down—
what else could she possibly say?
"Oh~"
Tilting his head, Arashi's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Roasted pigeon sounds pretty good!"
With that, his figure flashed, and he instantly appeared in front of the fallen "white dove."
"D-Don't come any closer!"
Lafitte, now back in his human form—with a huge panda eye from the impact—endured the pain as he stared at Arashi in horror.
With his level of strength, he could clearly observe everything happening on the ground.
He had seen Arashi and Robin earlier.
And more importantly—
he had clearly seen Arashi casually pick up a stone and throw it at him.
But so what if he saw it?
He hadn't had any chance to dodge!
More terrifying still—
that seemingly ordinary stone had been infused with an overwhelmingly domineering force.
The moment it struck him, the pain nearly made him cry out, and he completely lost control of his body, forced to fall from the sky.
Looking at Lafitte—now restored to human form but sporting a massive black eye—Arashi blinked once before a cold glint flashed across his eyes.
"So it really is you…"
"The so-called Demon Chief Security Officer—Lafitte!"
Sensing the fleeting killing intent in Arashi's gaze, Lafitte instinctively took a step back and asked in a low voice,
"Y-You… who exactly are you?"
Lafitte might be infamous for violent law enforcement—
but he was no brute.
In fact, he was quite the opposite.
He possessed the mind of a diplomat.
Just as in the original story, when he went to Marineford to negotiate with Fleet Admiral Sengoku for Blackbeard's position as a Warlord—
it was clear he was both intelligent and calculating.
A violent… yet refined white dove.
So after witnessing Arashi's terrifying strength, Lafitte didn't act rashly.
Instead, he forced himself to stay calm and attempted to probe Arashi through conversation before making any decisions.
"A marathon contestant," Arashi replied casually.
Too lazy to entertain such a pointless question, he went straight to the point.
"These obstacles on the course… you're the idiot behind them, aren't you?"
"How could that be?!"
Lafitte adjusted his hat. Despite the black eye, he still maintained an air of elegance.
"This was all arranged by His Majesty the King. I am merely responsible for carrying it out."
"His Majesty found previous marathons too dull and boring, so he entrusted me with designing this course."
"He wanted to see…"
"how many people would die in this marathon."
"It doesn't matter who wins. As long as people die during the race, His Majesty will be very pleased."
"…And more importantly," Lafitte suddenly widened his eyes in agitation,
"Who exactly are you?! Weren't Devil Fruit users forbidden from participating?!"
"The King's arrangement?"
Arashi was slightly taken aback.
At first, he had assumed this was just Lafitte causing trouble behind the scenes.
After all, in the original story, Lafitte had been exiled precisely because of his violent methods.
But someone like Lafitte—
wouldn't casually shift blame.
To people like him, violence was an art.
If they could create that "art" themselves, they wouldn't need to pin it on others.
So Arashi quickly concluded—
this so-called Death Marathon…
was orchestrated by that decrepit king behind the scenes.
"Ahem… the issue right now isn't His Majesty's orders," Lafitte continued, clearly displeased at being ignored.
"It's the fact that you—a Devil Fruit user—would participate in such a meaningless game for a mere few million Berries."
"And worse—you destroyed all the traps I carefully prepared!"
"So?"
Arashi slowly walked toward him, the smile on his face gradually fading.
"Are you going to disqualify me…?"
"Or kill me to set an example?"
He stopped in front of Lafitte, his gaze turning cold.
"Tell me—"
"Do you want to ride the wind and soar ninety thousand miles into the sky?"
"...Huh?"
Lafitte, still trying to process Arashi's first sentence, froze completely at the second.
Soar ninety thousand miles?
What kind of nonsense was that?!
"Armament."
Before Lafitte could react, Arashi suddenly shouted.
His fist, now hardened with Armament Haki—
slammed forward with a loud bang into Lafitte's chest.
"Off you go!"
A piercing scream tore through the air.
Lafitte was instantly blasted upward—
like a meteor flying in reverse—
soaring straight into the sky!
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