The Yarukiman Mangroves of Grove 1 were weeping sap, the thick roots scorched black by the raging fires of the Human Auction House. The air smelled of ozone, burning velvet, and the heavy, metallic tang of blood.
Rear Admiral Light Yagami stepped out of the shattered grand entrance of the auction house. His pristine white coat fluttered in the updraft of the flames, completely unblemished by the slaughter he had just orchestrated.
He looked across the ruined plaza. The bodies of slave merchants and kidnappers littered the cobblestones. His executioners had done their work with terrifying efficiency.
SPROING. A bizarre, metallic sound echoed from the rooftops. A second later, a figure plummeted from the sky, crashing onto the cobblestone with a heavy impact that cracked the stone.
It was Captain Haas. But his right arm was no longer flesh and bone. It was a thick, highly compressed steel spring.
From the shadows of the burning buildings, the rest of the vanguard emerged. Corro, the massive Rhinoceros hybrid, snorted, a thick cloud of steam venting from his armored snout. Finn, the bipedal Wolf, stalked forward, licking fresh blood from his razor-sharp claws. Kael, the Eagle, perched silently on a ruined lamppost above, his golden eyes scanning the perimeter. Tarro, the Black Panther, slinked out of the smoke, his movements completely devoid of sound.
Only Elara walked out normally, her twin revolvers spinning deftly in her hands before she holstered them.
Bonney, who had been sitting on a crate trying to keep her lunch down, stared at the monstrous squad, her jaw dropping. "What the hell happened to them?!"
"We secured the vault, Sir" Haas reported, uncoiling his arm. The steel transformed seamlessly back into flesh and bone, though the tension remained visible beneath his skin. "We found the Celestial Tribute. Devil Fruits. We took what we needed to not be a burden to you!"
Light surveyed his men. He didn't show surprise. He showed profound, absolute approval.
"You have forsaken everything to follow me," Light said, his voice carrying the terrifying weight of a new deity accepting his followers. "You are no longer dogs of the military. You are the fangs of the true order."
Light closed his eyes.
The purge was complete. The minor pieces were off the board. It was time to prepare.
He opened his mental interface, focusing on the staggering numbers floating in his mind's eye.
[ Total KP Reserve: 8,550,500 ]
Eight and a half million Karma Points. It was a fortune that would take a normal system user a lifetime of hunting pirates to acquire. Light had harvested it in a single afternoon by aiming his blade at the absolute top of the global hierarchy.
He evaluated his options. He had more than enough points to finally awaken Conqueror's Haki. But Light immediately discarded the idea. What would the lower levels of Conqueror's Haki accomplish right now? It only generated a burst of willpower that knocked out weak-minded fodder. Admiral Akainu wouldn't even blink at a basic burst.
To fight the highest echelon, he needed to survive the most lethal offensive power on the seas: Magma. He needed to block that heat without letting his sword or his skin touch it. He needed to dodge strikes before they were even launched. And above all, he needed an ocean of stamina to sustain the Force against an Admiral's limitless output.
System. Upgrade Life Force to Level 10. Upgrade Observation Haki to Level 3. Upgrade Armament Haki to Level 3.
[ Upgrading Life Force: Lv. 5 ➔ Lv. 10. Cost: 2,500,000 KP. ][ Upgrading Observation Haki: Lv. 2 ➔ Lv. 3 (Proficient). Cost: 1,500,000 KP. ][ Upgrading Armament Haki: Lv. 2 ➔ Lv. 3 (Emission). Cost: 1,500,000 KP. ][ Confirmed. Remaining KP Reserve: 3,050,500. ]
Light gasped as the changes slammed into his biology simultaneously.
It felt as though a star had suddenly ignited within his chest cavity. When he had faced Kuma, pushing his Force abilities had severely torn his muscles and drained his stamina to the breaking point. Now, as Life Force hit Level 10, that physical bottleneck vanished. His cellular density skyrocketed. His lungs expanded, drawing in air that felt suddenly crisp and infinitely thin. He didn't just feel energized; he felt boundless.
Then came the spiritual awakenings.
His Armament Haki evolved. Before, at Level 2, his spirit was confined to a hard, pitch-black armor coating his skin and his blade. Now, he could feel his will flowing outward. It was no longer just a shell; it was an invisible tide that he could project past his physical body to strike or block without making contact.
And finally, his Observation Haki shifted to Proficient. The world around him instantly slowed down. He didn't just sense the auras of his men anymore; he saw the microscopic twitch of Haas's triceps. He could hear the rapid, terrified heartbeat of Bonney standing twenty feet away, and he could intuitively predict the exact moment she was going to blink.
Light slowly opened his hands.
With his Life Force maxed to a supernatural threshold, the absolute limit of his Force was uncapped. He looked down at his boots. He focused the Force around his own physical mass, effortlessly pushing against the earth's pull.
He stepped off the ground.
He didn't use Geppo to kick the air. He didn't jump. He simply stepped into the empty space, and the space held him.
Bonney stumbled backward, her eyes wide with sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
Light Yagami was flying. He rose ten feet into the air, his white coat billowing gently, his posture perfectly straight and relaxed. He was entirely unbound by the laws of gravity.
"Captain Haas," Light called down, his voice echoing from above, sterile and absolute.
"Sir!" Haas barked, staring up at his floating commander with religious awe.
"Take the vanguard and the girl. Proceed immediately to Grove 30," Light commanded, his dark eyes looking toward the horizon where the Marine Naval bases were located. "Secure the largest galleon docked in the harbor. Fortify it. Do not let anyone on or off. Prepare it."
Bonney snapped out of her stupor. "Prepare it?! Light, what are you talking about?! We have to run! You just killed a Celestial Dragon! An Admiral is coming!"
"I know," Light said, turning his body in mid-air to face the distant ocean. The sheer, suffocating heat of a terrifying presence was just beginning to register on the very edge of his newly upgraded Observation Haki. "That is exactly why I am staying here."
Light looked down at his trembling prisoner-turned-accomplice.
"Go to the ship, Bonney. If you run into the lawless zones, the Marines will find you and execute you for being present here today. You belong to me."
Without waiting for a response, Light pushed himself higher into the sky, floating above the burning canopy of the Yarukiman Mangroves, waiting for the hound of hell to arrive.
⬛ ⬛ ⬛
[ GROVE 13 — SHAKKY'S RIP-OFF BAR ]
The interior of the bar was dim, smelling faintly of stale smoke and expensive rum.
Shakuyaku stood behind the polished wooden counter, a lit cigarette dangling from her lips. She was meticulously polishing a glass, though her eyes were fixed on the small Den Den Mushi resting on the bar.
The snail was broadcasting the frantic, panicked military channels of the local Sabaody Garrison.
"All units fall back! Grove 1 is a total loss! The Smiling Reaper has executed Saint Valerius! Repeat, Saint Valerius is dead! High command has initiated a lockdown! Admiral inbound!"
Sitting on a barstool, nursing a glass of dark rum, was an old man with long, silver hair and a vertical scar over his right eye. He wore a simple, unbuttoned shirt and a pair of round glasses.
Silvers Rayleigh took a slow sip of his drink.
"Well," Shakky exhaled a thin stream of smoke, turning off the screaming Den Den Mushi. "It seems the golden boy of the Marines finally snapped. To think the man who purged the South Blue would be the one to break the ultimate taboo. The world is going to turn upside down today, Ray."
Rayleigh didn't smile. He gently set his glass down on the wooden bar.
The Dark King closed his eyes, expanding his legendary Observation Haki across the archipelago.
He felt the panic of the civilians. He felt the frantic, disorganized terror of the local Marines scrambling to set up blockades. He felt the ferocious, animalistic auras of Haas and the Zoan squad moving rapidly toward Grove 30.
But there were two auras that made the former first mate of the Pirate King open his eyes.
"An Admiral is already here," Rayleigh murmured, his voice heavy. "The ocean to the east is boiling. It's Sakazuki. Sengoku didn't waste a single second. He sent the Red Dog."
"Akainu?" Shakky raised an eyebrow, putting the glass down. "That's a death sentence for the boy. Sakazuki will kill him. Should we intervene? A kid with the guts to kill a Celestial Dragon might be useful for the new era."
"No," Rayleigh said quietly.
Rayleigh shifted his Haki away from the approaching magma, focusing it directly on the center of the burning Grove 1. He focused on the aura of Rear Admiral Light Yagami, hovering high above the flames.
Rayleigh frowned, a bead of cold sweat forming on his brow.
"I've felt the Haki of the most dangerous men in this world, Shakky," Rayleigh whispered, his grip tightening slightly on his glass. "Roger. Whitebeard. Shiki. Rocks. They all carried a weight to their spirit. A fiery ambition. A desire for freedom, or a desire for destruction."
Rayleigh looked toward the window, staring in the direction of Grove 1.
"But that boy..." Rayleigh continued, a rare trace of genuine unease in his voice. "There is no fire in his aura. There is no joy. There is no desire for freedom. It is quite frankly- terrifying. He didn't kill that Noble out of righteous anger or pirate ambition."
Rayleigh downed the rest of his rum in a single gulp.
"He killed him because he viewed him as an insect," Rayleigh concluded. "If he survives Akainu today... the World Government will be dealing with a monster. We stay out of this, Shakky. Let the Marines deal with their own devil."
High above Grove 1, the ambient temperature of the air suddenly spiked.
The moisture in the atmosphere began to evaporate. The leaves of the Yarukiman Mangroves began to curl and wither from the sheer, suffocating heat rolling off the eastern coast.
100 metres away, the Rear Admiral turned traitor was sitting on the ground, slowly removing and putting his epaulettes and badges on the ground.
He raised his head and smiled at the massive Marine warship that had just violently smashed through the coastal seawall.
Silence. Then the sound of footsteps.
Burning cigar in his mouth, a towering man in red stepped and stood on the hull.
Suddenly.
The Red Dog met eyes with the God.