But Luffy didn't care about the Admirals or the Navy. He walked straight up to Saint Charlos, pulling his fist back. Before his rubber arm could snap forward, a blinding flash of yellow light illuminated the street. Zoro reacted on pure instinct, drawing his blades and tackling Luffy to the ground just as a massive, hyper-condensed laser beam carved a scorching trench through the exact space Luffy's head had occupied a millisecond prior. The explosion shattered the storefronts on the entire street.
"What the hell?!" Sanji yelled, coughing through the thick smoke.
A towering figure stepped out of the dust, resting a massive broadaxe on his shoulder. Sentomaru.
"You guys have terrible timing," Sentomaru sighed. Behind him, three massive silhouettes emerged—Pacifistas. "Since Yagami lost his mind and chopped off a Dragon's head," Sentomaru explained, his voice entirely devoid of amusement, "Headquarters doesn't let these guys walk around without an escort anymore."
Charlos cheered from the background. "Yes! Kill them! Kill them all and get me my mermaid!"
Sentomaru pointed his axe at the Straw Hats. "PX-1, PX-4, PX-5. Eliminate the pirates."
The Pacifistas opened their mouths, yellow light gathering in their throats. "Watch out!" Zoro roared as three lasers fired simultaneously. The Straw Hats scattered, the explosions ripping the grove to shreds.
"Let's smash 'em!" Luffy yelled, biting his thumb to activate Gear Third. His arm inflated to the size of a giant's, but he didn't just swing it. Luffy remembered the thick, heavy manual the strange Marine had given him weeks ago, and the feeling of drawing his spirit out. His massive, inflated fist suddenly hardened, coated in a faint, invisible sheen of basic Armament Haki.
"Gomu Gomu no... GIGANT PISTOL!"
The Haki-coated fist slammed directly into the face of PX-4. Instead of bouncing off the impenetrable alloy, the Haki bit into the metal with a sickening crunch, completely caving the cyborg's head in and launching it backward into a massive fireball.
Sentomaru's eyes widened in genuine shock. "What?! He destroyed a Pacifista in one hit?!"
"Don't look away!" Zoro blurred past PX-1, his three swords humming with the same foundational Armament Haki. Santoryu: Purgatory Oni Giri! Zoro slashed through the cyborg's midsection, bypassing its artificial toughness and opening a massive X-shaped gash that sent it crashing to its knees.
From above, Sanji dropped like a meteor, his burning leg coated in a dense layer of spiritual armor. Diable Jambe: Flambage Shot! Sanji's heel drove straight through the top of PX-5's skull, forcing the head down into its own chest cavity before it exploded violently.
Silence fell over the ruined street as Usopp and Chopper hugged each other, crying tears of joy. Even Saint Charlos stopped picking his nose, staring at the burning wreckage in absolute disbelief.
Sentomaru lowered his axe, his face grim. "I see," he muttered. "You aren't just normal rookies. You've awakened Haki. No wonder you caused so much trouble." Sentomaru reached into his robes and pulled out a black Den Den Mushi. "This is Sentomaru. Grove 24. The Straw Hats are a Class-A threat."
The ground began to shake again—not three footsteps, but a small army. From the surrounding streets, a full squadron of Pacifistas emerged, completely surrounding the exhausted Straw Hats. Dozens of red targeting lasers painted their chests.
Zoro's breath hitched, his arms already burning from the strain of using Haki. "Captain..." Zoro grunted, sweat pouring down his face. "This might be bad."
Sanji lit a fresh cigarette, his hands shaking slightly. Luffy gritted his teeth, dropping back into a fighting stance.
But just before the lasers fired, a single, calm footstep echoed through the plaza.
The very air in Grove 24 shifted, feeling as though the gravity had suddenly multiplied by ten. A warm, ancient, impossibly heavy wave of pure willpower washed over the street. The CP0 agents guarding Charlos instantly rolled their eyes back into their heads and collapsed. Saint Charlos choked on his own spit, falling face-first onto the cobblestone, completely unconscious.
Even the Pacifistas stuttered, their targeting systems flashing red as the ambient spiritual pressure scrambled their sensors. Sentomaru grunted, dropping to one knee.
An old man with silver hair and a vertical scar over his right eye stepped casually out of the shadows, carrying a silver flask. Silvers Rayleigh took a slow sip of his drink.
"Now, now," the Dark King said, his voice mild but carrying an absolute, crushing authority. "They are a bit too young to be dealing with Navy Science. Why don't you let them be?"
[ Somewhere In The Sky ]
High above the clouds of Paradise, a blur of motion ripped through the freezing air, leaving a sonic trail in its wake.
Light flew with his arms seeking the sky, his invisible Force Authority propelling him horizontally through the sky like a human missile. Ah... yes, he admitted inwardly he wanted to feel like superman. He had discarded his incinerated Marine coat, now wearing a simple, dark button-down shirt he had scavenged from the galleon.
"KYAHAHAHA! KYAAAAHAHAHAH!"
"WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!"
Jewelry Bonney, currently in the form of a pink-haired five-year-old, was laughing hysterically. She sat on Light Yagami's back, her tiny arms wrapped tightly around his neck as the extreme wind whipped her oversized clothes around.
"OYE BONNEY! If you throw up on my shirt, I will drop you into the ocean!" Light said, now thoroughly irritated at his moment being ruined.
"You're no fun!" Bonney giggled, peering over his shoulder at the sprawling blue ocean thousands of feet below. "Go faster! Do a barrel roll!"
"KYAHAHAHA! KYAAAAHAHAHAH!"
Ugh.
A/N: Ah, here we go.