One Piece: SSS-Rank Haki at Age Seventeen

"The top priority right now is determining exactly when Golden Lion appeared… and where he plans to strike next."

Fujitora's voice was cold as ice, as though it had crawled out from the depths of a frozen abyss.

The knuckles gripping his cane sword had turned deathly white, the force nearly enough to crush the hilt itself.

This was not the first hellscape he had witnessed.

Precisely because he had seen too many, he had chosen to gouge out his own eyes.

Rather than continue watching endless tragedies unfold across the world, he had thrown himself into eternal darkness.

But darkness brought no peace.

What his Observation Haki "saw" was even more vivid than ordinary sight.

The despair.

The screams.

The grief.

None of it could be escaped.

The evil saturating this world was suffocating—a coagulated stain of blood buried deep within society itself, dragging conscience toward the abyss.

Even breathing felt painful.

Even a Marine Admiral like him felt close to suffocation beneath that weight.

Every breath carried the smell of blood and gunpowder.

Every time his Observation Haki spread outward, it brushed against newly extinguished souls.

The burden was so heavy that even his wooden sandals felt trapped in mud.

But now—

The raging fury and unbearable sorrow burning inside his chest had condensed into something sharp and unwavering.

A beam of light forged from pain itself.

Fujitora slowly raised his weathered face.

Though blind, he seemed to stare directly toward the direction Golden Lion had escaped.

Toward the resentment of countless dead.

Toward the hopes they had never managed to voice.

"Find him."

His voice was quiet, yet every word struck like iron nails driven into the air itself.

"Then kill Golden Lion Shiki."

He paused.

The tip of his cane sword tapped lightly against the ground, sending loose stones scattering as invisible pressure spread outward from him.

"For every innocent whose blood hasn't even cooled yet…"

"We will repay this blood debt."

"Report to Admiral Fujitora!"

A Marine messenger sprinted across the ruined battlefield before abruptly stopping amidst the shattered remains of the town, chest heaving violently from exhaustion.

He glanced around at the hellish scene, swallowing hard before speaking with a trembling voice.

"We've questioned the survivors… Golden Lion Shiki and his fleet attacked this island three hours ago!"

He took a deep breath, as though the next words weighed a thousand pounds.

"Before leaving, he announced his next target…"

The soldier's throat tightened.

Then he shouted the name with all his strength.

"…Alabasta!!"

The five syllables pierced through the silence like an ice spear.

Every Marine officer present froze instantly.

From Vice Admiral Momonga to Vice Admiral Onigumo, every expression changed.

Even the soldiers engaged in rescue operations unconsciously stopped moving.

Alabasta.

That name represented far more than merely another World Government affiliated kingdom.

It was an ancient nation ruled by the Nefertari Family—one of the Twenty Founding Families that established the World Government eight hundred years ago.

More importantly, it was the only royal bloodline among the original Twenty that had refused to move to the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

Its political significance vastly surpassed ordinary member nations.

If a legendary pirate like Golden Lion targeted Alabasta—

The resulting shockwaves would eclipse this massacre a hundredfold.

This would no longer be the destruction of a single island.

It would be a direct slap across the face of the World Government itself.

A political storm capable of shaking the Grand Line… perhaps even the entire world.

And the pressure the Marines would receive from Mary Geoise afterward—

Nobody even wanted to imagine it.

Silence filled the ruins once more.

Only the wind howled through the broken town.

Fujitora's Observation Haki quietly spread outward.

He "saw" the grim expressions of the officers.

The fear hidden in the soldiers' eyes.

And farther away—

The dozen or so survivors huddled among the collapsed ruins.

Wrapped in bloodstained blankets, staring blankly at the remains of their homes.

Yet deep beneath that emptiness—

Something still burned.

A blazing hatred born from witnessing loved ones slaughtered before their eyes.

A fury so intense it eclipsed even their grief and terror.

Fujitora's face hardened like stone.

He slowly turned toward the vast sea, now seemingly stained red itself, and slammed his cane sword heavily into the ground.

"Immediately establish direct contact with Marine Headquarters through the highest emergency channel!"

His voice now cut through the heavy atmosphere like a drawn blade.

"Report the Alabasta crisis and request the highest level emergency response!"

"At the same time, directly order Admiral Kizaru to reinforce Alabasta at maximum speed!"

"Tell him what happened here…"

"Must never happen again in another kingdom!"

The sea wind whipped violently against his robes.

In his mind, he could almost "see" Golden Lion's wild golden hair and arrogant grin as the pirate advanced toward that ancient nation.

The veins on Fujitora's hand bulged as he tightened his grip around the cane sword.

After a brief silence, his voice rang out once more.

This time, every word sounded like an oath forged from steel itself.

"This time…"

"The Marines' Justice—"

"Will not arrive too late again!!"

At that exact same moment—

Hundreds of nautical miles away from that blood-soaked hellscape.

The sunlight over the Grand Line was warm and lazy.

The sea breeze brushed across the Thousand Sunny's orange-and-yellow sails.

The lively chaos aboard the ship felt like a completely different world.

"FOUR TWOS!!"

Usopp slammed four cards onto the grass deck dramatically, his voice trembling with excitement.

The only visible eye beneath the countless paper penalty strips stuck to his face gleamed with triumph.

He shoved his face close to Luffy's, his long nose nearly poking him directly.

"HAHAHA! Luffy! You're done for now! Rocket Bomb! Your turn!!"

At the center of the lawn deck, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper sat cross-legged around a messy pile of hand-drawn playing cards.

The cards looked hilariously crude.

Usopp and Chopper's faces were practically covered in punishment slips by now, leaving only their eyes and mouths visible.

Meanwhile, Luffy's face remained perfectly clean.

A winner's innocent grin stretched across it.

"It's over…"

Chopper glanced at the terrible cards in his hand before looking toward the single card remaining for Usopp.

His little reindeer ears drooped miserably.

"Usopp only has one card left…"

"Hehehe!"

Luffy grinned widely, flashing his trademark smile.

Casually, he drew two cards and slammed them down atop Usopp's play.

"Joker Bomb!"

The air froze instantly.

Usopp and Chopper's eyes bulged simultaneously.

Then, with infuriating leisure, Luffy casually flicked out another card.

"One four."

"…Pass," Usopp muttered weakly.

He tightly clutched the final card in his hand, sweat dripping down his forehead beneath the paper strips.

His fingers trembled violently.

"YES! I WIN!!"

Luffy cheered, throwing both arms into the air before collapsing backward onto the grass deck laughing shamelessly.

"So your last card was a tiny three, Usopp?! Shishishishi!"

"YOU BASTAAARD!!"

After a moment of stunned silence, Usopp exploded like a lit cannonball.

Launching himself forward with a "Long Nose Charge," he tackled Luffy directly.

"You've won thirty-seven rounds in a row!! THIRTY-SEVEN!!"

His nose aggressively jabbed into Luffy's rubber face.

"Admit it! You used Observation Haki to peek at our cards, didn't you?!"

"N-no way…"

Luffy's cheeks stretched comically as he looked guiltily toward the cloudless sky while whistling terribly.

"Whiiiistle~ It's j-just that my luck's really good today! Right, Chopper?"

"Liar!"

Even Chopper puffed out his cheeks angrily this time.

"Your heartbeat sped up just now! I heard it clearly! A doctor's ears are sensitive!"

"Busted!" Usopp shouted triumphantly.

He climbed on top of Luffy and wrapped an arm around his neck dramatically.

"We agreed on a fair game! Friendship first! This is shameless cheating!"

"Gum-Gum… objection denied!"

Chopper immediately joined the "punishment squad," reaching over to tickle Luffy's sides.

"GYAHAHAHA! Stop! That tickles!"

Luffy twisted around while desperately defending himself.

"Zoro said it! 'If you don't get caught, it's not cheating!'"

"That's just moss-head logic! And you DID get caught!" Usopp roared.

"I'm never playing cards with Luffy again! Never!!" Chopper declared angrily before pretending to walk away.

"Eh?! Chopper! Don't go! Let me explain!"

Luffy instantly stretched out his arm and yanked the little reindeer back.

The three of them immediately rolled across the grass deck in a tangled mess.

Within seconds, the Thousand Sunny descended into total chaos.

Luffy's exaggerated laughter and screaming.

Usopp's furious shouting.

Chopper's indignant protests.

The noise nearly blew the roof off the ship.

"These idiots…"

Sanji leaned against the kitchen doorway with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

He shook his head helplessly.

Yet despite his words, his usually sharp eyes curved gently with amusement.

At the edge of the deck, hidden partially within the shadows—

"I give up."

Trafalgar D. Water Law stood with Kikoku resting against his shoulder, leaning against the railing with the expression of a man questioning his existence.

He glanced once toward the chaotic trio before immediately looking away, as though watching any longer might damage the dignity of the "Surgeon of Death."

"Is this really a Yonko crew… or some kind of daycare center?!"

He screamed internally.

This was absurd.

Absolutely absurd.

That was Monkey D. Luffy!

The Fifth Emperor!

A man with a bounty of 3,946,000,000 Berries!

The lunatic who turned Marineford upside down and openly challenged the World Government!

Logically speaking, the core members of his crew should have been terrifying elites radiating overwhelming pressure.

Instead—

Their captain cheated at cards with Observation Haki and denied it shamelessly.

Their sniper attacked people with his nose after losing.

And their reindeer doctor got tricked every time but still tried to argue logically before eventually joining the chaos himself.

Nearby stood a laughing cyborg weirdo, a skeleton musician enjoying the spectacle, and a cook pretending to complain while looking at everyone with obvious affection.

Where was the terrifying aura expected of an Emperor's crew?!

The entire atmosphere was completely wrong!

Law felt as though all common sense and worldview he possessed were being utterly destroyed aboard this noisy ship.

Silently, he lowered the brim of his hat further.

At that moment—

Creak.

The door to one of the private cabins near the ship's interior gently opened.

Nami stepped outside after finishing cleaning her room.

She had changed out of her usual practical clothes and was now wearing a fitted white dress.

The hem swayed softly with each graceful step, accentuating her elegant figure.

White high heels highlighted her long slender legs.

Her orange hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders, simple gemstone earrings glimmering beneath the sunlight.

Bathed in the warm glow of the sun, she looked refreshing, stylish, and impossibly beautiful.

A satisfied smile remained on her face as she elegantly closed the cabin door behind her.

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