Chapter 79: Blood and the Holy Knights

Mock Town was supposed to be a haven for the untouchable, a lawless dirt-patch where Paradise’s most cutthroat bounties gathered to drink, gamble, and boast.

It took the Verdant Abyss crew exactly twenty minutes to reduce it to absolute rubble.

The pirates thought it would be a battle against the Warlords crew, where they had a chance of winning against a new Warlord.

But it was a live-fire slaughter designed to test our new arsenal.

The arrogant pirate alliances that had rallied on the docks to ambush us didn’t even stand a chance against the sheer, overwhelming physical output of the Nega-Rings powered by our newly awakened Haki.

A pirate captain wielding a massive battleaxe charged Gwen.

She didn’t even move.

She simply tapped into the golden ring on her finger, converting her willpower into a solid, shimmering golden forcefield that violently expanded, instantly crushing the captain against the side of a tavern.

A squad of snipers tried to take Laura out from a rooftop.

A flash of golden light illuminated the street as Laura utilized the ring’s teleportation.

She blinked directly into the center of their squad, her adamantium claws coated in pitch-black Armament Haki.

The snipers were shredded before they could even pull their triggers.

Above the chaos, Brook and Perona utilized the rings’ limited flight, hovering effortlessly over the battlefield.

Brook rained down freezing, spectral slashes, while Perona casually dropped Haki-coated Negative Hollows that detonated like artillery shells.

Law and Robin swept through the remaining crowds, their strikes exponentially faster and heavier than ever before.

By the time the dust settled, the pirate alliances were completely decimated.

We gathered the unconscious bodies of the highest-bounty captains, tossing them onto the deck of the Titan’s Glory.

“Set sail,” I ordered, looking at the ruined town.

“Let’s go cash these in.”

It took us a day of quiet sailing to reach the nearest major Marine outpost.

We unceremoniously dumped millions of Berries worth of battered pirates onto their docks, collected our Warlord bounty stipends, and replenished our ship’s supplies.

Just as we were preparing to leave the outpost, the secure, black-shelled Den-Den Mushi in my cabin began to ring.

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

Clack.

“Warlord Victor,” the stern, heavy voice of Fleet Admiral Sengoku echoed from the receiver.

“I require your presence at Marineford.

At your earliest convenience.”

It wasn’t a request.

“I’ll be there,” I replied flatly, hanging up the snail.

I walked out to the main deck.

“Change of plans.

We’re making a pit stop at Headquarters.”

With the Sky-Rift Roc pulling the massive Adam Wood battleship and my Warlord clearance granting us uninterrupted access through the massive Tarai Current and the Gates of Justice, the flight to Marineford took about three days.

The Titan’s Glory docked in the crescent moon bay of the absolute center of Marine power.

I left the crew on the ship, instructing Law to keep everyone on high alert.

I walked down the boarding ramp alone, stepping onto the pristine stone of Marineford.

The atmosphere was stifling.

Thousands of elite Marines trained in the courtyards, and massive artillery cannons lined the walls.

I was escorted inside the main fortress, walking down a long, immaculate hallway leading to the Fleet Admiral’s office.

Halfway down the corridor, the temperature violently spiked.

The air grew so hot it began to visibly warp.

Stepping out from an intersecting hallway was Admiral Sakazuki, Akainu.

He wore his crimson suit, a white Marine coat draped over his broad shoulders, and a cigar clamped between his teeth.

He stopped, blocking the center of the hallway.

We stared at each other.

The physical tension between us was palpable, heavy enough to choke the two Marine guards escorting me, who nervously backed away.

“Pirate scum,” Akainu growled, a drop of molten magma dripping from his clenched fist and searing a black hole into the pristine floor tiles.

“Stinking up the halls of Justice.

Sengoku is too soft, letting dogs like you walk freely in our home.”

I didn’t stop walking.

I didn’t slow down.

I walked directly up to him, stopping only inches from his chest.

I looked up in his eyes, my expression completely deadpan.

“A lapdog talking about dogs,” I mocked softly, my voice laced with venom.

“Keep barking, Sakazuki.

But make sure you stay on your leash, or someone might have to put you down.”

Akainu’s eyes widened in sheer, murderous rage, the magma rapidly expanding up his arm.

But before he could act on it, I simply sidestepped him and continued down the hallway, leaving the steaming Admiral seething in my wake.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors to the Fleet Admiral’s office.

Sengoku was sitting behind his massive desk, his pet goat casually chewing on a stack of wanted posters nearby.

He looked up, his face lined with stress and exhaustion.

“Take a seat, Victor,” Sengoku sighed, interlacing his fingers.

I didn’t sit.

I stood in front of his desk.

“Make it quick, Sengoku.

The clock on your deadline is ticking, and I have preparations to make.”

Sengoku leaned forward, his eyes hardening.

“Marine Intelligence has been tracking a highly lethal Revolutionary Commander operating in the South Blue.

A woman who commands lightning.

Our agents have identified her as Jasmine.”

Sengoku paused, watching my reaction carefully.

“Do you know who she is, Victor?”

“Yes,” I replied bluntly, not breaking eye contact.

“She’s my sister.”

Sengoku let out a long, heavy breath, closing his eyes for a moment.

“I was afraid of that.

The World Government considers the Revolutionary Army a paramount threat.

Her actions in the South Blue have crossed the line.

The Five Elders have issued a decree regarding her.”

He looked back up at me, his gaze entirely uncompromising.

“She is to surrender to the Marines immediately.

If she refuses, she is to be taken care of.

And to prove your absolute loyalty to the crown…

the World Government wants you to be the one to execute the order.”

The room went dead silent.

Only the faint sound of the goat chewing paper could be heard.

I let the invisible chains holding back my willpower shatter.

My full, unsuppressed Conqueror’s Haki erupted from my body.

It wasn’t just a wave of pressure, it was an apocalyptic, suffocating singularity.

The sheer force of my rage slammed into the room.

The thick, reinforced glass of Sengoku’s windows violently shattered outward.

The heavy mahogany bookshelves cracked in half, books turning to dust.

The very foundation of the Marineford tower groaned as the stone walls began to splinter and spiderweb.

Sengoku’s eyes shot wide open in shock.

To prevent the entire office from collapsing, he instantly unleashed his own golden, overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki.

The two absolute wills clashed in the center of the room, creating a tempest of black and red lightning that tore the carpet to shreds.

“If the World Government thinks,” I said, my voice dangerously low and completely devoid of mercy, “that I will hunt down my own blood to appease a bunch of inbred Celestial Dragons…

then you can take my Warlord title and burn it to ash.”

I took a step forward, the floor cracking under my boot.

“If they send ships after my sister, I will sink them.

If they send Admirals, I will kill them.

I will personally slaughter every Marine in this fortress and butcher the Celestial Dragons with my own two hands.”

Sengoku grit his teeth, sweating as he pushed his Haki against mine.

“You are talking about declaring a one-man war against the entire world, Victor!

You cannot win!”

“Try me,” I promised, my eyes pitch black.

“And you can pass this message directly to the Five Elders.

Tell them that no matter who they send, no matter what they do…

not even the Holy Knights will be able to stop me.”

The golden Haki radiating from Sengoku violently faltered.

The Fleet Admiral stared at me, absolute, undisguised horror flashing across his face.

The existence of the Holy Knights, the Supreme Commander Garling Figarland and the ultimate enforcers of Mary Geoise, was an incredibly guarded, elite secret.

Only the absolute highest echelons of the world knew they existed.

Sengoku realized in that exact second that he wasn’t dealing with just a strong pirate.

He was dealing with a man who possessed highly classified intel and a level of strength he hadn’t seen since the days of Rocks D.

Xebec.

Realizing the situation was completely spiraling out of control, Sengoku forcefully retracted his Haki, raising a hand in a placating gesture.

“Victor, stand down,” Sengoku commanded, though his voice was noticeably shaken.

“I…

I was simply asking the question.

Delivering the message.

There is no need to overreact.”

I slowly pulled my Haki back, leaving the office in absolute ruins.

The air remained incredibly tense.

“It wasn’t an overreaction.

I was stating a fact,” I told him coldly.

“If you want to go after her, send your dogs.

But don’t ever expect me to turn on my family.

Now, if we are done playing political games, you gave me a job to do regarding Kaido’s rampage.

It’s time I go do it.”

I turned my back on the Fleet Admiral and walked out of the shattered office without another word.

By the time I returned to the Titan’s Glory, the crew was already waiting on the deck, having felt the massive Haki clash from across the harbor.

“What happened?” Law asked, his hand resting on his Nodachi.

I stood before the Verdant Abyss crew and told them exactly what Sengoku had proposed.

I told them the World Government wanted Jasmine dead, and they had asked me to do it.

I expected apprehension.

I expected fear of the Marines.

Instead, the reaction was instantaneous, unified rage.

Laura’s claws slid out with a harsh SNIKT.

Gwen’s symbiote flared violently over her shoulders.

Perona summoned three explosive hollows purely out of anger.

Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi looked ready to storm the fortress right then and there.

“Point the ship,” Laura growled, her eyes burning green.

“We’ll sink this whole damn island before they touch her.”

“If they want a war, they can have one,” Gwen agreed, her Nega-Ring glowing with golden energy.

I looked at my crew.

They had survived the Calm Belt.

They had mastered Haki.

And most importantly, their loyalty to each other was absolute.

It was something I had only seen in fiction but seeing it with my eyes gave a sense of achievement I never knew I could feel.

“Stand down,” I smiled, a genuine, dangerous grin spreading across my face.

“We aren’t fighting the Marines today.

We have bigger fish to fry.”

I walked up to the helm, placing my hands on the ship’s wheel.

I looked out past Marineford, toward the towering, red stone walls of the Red Line in the distance.

“The training camp is officially over,” I announced, my voice carrying across the deck.

“It’s time to cross the line.

It’s time to tame a dragon.

Next stop…

the New World.”

[Sengoku’s Office]

High up in the ruins of the Fleet Admiral’s office, Sengoku sat behind his cracked desk.

He held a pure white, golden-trimmed Den-Den Mushi in his hand.

The line was connected directly to the Room of Authority in Mary Geoise.

“The Warlord rejected the proposition,” Sengoku reported, his voice tight.

“Violently.

He chose his sister over his status.”

“A predictable outcome for pirate filth,” the sharp, grating voice of Saint Saturn echoed from the snail.

“Revoke his title.

Send the Admirals to execute him.”

“I advise against that,” Sengoku warned immediately.

“He didn’t just threaten us.

He also explicitly mentioned the Holy Knights.”

Silence fell over the encrypted line.

For several long seconds, the Five Elders did not speak.

The Warlord knowing about the Holy Knights changed the entire calculus.

It meant he had intelligence networks that penetrated Mary Geoise itself.

“The anomaly knows too much,” Saint Marcus Mars finally spoke, his voice cold and calculating.

“But his strength is undeniable.

And Kaido is currently massing forces in the New World, actively threatening our supply lines.”

“We cannot fight two wars at once,” Saint Topman Warcury agreed.

“Maintain his Warlord status,” Saint Ethanbaron V.

Nusjuro ordered, his voice echoing with absolute authority.

“Let him enter the New World.

Let him clash with the Beast Pirates.

If he dies, the problem solves itself.

If he kills Kaido, he serves his purpose.

For now…

we wait and see.”

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