Chapter 30 — Gratitude
"Watch your mouth!" one of the suited men barked, his face twisted in anger. "Don't think that just because you used to be a Marine, you can act arrogant in front of our boss! The boss of the Taimé Mafia is the king of Baiskaiborg! You're just a washed-up Ensign — get on your knees when you speak to him!"
Eiger didn't even spare the man a glance. His expression didn't change — his gaze remained locked on Victor, who had yet to say a word.
Only after taking a slow, deliberate drag from his cigar did Victor finally grin, exhaling smoke through his teeth.
"Enough," he said, his tone casual. "Can't you see our guest is still standing? Bring him a chair."
"Yes, boss!"
One of the underlings scurried off and quickly returned with a chair.
Eiger sat down without hesitation, resting his axe against his shoulder as though he were the one presiding over the meeting.
Victor's grin widened, his voice a low, rumbling laugh.
"Hah! No wonder they called you a former Marine — you've got guts, I'll give you that. Came here alone, walked right into my headquarters, and you even sit in my chair!"
"Enough talk," Eiger said flatly. "Why did you call me here?"
Victor's smile froze for a moment. Then he leaned back in his chair, tapping ash into the tray.
"Such poor manners. Is this how Marines talk these days?"
He chuckled and reclined lazily, studying Eiger with an almost amused curiosity.
"I like your spirit. What do you say — why not work for me? I could use a man like you."
Eiger's brow creased, his patience thinning.
Victor noticed, sighed dramatically, and lifted his cigar again. "Alright, alright. I can take a hint. You're not one for small talk."
He took another deep drag, exhaled a plume of smoke, and his smile sharpened into something darker.
"Fine. I'll tell you straight. You've caught the attention of someone… important from the Grand Line."
Eiger's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Someone from the Grand Line?" he repeated, voice calm but cold.
"Not just you," Victor continued, flicking ash from his cigar. "Your wife."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Eiger's eyes turned sharp as blades. "Who?"
Victor raised a brow.
"Not surprised, are you? Guess that means you already know who your wife really is, huh? They say she's lost her memory. Seems you've been keeping quite the secret, Ensign."
He laughed quietly, drawing in another breath of smoke before blowing a ring into the air.
"I don't know who the client is," Victor said, "but there's a massive bounty circulating through the West Blue underworld for her capture. Word is, someone spotted her passing through one of the nearby islands — and that's when I realized just what a goldmine I'd stumbled onto."
He grinned wickedly. "So how about it? Hand her over, and we can pretend none of this ever happened. Hell, I'll even welcome you into the Taimé Mafia. You can have money, power, women — whatever you want."
Eiger's face didn't change. He simply squinted at Victor and asked quietly,
"Besides you… who else knows about this?"
Victor smirked, almost offended by the question.
"Who else? Don't insult me. I'm not stupid enough to share a secret like this. Not even the Capone Family knows. Once I deliver her to that Grand Line bigshot, I'll be untouchable — maybe even become one of the Five Great Families myself! Why the hell would I tell anyone?"
Eiger nodded once, his voice calm.
"That's good to know."
Victor's grin widened.
"So, you've decided?"
"Yeah," Eiger said, standing up slowly. "I've decided."
Victor leaned forward, clearly pleased — until he noticed that Eiger wasn't approaching the desk, but instead walking to the heavy doors behind him.
The retired Marine reached out and shut them. The loud thud of wood echoed through the room like a gunshot.
Victor frowned. "What are you doing?"
Eiger turned back toward him, his expression flat and unreadable.
"So… only the people in this room know?"
Victor's brows drew together. "What the hell are you talking about? Relax. Everyone here is loyal to me. You're safe."
Eiger's reply was quiet — and terrifyingly calm.
"No, I'm not worried about safety. I'm just worried about anyone running away."
"...What?"
Before Victor could make sense of it, Eiger's hand closed around his axe. Muscles rippled beneath his shirt, his calm voice the last thing they heard before chaos erupted.
"Thanks for the information."
Victor's instincts screamed a warning, but it was already too late.
He slammed his hand on the armrest, shouting, "You think you can kill me? You're just a damn retired Ensign! You'll regret ever walking in here!"
He snapped his fingers.
From the shadows on either side of the room, armed men stepped out — pistols drawn, safeties clicking off in unison.
Victor sneered, confidence returning.
"You don't get to sit in this chair for years without being careful. Go ahead and struggle, Marine — make your last mistake."
He never finished his sentence.
A low whoosh split the air — faster than the human eye could follow.
Eiger twisted his torso, his entire body coiling like a spring, and then unleashed a single sweeping strike.
The sound that followed was wet and heavy — like paper being torn apart.
When Victor blinked, twenty of his men were already collapsing to the floor, their bodies falling in perfect halves.
Blood painted the walls.
The cigar fell from his mouth.
"You… you… who are you?" he stammered, eyes wide with disbelief.
He stared at Eiger, drenched in cold sweat, his body trembling as though the very air had turned to lead.
How could a Marine Ensign have this kind of power?
If the West Blue's branch officers were even half this strong, the Mafia would've been wiped out years ago.
Eiger exhaled slowly, resting the blood-slick axe on his shoulder as he stepped closer.
His tone was calm, almost casual.
"Didn't I already tell you?" he said quietly. "Retired Marine Ensign."
Victor stumbled back, shaking his head violently.
"No… no, you can't be. A Marine Ensign could never be this strong!"
Then, suddenly, his eyes flicked to the axe — the shape, the color, the edge that gleamed faintly even under the dim light — and his pupils contracted in recognition.
A memory struck him like lightning.
Five years ago.
He had been a lowly errand boy in the Caroca Mafia.
The night their entire organization vanished from the map.
The night a man with that same axe had reduced their empire to ash.
"You…!" Victor's voice trembled. "I've seen you before! You're the one who destroyed the Caroca Family!"
Eiger's grin was faint, his tone light but edged with amusement.
"Bingo. But no prizes this time."
He raised the axe slightly, the muscles in his arms flexing as the steel caught the room's low light.
"And still… thanks. You've saved me quite the headache. I thought for a second the World Government had come knocking."
His smile widened, almost teasing. "Turns out, it's just you."
Victor's mind shattered into panic.
"Wait—wait! Don't kill me! I—I can act like none of this happened!" he stammered, his voice climbing in desperation. "I can be useful! I'll be your dog if I have to! I've got treasures—money—hidden caches! I can give you everything! You can't kill me, you hear me?! The Capone Family—yes, I've joined them! They're one of the West Blue's Five Great Families! You can't—"
His words dissolved into wild, incoherent babbling, then abruptly twisted into a snarl.
"But to hell with it—just die already!"
In a flash, his trembling hand produced a pistol from his coat, aiming straight at Eiger's head.
Eiger sighed.
"You mafia types really are all the same."
The axe came down before Victor could pull the trigger.
A blur of motion.
A heavy, wet sound — like thunder tearing through meat.
The boss of the Taimé Mafia split cleanly from shoulder to hip, his final expression frozen between rage and terror.
Silence filled the grand room once more.
The scent of blood hung thick in the air, mingling with the faint smoke from the extinguished cigar.
Eiger stood there, calm as ever, wiping the blade of his axe on a discarded suit jacket before hoisting it back over his shoulder.
He turned slowly.
Behind him, Ginny was slumped on the floor, pale as chalk. His eyes were wide, his whole body trembling.
He couldn't move. Could barely breathe.
This man… this monster…
He finally realized who he was — the rumored executioner who'd single-handedly wiped out an entire mafia syndicate years ago.
The faceless ghost who had "cleansed" the last generation of underworld scum in the West Blue.
And Victor — that idiot — had actually invited him here.
Eiger's calm voice broke the silence.
"Hey, kid."
Ginny flinched, forcing a smile that came out more like a grimace. "Y-Yes, boss?"
Eiger grinned — a bright, disarmingly warm grin that somehow made the moment worse.
"Good. Ginny," he said, hefting the axe back onto his shoulder, "how do you feel about becoming the new boss of the Taimé Mafia?"
Ginny's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
He couldn't even find words.
He'd just watched the old boss get split in half — and now the man who did it was smiling at him like they were discussing dinner plans.
"Wha—what… me?!" he squeaked.
Eiger's grin widened. "Sure. Think of it as… a promotion."
The young mafioso could only stare, somewhere between horror and awe, as Eiger strode past him toward the exit, humming softly under his breath.
Behind him, the corpses of the Taimé Mafia's elite still lay cooling on the marble floor.
In the sudden quiet, Ginny's trembling whisper broke the air:
"…What kind of monster did we just invite to this island?"