With the BIG MOM Pirates and the Flying Pirates both arriving, Hachinosu boiled over. Screams, steel, and stolen crates—everyone was hunting Devil Fruits.
Dimon didn't bother stepping in. With hundreds of crews, not everyone had a Fruit; of course some would try to take them by force. Unless he smothered the island himself, the snatching wouldn't stop.
And that was fine.
If the stronger, smarter side ended up holding the Fruit, all the better—those were tastier meals to devour later. Still, if he did nothing, some captains might spook and skip the fair. On the surface at least, he needed a traffic cop.
"Crocodile? He's busy stealing Fruits himself. Wang Zhi… forget it."
In his suite at the Skull Grand Hotel, Dimon pressed two fingers together and traced a five-pointed sigil in the air.
"Reverse Summon."
On Wano's far coast, Abel vanished mid-step and reappeared in the room, blinking—then relaxed when he saw Dimon. "Lord Dimon."
"I've got a job for you…" Dimon outlined the island's mess, then said, "If crews start brawling, interrupt them."
"Kill?" A spark lit Abel's eyes.
"No. Just break it up. A show. That includes Charlotte Linlin and Shiki."
"Understood."
Abel snapped open his Observation; Hachinosu roared in his inner ear—at least a dozen hotspots flaring at once.
"I'll move."
Lightning stole his shape; he was gone.
Dimon tossed the problem to his junior, stretched out, and cracked a magazine.
—
"Hand over the Fruits."
Shiki drifted through an alley, unhurried, herding a pack of pirates below like cattle.
"It's the Admiral!" Captain Eris and his crew ran blind through the maze of backstreets. You can't shake a man who flies. As a last resort, they dove into the tightest lanes, hoping the buildings would break line-of-sight.
"Idiots," Shiki chuckled. "You think my Observation is for decoration?"
He tailed them through split-level stone and spiderweb turns. They burst from a corner—only to find a wall of skirts and a towering shadow.
"BIG MOM," Eris croaked.
"What do we do, Captain?!"
"Why us—there are pirates everywhere!" he howled, half mad.
"Because your bounty's high. Dumb question." Linlin's hand reached for his head. "534 million—you've got it, yes? Hand it over."
"Hands off. My prey," Shiki snapped, sending a slash at her.
Eris shook so hard his bones clacked. Two of the Five Peaks—over a half-billion minnow. Five great pirate crews? More like five great lunatics. So much for strong men having dignity.
Lightning tore the sky open.
"60,000,000 Volts — Thunderfire Dragon!"
Abel dropped in above the alley; twin serpents of intertwined flame and lightning roared down—one coiled around Linlin, the other cracked against Shiki.
"Lightning—?!" Shiki screamed as his hair shot straight up.
Linlin ate the hit, teeth bared, monster body smoking but steady. She narrowed her eyes. "Abel. When did you eat a Fruit?"
A Logia that commanded thunder? In all the years of plundering Fruits, she'd never laid hands on that one.
Shiki's jaw clenched. "Brat—you think you can stop me?"
"The so-called Five Peaks?" Abel's voice was flat. "Lord Dimon says stop. Keep making a mess, and I'll be your opponent."
He knew them well—back in the old Hachinosu days, he'd seen both faces up close.
"Bold," Linlin purred. "Come to Totto Land, Abel. Mama's short on exotic races."
A shiver crawled down his spine. "I live and die for Lord Dimon. I won't join your crew."
"I didn't say join." Her smile sharpened. "Marry in. I've got daughters."
Abel turned into a bolt and was gone.
Linlin's face darkened. "Little punk. So many daughters—what's wrong with marriage?"
She forgot the Fruit entirely and chased the lightning trail by Observation alone.
"Good. No more interruptions," Shiki muttered—and carved the Eris Pirates into history.
When he finished, he pinched a single Fruit from the ruins and sneered. "One? Trash."
—
The chaos rolled through the night. Abel would appear, and both sides would grudgingly pause; the moment he left, blades sang again. In the face of immortality, nothing could smother the fever in a pirate's heart.
Even so, the pressure worked. By morning, the ones still standing had earned their way to the square in front of the Skull Grand Hotel.
"Raijin Abel!"
"When does the fair start?"
"Where's the Wine?!"
A hundred hungry gazes speared the man in the center.
Abel stood at the hotel doors and let the noise break against him. Then, calm as a bell, he spoke.
"Lord Dimon is inside. You enter one at a time. When the first exits, the next may go in."
"Break the rules," he lifted his right hand, palm to the sky, "and I'll execute you."
He flicked a thread of lightning into the cloud deck overhead. The sky answered with a thousand drums of thunder.
They'd seen it yesterday—on any point of Hachinosu, Abel's strike could land in a heartbeat. No one doubted that a thick white lance would drop the instant a fool made a move.
Abel lowered his arm. "Now—who's first?"
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