Marine Branch G-51, harbor.
The Nismael Kingdom's royal merchant vessel 'Aikion' remained quietly docked.
The grand banquet at the branch had begun, with Marines and the merchant vessel's managers enjoying fine food and wine.
Meanwhile, on the merchant ship's deck—
"Man, I'm jealous... heard Manager Mantar prepared a hundred thousand berries as a bonus for each Marine soldier."
A Nismael Kingdom guard was sighing. "Especially that Colonel Astor... I heard the kingdom privately gave him treasures worth this much."
He held up his hand showing a number, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"You don't get it."
Another older guard beside him chuckled. "That Colonel Astor's no simple man. Last time Manager Mantar was transporting a shipment of slaves through Master Port, there was an incident—several slaves escaped and went to the Marine branch for help."
"One of the slaves was a woman from the 'Flower Tribe'—special merchandise. High-end goods!"
At this, the nearby guard looked shocked.
The Flower Tribe—a special race of the seas.
On the surface they appeared to be ordinary humans, but their bodies emitted floral scents, their presence made plants grow, and their sweat was among the finest nectar in the world.
Female Flower Tribe members were worth no less than female mermaids, with starting auction prices at Sabaody Archipelago of 50 million berries.
One could imagine that if such merchandise escaped, Manager Mantar would be in serious trouble.
However—
"That Colonel Astor personally returned those slaves to the manager and destroyed all the related rescue documents."
The old guard chuckled. "Now you understand, right? The Marines are our crucial 'protection'—of course the manager gives them plenty of benefits!"
Hearing this, the young guard grew even more envious.
However, the old guard soon changed topics. "You don't need to be too jealous. Our haul this time was substantial—Manager Mantar will reward us too."
At this mention, the young guard perked up.
"Right? Who would've thought a fishing village on some backwater island would have such a beauty, and that she'd catch a Celestial Dragon's eye and get purchased."
At this, he swallowed hard.
The old guard nodded. "Yeah, that World Noble offered a Devil Fruit and two hundred million berries in exchange. Combined with the other slaves this trip, we've made five hundred million berries... hm!?"
He stopped mid-sentence, his expression suddenly changing.
Because at that moment, both guards discovered their legs, necks, bodies, and hands had been firmly restrained.
Before they could struggle—
Two short blades pierced through their backs.
"Six—no, seven intruders?"
The old guard's mind quickly calculated the number of invaders before he heavily collapsed.
Immediately after, seven intruders swiftly dragged the fallen guards into a corner and stripped off their clothes.
After completing this, all seven intruders were breathing heavily.
And if one looked carefully, they would discover an astonishing fact.
The seven intruders who had infiltrated the ship all had identical faces—clearly the young pirate named 'Alan'.
Needless to say, this was Alan himself plus his six remaining Slice Clones.
"Collie, she..."
At this moment, Alan's low voice seemed ready to grind his teeth to dust.
From the earlier conversation, he'd naturally learned Collie's fate.
"No—can't panic. Grandpa and the others are still in the hold... I have to save them first..."
But he quickly suppressed his rage, then had two clones change into the guards' clothes.
"There's fifteen minutes until the guard shift change. The hold will open, and I can slip inside to rescue Grandpa and the others."
He kept running through every detail of his plan.
That's right.
From the moment he'd posed as a pirate and written that threatening letter, forcing this merchant vessel to dock at Master Port, he'd been carefully observing everyone on this ship, waiting for his plan to begin.
"At that time, only four guards will remain in the hold for a brief period... I'll take out two through sneak attacks first. For the remaining two, I'll use my life if I have to!"
Thinking this, Alan couldn't help recalling that strange Marine Lieutenant his 'sacrificed' clone had encountered.
For some reason, the man had seemed to know his plan, each sentence striking at his weak points.
"But according to the information synced from the clone, he doesn't seem to have returned to port... so was he just bluffing?"
At this thought, Alan vigorously shook his head.
Things had come this far—he didn't have time for second-guessing.
He knew his own strength well.
Though the fruit he'd eaten as a child had granted him special abilities, he was ultimately just an ordinary fishing village boy—the only reason he hadn't been captured as a slave like the others was pure luck; he simply hadn't been in the village at the time.
Even with all his Slice Clones together, they might not match three kingdom guards in a direct confrontation.
So he only had one chance.
"Must focus! Focus!"
Just as he was thinking this—
"TWEET!"
A shrill whistle broke the merchant ship's silence, coming from behind him.
Alan looked back in disbelief.
The two guards he'd stabbed had somehow struggled back into sitting positions.
"Kid... first time killing someone?"
The old guard was still bleeding but grinned viciously.
"You got nervous—with such short blades, you could only aim for our heads, hearts, or vital organs... but you didn't hit any of them! Idiot!"
As he spoke, dozens of guards rushed out from the hold after hearing the whistle.
"Intruders!"
"Why invade now? We don't even have the treasures on board anymore."
"Doesn't matter—catch them first!"
"Wait, these intruders... septuplets?"
Seeing Alan and the two wounded guards, they immediately understood the situation.
At this moment, Alan's face had gone deathly pale.
As mentioned before—he'd only had one chance.
And clearly, that chance was gone.
The next moment, he heard the old guard say: "Don't kill him—they're not septuplets. This guy's an ability user... he's valuable merchandise! Take him alive!"
Hearing this, Alan's pale face suddenly flushed red.
He gripped his short blade tightly.
"You bastards... I..."
He wouldn't become a slave—he'd rather die!
So he and his six clones suddenly charged at the guards with their short blades.
But obviously, it was meaningless.
In just over two minutes, Alan and several clones lay covered in blood on the deck.
"Which one's the original?"
"Who cares—grab them all."
"We're gonna be rich! Ability user slaves are super popular!"
Laughing, several guards walked forward, reaching out to grab Alan.
"Damn it... damn it..."
Alan tried to resist but was immediately pinned down, unable to move.
But just then—
"BOOM!"
He suddenly heard an explosive sound.
Then he clearly felt the force pinning him vanish instantly, replaced by warm liquid falling on him.
This allowed him to struggle and look ahead.
The guards who had been menacing him moments ago had vanished.
In their place was a massive hole in the deck.
Through the hole, he could see the guards' blood and bodies below—the source of the warm liquid on him.
"Who!?"
"What's with this hole?"
"What's happening?"
"Look! In the sky!"
Then he heard the guards' alarmed voices.
Instinctively, he looked up.
And then he witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
In the pitch-black sky, a full moon hung high.
Moonlight cascaded onto the waves, turning them silvery white.
And simultaneously, a figure stood in the center of the sky's moon.
He wore a rooster mask on his face and was slowly retracting his fist.
"Who's that guy? The intruder's accomplice?"
"He can fly? Is he also an ability user?"
"Quick! Shoot him down!"
The guards raised their weapons, chattering nervously.
But some had already noticed something wrong.
The old guard Alan had wounded, for instance, noticed—that figure was indeed standing in the air, but looking closely, his feet were subtly stepping.
"That's..."
As a well-traveled veteran, the old guard had heard of such techniques. Combined with that punch that had just shattered the deck...
"No! No!"
The old guard immediately tried to give orders.
"Retreat! Notify Manager Mantar and Colonel Astor—this guy's a monster—"
But clearly, it was too late.
"Whoosh!"
With speed almost invisible to the naked eye and violent air-splitting sounds, the guards saw the figure in the sky vanish instantly.
"Perfect."
The next moment, a suppressed voice reached the old guard's ears.
"First mission and I run into scum like you—I can really let loose and hunt to my heart's content!"
The low voice came, and the old guard felt his vision soar high.
Then he saw his own body.
He realized—it wasn't him flying up, just his head.
In those brief moments of lingering consciousness, the old guard saw the rooster-masked figure had already charged into the crowd like a phantom, without the slightest hesitation.
Screams and battle cries rang out through the black night.
In the pitch-black sky, the full moon hung high.
Moonlight fell upon the deck, seemingly stained blood-red.