The next morning.
In the Stahlburg port area, outside the warehouse that had been so busy the night before.
Rosinante stood at the entrance of the empty warehouse with a dark face. Looking at the clean floor inside, where not even a single weapon remained, he froze on the spot.
Behind him, several members of the Donquixote Family who had been guarding the place last night were kneeling on the ground, trembling.
Their heads were still spinning. They had no idea what had happened last night. They only remembered taking a sip of wine, and then everything went black.
When they woke up, the priceless weapons were gone. Even the roof of the warehouse had disappeared.
"My... My Lord, we really don't know..."
A small leader kept kowtowing, crying so hard that his nose was running. "We stayed at the door the whole time. We really didn't see anyone..."
Bang!
Rosinante kicked the nearby iron door. The force was not great, but his anger was obvious. He pointed at the sky, then at the empty warehouse, wildly gesturing with both hands. Even his sunglasses had gone crooked from rage.
A clever subordinate beside him immediately understood. He stepped forward and roared for his master, "You idiots! You didn't see anything?! Are you all blind?! There were more than a thousand rifles and dozens of heavy cannons here! Did they grow wings and fly away?!"
"This... this..." The leader could not even argue back.
At that moment, a security official from the Black Steel Empire arrived with a group of soldiers.
He looked at the ruined scene, which seemed as if a storm had torn through it, and frowned. There was no apology on his face. Only cold contempt.
"Lord Corazon, the investigation is over," the official said coldly.
"The inside of the warehouse is heavily damaged. The roof was blown off by an unknown force, causing such a huge disturbance, yet your men were sleeping soundly just a few dozen meters from the door."
"That can only be called poor internal management. We even have reason to suspect that someone among your people was involved."
"What did you say?!" the subordinate shouted angrily. "This is your territory! The goods were stolen right under your noses, and now you want to avoid responsibility?!"
"Watch your mouth."
The official rested a hand on his sword hilt. The soldiers behind him raised their guns at the same time. The mood instantly turned tense.
"This is the Black Steel Empire. Once the goods were handed over, guarding them was your responsibility. Your men drank themselves senseless and didn't even notice when the roof was blown away. Who else can you blame?"
"Do you expect our patrol to tuck drunk men into bed for you?"
"You!!" The subordinate's face turned red. He was about to pull his gun.
Pat.
A hand pressed down on his shoulder.
Rosinante, expression dark, shook his head at him.
Inside, however, he was overjoyed.
Perfect. The colder and harsher the Black Steel Empire acted, the better. It gave him more than enough reason to report back to Doflamingo that the problem was not his incompetence, but these people from the Black Steel Empire being impossible to deal with. More importantly, the weapons were gone so completely that not even a scrap had been left behind. He no longer had to worry about the Donquixote Family getting its hands on them.
Rosinante took a deep breath, put on a humiliated expression, and acted as if he were suppressing his anger.
He pointed outside and made a sharp gesture.
"My Lord says, let's go!"
The subordinate gritted his teeth and shot the official a hateful glare. "The Donquixote Family will remember this!"
After saying that, the group left the scene looking utterly defeated.
From behind, they looked pathetic, but Rosinante's steps at the front were noticeably lighter. He even had to stop himself from whistling.
This loss felt pretty good.
In the distance, high up on a clock tower.
Aiden leaned against the railing, eating an apple while watching the drama below. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You're pretty good at acting, Rosinante."
Now that Rosinante had left, the only thing still bothering him in this country was finally clear.
Next...
Aiden turned and looked toward the center of the city, toward the towering black imperial palace.
Even in daylight, the palace still gave off a pressure that made his heart tighten.
More specifically, it was coming from the back garden. The presence he had briefly sensed last night had not weakened at all.
Whoosh.
Aiden finished the apple in a few bites and tossed the core into a trash can.
He straightened his coat, but he had no intention of leaving yet. He was waiting for nightfall, waiting for this noisy city to quiet down completely.
Against someone with Observation Haki that strong, stealth or disguise would be pointless.
Instead of breaking in during the day under thousands of eyes, or sneaking around for no reason, it was better to wait until the city was quiet and walk in openly.
"Since you're waiting for me..."
Aiden's fingers lightly rubbed the hilt of the sword Sakazuki at his waist. The smile in his eyes faded, replaced by rare seriousness and fighting spirit.
"Then I'll do as you want."
"I want to see what kind of monster is hiding here."
Night fell.
Black Steel Palace, back garden.
Unlike the front palace, with all its luxury and heavy security, this place was so quiet it felt cut off from the world.
The garden was neatly maintained in a Western style, with trimmed fountains and bushes cut into geometric shapes. It felt solemn and lonely.
The moonlight was especially clear tonight.
Cold silver light spilled across the garden, outlining the marble statues with a pale glow.
At a stone table in the center of the garden sat a man.
He looked to be in his thirties. He wore a somewhat worn deep purple long coat, a white shirt that had clearly been used for years, black trousers, and leather boots that had seen plenty of time. A plain-looking cane rested beside him.
He was not enjoying fine wine and rich food like the nobles in the palace. Instead, a bowl of steaming stew sat in front of him, and he was slurping it loudly, a sound that felt completely out of place in the stillness of the night.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps came from the far end of the path.
The man eating stew paused slightly.
Then he acted as though nothing had happened and took another spoonful.
"It is very late. For a guest to skip the front door and climb over the wall... is that not a little rude?"
He swallowed his food. His voice was deep and rough, carrying the weariness of someone who had seen too much.
"Since I'm an uninvited guest, some rudeness is unavoidable."
Aiden stepped out of the shadows. He walked straight to the opposite side of the stone table and sat down without hesitation.
The man still did not look up. It was almost as if he were simply talking to himself.
"You came in the middle of the night. Although you sit in front of me, the sharp killing intent hidden in you is not aimed at me. It seems your true target tonight is the man on the throne."
"No."
Aiden stared at the man, his eyes burning.
"Compared to that king, I'm more interested in the master of this garden."
This was his first time seeing this legendary man in this world.
Not the blind old man who would later become a Marine Admiral through the World Military Draft twenty years in the future.
Right now, he looked much younger.
His face was square, his hair was short, and the famous cross-shaped scar had not yet appeared on his forehead.
Most importantly, his eyes were still open.
They were not blank white like they would be in the future. They were clear black and white eyes, though filled with bloodshot veins. There was undeniable weariness in them.
So it really is him, Aiden thought.
The future top powerhouse of Marine Headquarters, Fujitora Issho.
According to the original timeline, this man should have still been wandering the seas for nearly twenty more years. He should not have appeared until after the Summit War.
The yukata and wooden sandals he would later wear were probably habits he picked up during those years of wandering. The Western outfit he wore now felt more like proof that he was still tied down by the heavy reality of this country.
Aiden had not expected to meet him so early, hidden here in the Black Steel Empire.
No wonder those CP agents had been wiped out so cleanly.
In front of someone this strong, ordinary agents would not even have time to react.
"The presence inside you is very strange."
Issho put down his bowl. Those bloodshot eyes slowly lifted and fixed on Aiden, as if they wanted to see through him.
"There is a wild power in you, like thunder, and your killing intent is cold and sharp."
Issho frowned slightly, as though carefully feeling that aura.
"Although that aura is dangerous, it is not twisted. It is completely different from those World Government hounds who only know how to hide in the shadows."
"You should be a Marine, shouldn't you? There is one thing I do not understand. Since you stand for justice, why do you carry such a strong desire to kill the king of a World Government member nation?"
Aiden poured himself a glass of wine and chuckled. There was mockery in his voice.
"Friedrich has spent years launching wars against his neighbors. He kidnaps civilians from nearby countries, turns them into slaves, and works them to death in mines and factories. The blood on his hands can never be washed clean."
Aiden lifted the glass and took a sip. Then his gaze sharpened as he looked straight into Issho's eyes.
"The crimes he has committed are enough for me to cut his head off ten times over."
"Meanwhile, you have power like this, yet you're willing to stand guard for a tyrant like him."
"Is that your justice?"
"Stand guard for him, is it..."
Issho did not get angry at the insult. He only gave a bitter smile, one that looked worse than crying.
He picked up the cane sword and lightly rubbed the worn hilt.
"You are right. The King is indeed guilty. These eyes of mine see it more clearly than anyone."
"The screams of people from neighboring countries, the lands burned by war... every time I close my eyes, I still see and hear them."
Issho's voice trembled slightly. Pain appeared in those bloodshot eyes.
"But... what if we do nothing?"
He looked up at Aiden.
"If we cannot gather enough money to pay that unbearable gold, then our membership will be stripped away"
"When that happens, how is my sword alone supposed to protect the tens of millions of citizens of this country from pirates and slave hunters?"
"The King is doing evil, yes. But he is doing it so the people here can live and still have food to eat."
Issho pointed to the plain bowl of stew in front of him.
"I am a man of this country. If I kill the King for the sake of justice, what happens to the people here? Do I watch them starve? Do I watch them become slaves to pirates?"
It was a dead end.
His sense of justice made him hate the King's cruelty, but his sense of responsibility made it impossible for him to watch his country collapse. So he could only stay here, suffering through each day.
"So you chose to look away."
Aiden set down his wine glass with a soft thud.
There was no pity in his eyes, only harsh clarity.
"Because you cannot pay the gold, you chose to become an accomplice to the Celestial Dragons."
"This isn't protection."
"This is sacrificing others to keep your own side alive."
"You think you're saving people, but in the end you're only turning this country into a monster that survives on the blood of others."
Aiden stood up. His coat moved even though there was no wind. Wild arcs of thunder began to surge around him, and the air started to crackle.
"If you still can't see a way forward, if you're still trapped in this fog..."
Shink!
The famous sword Sakazuki came free of its sheath. Cold light flashed across the garden.
Aiden pointed the blade straight at Issho.
"Then I'll cut through the fog for you, along with this rotten order built on blood."
"Sigh..."
Issho let out a long breath.
He slowly rose to his feet. His movements were so slow he looked like an old man on the verge of collapse. But the instant his hand gripped the cane sword, a suffocating gravity field spread through the entire back garden.
Crack, crack, crack.
The stones on the ground shook violently. Even the air felt heavy, as if filled with lead.
"I would very much like to see the path you speak of."
Issho slowly drew his blade. Purple gravity ripples spread around him.
"But I have accepted a duty, and I must stay loyal to it. Since I have taken on this burden, I must bear it to the end."
"Young Marine, I cannot let you pass."
Boom!
The two terrifying pressures collided in the garden.
"If we fight here, the people in this city will suffer."
Aiden frowned slightly as he looked toward the brightly lit residential area in the distance.
"Since you care so much about your people, let's change locations."
Aiden's body flashed and turned into a blinding bolt of lightning. He shot into the sky and headed straight outside the city.
"I'll wait for you in the wasteland outside."
Issho looked up in the direction where Aiden had disappeared. He stayed silent for a moment.
"What a reckless young man."
He gave a bitter smile.
"But perhaps... this is what I have been waiting for."
A flash of purple light appeared. The rock under his feet shattered, and a stone slab lifted him into the air.
Then Issho's figure shot into the night sky as well, chasing after the bolt of lightning.
Outside Stahlburg, the Red Wasteland.
It was a barren land where nothing grew, far from any trace of people. There were only jagged rocks and the sound of the wind.
Aiden floated in midair. Blinding blue arcs of electricity danced around him, lighting the wasteland as bright as day.
Across from him, Issho sat cross-legged on a floating rock. Layer after layer of purple gravity rings surrounded him, pressing all the sand and dust flat to the ground.
The two faced each other from a distance.
When men this strong clashed, the pressure between them mattered just as much as the swords they carried.
"Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral, Aiden."
Aiden held his sword in one hand, the tip angled toward the ground as he gave his name.
Issho gave a slight nod, holding his cane sword before him. His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly across the open wasteland.
"Issho."
Boom!
The moment the words fell—
Aiden vanished, turning into a violent bolt of lightning that shot downward.
At the same time, Issho swung his cane sword, and a purple gravity wave tore upward into the sky.
To Be Continued
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