"Is this… where I die?"
Smoker's consciousness faded, his thoughts nearly extinguished. This was his final thought.
Pizarro grinned, ready to crush Smoker's neck—
Then a voice cut through the air.
Calm. Unbothered.
Yet Pizarro's grip loosened slightly on instinct.
"Hey. That guy you're holding is a friend of mine. Mind putting him down?"
---
Meanwhile, at the amusement park...
"Rebecca, where did Victor go?"
Tina stepped off the Ferris wheel, frowning. She'd seen Victor vanish mid-air, moving at blinding speed with Geppo.
"He said something urgent came up," Rebecca replied. "Told us to head back to base and wait."
"Tch. Fine. We've had our fun anyway. But Smoker's 'still' missing—what a letdown."
---
The man who arrived was Victor.
His Observation Haki had sensed Smoker's peril. He'd raced here at full speed—arriving just as Smoker teetered on death's edge.
Noticing Pizarro's loosened grip, Victor didn't strike immediately. Instead, he stood behind the pirate, calming his breath.
No one had seen him appear. Like a ghost.
"Orens Victor?! Why's 'he' here?!"
"He's a Marine too—here to save him!"
"That guy's luck just turned around!"
"Hah! Someone's about to regret their life choices!"
The blue-haired woman sobbed in relief. Finally, salvation.
Pizarro turned, eyes narrowing. He hadn't sensed Victor's approach. Had Victor attacked first… he'd be dead already.
"Well, well. The famous Marine prodigy." Pizarro tightened his grip again, smirking. "Here to save this trash? Tell me—can you reach him before I 'snap his neck'?"
"Ah. 'Corrupt King' Pizarro. Should've recognized those horns." Victor's voice was ice. "Want to test my speed?"
He wasn't worried. Victor could sever that arm before Pizarro even blinked.
This pirate would one day serve under Blackbeard as a Titanic Captain—a monster who escaped Impel Down's Level 6. Even now, at just 24, he outclassed Smoker entirely.
But Victor outclassed 'him'.
"Guess the 'Corrupt King' gets an early ticket to Impel Down." Victor mused. "Maybe I'll make it one-way."
"Hey, Pizarro," Victor said casually, ignoring Smoker's dangling form. "How'd a guy like you become a pirate? Genuinely curious."
Let Smoker stew in his humiliation. It'd be a lesson. Victor could save him anytime.
"Me?" Pizarro laughed, his 5-meter frame shaking. "I was a king'once. In the North Blue."
"A king turned pirate?" Victor raised a brow. "Now that's irony."
"Hah! Ruling was boring." Pizarro's blue mustache twitched. "My people fled my 'benevolent rule.' No subjects? No throne. So I chose 'freedom'."
Victor snorted. 'Corrupt King fit. A tyrant dethroned by his own cruelty.
"Enough chatter." Victor's hand rested on his sword. "Put. Him. Down."
Pizarro hesitated. Victor's reputation wasn't empty hype. This was a man who'd fought his way to the top.
Could he win? Or should he run?
Victor's patience ran out.
He vanished.
Blade drawn, he aimed to sever Pizarro's arm—
Pizarro's instincts SCREAMED.
He 'saw' it—his limb flying, blood spraying—
He dropped Smoker and FLUNG himself backward.
Victor caught Smoker effortlessly. The half-conscious Marine cracked one eye open, gaze filled with shame, gratitude, and fury.
"Not dead yet, huh?" Victor smirked. "Next time, maybe 'skip' the smoke break."
He handed Smoker to the blue-haired woman.
"Take care of him."
As Victor turned, Smoker rasped:
"…Send him to Impel Down."
Victor paused. A single backward wave. Then he advanced.
His sword was sheathed again. He wanted to measure Pizarro's strength.
The pirate had fought Smoker yet remained spotless. Meanwhile, Smoker looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder.
This wouldn't be a one-sided slaughter.
Victor lunged—not at full speed, but fast enough.
'CRACK!'
His fist smashed into Pizarro's face, sending the pirate tumbling across the ground.
Pizarro rose quickly, his swollen cheek already healing.
"Not bad. You've got some resilience."
Victor didn't speed up. Fists flew. Kicks connected.
Minutes passed in a brutal exchange—until Victor slammed a final punch into Pizarro's gut, sending him skidding back.
Victor leaped away, cracking his neck.
"Alright. Warm-up's over."
His blade hissed free.
"Let's see if you heal from 'this'."
"Impressive strength, solid defense, and insane regeneration... This isn't a normal human body. But—still not enough to match me." Victor mused.
Then mentally facepalmed.
"Wait, does that mean I'm not human either? Damn it, just insulted myself."
No more holding back.
Victor's entire body hardened with Armament Haki.
'BOOM!'
A single step shattered the ground as he blitzed toward Pizarro.
The pirate's face paled seeing Victor's full-body Haki. He hastily coated his own fists—nowhere near as refined.
The difference was brutal.
Even without advanced Ryou, Victor's strikes wrecked Pizarro's guard. Each block made the pirate's arms tremble, his teeth gritting in pain.
Haki gap too wide.
Pizarro's face swelled with bruises. Armament-inflicted wounds don't heal easy.
Finally—he snapped.
"This ends NOW!"
Pizarro tanked one last hit and leaped back, putting distance between them.
Then—his body began to warp.
Scales erupted across his skin. Horns sprouted from his skull.
"Huh? Zoan transformation? Another dragon?" Victor's eyes narrowed.
But the changes grew stranger.
His head morphed into a dragon's—yet with deer-like antlers. Tiger's eyes. A qilin's serpentine body.
A 50-meter mythical beast now loomed over the battlefield.
"HOLY SH'T—A QILIN?!" Victor's jaw dropped. Chinese mythology come to life.
First a Azure Dragon, now a Qilin? 'What are the odds?!'
The crowd erupted in chaos.
"Victor's got a 'thing' with mythical beasts, huh?!"
"That's a Devil Fruit user! The last one must've been too!"
"What even 'are' these creatures?! Did they 'exist' in this world?!"
"This one's smaller… maybe weaker?"
From the blue-haired woman's lap, Smoker cracked a bloody smirk.
"So that's his full power… Hah. 'Top recruit' my 'ass'."
---
Pizarro's voice boomed like thunder:
"HAHAHA! What's wrong—cat got your tongue?!"
Flames gathered in his maw.
"I ate the Ox-Ox Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Qilin Model! Unbreakable defense! Limitless regeneration! How do you fight THIS?!"
'FWOOOOSH!'
A fireball the size of a house hurtled toward Victor.